I think I'm more in line with the second way of thinking than the first. I mean both seem right, but one is just assuming what you know is the only thing there is and that there can be no other way, but God's way right? I mean to assume that we could fully interpret the will or ideas of God in any time or place is a little bit weird to say. I find it hard to blame those traditions because how can we expect anyone to make doctrine or dogma that is full-proof for thousands of years? Does that then mean that religion is to be interpreted differently as time moves forward? Then that brings into question the idea from the first way about God's Word. Is it something that is unaffected by perspective or focus? I feel like we are pulling pretty far away from the original subject, but this is a cool discussion.
Well, while I think God can become knowable and familiar in a fashion, I'm inclined to agree with you that the totality of God will be forever incomprehensible to us. He's just too vast. At the same time, I think as we come to better understanding of ourselves and the world around us, we can better understand His messages, from all sources and all dispensations. What once might have seemed mundane and straightforward becomes revelationary and profound all over again. Something that was once vague and nebulous suddenly becomes clear and easily discernable. I think certain dogmas seem irreconcilable sometimes because we're often tempted to take the words at face value and interpret with our current understanding of the world. I think when we stop to look at the potential underlying purpose behind them and try to view them in the time frame they were meant for, suddenly they become much more sophisticated. For an overly simplified example, if we were to look at a religion's dietary restrictions and compare them to the time, region, and culture they came from, we can see how some restrictions that might seem silly to us today protected people at that time and place from all sorts of diseases. Finally, I don't think it is the dogma that we should look at as permanent, but the underlying spiritual messages of the religion. In the grand scheme of things, whether or not a person eats pork is probably near inconsequential. The line for what is and isn't blasphemy will sway. That we are to love each other, care for each other, and better the world along with ourselves, that will never change. I think that message is The Word.