thing experienced, leaves us with the feeling that we have missed its essence. We have not explained; we have explained away—and all of the sweetness has vanished as a result. Now, this facultative understanding of the mystery of God seems to be very common among evangelicals, and for good reason. Even if we are suspicious of what sometimes passes for “mysticism,” we all want Christians not merely to know facts or doctrines about God, but to know God himself, in some sort of personal experience.