Catechism of the Catholic ChurchWhat is the difference between the psychological image of God (our concept of His “character”) from the mental idol? After all, our idea of Him is certainly not appropriate to reality, but without this psychological image, this ideal, spiritual life is impossible (there will be no direction in it).
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p1.htm206 In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH (“I AM HE WHO IS”, “I AM WHO AM” or “I AM WHO I AM”), God says who he is and by what name he is to be called. This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and hence it better expresses God as what he is - infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the “hidden God”, his name is ineffable, and he is the God who makes himself close to men.11
213 The revelation of the ineffable name “I AM WHO AM” contains then the truth that God alone IS. The Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and following it the Church’s Tradition, understood the divine name in this sense: God is the fullness of Being and of every perfection, without origin and without end. All creatures receive all that they are and have from him; but he alone is his very being, and he is of himself everything that he is.
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1039.htmThence it follows that in God essence is not really distinct from person; and yet that the persons are really distinguished from each other. For person, as above stated (I:29:4, signifies relation as subsisting in the divine nature. But relation as referred to the essence does not differ therefrom really, but only in our way of thinking; while as referred to an opposite relation, it has a real distinction by virtue of that opposition. Thus there are one essence and three persons.
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3002.htmReply to Objection 1. Faith has not that research of natural reason which demonstrates what is believed, but a research into those things whereby a man is induced to believe, for instance that such things have been uttered by God and confirmed by miracles.
It is not impossible. That is why the Holy Spirit gifted us with prayers. Praying is spiritual life even if we are (and we all are sometimes) uncertain of how God is. As for his visual image this is why we have icons and crucifix with Jesus on it.but without this psychological image, this ideal, spiritual life is impossible (there will be no direction in it)
I would call it a provisional image. The important thing is always to be open to the “old image of God breaking down to be made into a new, more accurate one” as RK suggests.I agree with You (@RKS89). But can we say in this case that we always have an idol in our mind?