Perilous times for depth in the Christian Walk
Post modernity has ushered in an age of intense cynisism, extreme paranoia, and skepticism to a ridiculous degree. WIthout going into too much detail, I will say only this: where we are now is a result of the trajectory of the desire to grasp rationally every aspect of the Christian worldview. While it is inevitable, and totally natural, for the human mind to want to have everything nailed down in regards to intellectual and a deep, soul satisfying assent to the truths of scripture, an unhealthy emphasis has been placed on the task of creating a rational, metaphysical scaffolding to contain the mysteries of the Christian worldview.
This overemphasis on rationality has been to the detriment of faith, both being faculties of the mind whereby the mind assents to what it encounters. In the case of reason, the mind assents to what is proposed to it by laying down propositions on top of each other until there is enough there to justify assent. Thus, reason is only capable of assenting to that which is tangible to the faculties of reason, which takes in propositions on the basis of the senses. I know my hair is on fire, and I can reasonably assent to such a thing, when I can see the flames, feel the heat on my head, and smell that horrible smell of burning hair. By faith, I mean the faculty of the mind that assents to propostions not based upon first hand experience, but rather on the basis of testimony. When I go to the doctor to get a check up, I take his word for it that my good cholesterol and by bad cholesterol are in the healthiest 1% of men my age. I can’t see my cholesterol, I can’t really feel it, aside from my heart not being clogged up, so I take his word for it. My mind assents to that propostion based upon the doctors testimony.
When you apply that to the mysteries of the Christian worldview, you can see how an unhealthy emphasis on reason can be a detriment to depth and meaning. You can’t explain the Trinity reasonably. You can’t explain the hypostatic union using rational means. You just can’t. To the postmodern mind, that sounds awful, and to the postmodern Christian, almost scandalous. So let me say this very, very simply: Christianity, in all of its glorious mystery, DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO THE MIND. It doesn’t. Tri-unity, hypostasis, persona, the union of two natures, both God and man, without any communication of the two, yet existing simultaneously in one body….man that’s just plain crazy. But it’s true. And I believe it. WIth all my heart I do, because I assent to them based on faith.
John Owen writes:
Herein consists the excellency of faith above all other powers and acts of the soul-that it receives, assents unto, and rests in, things in their own nature absolutely incomprehensible. It is elegkos ou blepomenon, (Hebrews 11:1)- “The evidence of things not seen”- that which makes evident, as by demonstration, those things which are no way objected unto sense, and which reason cannot comprehend. The more sublime and glorious- the more inaccessible unto sense and reason- the things which we are to believe, the more are we changed into the image of God, in the exercise of faith upon them.
The postmodern world hates the fact that it can’t grasp at God by reason alone, and so it either denies his existence, as the atheist does, says you can’t know him, as the agnostic, or that everyone knows just a little piece of him, as the religious relativist. But all of these views place emphasis on reason alone. The atheist outright denies him because there is no room for mysteries in their worldview. The agnostic denies the ability to know him because he exists, just beyond the boundaries of human existence. The religious relativist is perhaps the most elusive when it comes to the unhealthy emphasis on reason, because faith is such an important thing to them. However, they can’t assent to the mysteries of God through faith because they refuse to believe that the God of the Bible IS. They subsititute instead a faith that they are able to have a handle on reasonably.
But we can’t be hard on these three groups….it hasn’t been revealed to them. They don’t have the testimony of the Holy Spirit speaking through the Scriptures, and so they are left to a darkened understanding, “claiming to be wise” but becoming fools. Oh God, that you would pour out beams of your illuminating resplendence, and capture the hearts and minds of men!
As I understand, Christians do not believe that man is a product of evolution. Atheist
Atheist
September 3, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Nate,
I agree with you that there is definitely mystery in Christianity and in the Christian life, and it should be embraced and not “explained”– that is, not explained *beyond what the Bible itself reveals and explains.*
One concern though– you write that Christianity “does not make sense to the mind.” It is true that, in *one* sense, Christianity does not make sense to the mind of *non-Christian, unsaved man,* but it seems to me to be going too far (meaning, beyond what the Bible itself says) to say that Christianity does not make sense to *the* mind, period. The question is, whose mind? The unregenerate or the regenerate? Christianity– mystery and all– makes sense to my finite mind, because by God’s grace, I have accepted that He is infinite, and I and my intellect are finite. Not that I can *completely* comprehend all of the mystery, but I *can* understand it, to a certain extent (and this is crucial), because God has regenerated my mind, heart, and soul (whole person) to *be able to* understand it. The fact that regenerate understanding is not *exhaustive* does not mean that it does not *exist,* in regard to the mysterious aspects of Christian doctrine and the Christian life.
Christopher Lake
October 16, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Also, even an unregenerate person can understand *enough* of Christianity for God to hold him/her responsible for rejecting it– or blessedly, *not* rejecting it, by His grace!
Christopher Lake
October 16, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I can’t agree with you more. We should not try to go farther than what Scripture reveals and explains. However, there are things revealed that are not explained, and there is so much out there these days that is trying to explain those things that it takes our focus of off Christ and leads us into pure conjecture. As for the different states of the mind, either regenerate or unregenerate, there are still things that seem contradictory to both. Take the Trinity for instance. The concept of three and yet one is completely irreconcilable to reason, sanctified or no. However, as it is revealed by the Bible, I believe it with all my heart, and love what is revealed about it. There are numerous other doctrines that follow this, and even the gospel itself makes no sense unless the eyes of the heart have been illuminated by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit (what can be more contradictory than our righteous state before God and our still nagging sinfulness?). All I was getting at with this post was that there are certain ineffable, resplendent, deeply satisfying, soul sanctifying doctrines which cannot be explained, and that’s ok. We have the divinely inspired testimony of the Scriptures and the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit to rest our belief on. And that’s more sure than any amount of reason, no matter how much it has been improved.
natehembree
October 16, 2008 at 7:36 pm
I hear you, Nate, and I agree, almost entirely, especially given how you have explained your reasoning (about the limits of finite reason!) in your reply. We must be careful, though, with saying that the Gospel makes absolutely *no* sense to unregenerate people. To be sure, it is “foolishness” to them, but on some level, they can understand it– and when they reject it (an occasion for sadness, even within God’s complete sovereignty), that understanding leads to their greater condemnation than those who have died without hearing the Gospel.
Not meaning to be nit-picky here, brother– I hope you hear where I’m coming from, as I hear you and basically agree!
Christopher Lake
October 16, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Not being nit-picky at all! I think that discussion is always good, and not in the smile through my teeth good kind of way. I think we all need to approach the study of theology with the humility that comes from our being finite, prone to error, and so very dependent upon the body in order to live out the Christian life in a way that honors Christ. I guess I am just wanting some scriptural references that state that the unregenerate man can understand the gospel. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Paul earlier states that the only reason we can understand the things God has freely given us is because we have the Spirit. I see a contrast here between the unregenerate man and the regenerate man, as well as a connection between our regenerate state and the ability to understand what God has freely given us, which is contained in the gospel.
As for basically agreeing, you love Jesus and I love Jesus, and one day what we see dimly as through a mirror will be seen openly, and we both long for that day! Thanks for leaving a comment on my post, I was convinced nobody reads it!
natehembree
October 16, 2008 at 10:50 pm