Rationality and Paradox

A friend of mine just sent an email about the death of Ron Nash. She was wondering if I had heard the news. In her email, she quotes one writer as saying:

"Ron was a defender of the rationality of revelation against all those modern and medieval theologians who think that the mark of divine truth is paradox."

Here's my email:

Hi Lorrie,

I was just reflecting again on the above quote.

While I still agree that it is important to stress the rationality of divine revelation (as Nash faithfully did), I am coming to appreciate the idea that God conceals himself behind seeming (not actual) contradictions in order to make the disobedient stumble. I don't think that those who stress the rationality of revelation are giving sufficient attention to this notion. When I speak of the "disobedient," I don't necessarily have only non-Christians in mind. I believe that God also conceals himself from Christians who do not wish to follow the entire truth of his word. They end up favoring one truth at the expense of another and therefore stumble. As a friend of mine told me last week, all bad theological thinking stems from the belief in some false either/or dilemma. I've been meditating on this for quite some time and I have come to appreciate the insight.

I believe that God tests us by his word. Are we willing to believe what he says no matter what others think? Will we fall prey to the fear of man? Will we so cherish our traditions that we willingly stray from his word? Will we honor certain teachers in the church more than the plain testimony of scripture? Are we willing to suffer and be maligned for loving the total teaching of God's word? Will we favor our own preconceptions above the scriptures? Will we allow those preconceptions to warp God's words so as to fit our own idea of what's "rational"?

Since sin has affected our minds and thinking processes, it's easy to stumble in these areas. It seems to me that we need to be constantly testing ourselves to see if we are being true to God's word, particularly with respect to gospel truths. I especially do not want to be found as an unfaithful keeper of the gospel before the judgment of God.

Just a few thoughts,

Tony

For more on this subject, see my post on Paradox and Mystery