| Christian theology . . . . is, or at least claims to be, a part of truth. If it
distorts or ignores what is true, it is condemned at the outset. There may be different
aspects of truth. Many will remember Dr. Westcott's remark about its being not less than a
perfect cube. But there cannot be different brands of truth. Truth is fact, and even if of
infinite extent, must possess unity and consistency. Its various branches must cohere,
must fit together, and must make sense. We may grant that if a Being of the nature of a
self-existent super-Personal Diety is to be assumed, the whole truth could be only
knowable and known to such a Being. But no department of the whole truth could be of such
a character that it could be at variance with or in contradiction to other departments of
the whole truth. If then Christian theology is a part of truth it must be congruous with
and related to all other departments of truth. Sometimes it may be possible or necessary
to iron out (so to speak) seeming inconsistencies, but it must be the duty of any
responsible Christian theologian to aim, before everything else, at writing the truth, and
to avoid the inclusion of what seems to be doubtful or erroneous, whether in the exegesis
of Biblical texts, in doctrinal expositions, or in the writing of Church history. No doubt
humanly speaking it is not easy to divest one's self of the prejudices which one inherits
from one's upbringing, one's family, national and ecclesiastical traditions, or from the
preferences of temperament. But the effort has to be made, and since what is true only
exists by the will of God and proceeds from the mind of God, it is the theologian's duty
to love truth and to pursue truth at all costs, knowing that since truth is of God, the
pursuit of truth, although it may sometimes seem to lead him away from God, can never do
so in the long run, and that a generous acceptance of fact, and a scrupulous rejection of
theories which seem inconsistent with known and observed fact, as well as an equally
scrupulous acceptance of those which appear to be consistent with it, are plainly his
solemn duty. It must be admitted that these are very exacting conditions, and that human
frailty forbids anyone to claim that he has perfectly observed them. But in a world
dominated by the sciences, no other course is open to any theologian than to aim
steadfastly at fulfilling them. A.C. Bouquet, The Christian Faith and Non-Christian
Religions.
![[Theological Essays]](images/back.gif)
davidmwilliams@oocities.com
|