...when we make absolute claims concerning what we believe about the world or God, acting as if our opinions were the result of some painstaking, objective and rational reflection, we end up deceiving ourselves, for our understanding is always an interpretation of the information before us (whether the raw material of the world or revelation) and thus is always affected by what we bring to the table.
wow. I don't see the need to add any commentary...but I'd love to hear people's reactions to that quote.
4 comments:
it is always interesting when people try to talk about the Bible being inerrant as if this solves our issue of interpretation. as this quote points out, revelation is still understood through interpretation...
I think the quote is a wonderful presentation of an intentional learning thought process. That of the journey. I'm curious though (having not gotten to this part yet) if in context it reads less like all opinions and thoughts are equally true? Is this quote pure relativism? Is that a path worth following or even conversing about?
I don't think it's about relativism. There is truth, but we need to be careful about insisting that our interpretations represent that truth better than any others...I think we seek truth (remembering that God is the one who gives it), and do our best to live according to it. I think we should share it with others (ie. sharing the Gospel)...but we do it in a humble way, not an arrogantly. And if someone has a different perspective, we listen and respect them. We may not agree, we don't say my truth is mine and yours is yours. We may still believe that our understanding of truth is accurate...but I think we need to always remember that my understanding of truth is just that--my understanding. I need to stay open to the possibility that God may teach me more, or help me understand that truth in a new way, or even change my thinking on a particular "truth."
wow, sorry for the long-winded answer. I'm learning more and more to be ok living in the tension between "absolute truth" on one end and relativism on the other. Does that make sense?
In all this, I think we sometimes forget that God is God. If I believe one thing, and you believe something else; we should both seek God and trust Him to help us understand truth as He wants us to. Too many people today take on the responsibility of convincing others that their understanding of truth is correct, and everyone else needs to get in line with it.
I'd like to add that maybe it is important to agree on the language for what we are saying is truth. The God I am talking about is not the same God a Muslim is talking about and so we need to recognize that. Maybe then we can proclaim truth if a person understands the truth we're proclaiming. To get to this point though, it seems we need to do more listening.
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