In my sermon for War of the Worlds: winning the war of TRUTH I believe the big idea came out of St. Peter’s central concept in 2 Peter 1:3 when he states that all things that we need for "life and godliness" are found in our "knowledge of him" (God). This concept - that there is a full knowledge of God - implies that there is an ultimate truth, which, of course, is God Himself. This is not only a profound concept, it is also one of the most hotly debated notions on the international scene.

I would like to set aside the issue of relativism and focus on the international (i.e. Islam vs. Christianity) aspect of Peter’s big idea. The idea that there is an ultimate truth, certainly, puts a spear in the heart of relativism; however, despite the importance of the debate over relativism, I would like to reflect on another aspect the Christian understanding of truth.

In my sermon, I mentioned Pope Benedict XVI’s philosophical speech given September 15, 2006 at the University of Regensburg in Germany. As you may know, there was an immediate worldwide Muslim reaction to the Pope’s speech which included riots and church burnings. However, for most Americans - including committed Christians - the reasons for the negative Islamic reaction seemed vague at best. For most, it seemed that Muslims were showing themselves to be hypersensitive to any perceived criticism. In reality, the reaction was over a specific understanding of faith and human reason as they relate to truth. Wikipedia, the Internet encyclopedia, gets to the heart of the controversy with the following statement:

His larger point here was that, generally speaking, in Christianity, God is understood to act in accordance with reason, while in Islam, God's absolute transcendence means that "God is not bound even by his own word", and can act in ways contrary to reason, including self-contradiction. At the end of his lecture, the Pope said, "It is to the great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures."
What Pope Benedict was referring to is the Muslim belief that God is so absolutely transcendent that He is not bound by anything including His own word or law. This, unfortunately, means that God could be capricious. One day He could declare that people should love their neighbors and the next day that the same people should kill infidels. Additionally, as noted by the Pope, if God is absolutely transcendent, then there is absolutely no way that humans can discover anything about Him from nature or life.

The Christian view of these matters is very different. First, Christians hold that God is not capricious for this reason: because the morality, uniformity and order of His law and even creation are reflections of His divine nature. In other words, in Christian teaching, truth is a person: God. Because God is in Himself, true, good, righteous and just. Therefore, His law reflects these things. Consequently, a person can discover some things about God from both nature and revelation.

Paul puts it this way:
...since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1: 19-20
If, as Muslims believe, God is absolutely transcendent, then Romans 1:19-20 could not be true. Ultimately, there would be nothing in creation that would give us any clue as to what God is like. Additionally, none of God’s revelation in His word would be a reliable indicator about His person. All we could know for sure is that God has stated certain things to us which we are to obey but, in fact, He might declare these things null and void tomorrow.

It was Pope Benedict’s view that for Muslims and Christians to have a productive dialogue, Muslims must examine their flawed view of God. Otherwise, Muslims will be trapped in an unreasonable and, potentially, dangerous understanding of God which will inhibit relations between the world’s two largest religions. Muslims responded by rioting and burning churches to the ground. Jesus said, "But wisdom is proved right [or wrong] by her actions" (Matthew 11:19b).

GOING EVEN DEEPER...
You might be thinking, "Isn’t God transcendent?" Yes, He is. However, note that Pope Benedict was referring to the Muslim belief that God is absolutely transcendent. They believe that God is so transcendent that there is nothing in creation that in any way reflects the true nature of God. Clearly, Christians do not believe this.

"OK," you ask, "how do we properly understand things about God if He is transcendent and above creation but not absolutely transcendent?" There are three theological words that help us understand God’s transcendence.

First, God is neither univocal nor equivocal to the creation. These are two important words. Univocal—in regard to God—means that He would be absolutely separate and having no correlation with His creation. This is the error that Muslims believe. Unfortunately, some Christians have pushed their view of God’s sovereignty and transcendence so far that they have fallen prey to this error. On the other hand, the word equivocal in regard to God would mean that God and His creation would virtually be inseparable. The word equivocal has a definition of "being of uncertain nature." So, if God was equivocal with His creation then He and what He has created would be essentially the same. This view is a form of pantheism (a doctrine that equates God with the forces and laws of the universe) or monism (the view that reality is one unitary organic whole with no independent parts). Neither of these views is correct.

The correct way to understand God’s relationship to His creation is found in the word analogous. To understand God analogically is to recognize that man cannot fathom the ultimate vastness, power and glory of an infinite being. However, God has revealed Himself through nature and His word in the sense that they reflect His divine being. Therefore, as it relates to God, an analogical understanding of Him means that there is a certain similarity in created things with God’s nature that is also mixed with differences. For instance, we say that there is an analogy between the light of the sun and the light of God and His truth. Yet, at the same time we know that God is not a created thing like the sun or light waves. What we mean is that as the sun brings light to our physical eyes so that we can see, the light of God enlightens our minds with truth.

The analogous understanding of God makes it possible for us to protect the transcendence of God without disconnecting Him from that which He has created. This, then, allows us to use human reason - building upon divine revelation - to broaden and deepen our understanding of God.

This we call theology.

What do you think? You may leave a comment by clicking on the thought bubble below. See you on Sunday!


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