The potential danger of attempting to resolve paradox, or, trying to fit God into a box.

The longer I have been a student of the Bible the more I've realized that there are apparently paradoxical truths contained in it. One of those, for example, is in regard to the question of where the responsibility for man's salvation lies. The Bible clearly teaches that since man is "dead in his trespasses and sins" that the responsibility is God's; that no person can be saved without first being drawn by God, having their spiritual eyes opened by God, and being given repentance and faith from God. It's His doing. The apparent paradox is that the Bible also teaches that man is responsible. There are numerous passages that call on people to repent and believe. Other passages show a God grieving over man's unwillingness, stubbornness, and unrepentant heart. Still others lay the responsibility at man's feet, urging him to "be reconciled to God". God's anger and wrath is described as being aimed at the wickedness of man as he chooses to ignore God and willfully suppress the truth about Him that man is fully aware of.

So, how do we sometimes attempt to resolve apparent paradoxes, and what's dangerous about how we do it? It seems to me that we generally don't like unresolved paradoxes. They make us uncomfortable because they seem to be contradictions, and contradictions in a body of writing imply that the writing is not credible. Since, for good reason, we have already come to the conclusion that the Bible is credible, we naturally attempt to resolve anything that might imply that the Bible isn't credible.

One of the possible dangers of our attempts to resolve paradox is that we Christians, instead of establishing credibility can instead be found to be straining it. In my opinion, we do this by first leaning to one side or another of a seeming paradox, and then forcing an interpretation on the side toward which we are not leaning. In other words, we tend to read our own apriori bias into our interpretation of Scripture. In the process, we lose credibility, and at the same time fail to convince others of the credibility of the Bible. What are the effects? On the one hand, the skeptic who we are trying to win over reacts derisively, and is convinced that our faith is a gullible one. On the other hand, the young Christian who we are trying to bring up in the faith, is confused.

Another danger is that we tend to become entrenched in our interpretations. We build a nice little box that we think the Bible fits into so that we can feel comfortable about all these niggling paradoxes. After the box has been constructed, we do everything we can to strengthen it. After a while our box can become dogma, from which the word "dogmatic" comes. Being dogmatic isn't inherently wrong, but it can certainly lead us down the wrong path.

It's obvious that there's a time and place for dogma. Without it, we can't say anything with certainty. Someone saying, " Such and such is going to happen just as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow" might be met with, "We can't be dogmatic about tomorrow's sunrise, therefore we can't be sure that whatever your saying is a sure thing is indeed a sure thing." Similarly, there are many truths in the Bible that are incontrovertible because there are no apparent paradoxes to be found with regard to them. The resurrection of Christ is an example.

So, what should we do to avoid the dangers mentioned above? First, I think it's important that we do attempt to resolve apparent paradoxes. At the same time, we need to keep in mind the dangers mentioned above. Second, we should always consult with God in these matters. In doing that, we need to check our hearts. Are we open to the idea that we may be wrong? Are we "listening" to God with an open mind? Third, we need to tread carefully when good scholars differ on an issue. Fourth, when we are wrestling with these things, we need to subject our ideas to the scrutiny of others, and not just to others who are sympathetic to our position, or who do not have the motivation or tools to adequately examine our ideas. Fifth, we need to leave room for mystery. Our minds are infinitely tiny and limited compared to the mind of God because His mind is infinite! The Bible clearly teaches that He has not revealed everything to us. I don't think that the perception of the Bible's (and our) credibility is damaged when we say things like, "I'm not sure" or, "I don't know" or, "maybe it's like this".

"The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever..." Deuteronomy 29:29