Room for God

Is there room for apparent inconsistencies in your theology? God does not claim to tell the whole story in scripture. In fact, he says that it is not the whole story. John says that the story of Christ could fill the world with books. Paul says that we still see an unclear picture. When a resolution to an apparent contradiction is beyond our reach, what is the difference between an apparent contradiction and a contradiction except our trust that God does exist, tells the truth, and does love us.

Richard Pratt, a professor mine at RTS, would contrast two analogies of incomplete knowledge to highlight a subtle distinction. One approach sees our incomplete knowledge like a glass of water and the other like an incomplete puzzle. The glass of water says that there is more that we don't know, but we we do know fits perfectly together. The puzzle says that we have truth here and there, but much of the time there are huge gaps right in the middle of something scripture holds up as very important. I believe the puzzle approach is most analogous to our knowledge of God and his world. He has given us true statements to guide our relationship with him. This is his goal, so this is enough.

Often we seem to be most preoccupied with finding ways to fill the gaps, when instead, God would have us exert our energy toward walking according to what is clear in scripture. As we mature, He will illuminate more of what he has put in scripture and the world to grow in our knowledge of Him, ourselves, and the world he has made.