Early Morning Thoughts on "Thinking the Faith"

I've been slowly reading Douglas John Hall's, The Cross in Our Context (Fortress, 2003) in preparation for Hall's appearance at the annual Byberg lectures which will take place January 14-16, 2008 at Cannon Beach. (Watch the lens website for details!) Hall has always been one of my favorite theologians precisely because he's made the effort to place his theological reflections in the North American context. But he's not an easy read so I take him in short pieces -- often just a couple of pages -- each morning. That's why I'm starting a book in September that I won't finish until January! Today's short section was on the anti-ideological nature of the Theology of the Cross. By ideology, Hall means a theory or system of interpretation that functions as "a full and sufficient credo, a source of personal authority, and an intellectually and psychologically comforting isulation from the firghtening chaotic mishmash of daily existence. For the ideologue, whether religious or political, it is not necessary to expose oneself to the ongoingness of life; one knows in advance what one is going to find in the world." (p.25) Hall points out that there is a fine line between ideology and theology. But the test of a true theology is that it involves a lifelong commitment to thought that is never satisfied. His example is Luther, who, though he honored the Bible more than any other source of knowledge, mistrusted the certitude that some were claiming for Scripture. When challenged by his friend Justus Jonas, who pointed to the apostle Paul as an example of true belief, Luther replied, " I don't think Paul believed as firmly as he talks. I cannot believe as firmly, either, as I can talk and write about it." Then Hall shares a wonderful passage from Simone Weil, "One can never wrestle enough with God if one does so out of a pure regard for truth. Christ likes us to prefer truth to him because, before being Christ, he is truth. If one turns aside from him to go toward the truth, one will not go far before falling into his arms." Amen to that. May your efforts in search of truth also find you falling into the arms of Christ. jpr