Faith Lacking Understanding: Theology "Through a Glass, Darkly"

by Randal Rauser

In an attempt to put mystery back at the heart of Christian theology, Rauser leads the reader on a riveting and, at times, unsettling journey through the major doctrines encapsulated in the Apostles' Creed.

In each case he illustrates how a theoretical understanding of the doctrine as yet eludes us. We simply do not know, for example, what it means for God to be Trinity, or how Christ can be both human and divine, or how the atonement works.

Rauser shows that the journey of thinking theologically which arises out of a love for, and worship of God within a communal atmosphere is as important as the end result of achieving doctrines that approximate reality.

In this way the author seeks to steer us on a middle course between the twin errors of evangelicalism (heightening the doctrine) and liberalism (heightening the process).

Genres: Theology, Religion

194 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2008

About the author

Randal Rauser is a systematic and analytic theologian of evangelical persuasion. He is driven by apologetic concerns and above all by the tireless pursuit of truth. The downside is that this requires him to recognize when he is wrong (which is often) for truth is complex and it offers us no guarantees that we shall always find it. At the same time, Randal does not despair of finding truth, for he believes that in a profound sense Jesus Christ is the truth.

For Randal, being like Jesus means knowing the truth, loving the truth, and living the truth. As Randal seeks to live the truth he promotes a culture of life that is anti-militaristic and pro-family, pro-environment and anti-abortion, anti-consumerist and pro-animal. A disciple on the way … alas, he is not half as smart or as good or as right as he thinks he is.

Reviews

[James Boyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read to show the limits of what we understand in regard to faith and to force Christians to move beyond pat answers to the difficult questions of faith. Dr. Rauser's image of venturing out of town to climb in the Alps is an apt description of going beyond Sunday school answers to move into the complexity of thinking about the serious issues of faith; and the way that he lays this quest out around the seemingly straightforward framework of the Apostles' Creed is a little bit jarring. It was interesting how the book was clearly written from a Christian perspective, but left most issues in a fairly unresolved state. This would be a good book to read as part of a wider study of Systematic Theology.