Review Essay, Keeping the Balance
Recognising the role of tradition There is a question of to what extent church tradition should control the formulation of theology. Protestants naturally tend to react against the Catholic emphasis on tradition, but, as Cameron explains, it would be a mistake to suppose that we must each begin afresh in our attempts to do theology. For one thing, it isn’t humanly possible! For another, it wasn’t what the Reformers did anyway. Furthermore, there is a broad area of fundamental agreement settled by the early Church which ought to be respected. We should also bear in mind that no single person is the subject of theology, but all thinking, regenerate humanity, and recognise that every theologian begins with the traditions he has been taught and the beliefs and creeds of his church.
Quoting Abraham Kuyper once again, Cameron argues that the correct procedure here is not to begin by doubting everything, but to start out from the assumption that one’s church is right, at the same time investigating it, and only opposing it when one finds oneself compelled to do so by God’s Word.
Recognising the role of salvation The next question Cameron considers is whether theological study is, in fact, merely an intellectual pursuit that can be successfully carried out by anybody. He believes not. God is not an object in creation that may be known with the mind alone, but the personal Creator and sustainer of all things. People who would know God must therefore open to Him their minds, their wills and their whole being. “Knowledge of God is no mere knowledge of facts”, Cameron explains, “it is knowledge of the one whom to know is life eternal. Knowledge of God is salvation. It is no more possible to know God apart from his revelation than it is to know the revelation apart from God”. This brings us to an interesting conclusion: “Christian theology, as the enterprise of knowing God, is for Christians”.
Since the knowledge of God is “ultimately personal knowledge”, does that mean the propositional or “factual” knowledge found in Scripture must be subordinated to the personal knowledge of Jesus Christ? Once again, Cameron insists that this is not the case. “Personal and prepositional knowledge need not be mutually opposed”. If we reflect for a moment on our knowledge of loved ones, we find that “personal and prepositional knowledge intermingle”. A purely “personal” knowledge devoid of factual or propositional content isn’t possible. The Scriptures supply the factual and proposition elements in the relationship that are needed.
Category: In Depth, Spring 2006
Followers
Fans
