Faith Lacking Understanding: Theology 'Through a Glass, Darkly' [Paperback]

Randal Rauser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 2008

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).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the many strengths of this tour of the Apostles' Creed is its reminder that the central beliefs of Christian faith are also mysteries that are beyond our comprehension. Rauser proves to be an excellent guide for this journey."
-- John R. Franke, Clemens Professor of Missional Theology, Bibical Seminary, Hatfield, PA, USA

"This exciting volume should be read and pondered by all who care about the nature and content of constructive theology. Bring it on!"
-- Oliver Crisp, Reader in Theology, University of Bristol

"Rauser will not allow us to be intellectually lazy, but calls us to pursue rigorous orthodoxy from a position of humility. His blend of humor and logic makes reading this book not only insightful, but really enjoyable."
-- Kelly M. Kapic, Associate Professor of Theological Studies, Covenant College, USA

"Rauser leads us on a stimulating journey that is both unsettling and yet simultaneously faith-affirming."
-- Jason Clark, founding pastor of Sutton Vineyard, London

"This is not a technical book, but it is a thought-provoking one. No reflective Christian will regret reading it."
-- Steve Holmes, Lecturer in Theology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

About the Author

Randal Rauser is associate professor of historical theology at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton, Canada where he teaches in the areas of theology, apologetics, worldview, and church history. Randal is the author of several books including Finding God in the Shack (Paternoster, 2009), and Theology in Search of Foundations (Oxford University Press, 2009). Randal blogs regularly at "The Christian Post" as "The Tentative Apologist". He lectures widely on theology, worldview, and apologetics. He is married to Jasper and has one daughter and two yappy dogs. You can visit him online at www.randalrauser.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Paternoster (August 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184227547X
• ISBN-13: 978-1842275474
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,514,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My story begins in eternity past when God fore-ordained that I would come to be. Fast-forward to 1973 when the divine decree was made manifest as I entered the world ... and Edmonton Alberta (Canada) was never the same again. At the age of four I decided to move to Kelowna, BC and I brought my family along with me.

After sixteen years living in the lush Okanagan valley (Canada's preeminent fruit-growing region), I made the move to the lower mainland (the south coast of BC) where I spent 6 1/2 years living in the Vancouver area, during which I completed a BA (Trinity Western University) and an MCS (Regent College) while moonlighting with the perfect job for a student: driving a limousine.

In 1999 I married the girl of my dreams and moved to England to start a PhD at King's College, London with my theological mentor Colin Gunton. Jasper (Rae Kyung) and I moved back to Canada in 2002 and lived a year in Surrey BC as I completed my doctoral thesis and Jasper brought our child Jamie into the world (while I cheered her on).

A year after we moved to Caronport Saskatchewan for one year as I taught philosophy at Briercrest College (my friends from England loved the fact that the nearest town to Caronport was called "Moose Jaw").

A year later we returned to the city of my origins, Edmonton, AB, where we have been since 2003, spreading joy around the capital region as I teach theology at Taylor Seminary, buy lots of books, and write a few of my own.

Customer Reviews

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Theological Precision may Not Solve Paradoxes, November 30, 2011

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Mike Robinson "Mike A Robinson: Apologetic An... (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Faith Lacking Understanding: Theology 'Through a Glass, Darkly' (Paperback)

Philosophers, atop their Ivory Tower window seats, have always seen the advantage of precision. "It is the mark of an educated man to look for precision in each class of things," argued Aristotle; "Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize till you have tried to make it precise," noted Bertrand Russell; "precision is next to godliness," opined Samuel Beckett. "Agreed," say analytic theologians, in discussing revealed truth with great care, which allows them to achieve accuracy in writing and dialogue.

But to the rest of us, with the search for doctrinal truth, wanting to know God, and remaining within orthodoxy, precision feels like a stranger. But in "Faith Lacking Understanding: Theology `Through a Glass, Darkly'" Randal Rauser aims to make precision your friend; and he largely succeeds by utilizing the outline of the Apostles Creed.

The author opens with Augustine's assertion that "unless you believe you will not understand." Rauser adds J.I. Packer's comment: "Faith first, sight afterwards, is God's order, not vice versa, and the proof of the sincerity of our faith is our willingness to have it so." After launching from that appropriate footing Rauser discusses the need to examine one's understanding concerning important doctrines including the six he understands as violating "the basic dictates of logic, or our moral sense, or minimal plausibility in light of our scientific understanding of the world" (p. 5). Many scholars strongly disagree with Rauser and argue that they can uphold core doctrines that may seem translogical as rational truths. He then offers one of his many careful and helpful definitions as he distinguishes a logical paradox (need to be taken literally; a truly inconsistent set of statements) from a rhetorical paradox (non-literally; pedagogical tools). From this he states that in "this book we shall consider paradoxes in doctrine" (the Trinity, the Incarnation, etc.) so that one may be "adequately prepared" to understand the rational tensions involved in doctrinal concepts. He employs paradoxes within scientific theories to assist the reader in knowing that "every comprehensive theory will have its problems, limitations, and anomalies" forasmuch as "these theories must be balanced against the comprehensive scope of explanation offered by the theory. If its explanatory assets are greater than its liabilities then one has a good reason to maintain it. The same goes for Christianity" (p. 10).

In the ensuing chapter Rauser explores the Trinity as he aims to put away special pleading in favor of the paradoxes vis-à-vis God's Triune nature because it "looks suspiciously like an arbitrary, ad hoc move to indemnify human theological constructions from critical scrutiny." Rauser provides a fine summary of many of the pertinent passages of scripture that reveal the triune nature of God (pp. 16-21) as he affirms its truth while critiquing various unorthodox positions including the Jehovah's Witnesses and Oneness Pentecostals.

Even though, in the end, the author's ruminations fall short in solving Trinitarian paradoxes, his exploration and careful arguments are both informative and gratifying. There is a remaining paradox within the biblical revelation of the Triune God and the person of Christ that the reader can rest upon in great delight.

Chapter three discusses the profession that God is the "Maker of Heaven and Earth." In his discourse on the topic of creation Rauser sketches an assortment of plausible solutions and then assesses them. Within this fertile subject, he works through many important concepts such as Creation ex nihilo, Ockham's Razor, God's general preservation vs. intervention, miracles overriding natural law, empiricism, the weakness of Hume's inadequate argument against miracles ("a violation of natural law need not be a miracle, nor need a miracle be a violation of natural law," pp. 44-47), and more, as he secures Democritus' notion that "from nothing, nothing comes." This section is worth the price of the book inasmuch as it offers a fascinating exposition of theories regarding divine action (pp. 48-62).

The succeeding chapter launches into the possible logical problems concerning the Incarnation of Christ as the God-man: Jesus is fully God and fully man. Rauser recounts a meeting he had with two Mormon missionaries and uses their egregious errors to help the reader understand the confessional truth regarding the person of Jesus Christ (pp. 65-69). The author's goal is to defend the Chalcedonian formulation by calling upon some of the sharpest minds including William L. Craig, J.P. Moreland, Thomas Morris, and others to offer a wide range of reasons for this creedal truth. Most Christians have not pondered many of the implications of God manifesting in the flesh, but herein Rauser brings several essential ideas to the pursuer. But like the proceeding doctrines, the author, as keen as his philosophical cognizance is, ends in mystery; nonetheless a mystery that "invites neither skepticism nor dull acceptance, but rather a simple fascination" like that of an enchanted child (p. 85). This chapter also furnishes some excellent Christmas sermon material for the thoughtful pastor (make sure you properly acknowledge and credit the author).

Next Rauser leads the reader to the cross and the atonement provided in the death of King Jesus. Many relevant and some little known views are addressed with exacting detail and a serious approach. The description and explanations are interesting and concise, but perhaps some of the author's bias may creep in a bit in his usage of prejudicial language. This seems to appear when Rauser discusses propitiation forasmuch as he employs unnecessarily harsh terms: "vindictive," "victim of the Father," "bloodthirsty," etc. (although various scholars from liberal and conservative backgrounds apply similar terminology). This is a very vital section since it discusses many crucial concepts apropos the atonement made by Christ; even though sundry readers may disagree with the author's extrapolations, it is not easy to find such a clear, understandable, and rigorous presentation of different atonement views in such a limited amount of space (pp. 86-112).

The final two chapters cover Christ's Ascension and the Final Judgment. The author stretches the reader's assumptions by analyzing rational applications many may never have considered. The closing segments are intriguing and profitable for the non-specialist as well as the busy student.

Christian theology is based upon scripture with creedal traditions expressing the summary of its truth. Theologians and students who value clarity and precision in formulating doctrinal positions must scrutinize their conceptions utilized in the arguments they make in order to carefully defend them. As Rauser shows, language has an intricate complexity and subtly that helps finite men express a broad range of biblical truths; truths the believer is to proclaim and guard while aiming to avoid inconsistency and ambiguity. And one of the great strengths of this volume is assisting believers in eliminating imprecise, maladroit, and muddled theological thought through the application of analytical tools.

Philosopher Martin Heidegger once mused that it is only essential for a man to wholly deliberate one thought all the way through to the very end. Heidegger may have not taken his Nazi leanings under this type of scrutiny, but Rauser has attempted such with the six doctrines he discusses in this work. Bertrand Russell added: "I do not think you can start with anything precise. You have to achieve such precision as you can, as you go along." If you agree with Russell, this book will help you along the road of doctrinal truth expressed with the attention it warrants.

"Faith Lacking Understanding" is endorsed by:

* John R. Franke

* Oliver Crisp

* Jason Clark

* Steve Holmes

* Kelly M Kapic

For those who seek resolutions to paradox and difficulties, be cautioned, there isn't a conclusion to a chapter that offers an unqualified resolution of doctrinal complications. Rauser is very clear and enormously skilled at explaining multifaceted theological and philosophical concepts. Nonetheless, ultimately one must "believe in order to understand." This volume addresses questions that have beset Christians for centuries--many are contained within the Apostles' Creed. Herein Rauser exhibits a firm grasp of the general shape and scope of Christian doctrine; a clear view of its fine particulars and minutiae; deep philosophical and theological learning; conceptual prowess coordinated by informal readability; a sense of the contemporary environment--and generally animated by unpretentious joy in the inexhaustibility of the Triune God expressed in the Person of Christ.

by Mike Robinson

author of "Truth, Knowledge, and the Reason for God"