What follows is a list of propositions, guidelines and principles which represent a balanced approach to theological paradox. These are the logical reasons for embracing paradox, standing in clear opposition to the assertions of those who exalt man's reasoning abilities beyond proper limits and at the same time minimize divine transcendence. These statements are an attempt to explain how a person can passionately and enthusiastically embrace Biblical paradoxes without in any way abandoning rationality, sound reasoning and common sense.
10 Affirmations of THEOparadox
1. God is perfectly logical, infinitely logical, and eternally logical.
In other words, contradiction and irrationality are not found in Him.
2. God's Word, The Bible, conforms perfectly to God's logic.
I am here affirming the logical coherence of Scripture.
3. Logic is the divinely authorized tool with which human beings must interpret Scripture.
Abandonment of logic is not an acceptable hermeneutic, for it would require the rejection of an essential and praiseworthy aspect of God's nature.
4. Human logic is an attempt to describe and explain divine truth.
Thus, as far as it goes, it is good and useful.
5. Human logic is imperfect, fallen and finite.
It is limited by our creaturehood and suffers from the effects of sin, so it inevitably falls short of its aim.
6. Human logic, no matter how mature or well developed, cannot correspond perfectly to divine truth.
This is nothing more than an affirmation of man's pervasive depravity and God's incomprehensibility. Man's logic is not always God's logic.
7. This lack of correspondence is not due to any irrationality on the part of God or the Bible. It is due entirely to man's creaturely status, his fallen nature and his stubborn dependence upon his own imperfect reason.
In other words, God is NOT the author of confusion. Rather, man is.
8. Where there is a lack of correspondence, there sometimes appears to be a contradiction of logic. This contradiction exists only in the mind of man and in the logic of man, not in God Himself, nor in His perfect Word.
In this I am affirming without equivocation that paradox, or apparent contradiction, is sometimes the furthest man can go in his attempts to explain divine truth. If a paradox cannot be resolved without removing essential aspects of divine revelation, the paradox is to be heartily embraced and affirmed in the face of all human logic - not because it is actually contradictory, but because human logic is insufficient.
9. Man's logic can correspond to divine truth only to the extent that God reveals both His truth and the way in which human logic corresponds to that truth.
To the extent that God describes what human logic cannot explain, there remains unsolvable mystery in man's knowledge.
10. God uses the paradoxes and mysteries which exist in man's mind as a tool for the furtherance of His purposes and the continuing revelation of His divine glory.
He is fully aware of our limitations, and accomplishes His will in His own way and by His own means - means which are comprehensive enough to involve mysteries and paradoxes resulting from the inherent imperfection in the logic of His children.
Let God's great glory be revealed, and man's fallen and finite mind be utterly humbled in consideration of these facts. Let man's pride be brought low as he realizes he is fallible, incapable and totally dependent on God's mercy.
SOLI DEO GLORIA!