As I read through volume one of Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics (a magisterial four-volume work only recently fully translated into English) I am reminded again of that comment in Ecclesiastes. In dealing with the epistemologies of Locke, Hume, Kant, and others, Bavinck ends up giving arguments that in many ways could have been written to respond to the controversies over postmodernism in the contemporary theological landscape. He does a remarkable job of holding together a mosaic of important epistemological commitments that are instructive for Christian thinkers today.
After reading some recent authors, one might get the impression that only with the advent of postmodernism were we made aware of the noetic effects of the fall or human inability wholly to discard bias as we study God. Bavinck's work prods us to sit at the feet of the Christian tradition to recover wisdom for addressing the theological problems of our day.
As you're sitting at the feet of tradition, be sure you've also pulled up to the chair of biblical revelation. Tradition can go astray and must always be held accountable to exegesis. Keep both ears open.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteI'm in agreement that Scripture stands as our supreme authority for belief and praxis. And yet I think it's easy to overlook the contributions that our brothers and sisters of the past have to offer, which is why I want to hold to Scripture as our supreme authority and tradition as a rich treasury of insights even as it must be normed by the Bible.
Steve