Christianity is full of paradoxes, truths that appear to be at odds but are not. Why is this?

The ultimate source of truth is God, for he is ultimate reality, and truth is that which corresponds to reality. Because God is ultimate truth, all truth comes from Him and no truth is truly known unless it is known in relation to Him. That is to say, we can’t know anything unless we know God.

But because God is infinitely transcendent and we are finite, we can’t know him unless He reveals himself to us. God reveals himself in degrees: in creation, in his Word, and ultimately in his Son. Jesus Christ is the ultimate revelation of God (Heb. 1). As such, he is the ultimate source of truth. But God reveals himself through his son in a paradox, indeed, the ultimate paradox: Deity assuming a human nature, God and Man in one Person.

So, all divine truth comes to us through a paradox and thus will be paradoxical to one degree or another.

Understanding this should help us tremendously as we wrestle with theological difficulties like divine sovereignty and human freedom, cultural transformation and gospel constancy, or the power of the Spirit and the truth of the Word. The tension between those ideas should not be so surprising in light of the fundamental nature of God’s revelation through Christ in the gospel. That doesn’t mean that embracing the tension is easy; it isn’t. But at the very least it should keep us from pulling the “inconsistent” or “illogical” cards when discussing those topics because as evangelicals we all embrace orthodox Christology.

One Response to “Why are there paradoxes in Christianty?”

1. Andy Bean says:

   July 9, 2009 at 6:49 am

   Great post! Have you ever read Lewis’ “Transposition”? It is a short essay published in the same edition as “The Weight of Glory” that is currently available, and I think that you would find it to be most interesting in relation to this topic.

   Thanks for posting!