The Churches and Modern Thought: An inquiry into the grounds of unbelief and an appeal for candourPhelips, Vivian
Religion
The Churches and Modern Thought: An inquiry into the grounds of unbelief and an appeal for candour
Phelips, Vivian
Rationalism
There is another difficulty of belief in the divinity of Christ,
which it is all the more essential to bring into prominence because
it usually receives but scant notice from the pulpit. I refer to the
"ignorance" of Jesus Christ. In a review of Le Réalisme Chrétien et
l'Idéalisme Grec, par L. Laberthonnière, the Church Times praises
the Abbé's conception of Christian realism, and then goes on to say:
"Here is found the key to the mystery of the ignorance of Jesus Christ,
and of the other limitations attributed to Him in the Gospels. There
are two untenable theories--the one that He deliberately kept things
back from His disciples; the other that He was Himself ignorant of
His own true nature, which afterwards became known to the Church. The
truth is that He had to reveal Himself by living among men, and not by
giving them an abstract doctrine about Himself--a doctrine which must
have been either inadequate because adjusted to their comprehension,
or else incomprehensible because adjusted to a reality which was
beyond them." The plain question, however, is--Had He, or had He not,
the attribute of Omniscience? Did He, or did He not, know what we now
know? Are we to suppose that He pretended to be ignorant? Was He God
or was He man? The usual answer is that, as Very Man, He had only the
knowledge of His age (or, should we not say, of the very restricted
environment selected by Himself for His activities upon earth?),
but that as Very God he performed miracles, taught spiritually, as
never man taught, and was sinless. This answer, however, would not
be accepted by the Venerable W. M. Sinclair, Archdeacon of London,
who conjectures that "when our Lord said, 'Greater works than these
shall ye do,' He was perhaps thinking of the marvellous discoveries
of surgeons and physicians in times of advanced science" [!]. [84]
Nor would it be accepted by the Rev. David Smith, who holds that
Jesus accommodated Himself to the popular idea, and "after His wont
fell in with the delusion" [!]. [85]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account