Monday, May 02, 2005

Punting to mystery

I'm bothered by how often Christians punt to "mystery" when they can't resolve a contradiction in their own worldview. They do it so often, it's tempting to think "mystery" is just a synonym for "contradiction."

If there is a contradiction in our own worldview, then let's just be honest and say our worldview is false. If we have good reason to think that some apparent contradiction has a resolution that we just don't know about, then we should say what that reason is. Only then are we justified in calling it a mystery.

If we punt to "mystery" every time somebody brings up a contradiction we can't solve, then we are in no position to criticize other worldviews just because they contain contradictions. If punting to mystery is a legitimate way for us to avoid solving a difficulty in our own worldview, then what are we going to say to others who punt to mystery when they can't answer our arguments against their worldview? Let's be consistent and hold our own worldview to the same standards of logic we hold other worldviews to.

3 comments:

Mike - hotfudgesunday.blogspot.com said...

What a great point! I will probably link to this, since it kind of goes with the subject matter of my blog. Wanna become a contributing writer? 8 )

Sam Harper said...

Thanks, Mike, but that would stretch me too thin, like butter scraped over too much bread.

Mike - hotfudgesunday.blogspot.com said...

I'll just link to you, then. You've really got a good head on your shoulders!