This post will contain mostly a giant quote. But it is a good one. As someone who is interested in theology, frequently reads theology, and tends toward the very human error of getting excited about one theological truth to the neglect of another, I have read some things in various materials lately that have caused me to reconsider how I come about theology and understanding of Scripture.
Here is A.W. Pink, a British theologian of the previous century, at the introduction to his now classic work The Sovereignty of God.
"Almost all doctrinal error is, really, Truth perverted, Truth wrongly divided, Truth disproportionately held and taught. The fairest face on earth, with the most comely features, would soon become ugly and unsightly, if one member continued growing while the others remained undeveloped. Beauty is, primarily, a matter of proportion. Thus it is with the Word of God: its beauty and blessedness are best perceived when its manifold wisdom is exhibited in its true proportions." (9)
The catalyst for the writing of Pink’s book was what he saw as the almost exclusive concentration on the freewill of men and women in his contemporary world, to the exclusion of God’s sovereign control. He hoped his book to act as a corrective to this, to restore some balance and proportionality to doctrine that his readers might come to see God more for who he really is than who they would rather imagine him to be.
This is a good warning for me, a warning to not focus on the one thing that seems so important to me at the time and to forget that our God is vast and contains multitudes, including incredible paradoxes. I agree, then, wholeheartedly with Pink. The source of most errors that I have ever witnessed in the church is not ill intentions or sin, but focusing on one thing to the point that another equal truth is entirely ignored. Balance really is the most precarious position.
Here is A.W. Pink, a British theologian of the previous century, at the introduction to his now classic work The Sovereignty of God.
"Almost all doctrinal error is, really, Truth perverted, Truth wrongly divided, Truth disproportionately held and taught. The fairest face on earth, with the most comely features, would soon become ugly and unsightly, if one member continued growing while the others remained undeveloped. Beauty is, primarily, a matter of proportion. Thus it is with the Word of God: its beauty and blessedness are best perceived when its manifold wisdom is exhibited in its true proportions." (9)
The catalyst for the writing of Pink’s book was what he saw as the almost exclusive concentration on the freewill of men and women in his contemporary world, to the exclusion of God’s sovereign control. He hoped his book to act as a corrective to this, to restore some balance and proportionality to doctrine that his readers might come to see God more for who he really is than who they would rather imagine him to be.
This is a good warning for me, a warning to not focus on the one thing that seems so important to me at the time and to forget that our God is vast and contains multitudes, including incredible paradoxes. I agree, then, wholeheartedly with Pink. The source of most errors that I have ever witnessed in the church is not ill intentions or sin, but focusing on one thing to the point that another equal truth is entirely ignored. Balance really is the most precarious position.
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