The necessity of theology
“Theology is necessary in order to make preaching as hard for the preacher as it has to be.”
—Gerhard Ebeling, Word and Faith (London: SCM, 1963), p. 424.
Poul Anderson, Three Hearts and Three Lions
9 hours ago
Thursday, 13 March 2008
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and vice versa
Hard? You mean, that easy?
Rather, with Barth, theologians should confess to the impossibility of their project, in order to show that preaching is - impossible. But, nevertheless, obligatory. Thus do we give God glory.
Mathematics is necessary in order to make physics as hard for the physicist as it has to be.
All of mathematics is a mere tautology. But, of all possible tautologies, mathematics is the grandest.
With Godel, mathematicians should confess to the incompleteness of their project. For all mathematical systems (complex enough to include the natural numbers) are incomplete. But, nevertheless, obligatory. And thus God is glorified.
Yours in Christ - JOHN HARTLEY.
Kim, that's a great comment. In fact, I reckon you've just provided the best possible summary of the whole difference between Ebeling (i.e. Bultmann) and Barth: the question whether preaching is difficult or impossible.
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