The following is a quote from C. S. Song
There is what I call “healthy agnostism” in some Eastern religions and philosophies. … There is also “healthy agnosticism” in the Apostle Paul. After agonizing over the convoluted relationships between Jews and Gentiles in the divine dispensation in the eleventh chapter of his Letter to the Romans, he finally has to say, not in exasperation, but in relief:
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. (Rom 11:33)
This is Paul at his best— Paul not as a pretentious theologian. He knows how to keep silent in the presence of the inscrutable God. Most theologians try to say too much about God, but at the end of the day God is not any less real to the men and women who cannot make heads or tails of theological abracadabra.
C. S. Song “In the beginning Were Stories, Not Texts (Cambridge, UK: James Clarke & Co,, 2011), 6-7.
While we often use the term agnosticism to refer to an uncertainty about the existence of God, the term in a broader sense means “without knowledge.”
In our counseling center, we have a phrase we use: “ASC before you ASK.” ASC is an acronym standing for:
-Agnostic— Don’t assume you already know the answers, and the “whole truth.”
-Suspicious— Don’t assume that what you are told or see is the whole story. It might not even be true.
-Curious— Don’t be satisfied with what you know or presume to know. Seek to clarify and know more.
This is a healthy agnosticism. It is not a denial of good and reliable knowledge. Rather it is the understanding that what is true is going to be in some ways different from what I think I know, and broader than I have the capacity to know.
Theologians should not presume to ‘know it all.’ Some, thankfully far from all, theologians give off the vibe that they got it all figured out. Good theology has a good dose of mystery in it. Theologians are explorers in the dark. Their reflective flashlight may help them see what is off the well-worn paths of others, but their understanding of what is beyond will always be limited.
Of course, if there is “healthy agnosticism” their is, presumably, “unhealthy agnosticism.” Some theologians drift so far from having a certain groundedness to their understanding that, perhaps, they are best described as students of “religious studies.” Theologians study the Christian faith and doctrines through the lens of faith. However, that “faith” has to have a certain substance to it. One cannot have faith without having faith in something or someone.
In missions we seek to localize or contextual the Christian faith in a new context. In so doing we are often exploring new theological territory. What does a healthy community of Christ worshipers look like that consist only of male Filipino workers building an airport in Doha, Qatar (to pick something at random that I have modest knowledge of)? It imay be easy to come up with “Al Yagoda” answers (All ya godda do is this, or All ya godda do is that). This probably involves labeling a bunch of guesses and presumptions as true. On the other hand, one can throw up one’s hands and say, how can I know anything about this situation. It is unknowable. That seems an error as well. Truth can be teased out, at least tentatively, only with a healthy understanding both what we do know and what we do not.
