FINDING A PLACE FOR TRUTH

By Akin Ojumu

There’s no joy in swimming against the tide. You can’t expect to make many friends when you choose to stand athwart traditions and long-held cherished beliefs. Unfortunately for me, that’s exactly the position in which I find myself. 

Like Don Quixote of La Mancha, I’ve been engaged in a quixotic quest to wrest my brothers and sisters from the clutches of false theological beliefs for quite some time now. Concerned that they are being misled and duped by the people to whom they entrust their soul, I have been trying again and again to open their eyes to see the truth, but to no avail.

To my chagrin, I have come to the realization that this is a thankless undertaking. The whole endeavor has been one of frustration and heartburn, to say the least. Many a time, I’ve considered calling it quits altogether. Nobody likes to be known as a glum dour downbeat killjoy. 

But it’s at those low moments of self-doubt and near surrender that God seems to remind me that I have got a job to do. In no uncertain terms, He ever so gently impresses on me to man up and quit whining about my hurt feelings like a self-absorbed narcissist. 

One of the ways God rekindles the passion in me for the work at hand is to send my way resources that make me remember that there’s really nothing special about me. I’m reminded that He has reserved for Himself seven thousand others who have not bowed the knee to Baal. 

The book, titled “No Place For Truth: Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology?” is one of such divine admonitions. And it’s the subject of this commentary.

Originally published over 30 years ago, No Place for Truth is one for the ages. David F. Wells, in his book, clearly and precisely diagnosed what ails the Christian Church. Whereas I have struggled to find the right words to describe what I know is wrong with the Church, Dr Wells articulates my grievance and concern about Christianity as it’s practiced today with an uncanny lucidity. 

In such profound terms and with extraordinary eloquence, he lays bare the sickness that has afflicted the soul of the Church. And it’s the disease of theological illiteracy. The book is about how the contemporary Church has emancipated itself from its theological moorings. Dr Wells jeremiads the abandonment of truth and the widespread embrace of myth and esoteric speculations by modern-day Christians.

Lamenting on the widespread theological illiteracy in the Church, Dr David Wells writes:

“In the intervening years, I have watched with growing disbelief as the evangelical Church has cheerfully plunged into astounding theological illiteracy. Many taking the plunge seem to imagine that they are simply following a path to success, but the effects of this great change in the evangelical soul are evident in every incoming class in the seminaries, in most publications, in the great majority of churches, and in most of their pastors.”

Predicting the cold reception his criticism would receive, he states:

“It is a change so large and so encompassing that those who dissent from what is happening are easily dismissed as individuals who cannot get along, who want to scruple over what is inconsequential, who are not loyal, and who are, in any case, quite irrelevant.”

Understanding the far-reaching implications of the theological upheaval in the Church, he vows never to be cowed by the ridicule and hostility from his fellow Christians:

“Despite this, the changes that are now afoot are so pregnant with consequence that it becomes, for me, a matter of conscience to address them. Conscience, I have learned, is a hard taskmaster, and I have not the slightest doubt that my attempt at doing this will appear quite ridiculous. I will look to some like the foolish dog that squats on the front lawn and, to everyone’s displeasure, bays at the moon. But bay I must.”

He goes on to point out the rampant disdain that many modern-day evangelical pastors have for sound theology:

“Many of those whose task it is to broker the truth of God to the people of God in the churches have now redefined the pastoral task such that theology has become an embarrassing encumbrance or a matter of which they have little knowledge; and many in the Church have now turned in upon themselves and substituted for the knowledge of God a search for the knowledge of self.” 

He then reminds his readers how vital theology is to the faith of any true Christian:

“Theology is not simply a philosophical reflection about the nature of things, but it is rather the cogent articulation of the knowledge of God. Its substance is not drawn from mere reflection, no matter how brilliant, but from the biblical Word by which it is nurtured and disciplined. And its purpose is not primarily to participate in the conversation of the learned but to nurture the people of God. That is its nature and that is its purpose. It is here in the Church that the circle of knowing – the kind of knowing that has Christ as its object and his service as its end – is to be found. It is here, then, that the audience for theology is to be found. And so, it is the community of faith that the theologian addresses fundamentally, because it is only by faith that the knowledge of God is first arrived at and only by faith that it is sustained.” 

A culture for whom God is no longer present believes in everything. When we believe in nothing, we open the door to everything. As the influence and relevance of sound theology wanes and our body of common belief shrinks and the importance of that belief recedes, myths and speculations are bound to proliferate. 

When sound theologians are sidelined and marginalized, the vacuum is filled by advocates of anything goes Christianity who push the destructive idea that the Truth of God is fungible and that everyone is free to make up their own mind about what constitutes the truth.

It’s for this reason you need to read “No Place For Truth.” If you want to grow in your knowledge of God and your faith, this book is a must.