Faith Seeking Understanding
I’m finally reading Catherine Keller’s book On The Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process. It’s one that I’ve been wanting to read for a while and I am so glad that I have finally gotten to it. It is truly a beautiful work. I particularly liked this passage which gives a lovely definition of theology (page 17):
Anselm classically defined theology as fides quaerens intellectum–“faith seeking understanding.” Not faith that already understands and so no longer needs to seek. That would by definition no longer be theology. Theology itself is not the faith but its quest. If we stop seeking we are no longer on the way. Faith seeking understanding has then turned into “belief that understands.” It then closes down the very root of quaerens from which come both question and quest. Speaking divine wisdom in a mystery, theology remains a work of human speech. Theology is not the same as faith or belief, but a disciplined and relational reflection upon them. God calls, but we are responsible for what we call “God.” And God may be calling us to that very responsibility!
Painting: “cruciform” | elliot r. wolfson | summit, nj, 2007 | oil on canvas | 24 x 30
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