tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8874293.post4426484392805498508..comments2023-10-21T12:02:06.956-04:00Comments on Qere Ketiv: The Infinity of TheologyRVWarrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119355195028123284noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8874293.post-30698454875619238212013-01-30T23:29:53.771-05:002013-01-30T23:29:53.771-05:00It's funny that even after I had written the a...It's funny that even after I had written the above, I'd not entertained that question. I think it hinges, though, on what we mean by "understand." In some (many!) ways, my analogy to atomic knowledge really falls flat here. Because, unquestionably, we will know more discrete "facts" about atoms as history progresses, but with God we have all knowledge already in the Face of Jesus Christ. Yet we can know deeper, on a personal and a communal level. It doesn't necessarily mean we "understand" more than, say, St. Augustine, in the rational sense, but we may have closer noetic knowledge. Sort of a Narnia "farther in and further up," I suppose. Part of this, of course, is that our being made like Christ, our theosis, will continue in the hereafter and forever: we will infitnitely draw closer to the Infinite One, but at the same time it is like limits in calculus: we'll never arrive at any ontological absorbtion. I do think, though, that the primary work of the theologian is to draw closer to God so that others might draw closer. In that sense, theology is nothing more than prayer with an invitation attached.RVWarrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02119355195028123284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8874293.post-32630105389133342842013-01-30T00:27:42.964-05:002013-01-30T00:27:42.964-05:00I'm curious - do you think that this growth of...I'm curious - do you think that this growth of theological understanding (into the infinite) is something that happens on a global scale or a personal one?<br />That is, does the church understand God better than the church of St. Augustine, because of all of the theological work of the past sixteen hundred years? Or is the work of theology primarily to come to a better personal knowledge of God? Or, for that matter, both?Gregoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603913860950993054noreply@blogger.com