Tell all the Truth but tell it slant – Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind –
– Emily Dickinson
This poem is often seen as a poem about poetry itself, but I think we can also read it as we think about our understandings of God and also our own theologies. I have taken my theology very seriously throughout my life. Its kind of part of my job now, but this has not always been good or safe. There is a certain kind of danger to living a good life, and I think there is even more if you want to live a holy life. The greater your goal the more desperately you might be tempted to pursue it and desparation sometimes can lead us astray even as we seek the best things.
This has happened to me a few times so far, and I think that this has made me a little gun-shy when I encounter different parts my faith and theology. I have two voices that will pop into my head when I think about God or scripture. One voice is the detached/despairing skeptic who does not see the relevance of the passage; the other voice is the obsessive angry fundamentalist who wants to read the text or see the idea in the most horrible, unhopeful light.
I have worked really hard to fight of these two voices, and God has given me some serious victory, but it is still hard at times. One thing that been helpful though is studying theology outside of my tradition.
I guess you could call this to borrow a phrase from the title of one of John Milbanks book’s, The Word Made Strange. When I hear scripture interpreted from a different standpoint or tradition I can sometimes silence the voices of my two inner tormentors. This is because on one hand the distance I have from the tradition makes me feel like it has fewer demands on me. And on the other, the difference in expression can some times help me slip some real truth by my defenses at the same time.
When we hear the truth told slant to us by other traditions, then we have a chance to hear it afreash including parts we often miss out on. Once this is done then we can return to our own tradition with fresher eyes.
Another thing this can help with is avoiding what I call border patrol Christianity. This is a term that I am not totally satisfied with for how theological debates can some times block out the rest of what various theologians and traditions or even the Gospel has to say. It happens when people become so concerned about the areas of conflict that they can no longer see the rest of their faith. The controversy comes to block out the rest. This results in a thin eggshell like faith that would have very little meaning if the conflict were resolved. It is theologizing motivated only by trying to define the inner and outer parts of groups in a controversy.
Some of this can be appropriate at times, but if it the begining and end of our theological reflection then we will run the risk of having the form of faith without its substance, much like the Pharasees.
Looking at other traditions can help us avoid this because it raises issues and questions that might not have occured to us in the first place. This is some of what C.S. Lewis’s intro to Athanasius: On the Incarnation. He claims that we should read old books and that is in part because they were produced by times that had different questions and problems. Perhaps they were not making some of the mistakes that our time is making. This is partly my interest in this topic of Eastern Orthodoxy as well and that is some of why I would commend it as an issue for study. In a future post I will look at it in some depth and discuss how it has told the truth to me slant.