If the truth will set us free, then the pursuit of truth is a pursuit of our own freedom. To me, seeking truth – theories of truth, the history of belief- really digging into ideas and doctrines fills me with a greater sense of awe in the same way that studying microbiology does.
There is what can be seen with the eyes and then there is what can be seen under a microscope, and then there is what can be seen under an electron microscope. At each level of detail your sense of awe grows. You see a leaf and it is beautiful. You look at a leaf under a microscope and it is another world. Look at that leaf under an electron microscope and you’ll see the infrastructure of that world, including waste dumps and turbines.
For me it is the same with theology. The more closely I look at something, the more wonder I am filled with. It bothers me when I read book about postmodern Christianity with a deep undercurrent of disdain for deep study and, in keeping with postmodern philosophy, the belief in a multiplicity of answers to every conceivable question.
A desire to not allow trivial doctrinal differences to cause division is good, but at the same time one must rank doctrinal issues on a scale of “trivial”-”not trivial”-”critical”.
