If statements and the church
If statements say that if one does a particular thing, then God or reality must respond in a particular way.
Recently, I watched “I survived I kissed dating goodbye” which follows Joshua Harris as he unpacks the effects his book had on people. I had heard that Harris was a Christian during the documentary, and later was not, so I watched curious to see what the deconstruction process looked like for him.
A criticism of Harris’ book was that readers believed that if they dated in a particular way, then they would have a happy marriage. In that moment, a common feature in other criticisms of Christian thought stood out to me – overstated if statements.
I’ve been wondering the extent to which if statements are actually true and I’ve concluded on two guiding thoughts from a Christian perspective.
1 God’s revealed character and ordering of reality means that our present actions are connected to future events. This means that the more we understand God and reality, the more confident we can discern the extent to which if statements are reliable.
2 Humility helps us navigate truths amidst our limitations. We see through a glass darkly. Knowing this helps to keep over-confidence at bay while not giving up on the search and sharing of complex truths.
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