Many Christians are better scholars than you or I will ever be. St. Augustine based his Summa Theologica very much on observation, study, comparison, discussion, and thought. Ministers study for years to gain a vocation. The Pope may well be the most learned and educated leader of any nation in the world -- name a national leader who is better educated than he, who can speak and read more languages than he, who had studied and thought more than he about the essence of what it means to be human.
Ah, but what do they study? The moment you assume that any proposition is revealed truth, the moment you decide to accept without question any proposition relayed to you by another human being, you are taking the "I hear and obey" route. You are placing the parameters of your study in the hands of another human being. You can build a gargantuan edifice of contemplation on that foundation, but the moment you question the foundation - and if you are honest, you must question it - the whole edifice comes down. That is why believers in revealed truth are so adamant about not questioning those "truths" which they claim are revealed. They are fond of their edifice, and they don't want it coming down.
But the moment you accept a proposition without question, you set honesty aside. |
