punting to mystery

I thought this was great the other day. It's from Primitive thoughts of a Christian philosopher (or at least a modest philosopher -- I think he's very good).

Punting to mystery

I'm bothered by how often Christians punt to "mystery" when they can't resolve a contradiction in their own worldview. They do it so often, it's tempting to think "mystery" is just a synonym for "contradiction."

If there is a contradiction in our own worldview, then let's just be honest and say our worldview is false. If we have good reason to think that some apparent contradiction has a resolution that we just don't know about, then we should say what that reason is. Only then are we justified in calling it a mystery.

If we punt to "mystery" every time somebody brings up a contradiction we can't solve, then we are in no position to criticize other worldviews just because they contain contradictions. If punting to mystery is a legitimate way for us to avoid solving a difficulty in our own worldview, then what are we going to say to others who punt to mystery when they can't answer our arguments against their worldview? Let's be consistent and hold our own worldview to the same standards of logic we hold other worldviews to.

His follow up entry, The mystery of the incarnation is also worth reading.

I read a good book by R.C. Sproul a while back called Not a Chance. He had a good section in it on the difference between mysteries and contradictions. I don't recall the details, but I'll look it up and write on it at another time. (I did. See here.)

The fill-in pastor at the church I attend is a retired pastor, and he's great. But he does make this error of telling people that things are "a mystery" and "a contradiction," and that some things in the faith "aren't logical," but we still know they're true "by faith." It's just terrible, because some people listening (besides me) are going to recognize the fallacy of that, and think that, to be a Christian, you have to put reason (proper thinking) aside.