Reformed Humilty

From Glenn Lucke at Common Grounds Online:

A closing word about epistemological humility. It's painful for me to see the term disparaged by some in the broader Reformed community as a proxy for liberal views or as a proxy for relativism. Yes, I recognize that some who extol epistemological humility also embrace liberal theology and relativism. However, a proper appropriation of epistemological humility is the stance of staunch Reformed conservatives. Why? Because staunch Reformed people believe that there is a Creator-creature distinction, that all humans are limited by our finitude, and that the Fall further impaired our whole being, including our cognitive capacity. Historically the Reformed call this the noetic effects of sin, and any serious appropriation of the noetic effects of sin results in....epistemological humility.

The Reformed thinkers that embrace epistemological humility believe that God is and knows truth because He is not impaired by finitude or fallenness. He's the Creator and the Lord, we are neither. Because of His gracious revelation we can adequately apprehend truth. However, because of our finitude and fallenenss, we cannot totally comprehend God and His revelation. While we submit ourselves unreservedly to Sola Scriptura, we recognize that our theological formulations are not in themselves Sola Scriptura.

Are all things in Scripture completely understandable? Is it the case that people at the time of the composition of the original manuscripts-- not separated by time, culture, language-- perfectly understood the revelation? Probably not, because finitude and fallenness exerted their limitations on those who didn't suffer our cultural distance from the Scriptures.

Mercifully God's gracious revelation and His gift of the Holy Spirit aids us in our seeking to understand God and His Word. We can have adequate apprehension of God and His ways in order that we may glorify Him but our inability to have total comprehension leads us to...epistemological humility.

(HT: Internet Monk)