A new ‘heresy’ is to be sure of anything

by Archbishop Peter Jensen

I have noticed an odd thing: that in talk about faith, a new ‘heresy’ is to be sure of anything.

Now let me hasten to agree that there are many, many things abut God of which I am ignorant and many things in the Bible on which there are different sincerely held and justifiable opinions. In matters of the faith I am a beginner and the more I know, the more I realise that I have yet to learn. And yet there is a level of assurance about God through his word which we may have as Christians, and it does not help when we claim less. 

Naturally we must acknowledge the limitations on certainty which are simply part of being human. Absolute certainty on virtually any subject is hard to achieve. I suppose that you can have radical doubt about anything, including the actual existence of other people – if you really want to go to such a ridiculous extreme!

On the other hand, on most matters in every day life we usually achieve a more than reasonable level of knowledge, and we live our lives successfully assuming that our beliefs ‘work’.

From catching the bus to obeying the doctor, we are pretty sure that we know what to do and how to do it.  In fact, faith and reason need each other. We have to trust all sorts of people and words and beliefs and objects beyond what is strictly verifiable by mere logic. Indeed, science cannot progress without faith, and yet, in the end, there is considerable confidence in the results achieved. Of course, science is always open to correction and improvement in the light of new evidence.

But then, the same thing applies to Christian faith also. I may be sure of something, and yet be willing in principle to re-examine it to see whether I have understood the matter correctly.

One thing which gives me a level of confidence is the agreement of other Christians, though of course the word of God is pre-eminent.

Which brings me back to Christian confidence and assurance. If Christianity were essentially the record of human striving after God, we would have a justifiable degree of caution about all its claims.

But Christianity starts from the point that there is one creator God who has spoken to us through his servants in human language, and that he has come amongst us in the person of his Son. Of course many people deny these presuppositions of Christianity. But becoming a Christian involves being persuaded that they are true. There is a word of God which we may trust.

My problem is that some Christians seem to have become very nervous about this confidence in God and his word, so much so that they are unwilling to make sufficiently clear truth-claims. 

Not only does this hinder their own growth in faith, it means that they become uncertain when they are communicating the gospel about Jesus. It is not surprising that non-believers then become unclear about what the Christian message is.

But God’s word has a clarity which we may trust and to speak from that clarity is not arrogance or over-confidence. Indeed, it honours God by accepting that he is able to communicate his truth to us.

Another thing I notice: that when people accuse others of over-confidence or too much assurance, they generally do so with considerable assurance of their own and a great confidence that their own words can communicate the truth.

Perhaps the problem is more to do with the content of what we say, rather than the certainty with which we say it! 

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