Stop Being Teachable!
I have long believed that being teachable is a commendable Christian virtue . . . reflecting, humility, grace, and openness to the maturing work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, I have often published articles encouraging my readers to remain teachable, to continue to learn and grow in their faith, to submit to the guidance of gifted teachers. But after contemplating for several seconds recently, I realized that I was completely wrong. In fact, teachability is no Christian virtue, but rather the antithesis of what it means to be truly Christ-like. I demonstrate how I came to this conclusion through the following logical argument.
1. God is omniscient.P.S. Please do not try to change my mind about this. I won’t listen.
2. Since God is omniscient, He can not learn anything that He does not already know.
3. Since God can not learn, He can not be taught.
4. Since God can not be taught, He is unteachable.
5. Christ is fully God.
6. Therefore, in His deity Christ shares all of the perfect attributes of God.
7. Therefore, Since God is unteachable, Christ is unteachable.
8. Christians are to be like Christ.
9. Since Christ is unteachable, and Christians are to be like Christ, Christians should be unteachable.
10. I am a Christian.
11. Therefore, I should be unteachable.
6 comments:
Mike,
An interesting example of logical fallacy to prove a point. God's incommunicable attributes (limitless, changeless, timeless) are characteristics of Deity that cannot be transferred. However, the communicable attributes (love, mercy, kindness, patience) are another matter. In these graces we are commanded to grow day by day -- which, of course is something that God Himself cannot do, for He possesses all graces without limits in absolute perfection. Thanks for the humorous twist on a theological truth.
Dean Z
Mike,
Hey! Just discovered your site. Great stuff. I found myself giggling while reading this article.
I grew up in a church where the "if this... then that" rationalization was applied to the Bible in the pursuit of practical theology - with the objective of changing, or inducing, certain behaviors. It is a very dangerous thing and we find it almost everywhere.
It is always refreshing and perspective correcting to remind ourselves that God, His attributes and His character are not defined by human logic (or better yet human emotion). Rather, it is comforting to know that the fabric of time and space, the beginning and end, things known and unknown are defined by Him - even when we cannot rationalize our way through it.
Daniel Jordan
Now look what you've done. You've put off the 2nd coming: readingthoughts.wordpress.com
Mike-
You are thinking way too much or drinking too much caffeine or both!
Thanks, all for getting the joke. With some of my humorous writings (especially the Evangelical Theological of Cussing), people sometimes respond by trying to disprove my faulty exegesis and bad arguments. I can only feel sorry for people who don't quite get it. Thankfully, there are very few. I'm not THAT subtle.
Can I use this if I do poorly in Apostolic Fathers?
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