Therese Foote writes:

>             So active faithfulness, doing God's will,
> will lead to knowledge and the epistemic belief that
> follows upon it.  But to demand that one have such
> belief before one has even entered into the relationship
> with God!  That is to stand Christianity on its head.

A few paragraphs later, she writes referring to the
dilemma of a woman seeking God:

>           But Christianity tells her:  You cannot come
> to God unless you already believe. 

I resolve the apparent contradictions of the two allusions
to Christianity, in that the first refers to Christianity
as Therese Foote believes it should be; the second to
Christianity as it is.

I have no problem with Therese Foote, or Kevin Solway, or
for that matter, any other correspondent with our list
redefining Christianity, God, Faith, Belief, Truth, or any
of the other difficult concepts that are our stock in trade.
The attempts of each one of us to set forth his own views
and the subsequent attempts of the rest of us to understand
these views seem to me the most valuable of pedagogic exercises.
At the same time, to the extent that issues of religion are
subjective matters, we should not be surprised, much less
chagrined, when we find ourselves in irreconcilable disagreement.

The canonical Protestant resolution to the paradox of faith
(not mine) is explicitly set forth in Articles 4 and 5 of the
Augsburg Confession. (I cite a bowdlerized modern text, the
only one I have at hand.)

        4. Von der Rechtfertigung
        Weiter wird gelehrt, dasz wir Vergebung der
        Suende und Gerechtigkeit vor Gott nicht durch
        unser Verdienst, Werk und Genugtun erlangen koennen,
        sondern dasz wir Vergebung der Suende bekommen
        und vor Gott gerecht werden aus Gnaden, um Christi
        willen, durch den Glauben, wenn wir glauben, dasz
        Christus fuer uns gelitten hat, und dasz uns um
        seinetwillen die Suende vergeben und Gerechtigkeit
        und ewiges Leben geschenkt wird. Denn diesen Glauben
        will Gott fuer "Gerechtigkeit vor ihm" halten und
        uns zurechnen, wie St. Paulus im Brief an die Roemer
        Kap. 3 und 4 sagt. 

        (4. Concerning justification
        Further it is taught, that we cannot attain
        forgiveness of sins and justification before God
        through our own deserving, works, or satisfaction 
        but that we receive forgiveness of sins and are
        justified before God by grace, for Christ's sake,
        through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered
        for us and that for his sake the sin is forgiven us 
        and justification and eternal life are given us.
        For God will deem this faith as "justification before
        him", as St. Paul says in chapters 3 and 4 of the
        letter to the Romans.)
            
        5. Vom Predigtamt
        Damit wir solchen Glauben erlangen, hat Gott das
        Predigtamt eingesetzt und das Evangelium und die
        Sakramente gegeben. Durch diese Mittel gibt er
        den Heiligen Geist, welcher den Glauben wo und
        wann er will, in denen wirkt, die das Evangelium
        hoeren. Dieses lehrt, dasz wir durch Christi
        Verdienst, nicht durch unser Verdienst, einen
        gnaedigen Gott haben, wenn wir solches glauben.

        Es werden verworfen die Wiedertaeufer und andere,
        die lehren, dasz wir den Heiligen Geist ohne das
        leibliche Wort des Evangeliums durch eigene Bereitung,
        Gedanken und Werke erlangen.


        5. Concerning the ministry
        In order that we might attain to such faith,
        God has instituted the ministry and given the
        Gospel and the Sacraments. Through these means
        he gives the Holy Spirit, which brings about
        faith when and where he wills, in those who hear
        the Gospel. This shows that, when we believe this,
        we have a merciful God through Christ's deserving,
        not through our deserving.

        The Anabaptists and others who teach that we may
        obtain the Holy Spirit without the physical word
        of the Gospel, through our own preparation, thoughts
        and works, are condemned.


               The resolution which Therese Foote 
suggests, reminds me of the deism espoused by authors such
as Lessing in the latter half of the 18th century. Given the
enthusiasm with which Kierkegaard praised Lessing in the
Concluding Unscientific Postscript, I wonder what Kierkegaard
thought about Lessing's para-theological writings, such as his
correspondence with Hauptpastor Goetze in Hamburg, or his drama,
Nathan der Weise. Does anyone have any hints? It is difficult
for me to imagine that Deism's easy way out of the paradox of
faith would have been acceptable to Kierkegaard.

Another solution to the paradox of faith is even easier.
"Dieu me pardonnera; c'est son devoir." Heinrich Heine is quoted
to have said.

Ernst Meyer
review@netcom.com