Abstract This article explores the doctrine of Scripture in Anglican evangelicalism. It critiques the defence of the clarity and perspicuity, truth and even the inerrancy and infallibility of propositional revelation, as proposed by Dr Mark Thompson, currently the Principal of Moore Theological College in Sydney. Thompson’s contention over nearly 20 years is that the ‘God who speaks’ cannot mislead or communicate in a way that is less than trustworthy and true. He argues that the historical tradition of apophatic theology, with its belief that finite human language falls short of the Infinite Reality of God and cannot therefore be reduced to clear and distinct literal or prosaic specification, not only undermines the Biblical doctrine of the ‘God who speaks’, but is responsible for contemporary agnosticism. This article defends the orthodox apophatic thesis that God transcends the metaphorical and analogical images of him of finite theological discourse and upholds an understanding of faith as a response to a God who does not compel assent but allows humans the freedom to respond or not to respond. Thompson’s quest for clarity and certainty replaces the free response of faith with ‘regenerate reason’ – reducing the human appropriation of the divine revelation to ratiocination.
Peter Carnley (Fri,) studied this question.