Pensées

9. I was discussing the Reformation briefly with a professor, who suggested that one way to understand that moment was as the triumph of plain speech over analogy. Generally, this is a true statement, but it can be misleading. In doing away with some of the excess analogies of the Catholic church, reformers hoped to highlight the central analogy of Scripture to which all other ideas must submit. That analogy is that God, throughout history, has been restoring humanity to personal fellowship with himself. Christ sealed this in his atonement, and it is applied to believers through the workings and intercession of the Holy Spirit. We understand this because of the Church, over which Christ reigns as the true head of the church. To suggest that a man is the head of the Church is to take a step in the wrong direction. If we're going to return to the usefulness of analogy in understanding Christianity, it's got to start there.