From Culture and Value:
“Christianity is not a doctrine, not, I mean, a theory about what has happened and will happen to the human soul, but a description of something that actually takes place in human life. For ‘consciousness of sin’ is a real event and so are despair and salvation through faith. Those who speak of such things (Bunyan for instance) are simply describing what has happened to them, whatever gloss anyone may want to put on it.”
“Predestination: it is only possible to write like this out of the most dreadful suffering — and then it means something quite different. But for the same reason it is not possible for someone to assert it as a truth, unless he himself says it in torment. — It simply isn’t a theory. — Or, to put it another way: If this is truth, it is not the truth that seems at first sight to be expressed by these words. It’s less a theory than a sigh, or a cry.”
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One response to “Ludwig Wittgenstein on Christianity and Predestination”
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Wittgenstein is right on. As much as we inwardly mythologize Christ’s suffering, we mythologize our redemption. Doctrine is needful, but only such that it points to reality. I think this is part of why we have so many people who halfway believe Christ died for them, and halfway believe they must earn it.
I think the real question isn’t predestination or free will. The real question is, in the here and now, are we autonomous creatures or puppets? Are we real boys and girls? There is no middle ground – predestination and free will are both fully true. It is a mystery like the trinity – the Father is God and the Son is God, but the Father is not the Son.
On reflection I think it is all pillow talk: you did it, not me! No, you did it! We are His beloved and He is ours. If our faith is predicated on having our theological ducks lined up concerning the nuts and bolts of predestination, it is the worst and most unachievable law ever conceived.