The Analogy of Experience: An Approach to Understanding Religious Truth.

Abstract

Here are Princeton's Warfield Lectures of 1970. Are they hermeneutical fragments or mini-systematics? In context of faith seeking understanding, John E. Smith, Clark Professor of Philosophy at Yale, proposes creatively interpreting gospel by using common experiences to aid in understanding theological language. This attempt is founded on a familiar diagnosis of Christianity's current malaise, a re-evalutation of traditional uses of analogy, and an account of experience which relies upon pragmatism and radical empiricism to correct reductionistic views. Of greatest value is Smith's lucid explication of analogy; elsewhere this hastily-laid foundation rests in unstable philosophical and theological subsoil. Nodding to Hegel, Smith realizes his proposal will be judged by how it works out. Experience must illumine such loci as God, man (sin), Jesus Christ (the atonement), and church. Sin is clarified by reference to a basic misorientation of self which erupts in flawed relationships. God is interpreted in terms of selfhood, i.e. a center of intention, related to yet distinct from its manifestations. Jesus Christ atones by teaching and enacting a self-sacrificial love which overcomes retributive justice. Lastly, comparison and contrast with other human communities shows church to be where divine presence as Spirit unifies many selves. Each analogy is insightful and suggestive. But if the truth is whole, it must be noted that analogies do not in fact function in same way or with equal success for all four doctrines. It is doubtful that they could or should. Unfortunately, scant heed is given to how religious language actually did and does function in community. Experiential analogies may help Christians understand some of their beliefs, but they do not provide Ariadne's thread for ventures in labyrinth of systematics.