Where God preserves paradox, we refuse the flattening impulse.
Six major theological mysteries where Scripture holds truths in tension without resolving them into tidy systems. Join us as we drill deep into mystery, exposing insufficient attempts to eliminate tension, and calling believers to worship where comprehension fails.
Why do we demand clarity where God has left paradox? From Daniel praying despite divine decree to the Trinity’s irreducible unity-and-distinction, Scripture refuses to flatten mystery into human logic. Deuteronomy 29:29 establishes the boundary: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” This Series examines six major theological mysteries where Scripture holds truths in tension without resolving them into tidy systems—prayer and sovereignty, Trinity, incarnation, election, providence, divine hiddenness. These are not contradictions but depths, not deficiencies but design. The foundation article surveys these tensions comprehensively; each Series article drills deep into one mystery, examining the biblical witness with Berean scrutiny, exposing insufficient attempts to eliminate tension, and calling believers to worship where comprehension fails.
What to Expect in This Series
Scripture presents truths that stand in irreducible tension: God decrees all things, yet prayer matters; God is one, yet three Persons; Christ is fully divine, fully human; God chooses unconditionally, yet humans choose genuinely; providence governs all, yet human action is real; revelation is sufficient, yet truth remains hidden. This Series does not resolve these paradoxes—it honors them. Each article examines one major theological mystery through careful exegesis, showing where Scripture affirms both truths and resists domestication. We expose the “flattening impulse” that trades depth for tidiness, then demonstrate what faith looks like when we embrace mystery as gift rather than obstacle.
Each article in this series will…
- Frame the Mystery: Present the specific theological tension Scripture preserves (e.g., prayer + sovereignty, one God + three Persons)
- Survey the Biblical Witness: Trace how Scripture holds both truths across multiple passages and contexts
- Expose Flattening Attempts: Identify common ways believers try to eliminate the tension (denying one truth, redefining terms, false harmonization)
- Demonstrate Scriptural Resistance: Show how the Word itself refuses the flattening impulse
- Call to Faithful Inhabiting: Model what it means to honor mystery through obedience, trust, and worship
Our Approach: As Bereans, we examine these tensions with reverence and rigor (Acts 17:11). We do not treat Scripture’s irreducible paradoxes as problems to solve but as depths to honor. We search the Word diligently to understand what it affirms, submit where it leaves tensions unresolved, and worship where it invites awe rather than analysis. Mystery is not deficiency but design—the purposeful preservation of truth that exceeds human comprehension while remaining sufficient for faith and obedience.
Series Overview
Each mystery below represents a place where Scripture refuses to flatten complexity into false simplicity, calling us instead to embrace depth as divine design:
- Flatten the Mystery: Why God Hides What We Want to Know: Published first as a comprehensive survey of six theological mysteries, introducing the “flattening impulse” and Scripture’s purposeful preservation of paradox.
- Prayer and Sovereignty: Daniel’s Paradox (Coming Soon) Divine decree doesn’t negate prayer—it makes it purposeful. Exploring the tension between settled purpose and genuine petition.
- Trinity: One God, Three Persons (Coming Soon) Monotheism without modalism, distinction without tritheism. How Scripture holds unity and tri-personality in irreducible tension.
- Incarnation: Fully God, Fully Man (Coming Soon) Two natures in one Person, neither confusion nor separation. The mystery of the Word made flesh without diminishing either deity or humanity.
- Election and Human Responsibility (Coming Soon) Unconditional choice meets genuine freedom. Why Scripture affirms both divine sovereignty and human accountability without resolving the tension.
- Providence and Human Action (Coming Soon) The heart plans, the LORD establishes. Exploring how divine governance and human freedom coexist without collision.
- Divine Hiddenness: The Secret Things (Coming Soon) Why God purposefully conceals truth, even from angels. Understanding the boundary between revelation and mystery.
Editor’s Note: The foundation article “Flattening the Mystery” emerged from a simple observation: contemporary evangelicalism often treats theological tension as a problem requiring resolution rather than a depth requiring reverence. We demand systematic clarity where Scripture preserves paradox, comprehensive understanding where God has left mystery.
This Series expands each major tension into its own article, not to resolve the mysteries but to honor them. If you want the comprehensive survey, read the foundation article. If you want to drill deep into specific paradoxes, walk through the Series. Both approaches serve the same goal: submitting to Scripture’s boundaries and worshiping where comprehension fails.