Mark Thompson: Calvin on 'testing all things'

I have long known that 1 Thessalonians 5.21 was one of Luther's favourite verses. At least it is one which he keeps quoting again and again — 'Test everything; hold on to what is good'. It is an encouragement to avoid both credulity (accepting without testing) and censoriousness (in the sense of always criticising and never settling on and delighting in the truth).

Luther's words have often stiffened my resolve to avoid the censorship of ideas just because they are different from my own or seem to clash with my present convictions. Test everything. I firmly believe in the free market of ideas, that Christian truth has nothing to fear from open, honest inquiry and appeal to the tests of appropriate evidence. To be more specific, evangelical reformed theology has nothing to fear from engagement with the challenges posed by those holding other positions. That is why we have never had a 'sealed section' in the Moore College library. We have never restricted the reading of our students just to those we might consider orthodox or safe. There is much to learn from those with whom we might disagree. I remember in an Old Testament class — more than thirty years ago now — being encouraged to read Gerhard von Rad with the words 'I dare you not to find anything good in these pages'. I remember being encouraged to read people like Karl Barth until you really understood the power and allure of his theological project and only then to dare to say why you cannot travel all the way down that road with him.

We cannot and must not shield ourselves from the challenge that comes from differing points of view. After all, it may be we that are wrong. None of us is infallible or inerrant. But Paul's words are worth listening to carefully. Test everything. Don't be credulous or gullible. Don't just be swept along by the latest thing you've read. Don't let powerful prose or a tantalising promise of profundity beguile you. Weigh what you hear and what you read and what you intend to say, write or blog, against the explicit teaching of Scripture. Keep reading