Theological integrity and its foundational principles

¶ … theological integrity" by Rowan Williams

Rowan Williams' concept of theological integrity attempts to resolve the central paradox of religious discourse: On one hand, religion attempts to express the ineffable, and thus there is always an elusive and indeterminate quality regarding the language used to speak about theology. On the other hand, because the truths it grapples with are so central to our daily lives, some determinacy seems to be required, given that the answers affect so much of our day-to-day existence. A valuable religious discourse is inevitably located in the particular since we are flesh and blood creatures as humans. Even if it cannot give answers it can at minimum highlight the complexities of the relationship of human beings with God. This is particularly true, given that in our society, we tend to valorize 'saying what you mean.'

Theological discourse, by virtue of being transmitted through the words of human beings, has certain inevitable deficiencies. "Theology has to study its own workings, not in narcissism, but in penitence" (Williams 318). The act of speaking is not merely assertion, but also acknowledges the speaker's own innate deficiencies before God. An individual who repents cannot, by definition, be making a dogmatic assertion about the divine that he knows all, given his acknowledgement of his own imperfections. Similarly, an individual who praises God likewise acknowledges his or her 'incompleteness' without the presence of God, and even though he or she may make definitive statements, this is always nuanced with the knowledge that despite his or her intellectual and spiritual gifts, without God he or she is literally nothing. Praise does not serve a utilitarian function in the sense that humanity expects a 'tit for tat' relationship with God, but is rather a declaration of vulnerability.

From praise and repentance comes the knowledge of the need for contemplation and prayer, and in this act of prayer, often in solitude and silence, that the soul is able to more fully understand his or her relationship with God. During this repentance comes the awareness of the limits of one's words to encapsulate the divine and the finitude and limits of human knowledge. Thus, ironically through attempts at definitive speech in the form of repentance and praise, human beings become more aware of the ineffability of God and the fundamental silence with which they can best contemplate his nature. Theology may stretch and test the limits of language, but the usefulness of these exercises is partially is that we begin to understand what we do not know and what we cannot express about God.