Was Kant Right?

It is almost natural for the modern Evangelical Christian to immediately reject Kantian thought outright.  The reason for this is the fact that Christianity relies on a set of truths that have no exception.  That is why we call them dogmatic, because they are non-negotiables.  Therefore, if Christianity is right, then Kant must be wrong.  I would like to argue a different perspective based on this almost side-note given about Kant.  “He argued that while some type of reality might exist outside of one’s mind, it is unknowable in itself.”  I am inclined to say that he is absolutely right.  This one statement has certain “Christian” implications without doubt.  In this post I will explore this thought and develop it in detail, and also I will discuss the inherent dangers in being too “Kantian.” (I know I said a post on grace would follow, and it certainly will.  It's my favorite topic! I just know it will probably be long and this was on my mind because of a class lecture)

            All Christian thought has its roots in one thing: revelation.  Kant is absolutely right to believe that humans have no capacity in and of themselves to conceive of an absolute truth because of the issue of relativism.  We cannot know anything apart from ourselves or apart from the created order in which we live.  Our minds cannot conceive of anything that is not a part of the system we reside in.  Here is an example. When I hear Eric Clapton play the guitar, I have the capacity to recognize it as good music.  I have something inside me that hears and appreciates music.  But my dog will listen to one of the greatest guitar players ever to live, and he will appreciate nothing about it.  The dog has no capacity to recognize music or the feelings it conveys.  Similarly, those truths that are above human recognition due to our limitations are unknowable and un-recognizable as truths to humans.

            Now, about this idea of revelation, Christianity finds its authority and source of credibility in a collection of writings that are credited to someone who is not limited to the boundaries of the created order.  Our knowledge and our truths were introduced to us from an outside source, namely the Holy Spirit.  Moses’ law was given to him by God Himself.  Christ was an ambassador from heaven and he made “reality,” to appeal to Kant’s terms, “relative” to all of humanity.  Unfortunately, Kant would probably not like this argument, or rather “apology,” for the Christian faith because of his Descartes-like approach to everything.  His instant response would most likely be the same response every other theory elicits from him: doubt.  Doubt and skepticism, as stated in the introduction, have inherent dangers.  And so now I would like transition into a concise explanation of these dangers.

            Doubt, pessimism, and skepticism unchecked can lead to depression, sadness, and loneliness that is quite possibly responsible for the destruction and imploding of as many souls as sin itself.  It is healthy to question things around us, but if we live by the motto “Doubt everything first,” we will drive ourselves away from truth and live lives of confusion and paranoia.  Doubt and skepticism, if clung to, lead to pessimism and cynicism.  It is also contagious, as proven by my peers here at Indiana Wesleyan University.  Earlier this semester, a student started a Facebook group entitled I Miss God and Scripture in Chapel.  On this group, students posted complaints about the Chapel Staff and the messages being delivered in chapel.  Dr. Lo received a flurry of emails tearing him down spiritually and leaving him doubting his own abilities and his own calling.  Because of one student’s pessimism, two great pastors (Dr. Lo and Rev. Hannon) doubted themselves and were skeptical about their ministry and many students jumped on the bandwagon of pessimism and led to a campus-wide controversy.  Good men are not immune to the parasite of pessimism.  Dr. Jim Lo spends every morning on his knees in prayer for the students of this campus, and his reward was an unwarranted dose of depression.  All this is to say that there are certainly extreme dangers in skepticism and pessimism.  Questioning things is healthy, but letting that skepticism go unchecked can literally kill silently the souls of good people.  Through prayer and support, the chapel staff was restored their confidence but not without long-lasting scars.

            In conclusion, Kant was probably right.  Apart from revelation, we would have no truths by which to live.  Humans have no capacities in and of themselves to interpret truth and distinguish relative truths from absolute truths.  By grace we have those capacities now.  By the testimony of the Spirit and the revelation of God Himself through Christ Jesus, we have absolutes to work with.  But we should still question those things we hear in order to come to a better understanding of those truths.  It is important to make sure that we keep our skepticism in check, though.  It has the capacity to replace optimism and trust with cynicism and pessimism and ruin our hopes and have very negative effects on our relationships and on those people who do not deserve to be the victims of our selfish questions.  This was likely, in my opinion, Kant's demise.