The Human Predicament

The following is a slight adaptation of David Steinmetz description of Luther's understanding of the hideness of God. He writes, "The fundamental human predicament is unbelief. Men and women will not put their ultimate trust in God, will not receive their lives as a gift from God, but place their ultimate trust in themselves, in their world, in created reality. Human nature is proud, and human beings must be tackled in the depths of their pride. Human pride is broken down by the hidden revelation of God which always contradicts human expectations. A patient in a hospital has an immediate perception of his illness. He knows without waiting for a diagnosis from his physician that he is running a fever, that he is suffering from nausea and headaches, that his joints are stiff, and that certain sudden motions give him sharp pains in his arms. What he cannot tell from experiencing the symptoms of his illness is whether he is getting wore or is on the mend. The physician, however, is in a position to make a dispassionate judgment about the real condition of the patient. Suppose the doctors tells you that you are on the mend. you can, of course, put your faith in your symptoms and assume that the doctor is trying to keep from you the cruel truth that your illness is terminal. Assessing the empirical evidence with your own reason and common sense, no other conclusion is possible. Or you can, against the evidence of your sense and the pessimistic conclusions of your intellect, trust the word of your physician and assess your situation from his perspective. The fact of your beginning recovery is hidden under the contrary appearance of your virulent fever. you can grasp it now by closing your eyes to your symptoms and opening your ears to the word of your physician, who contradicts by his prognosis your immediate experience of pain."