In light of the complex simplicity and mysteries of God, there are many who claim that the most prominent and important mysteries of Christianity contradict the laws of thought and/or are irrational and unrealistic. This reasoning is often the result of impractical employment of rationality due to ignorance. That which is unknown (whether unrevealed or unstudied) remains complex, a mystery. Once knowledge is gained, processed, applied, and/or experienced, complexity is replaced with comprehension and with increased comprehension comes simplicity (along with the ability to simplify). And that which remains unknown cannot be labeled irrational since it is beyond human understanding (until revealed or reviewed), not contradictory to it.
...A mystery in Scriptural context is something that is not known until revealed by God via special revelation. The apostle Paul eloquently articulates the unveiling of the mystery of the Gospel: "But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12). Moreover, in his first letter to the Corinthians Paul lays upon all Christians the responsibility toward mining, preserving, and applying such mysteries: "Let a man consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor. 4:1). It is thus well for us to grasp that, in actuality, the Truth of prophetic history (past, present, future) and the events therein rest within the context of the "hidden wisdom" and "deep things" of God (1 Cor. 2:7,10), as such, the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is itself the unveiling of the great mystery of the final fruition of God's Plan that had previously only been partially revealed within the Old Testament.
...What follows is a brief exposition concerning the matter of simplified complexity, meaning that there is a complicated truth that presents a core simplicity when one confronts and scrutinizes the complex details. I have chosen to illuminate the Incarnation so as to demonstrate a premise: God's simplicity leads to greater understanding of His complexity, whilst His complexity reveals profound simplicity. Inumerable theological realities can be so illuminated; however, one example shall suffice here due to the theistic gravity of the Incarnation. The method of illumination I have chosen to employ will reveal truth by stripping away putrid layers of bad theology to thus prepare the way for the Spirit to convict and confirm "the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3).
...Many former mysteries of old were revealed in the New Testament, most significantly that mystery of the Christ's Incarnation and Passion as laid out in Romans 16:25-27: "According to the revelation of the mystery kept since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations... To God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever..." Furthermore, prior to its fulfillment, this profound mystery remained unknown to world rulers: "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory..." (1 Cor. 2:7-8).
...If the significance of the events surrounding the Cross had been foreknown by world rulers and/or Satan, diabolical schemes would have been unleashed with the sole purpose of preventing God from fulfilling His Great Plan of Salvation. Hence, the "wisdom of God in a mystery," i.e. the Gospel of Jesus Christ, was purposefully "hidden" until the Lord God ordained its revelation. Ignorance thus became a wonderfully utilized tool in the shaping of history, resulting in self-imposed reverse psychology; Satan, as well as those personally and ideologically involved who sought to destroy Jesus, believed they were doing just that as the iniquity of humanity was laid upon Him (Isaiah 53:6).
...Such was the profundity of the Incarnation and Passion that throughout Old Testament history prophets and sages searched rigorously to understand what they prophesied about concerning this Messianic mystery. Even the angels desired to comprehend it: "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you... But to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven- things which angels desire to look into" (1 Peter 1:10-12).
...I will now address some of the most prominent, though futile, attacks on the Incarnation that originate primarily within academia and the remainder of the unbelieving horde on the planet that are referenced in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4: "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world (Satan) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not..."
...Some illogically propose that all of God became fully human, consummately negating His deity. Others propose the reverse, stating that after the Incarnation Christ had only a divine nature (monophysite,* meaning "one nature"). In actuality the second Person of the Triune God took on humanity while retaining His deity, thus allowing two natures within one Person, which is logical, whereas two persons in one Person is illogical. By this reasoning we may understand the Triune God as three Persons in one Spirit (Nature), not three persons in one Person. An uncomplicated parallel that may assist one's comprehension toward this reality exists in the circumstance of one man being simultaneously a son, husband, and father (as well as brother, uncle, etc). Many "natures" can be possessed by one person with little complication and with distinct division amidst the differing parameters; however, the depth of difference (and management of such difference) between human nature and the human spirit nature is cause for unwavering Christ-like discipline, naturally. There will, of course, remain an associative mystery concerning the Triune nature of God as humanity's presently finite minds attempt to understand the infiniteness of our Creator. [*Monophysitism was a divisive and controversial view of Christ's divine/human nature that arose in force during the 4th-6th centuries, greatly affecting the Eastern Byzantine churches. The Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, led by Pope Leo I, saw the issue officially settled (though not unchallenged) within orthodox Christendom by declaring that Christ was truly human and truly divine without any confusion, division, separation, or loss of the two natures in the single Person of Christ. The minority that disagreed formed the Monophysite churches.]
...Another futile proposition is that Christ had two wills (bithelitism), human and divine. The reality is that Christ had one will (monothelitism) influenced by two natures, as outlined above. His human nature battled His divine nature, hence the need for the human nature to be held in constant submission to God the Father, exemplified by the constant prayerful nature of Jesus (1 Thess. 5:17; 1 John 3:5). In light of this, fallen humanity's nature is at war with humanity's spirit nature, a circumstance Paul fleshes out, so to speak, in Romans 7:7-25: "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice... I see another law (nature) in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members" (v20,23). It is exactly this war of the flesh and spirit that Christ overcame through constant prayer to the Father and by solidly adhering to His Father's will, thereby submitting completely His own will to that of the Father: "...if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 26:39). He also reiterated to the disciples that "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41). This does not evidence two separate wills, one human and one divine. What is evidenced is that the Incarnate Christ's divine will was subjected to the influence of "human nature" upon His Incarnation. His Victory, then, included the conquering of not only death, but of sin-infested human nature, in our stead, for only Christ was worthy to accomplish such an Act (Rev. 5:2-7).
...Being that Christ alone was worthy to bring Salvation to humanity, there are some who insist that He could not have genuinely experienced free will, or more specifically, the absolute freedom to literally take up His own Cross in that He had entered into a "covenant of works" with the Father. This view is devoid of any merit whatsoever and strips the Christ's Passion of its passion, and thus replaces Love with obligation as the motivation for saving humanity. Further, such a view negates the all-important value of the Christ-like example; as if to say that Christ was "exempt" from any real choice because there was no other choice as to the salvation of humanity (in fact, there was an alternative: if God had chosen not to love us, He could have avoided all of human history by slaying Adam and Eve and beginning anew). Sadly, this level of heresy is on parade within certain Protestant denominations, invoking confusion within the laity concerning whether or not free choice is even a definitive construct of humanity, as decreed by God. Let us now examine what Christ Himself said about taking up His Cross and laying down His Life: "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This command (ability) I have received from My Father" (John 10:17-18). Here is nothing less than Jesus declaring that He alone has the ability to choose whether or not He "lays down His Life." Moreover, if choice were nonexistent concerning the Passion, it would have been illogical for Jesus to have revealed that upon His utterance more than twelve legions of angels would be provided Him (Matt. 26:53).
...The previous information begs the inquiry: If the Christ's Passion did not employ actual choice on the part of Christ Himself, then what value is there to be gleaned from His example? If Christ's "choices" were not borne of love for His Father and for humanity, but were the product of rigid obedience, why then should humanity show love for God at all, when strict legalism for its own sake will suffice? Such preposterous musings are, of course, pointless when the Word of God is taken as God's Word indeed, as opposed to a loose template upon which humanity would impose its imperfection so as to "perfect" that which illuminates said imperfection.
...The prodigious Design of Christ's Atoning Sacrifice demands the circumstance of choice which in turn necessitates the freedom of choice, for both Christ and humanity. Those who argue that such a paradigm is violated by the likes of predestination are guilty of abusing the terminus and context of the word, claiming that free will and predestination are incompatible or contradictory. Yet there is no contradiction in God foreknowing who will be saved while requiring/predetermining that their salvation would be dependent upon their freedom of choice. A contradiction is evident in coerced freedom, for how could one freely choose what they were forced to accept/endure?
...In demolishing bad theology, one can both uncover the core faults of such as well as further develop the merits of "good" theology. Thus, theological complexity can only be legitimately simplified as one seeks Truth from its Author, allowing Him to unravel the mysteries and depths therein, effectively avoiding the con of man, for "the carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7). Only when one purposes to reach Truth for God's glory, in lieu of establishing doctrines and theories for one's own sublimity, will one attain the truly sublime.
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