THE VIRTUE OF THE NO-SAYER
“. . . As Nicolai Berdyaev reminded us, ‘There is a sainthood of daring as well as of obedience.’ I take this to mean that faith itself is a standing up to God, at once holy and heroic, in which the very honor of a believer is somehow at stake. Thus, Job, whose patience has become proverbial, should be regarded rather as a paradigm of faithful expostulation with God, a courageous no- sayer whose argument was finally vindicated. And Jacob, admired for his exemplary patriarchal piety, ought better to be remembered as the wrestler with God who would not yield until he had received divine blessing. Yes, there is need today for a theology of courage — of holy daring, saintly boldness — which may serve to justify the way of human beings with what has immemorially been called God.” Roger Hazelton, “Toward a Theology of Courage,” New Review of Books and Religion
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