"Postmodernists fret mightily about arrogance and dogmatism, but to avoid them they typically rebound into the equal and opposite errors of cheap tolerance and relativism. However, a belief in the objectivity of truth and its importance for all of life does not entail an arrogant attitude or an unbending, irrational dogmatism. Despite the strong convictions that drive this book, I want briefly to distinguish two claims, lest I be misunderstood. It is one thing to claim that objective, absolute and universe truth exists. It is quite another to claim that one has mastered these objective, absolute and universal truths or that one has nothing more to learn and is in no need of correction."
"I will argue strenuously for the former claim but (not being omniscient) make no pretense to the latter. In fact, it is precisely belief in a truth beyond one's own thoughts and culture that allows one to be rebuffed and reconstructed by reality. We can, therefore, be realigned by the truth and with the truth. This nonnegotiable distinction should engender humility, not arrogance; a quest for reasonable certainty through dialogue, not dogmatism through mindless affirmation and denunciation."
"Richard John Neuhaus' comments ought to serve as a tonic for the Christian thinker, myself included, who may be tempted by visions of intellectual grandiosity. 'Few things have contributed so powerfully to the unbelief of the modern and postmodern world as the pretension of Christians to know more than we do...If Christians exhibited more intellectual patience, modesty, curiosity, and sense of adventure, there would be few atheists in the world, both of the rationalist and postmodern varieties.'"
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