C.S. Lewis (1960)
"Say what you like," we shall be told, "the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New
Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very
embarassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, 'this generation shall not pass
till all these things be done.' And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else."
It is certainly the most embarassing verse in the Bible. Yet how teasing, also, that within fourteen words of it should come the statement "But of
that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." The one exhibition of error and the one
confession of ignorance grow side by side....
The facts, then, are these: that Jesus professed himself (in some sense) ignorant, and within a moment showed that he really was so. To believe in the
Incarnation, to believe that he is God, makes it hard to understand how he could be ignorant; but also makes it certain that, if he said he could be
ignorant, then ignorant he could really be. For a God who can be ignorant is less baffling than a God who falsely professes ignorance. The answer of
theologians is that the God-Man was omniscient as God, and ignorant as Man. This, no doubt, is true, though it cannot be imagined." (Essay "The
World's Last Night" (1960), found in The Essential C.S. Lewis, p. 385) |