Christian
theology without metaphysics is an illusion. However much some
theologians may want to avoid the issue by talking about revelation,
there comes a point when the question can no longer be evaded: Why
believe in God at all? If the only grounds for belief in the Christian
revelation are part of that alleged revelation, the theologians have cut themselves off from people who think about their
beliefs. If there are no grounds for believing that a Christian scheme
is preferable to some non-Christian one, the choice between Christianity and some other
religion or none becomes arbitrary, irrational, even trivial.
--Slightly redacted from H. E. Root, "Beginning all over again" in
Soundings, edited by A. R. Vidler (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1962), page
13, quoted in Flew, A. G. N. God: A Critical Inquiry (LaSalle, IL: Open
Court, 1984) page 13.
