Robert Letham points out that it is rather ironic that it was a council (Vatican I, 1870) that declared the doctrine of papal infallibility. Given the historic tensions between councils and popes, it’s a little curious in itself. But as one commentator put it, “the Pope needed a council to pronounce infallibly that he never needed it!”

Given that the Trinity is incomprehensible, there are limits to our understanding, and I regularly have students ask how far they should go.  That has always struck me as an odd question.  Incomprehensibility is not a reason to stop exploring and meditating, but the opposite.

Because God is incomprehensible, He fascinates, and whatever fascinates draws us forward, draws us ever beyond the limits we thought were there.

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