Revelation

Over at the Althouse blog we have this quote:

[I]t is my obligation, not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided just as I cannot claim infallibility in my support of abortion rights.  I must admit that I may have been infected with society’s prejudices and predilections and attributed them to God; that Jesus’ call to love one another might demand a different conclusion; and that in years hence I may be seen as someone who was on the wrong side of history.  I don’t believe such doubts make me a bad Christian.  I believe they make me human, limited in my understandings of God’s purpose and therefore prone to sin.  When I read the Bible, I do so with the belief that it is not a static text but the Living Word and that I must be continually open to new revelations — whether they come from a lesbian friend or a doctor opposed to abortion.

Well, Private Revelation.  Per Wikipedia,

...public revelation is the deposit of faith and rule of faith and must be lived by all Catholics.  Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that all public revelation ended with the death of Saint John the Apostle.  Private revelations cannot surpass, correct, improve, or complete public revelation.

I think that Author Barack Obama pretty much captures it here.  And, as he notes, it can slip either war.

From the comments, obviously not the first (YoungHegelian, the owner of an IT Support Services Firm out of Silver Spring, MD):

I think the commenters here are being too hard on Obama here.

Remember, this is a lefty-liberal admitting that his support of abortion rights may need to be revised in light of further revelation or experience, and that his side may end up judged as on the wrong side of history.

These are not trivial admissions.

How is it waffling to admit our moral knowledge is often historically contingent?

No, this does not mean I am moving toward voting to give the current President a Second Term.

Regards  —  Cliff