It's not that simple

Ever read something from a well-known author that strikes you as simply wrong? That was my reaction to Oscar Wilde's comment that "truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility!" I believe the exact opposite; let me tell you why.
       Many years ago a scientist friend shared with me his explanation of how the scientific method works. You begin with a mass of seemingly unrelated data and in time you discover how they are associated and posit a "law" (drop something a thousand times and it always seems to head for the floor - Aha! gravity). Then you move to a slightly higher level of incongruity now equipped with this newly discovered "law.” The same process is repeated and at each  “Aha!” step along the way the issue becomes increasingly clear and a new “law” is formulated. To put it simply, science is the process in which confusion is organized in such a way as to reveal the simplicity that was always there.
       What specifically interests me is that this process is true in other fields of learning as well. While the advance in any field temporarily brings a new level of confusion, the ultimate result is an informed simplicity. Karl Barth, the most influential theologian since Thomas Aquinas, summarized his massive 4-volume Church Dogmatics saying, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Truth, for this intellectual giant, was pure and simple. How many times in a discussion in which you are about to “win the argument” you hear the caveat, "It's not that simple.” The opposition would have you believe that it’s more complicated than you’ve made it and that you have unwisely chosen to settle for a simplistic answer. No evidence to the contrary is set forth so there is no way to further establish your position. Beyond that, the certainty with which the mantra is spoken suggests that the other person has a vast store of knowledge on the subject which, if brought into the discussion, would reveal how uninformed and simplistic your conclusion really is. I’d like to suggest that "It's not that simple" is, more often than not, nothing more than a maneuver to gain the advantage.
       Now I'm not suggesting that all life is so simple that it can be understood without serious reflection. What I am suggesting is that most issues, when studied with care, can be expressed in genuinely simple terms. So often intellectual verbiage is a path that leads away from truth and serves the egocentricity of the discussant rather than a mutual understanding of the issue. For instance, to return to Karl Barth, no one denies our human inability to grasp the "complexity" of a triune God who speaks into existence all that is. But at the same time, few can deny the existential reality of the simple statement, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” In matters eternal we must think with our heart as well