Discussing the mystery of the Incarnation, Luthardt voices the correct principle (which, however, he does not consistently follow): “The reality is not based on our thinking and our ability to comprehend it, but we must adjust our thinking to the facts. Our conceptions do not determine the facts, as the old sophists taught, but the facts determine our conceptions,” (Christl. Glaubenslehre, 1898, p. 350 f.) The “old sophists” have, sad to say, many followers. All deviations from the Christian doctrine spring from the propensity of men to make their own thoughts the measure of things and accordingly “correct” the facts of God’s Word. [...] Since man after the Fall no longer accepts God as the Center of his life and thinking, he has in foolish self-conceit made himself the center and measure of things. That is the bane of our day, particularly of our “scientific theology.”
-- Pieper, F. (1999, c1950, c1951, c1953). Christian Dogmatics (electronic ed.). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.