Learning should be connected with humility. Often learning and humility are not connected.
The reality is the universe is far larger and more complected than individuals can grasp. We all rely on others' expertise everyday. Even experts have more to learn.
Ultimately in any discipline we learn we should realize our limits. It is only our pride, not our learning, that would lead us to any conclusion other than our great limitations when we learn.
If we study science the universe is far larger than we could imagine. Economics has many truly complex problems. In theology we meet the most difficult to grasp thing overall: God.
God is bigger and more complex than we could imagine. Many theologians grasp onto the humility of Jesus. Turning the other cheek and the tenderness in the man. Others grasp onto the activist Jesus who fought against evil in the world.
You see both are correct. In God we find elements which fit beautifully together, but on the surface seem antithetical.
You see as we study God we find that tenderness and severity are compatible. We find many things in God that surprise us.
It is our personhood which is lacking. We are not the complex people we think we are rather we are quite simple because our sin makes us simple.
Showing posts with label theologians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theologians. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
The Core of Christianity and the Periphery
In theology there is a core and a periphery to theology. All truth is important, but not all truth equally vital.
The distinction is not arbitrary or unimportant. You see that scripture says that if we have all virtue, but lack love then our faith is meaningless. If we have the whole world, but lack faith in God our life is meaningless.
You see faith and love are at the center of Christianity, they fall in essentials. It is of great importance to the church to recognize what is important and what is not so important.
You see many churches in the current day focusing heavily on minor points of scripture which are toward the periphery of Christianity in importance and completely neglecting elements at the core.
Ultimately we need to embrace all of the truth in scripture, but we also need to pay attention most closely to what scripture says repeatedly. Usually scripture repeats what is critical in many places and many ways. Often scripture explicitly says that a principle is vital.
The distinction is lost to many theologians and churches. It seems unimportant. The reality is it is of great importance. Minor debates over the meaning of a Greek word used only one or two times or a single Old Testament text often have as much fervor as debates over the meaning of justification by faith alone.
You see we completely lack an understanding of the structure of Christian theology if we get caught up in the tiny debates of nuance and do not care about debates at the very center of Christian faith.
It is of course completely unmodern to place certain truths at a much higher level than other truths. But the reality is that it makes complete sense and you see many situations where it is the case in life that one truth is far more vital than another truth.
The distinction is not arbitrary or unimportant. You see that scripture says that if we have all virtue, but lack love then our faith is meaningless. If we have the whole world, but lack faith in God our life is meaningless.
You see faith and love are at the center of Christianity, they fall in essentials. It is of great importance to the church to recognize what is important and what is not so important.
You see many churches in the current day focusing heavily on minor points of scripture which are toward the periphery of Christianity in importance and completely neglecting elements at the core.
Ultimately we need to embrace all of the truth in scripture, but we also need to pay attention most closely to what scripture says repeatedly. Usually scripture repeats what is critical in many places and many ways. Often scripture explicitly says that a principle is vital.
The distinction is lost to many theologians and churches. It seems unimportant. The reality is it is of great importance. Minor debates over the meaning of a Greek word used only one or two times or a single Old Testament text often have as much fervor as debates over the meaning of justification by faith alone.
You see we completely lack an understanding of the structure of Christian theology if we get caught up in the tiny debates of nuance and do not care about debates at the very center of Christian faith.
It is of course completely unmodern to place certain truths at a much higher level than other truths. But the reality is that it makes complete sense and you see many situations where it is the case in life that one truth is far more vital than another truth.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Love is Not an Absence of Sin
It is very strange in the current day that some theologians have begun to define love as an absence. All discussion around love are what love is not.
It is difficult for these theologians to speak of what love positively is. They can talk for hours about what love is not. They tend to turn positive statements about love in the bible into the converse negatives of what love is not.
The bible gives negative and positive guidance about many things. It is important to keep the tense of the biblical teaching.
It is interesting that theologians who cannot speak positively of love also tend to turn all positive statements in the bible into negative statements which roughly correlate.
You see this is a great error. Christianity is an active religion, not a religion of absence. Love is a presence. It is positive power, not a lack of sin.
We can have a relaxing day at home alone avoiding sin, but we are not positively expressing love. There is nothing wrong with the relaxing day at home, but to be clear we have not expressed love if we sit at home alone for a day with no contact with the world.
Love is active. The bible uses many active statements about love because love is an action. The negative statements of what love is not in the bible clarify what love positively is.
Negative statements of what love is not are not a denial that love is an action. We must be very careful to read what the bible says. It is not scriptural to read what the bible says and then always modify it into a different form.
It is a form of redaction to turn the whole of scripture into a set of negative commandments. The bible is full of positive commands for living. To change the tense of the commands from positive to negative is to redact scripture.
It is difficult for these theologians to speak of what love positively is. They can talk for hours about what love is not. They tend to turn positive statements about love in the bible into the converse negatives of what love is not.
The bible gives negative and positive guidance about many things. It is important to keep the tense of the biblical teaching.
It is interesting that theologians who cannot speak positively of love also tend to turn all positive statements in the bible into negative statements which roughly correlate.
You see this is a great error. Christianity is an active religion, not a religion of absence. Love is a presence. It is positive power, not a lack of sin.
We can have a relaxing day at home alone avoiding sin, but we are not positively expressing love. There is nothing wrong with the relaxing day at home, but to be clear we have not expressed love if we sit at home alone for a day with no contact with the world.
Love is active. The bible uses many active statements about love because love is an action. The negative statements of what love is not in the bible clarify what love positively is.
Negative statements of what love is not are not a denial that love is an action. We must be very careful to read what the bible says. It is not scriptural to read what the bible says and then always modify it into a different form.
It is a form of redaction to turn the whole of scripture into a set of negative commandments. The bible is full of positive commands for living. To change the tense of the commands from positive to negative is to redact scripture.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Four Questions for Testing Theologies
Lately my critique of any theology has boiled down to four questions I ask:
1) Is the glory of God maximized?
2) Is the wretchedness of man maximized?
3) Is God's incredible fatherly love demonstrated while showing 1 and 2?
4) Does the theologian avoid squirming?
The only one needing explanation is the squirming. Theologians squirm when they become nitpicky about the meaning of words to explain away meaning. They squirm when they impose their emotions on events. They squirm when they refuse to allow God to take responsibility for his own actions. Squirming takes place in a wide variety of forms every time I see it I hate the theology coming along with it.
I’m sure there are other criteria needed to analyze how good theology is but for me I find these four very helpful.
1) Is the glory of God maximized?
2) Is the wretchedness of man maximized?
3) Is God's incredible fatherly love demonstrated while showing 1 and 2?
4) Does the theologian avoid squirming?
The only one needing explanation is the squirming. Theologians squirm when they become nitpicky about the meaning of words to explain away meaning. They squirm when they impose their emotions on events. They squirm when they refuse to allow God to take responsibility for his own actions. Squirming takes place in a wide variety of forms every time I see it I hate the theology coming along with it.
I’m sure there are other criteria needed to analyze how good theology is but for me I find these four very helpful.
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