Monday, 26 January 2009
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Theology is Our Modern-Day Tower of Babel
Guest post by cattiger03
I was reading in my systematic theology book. It talked about how the periods of a dominant theological worldview have changed over time. Plato dominated for 800 years, then Thomas Aquinas held the stage for three centuries, then came Calvin and John Wesley. In modern times, theologies only last for a decade at best. They are usually tied to the intellectual thought of the day and therefore doomed to be outdated and die prematurely. Furthermore, theological adherence has changed. It used to be that there were distinguishable teams in jerseys on the field ,but now everyone has their own team. There is no internal adherence or complete set of doctrines.
I have wondered why it is (aside from postmodernism) that we in this age do not come into agreement on anything; how the set views of a church are always very different from what every individual inside actually believes (even among the pastors often!). I realize that people are influenced by more venues than church and the Bible, and this explosive information age is partially creating the result. Despite all of these answers, however, I have still been looking for the big tie-in. Where is the pretty bow to wrap up this package? I think I have found it.
God is sick of our theology. God is sick of theology that was used in the middle ages to burn "witches" and during the crusades to lead wars into foreign lands. He is tired of spotless churches and their intolerance on the basis of race or income or whatever else they choose. Therefore, our misguided uses of theology to perk ourselves up and "prove" we deserve his love and attention have been confused.
I am talking about the Tower of Babel in our generation. We thought we could reach him with our philosophy-entwined, poetical systems of thought about him. The truth is – all he ever wanted was our hearts pure and devoted towards him. He never gave us the Bible so we could lord it over one another. He was trying to reach us and introduce himself and his plans... but this book was never even meant to contain him! He is too huge! He is mighty and awesome and limitless! The Bible was an Etch-a-Sketch of a beautiful three-dimensional piece of artwork bursting with color, size, shape, texture, and dazzling loveliness. Therefore if the Bible, which was created by God himself (through the Holy Spirit), was not the point of all of this, then surely man-made theology is a stench in his nostrils.
Do not misunderstand me. God wants to be sought. God wants our relationship. The Bible is the perfect, infallible, word of God and is without flaw. Unfortunately, the Bible was all our puny selves could handle as an introduction and there is more out there (a relationship!). God has confused our theology because we leaned on it rather than seeking him. We did not give ourselves over to prayer, worship, and fasting. Instead we huddled into groups under various divisive issues and refused to engage the rest of the world.
God wants us to step out and engage him above all, but also our neighbors. We were put here to shape this world, not occupy space. Our lives are supposed to have meaning and impact, but this can only happen when we are obedient to him. We are only obedient to him when we seek him specifically and follow his call wherever it leads. Too many of us have learned theology and decided we were finished. The truth is that God has so much more to show us about himself. A relationship cannot be had without interaction and communication.
Therefore, God has allowed confusion to cloud the theologies so that each of us must seek him individually and step out from behind its stagnant shelter. Think about this: if we rely on theology, we will only venture as far as the previous founder went. If you are dependent on the teachings of Calvin and Martin, then how far behind God does that put you? A great deal late to his present agenda on this earth. The trumpets are sounding in heaven as the end times are unfolding. We are living in a capstone generation (Zechariah 4). If we are going to fulfill the purposes that God put us on this earth for in this day, then we must lay aside whatever is holding us back from his path.
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- From: cattiger03@xanga
- Name: Cat
- About Me: God and I are always having adventures. I am my beloved's and he is mine.
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Comments (27)
And what, pray tell, are our purposes?
I think this post is ridiculous and ignorant. Theology is quite simply the study of God. If you are a Christian (or any religion) you have a theology that is always developing. It's your understanding of God. Everyone is a theologian, whether they like it or not.
There have been theological disputes since before the bible was even written! (Council of Jerusalem, Acts 15) Are you suggesting that God 'confused' them that early because of their sin or arrogance?
God is not sick of our theology. God may not like our arrogance in theology, but to say that God is sick of our theology is saying that God doesn't want us to know Him. It's statements like this that pave the way to heresy and a denial of God as He has revealed himself in scripture.
It seems to me that this entry would perpetuate the same practices that have created our Theological Tower of Babel. "The truth is – all he ever wanted was our hearts pure and devoted towards him." This is exactly what theologians have done. They didn't do it for the recognition or financial gain (talking about Christians here), they did it because they honestly sought God and the best way they could worship him.
The result is our current state of some hundreds of separate denominations. But I don't think this is necessarily bad! We're all part of the same body even if we look--sometimes radically--different. People praise in different ways, but we're all praising the same God!
In truth, there are people who attempt to define the things that bring us together (http://www.carm.org/doctrine/essentials.htm). When we interact with other denominations, these are the things we can agree on, teach, believe, and celebrate together.
Oh my gosh.
If you don't identify yourself with a certain theology, then you don't believe anything about God. Theology is merely the study of God...just as Theophilus said. God wants us to study about him and his nature...how could he be "sick" of our theology? He's sick of our wrong beliefs, yes, but you actually believe he's causing us to believe wrong things about him because he's mad?
Are you referring only to Christian sects here, or to all religious sects worldwide?
@Theophilus166@xanga - Your first paragraph is what I was thinking, too.
If by "theology" you mean "slavish adherence to a man-made system of thought without regard for any genuine experience of God," then I'm inclined to agree. Witness Jesus' remarks to the Pharisees. The moment what we believe about God becomes more important than the God we believe in, our religion suffers spontaneous implosion.
I just don't think that's all "theology" is in practice. This article itself is chock-full of theological statements about everything from bibliology to eschatology to theology proper, and presumably you don't disagree with them or find them confusing, divisive, or unhelpful.
I've always liked Chesterton's definition: "Theology is simply the part of religion that requires brains."
In fact, in your article you're attempting to do what every decent theologian wants to do-- focus our attention on what God is really like. Not all succeed, but the goal is worth the effort.
@Theophilus166@xanga - I wasn't going to be that blunt...but that's exactly what I was thinking. Thankyou.
@Pass_the_Aura@xanga - Well put, and I love that quote.
So are you saying that God intentionally and somewhat maliciously created schisms in his own bride (the church) because we wanted to employ our minds as part of worship (as he calls us to do in Deuteronomy)? Because that's what it sounds like when you reference the Tower of Babel....that and you suggest that theologians (including yourself) have claimed that through the study of theology we don't need God...which makes no sense at all.
The reason "dynasties" of thought transition more quickly now is simple: the internet. Ideas travel faster now than they used to and are more readily available to more people. The more people hear about something (in this case, an idea about the nature of God) the more debate will ensue. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
There's the negative connotation of theology such @Pass_the_Aura@xanga describes, but that doesn't mean we throw the baby out with the bath water.
cattiger03 wrote: "Think about this: if we rely on theology, we will only venture as far as the previous founder went."
Exactly! That's why we go back to apostolic, Biblical doctrine.
Acts 2:42: And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching...
All theology & all teaching must be checked against the Scripture, just as the Bereans did (Acts 17). We can't blindly accept the teachings of any human teacher.
cattiger03 also wrote: "Unfortunately, the Bible was all our puny selves could handle as an introduction and there is more out there (a relationship!)."
Yes, there is a relationship, but our relationship with God does not determine the truth about God. There is an independent body of truth about God independent of our experience. Any experience we have must be checked against Biblical truth. Our experiences can be deceptive and lead us astray.
@Theophilus166@xanga - Bingo.
- @Theophilus166@xanga - looks like you have said it for us. I don't always agree with you, but your comment is right on track.
@naphtali_deer@xanga - You're right. If we depend entirely on what other "scholars" think without checking their statements against Scripture, we are going to be deceived. We can easily be duped by things that 'tickle our ears'.
The metaphor here lacks something important. The Tower of Babel unified the people. The theologies today are very much divided by their differing views. Therefore, your metaphor is broken. Also, seeking God through theology is only as much of an idol, a better metaphor if I do say so myself :D, as you let it be. If you are only seeking to argue and prove other theologies wrong then you are missing God. However, as we attempt to unravel the mysteries of the Bible we find that we cannot possibly know everything. Scripture even tells us in Deuteronomy 29:29 that God hasn't given us full knowledge. He has given us all the knowledge we NEED in the Bible. When we venture outside of that is when we are crossing a line that God has drawn. Stemming from this most theological issues stem from scripture that is hard to understand. Investigating these things does not anger God. In fact, I would venture to say that he is pleased that we are enveloped so deeply into His word that we care to decipher confusing implications and ideas. Don't let yourself venture into Liberalism.
And I thought the modern day Tower of Babel is a humanistic New World Order, globalisation, one government, one official language and one currency...
I don't see how theology is an obstacle to what you think God wants of us.
In fact, I don't know how we'd accomplish what you think we should without theology.
@SerenaDante@xanga - "We were created, and after the fall, redeemed that we might be worshippers of the Most High God. This is the chief end of man" - Tozer
Keith Green wrote a song that said, "You try to make things too complicated, You really don't have to be so smart, You won't learn a thing until you soften your heart."
We shouldn't seek theology, rather we should be seeking God.
Should we throw out theology? No way. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
You have some very good points. I think it is important, however, to know theology, to know what is agreed upon by those who hold God's word as authoritative, that we may not be "blown about by every wind of doctrine." If we make our Christian life all about theology, we have a serious problem. If we look down on others who agree that salvation is only through Christ because of their theology on a less significant issue (such as the precise significance of baptism), we have a serious problem. But if we think that we can go it alone theologically and disregard what anyone else says, we run the risk of falling into error.
@SerenaDante@xanga - I thought ReveLife was a Christian blogging community. Are you Christian? If you are not Christian, you shouldn't be worried about it. Go find your purpose, live any which way you want.
@dailyconstruct@xanga - You are more than welcome to ignore me, as I am about to ignore you.
@SerenaDante@xanga - I never said anything about ignoring. What are you basing your assumptions on?
@dailyconstruct@xanga - I am basing my assumptions on the freedoms allowed in my country. I was simply informing you that you could have just ignored my comment rather than wasting your time writing something so blatantly obvious, as clearly I will be following my own purpose, since the author of this blog has not described any other. I was also informing you that since I have the freedom to ignore you, I was going to ignore your redundancy... But now you are insisting that I pay attention to you.
Btw, it's "I never said anything about ignoring."
@SerenaDante@xanga - Yes, I noticed that and corrected it before you commented.
No, I was not wasting my time. I was simply informing you that you shouldn't waste your time seeking your purpose in life here if your intents are not honest.
According to the freedoms afforded in my country, I chose not to ignore you. As I noted, its a community. Discussion is welcome, but not harassment.
If I am not mistaken, either you or several others have sort of taken it upon yourself to amuse yourself on the "Christian" boards. I understand that's the popular thing to do nowadays.
But of course, you are still free to ignore me.
Btw, there is a book called the Bible if you want to find your purpose (in the Christian sense). That's the short cut answer.
However, No insistance :)
@dailyconstruct@xanga - I was harassing no one, simply asking a question, as I wanted to know the answer of the author of this post. If the only answer provided is "go away," then I can only assume Christianity offers no intelligent answer to my question.
It is quite fun to post things on here. And almost as good a learning experience as datingish.
The Swiss Theologian Hans Urs Von Balthasar shared your pain. About 50 years ago he pointed out how once theologians were saints -- they were the praying type; on their knees. At around the age of reason, theologians became desk theologians, professionals, nolonger praying, not kneeling -- just sitting at a desk with books and degrees.
Theology is not the problem; the approach is the problem. Still, there are jewels to be found: please try these: Charles Peguy, Soloviev, GM Hopkins, Ratzinger, Henri De Lubac, Reinhold Schneider.
Study of God-- yes that's Theology. This is the very reason why there are so many interpretations of what God is and who God is and whether God exist. The mere fact that we are discussing this, it means that there is God. We just couldn't comprehend.
I don't understand still how can I make the unbeliever believe as they are rationalizing and of course, the discussion about God is something that we have to be open and prayer is something that I hope can help me help others to believe. Faith is sometimes a gift. Not all people have this and you have to be happy that you are born with it. Some people will have to be guided to receive faith. How can you share faith when it is invisible?
Ohh.. Theology.. is something that intellectual minds need to resolve. I think there is one Theologian who was able to proove that there is God. I just cannot remember.. and to think that others don't believe just because there is no evidence.. This is the same faith that Thomas has.
And how did you get to accept the theological notion that the bible is infallible?