Theology matters. And the reason theology matters is that everything we think we know or believe comes from our theological stance. Even the atheist has theology, it just entails a non-existent theos. The atheistic scientist approaches his experiments with no theos in his mind, so the results are strictly evolutionary. The theistic scientist approaches her experiments with theos in the subconscious, and so the results can allow for intelligent design. In that same fashion, everything we do is affected by our theology. This is why we start with a systematic theology about God. God is.... and go on from there. Everything else we discuss must come from our initial God is... statement. For me, I hear Jesus refer to God as Father more often than any other title, so I begin there. God is Father. If I peek around the scriptures, we find God is: love, just, good, faithful, kind, etc. All attributes of a Father, so Jesus description works. And if God is Father, then we must frame everything through that lens. That truth, that one little thing - that He is Father - demolishes any notions of a God who needs your approval to save your life. It does away with the idea of a God who creates some for paradise and others for torment. It does away with a God who concedes to our will to destroy ourselves. It also reshapes our vision of the cross - no Father would kill one child for the life of another, and certainly wouldnt turn his back on his only son. I wouldnt. Even if you would, I wouldnt and Jesus made it pretty clear that his dad is a better dad than I am. This is why our theology matters. Weve done it all wrong. We start in Genesis and then begin trying to explain this perceived judgmental old man in the sky. We cant do that for a number of reasons, but to save argument, lets just understand something. Each gospel writer in their own way rewrites Genesis. To them, Jesus was the new creation - and the new Adam of that new creation. So if we want to see God, start with the new Adam, and see how He reveals him. This is why we have doctrines of eternal conscious torment, doctrines of men only, doctrines of he godhead (people accuse me of being argumentative when I call the spirit she), doctrines of tithing, etc. These things are not legalisms they are the natural byproduct of poor theology. The God who acts in the way that demands what we have said he demands is nothing but a figure of Greek philosophy and Roman mythology. If we start there, with God as Father, it makes the progression simple to talk about the Fathers Eternal Son Jesus Christ. If we are ever to know Christ AND him crucified (not a singular statement. know the risen Christ and the teaching one) then we need to start with his Father. Ive said it before, without the proper theos, our logos will hardly make much sense.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:44:57 +0000
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