True theology is dialogue, not monologue. It is conversational and dynamic, not monolithic and static.
In our forthcoming Theology 101 series, we seek to model theology as dynamic and lively conversation between people wrestling with faith and the meaning of faithful living. This model of doing theology is invitational and seeks to call people forth into the lively conversation of faith that has been going on for millennia. (A conversation that will continue until Christ’s return!)
One of the biggest challenges with the perception of theology today is the assumption that theology is about dry, old doctrines decided by some guys who are long dead. It is as if everything has been decided and there is nothing to change or question and our job is to just give a nod or a shrug and carry on with trying to live faithfully (as if that is truly possible without theology).
Theology is the most impossible task of the Christian life. Yet it is the most necessary task. On the one hand, when we talk about God we are attempting to speak about the One we can never contain in human words. In the Hebrew scriptures and Jewish tradition, God’s name cannot be spoken. The concern is that if humans presume to name God, or limit God in human language, we therefore presume to have control and power over God. So too with theology, if we presume that our theology is about naming, limiting and defining God’s overflowing magnificence, we find ourselves caught up in idolatry. Our definitions and words about God become the idol to which we bow rather than bowing to the One who defies and unhinges our limited human perceptions and expectations.
On the other hand, theology is absolutely essential for Christians. As human creatures with the gift of thought and language, it is our particular calling to offer the gift of our thought and language to our faith. In the journey of faith we are challenged to love God with all our hearts, minds and souls. Loving God with the whole of our beings includes loving God with our minds and bringing the fullness of our thought and language to bear on the journey of faith. Language is not only about giving voice to thought and experience, it is also about communicating and communing with others in the human family.
So how can we do this? How can we live within these seemingly conflicting realities? How do we talk of God while resisting the temptation to limit God to our finite language and thought? How can our theology reflect the humility and limit of our creaturehood, while also honouring the glorious generosity of our Creator who made us with a creative capacity for language and thought to give voice to our faith in community?
Simply put, it is when theology is conversation, dialogue, even argument that we most fully honour and give glory to God in human thought and language. It’s like the conversation and dialogue among the community of faith not only reflects the immanence of God and diversity of ways God meets us and draws us, but it also points beyond itself to the transcendence of God who cannot be contained or limited by language and thought. Further, it is in the community of faith in dialogue, conversation and argument that we most fully embrace who we are, creatures made together, for each other as the body of Christ.
When we look at the scriptures, there is no single story that can speak to the fullness of the experience of God. There are contradictions, differing experiences and points of view. There is no single voice, story or thought that can bear the height and breadth of the fullness of God’s revelation of love. Instead, all the scriptures together bear witness to the diverse ways God is experienced in human life while also, together, they point beyond any one story to the One who inspires all the stories.
In our column for Theology 101 this year, we seek to reflect such diversity and dialogue. And so you will find in the column this year that every topic will be addressed by different points of view. We hope our readers will find this engaging and invitational, inspiring theological discussion and debate. We hope you will be challenged and inspired to give voice to your thoughts about God and the things of God in dialogue with others whose perspectives and experiences might be quite different. As followers of Christ, may we love God with all of our minds through theological argument and dialogue that through our many words, the divine Word may be glorified.
