Posted on 05/19/2015 12:16:43 PM PDT by NRx
Nothing is as difficult as true theology. Simply saying something correct is beside the point. Correctness does not rise to the level of theology. Theology, rightly done, is a path towards union with God. It is absolutely more than an academic exercise. Theology is not the recitation of correct facts, it is the apprehension and statement of Beauty.
It is this aspect of liturgical life that makes it truly theological. It is also the failure of most contemporary Christian worship efforts. Gimmicks, emotional manipulation and a musical culture that barely rises above kitsch reveal nothing of God – and embarrassingly much about us.
This is equally a failure of theological argumentation in most quarters. Authoritative sources, managed like so-many hands of trump cards, are deftly played in order to dominate and destroy. But words have a divine origin, having preceded all of creation. They have a right relationship with every created thing. Just as in the beginning, every word brought something into existence, so every word, in right relationship, reveals creation to be what it truly is, and in so doing, makes God known, even present.
Theology looks for the words, in the right relationship, in the right order, at the right time. Written, spoken, sung, carved, inscribed, printed or lighting a digital screen, they share and commune the relationship, in the right order, at the right time to the right one. Sometimes a single word suffices.
But every word has its own meaning, or expresses and carries the reality of a thing-in-relation. All of creation is the words God spoke and speaks and waits in expectation to be heard.
And this is the task of theology: to hear the words God speaks and write them down.
There were also other words spoken – not in the beginning but soon: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
These are counter-words, non-words. Words that abuse: God; said; you; eat; tree; garden. The right words, in the wrong order, to the wrong person, at the wrong time. A death of theology, or a theology of death.
I break here for a more prosaic set of thoughts. Writing theology, in whatever manner, must always strive towards repeating the words of God. There are many things that use “God-words.” Sometimes they can even be the words of the Creed or Councils or beloved Fathers. They can give life or they breed death. They can lift up or crush.
I frequently encounter a form of spiritual abuse: the use of true words to do untrue things. Words never stand by themselves. You cannot simply place them before someone and proclaim: “The text says!” That a statement is “true” can also be used to pretend that its every use is justified – that truth “de-weaponizes” any statement. Tragically, the very truth of a statement can give it the power that makes its use as a weapon so devastating. The reality is that “truth” wielded in such a fashion ceases to be the truth.
When Christians appropriately observe that “truth is a Person,” they should recognize that this extends far beyond the recognition that Christ Himself is the Truth. It should recognize that mere factual truth is insufficient. It is relational (a fundamental reality of what it means to be Person). It must be the right thing in the right way at the right time, etc. In short, this is the union of truth and love. For the Christ who is the Truth, is also the God who is love, and they cannot be separated.
The truth that is love is the content of another word: good. Thus when St. Paul says that “all things work together for good,” he is describing the apokatastasis (Acts 3:21), God’s unfolding salvation of the whole of creation. That unfolding is a movement towards truth in love. All created things are becoming more fully what they are meant to be in relationship with God and all things around them. This movement is “good.”
Theology, at its most profound level, participates in this same movement. It reveals, through the shared word, the good work of God. In doing this, it invites the one who understands to participate, through self-offering and acceptance, in the life and work of the good God. And that is true beauty.
Theology means God discourse. Discourse has a now obsolete meaning of reason.
Theology is not the recitation of correct facts, it is the apprehension and statement of Beauty.
I don't understand.
And he found this how? Oh, that's right, the Orthos and RCs simply consult themselves...
Theology is great if no proof is involved. Each of us has to use our one brain to make the best of our time here on earth. I am firmly in the “agnostic” camp. Raised Catholic, served as an altar boy (back when Latin was required). I will keep questioning in an everlasting search for absolute truth.
What did Peter tell the jailer?
Another human with an opinion...imagine that.
Theology is not the recitation of correct facts, it is the apprehension and statement of Beauty.
I don’t understand.
I don’t remember reading that Peter ever said that.
That's because most of this article is unintelligible. This is the biggest collection of platitudes and sophistries I've ever read. It conveys no coherent thought. Theology is nothing more than a systematic evaluation of the precepts and principles contained in God's special revelation.
Don’t worry. He’s trying to “redefine” “theology”. It is just a word, and words are symbols.
I confess that as I pray and expose myself more to His word, I’m throwing out old beliefs and coming to new ones. It ramped up when I left the Seattle Believer community for the rural Kentucky Believer community.
In Rural KY there is a LOT more preaching as entertainment, church attendence because it is “what you do, whether you are really a Christian or not”, STRONG belief based on “my preacher said it, so I believe it”, even if it is false teaching.
It’s caused me to re-eveluate what it is to be a Christian and consider where my beliefs were based on what someone told me rather than what the bible says.
The first fallout was turning from the fate of the lost as “eternal suffering” to annihilation. It also affected my whole world view in what I believe is a good way.
But theology is a very broad word. It really does mean different things to different people, but I would wager a guess that to most people there would be difficulty in giving someone a definition for the word off the top of their head.
Thanks for the link. I found his essay from last month--The Death of Dialogue--worth a read.
Deuteronomy 6:5.
All theology proceeds therefrom.
I had nominally Catholic parents who were agnostic, if not outright atheist(and I was too, for a long time) so I understand.
Agnostic is midway between Christian and Athiest. Christians and Athiests both believe they, and they alone, know the answer. Agnostics admit to not knowing the answer. I am there. I will continue searching for truth as is my duty as a human.
Peter who?
Of course I know who Peter is...my point is that truth is. It is my duty to perceive that truth so as to make my existence here easier. I don’t know if there is a “Supreme Being”. I’ve been taught that there is yet I continue to search for knowable truth. (that truth which doesn’t require faith) I treasure my Catholic upbringing...probably one of the few on the planet that can still recite the Sucipiot. Still, I hold “truth” to the highest standard.
As perceived by who? If you don't even know if there is a supreme being by what standard do you determine truth?
Exactly!
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