A Church Home

Finding our place amidst the modern church can be rather difficult. Centuries of theology, what are we to do? We cannot change the past and we must live in the present. As Abelard demonstrated, not even the Church Fathers agree with one another on every point. Troubles with original sin. Troubles with immaculate concept. How are we to even be Christian? What does that even mean? However, perhaps we find comfort in our examination of our forefathers. Examine the Gospel of Mark, look at the character of the disciples. These are individuals who believe, but still doubt. St. Peter announces that Jesus is the Christ, yet he doubts Christ’s mission. He proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God, yet he cannot walk upon the water while looking into the eyes of his savior. The first disciples profess Jesus as God and yet they struggle with their own doubts, insecurities, and personal dilemmas. The very people who conversed with divine reality had reservations. How then are we, who have not seen the Lord, not to have problems? How are we, who encounter the imperfect Bride, not to have doubts? And to have doubts is a necessary part.

When all doubt is gone, we have lost the mystery of faith. A lack of uncertainty often means that the mystery has been solved. The article of faith has been rationalized so as to be immediately accepted. To have no questions, no doubts, is to enter into a stage of static theology. Growth has stopped. The tree has fully matured. But even the disciples continued to wrestle, continued to struggle even after Christ had risen! Even after Pentecost, in which they were filled with the Holy Spirit they still struggled to understand! How so must we! If the mystery is gone, then everything that the saints and the defenders of the faith fought for is in vain. The heretics, who claimed to understand God, have won. But if questions still exist, if doubt still challenges us to travel further, then perhaps there is hope. Christ asks that we bring what we have to him. Even when all we can offer is some bread and fish He can work miracles. The journey of faith is the same. We join the Church not because we are confident that every question will subsequently be answered but that they community of faith will continue to foster our growth and guide us as we dive further into the mystery of God.

The subjectivity of religion

An interesting strand in theology is one called "apophatic theology" or the knowledge of God obtained through negation. The strand is quite old, dating back to the church fathers like Athenagoras of Athens. In fact, the great St. Thomas Aquinas was a major supporter of apophatic theology. These theologians believed that God is so perfect he is unlike anything that is created and as such God can only be described as what He is not. This strand tends to emphasize the transcendence of God (although often employed by mystics), that a infinite God is unable to be comprehended by a finite mind. Our Eastern Orthodox brothers highly value the idea of the mystery of God. At a certain point, we must rest in the unknowability of God. Perhaps my Protestant brothers would recall Job's final realization that God's ways are higher than his ways and must simply trust in that mystery. So, with this in mind, must we accept that to a certain extent religion is subjective? We cannot truly say anything with complete certainty about God so we must rest in this mystery. That being said, we must also affirm that the special revelation of God via the person of Jesus Christ and the prophets must provide objectivity. But can we say that our verbal equations, called theology, truly captures the person of God? Where do we, or even should we, allow for subjectivity in our understanding of our religion and theology?

Another interesting quote

"They [the first few ecumenical councils] are like the light of the moon--reflected from the sun and yet helpful in the black night of ignorance and error" -Roger Olson

Interesting Quote

"At the end of the Old Testament period the Israelites know more about God than they knew at the beginning but they are not more able to obey God. And this is where the Christian narrative begins, understanding that if you are relying on human work and animal sacrifices to please God you will fail because it is part of a flaw in human nature." -Dr. James D. Nogalski, Baylor University