Guiding Principle One - we are all theologians

We are busy people. It doesn't seem to matter which stage of life we are in (young and single, coupled up, re-singled, parenting, empty nest, retired, older married or single) there always appears to be more to do than we have time do. In the midst of this busyness we seldom take the time to ask deep theological questions…such as "What ought to be the foundational idea upon which I build my concept of God and the creation?" Between working, taking care of the children or grandchildren, volunteering in the community and the church, going out with friends, traveling or a host of other activities that kind of God question simply don't seem all that important. It is better left to professional theological types who have the time to ponder such things.

The problem with such an answer is that whether we want to believe it or not, each of us does theology every day. We make conscious and unconscious decisions about how to treat people, whether or not to fudge our taxes, how much truth we will tell, what we will give to the church or charity, for whom we will vote, or how we will rear and discipline our children among a host of daily decisions. On a more irregular basis we may have to come to grips with the pain and suffering of the world (why is there war and violence? 
Why did my best friend get cancer?) and ultimately our own deaths. How we make those daily decisions and the answers we come to about the hurt of the world and death itself are going to be based in some way (again even unconsciously) on how we understand God and God's relationship with us and with the world.  These choices and existential wrestling make us all theologians.

I realize that for many of us may resist such a claim. Some of us may resist because we have been trained to think of theologians as bearded scholars, sitting in darkened libraries, pouring over ancient manuscripts and arguing over how many angels can sit on the head of a pin (which theologians actually once did).  Others of us may resist because we have limited Biblical and theological training, thus rendering us less than "experts."  

My hope is that you will be able to set aside both of those reasons for resisting and embrace your inner theologian.  I do so not only because I believe each of us is already doing theology, but because I also believe that what we believe about God matters in our real and busy lives.  It matters because it will shape the kind of people we are and the world in which we live.

guiding principle two - We all need a theological foundation

So how do we begin? How do we figure out, in an even semi-organized way, what to believe and to do?  How do we know if we are on the right track or have totally missed the direction in which God would have us go (such as when the church endorsed slavery and the oppression of women)? 

The simple answer is that we need to begin with a good foundation.  I say this because just as a house needs a good foundation upon which to rest, so too does any organized set of beliefs. A good foundation will allow us to do several things.  First it will allow us to explore our faith without completely losing our way.  In a sense we will have a home base to which to return.  Second, it will give us a criterion by which to evaluate what we hear and read about God, the universe and everything.  Third it will give us a place upon which we can begin to build a set of beliefs which can shape our faith and our actions.

Across the history of the church there have been numerous foundations offered.  All one has to do is check out a random sampling of church websites to realize how many foundations from which we can choose.  There are foundations which emphasize God's complete control of the world (Calvinism), human beings free will (Pelagianism), the working of the Holy Spirit (Pentecostalism), the primary role of tradition (numerous churches) and so on.  Each of these foundations is based in a particular reading of scripture and a particular history of development.
So what foundation ought we to use?  I cannot answer that for you.  What I will offer you is the foundation upon which I build my own theology.  It is best summed up as God is working to bless all of creation.  This foundation is based upon my reading of scripture and my reading of theologians whom I believe understand the Biblical story.

It is best summed up in Way of Blessing, Way of Life: a Christian Theology (Chalice Press; 1999) by Clark Williamson.  Williamson is a retired professor of Christian Thought at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.  Williamson argues that the Biblical story is a single story in which God works to bless the world.  This same view is echoed by N.t. Wright in many of his works in which he describes the Biblical story as a play in five parts (creation, fall, Israel, Jesus, the Church) which point to God's desire to bless creation.

For many Christians, myself included, we believe that this way of blessing and life is ultimately and decisively demonstrated in and made possible through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. In Jesus we see the possibilities of grace, love, forgiveness and reconciliation which enable blessed life. We see the possibilities for blessed communities in the life of the early church as they followed the Jesus' way. Revelation itself (though a tough book to get through) finishes the Biblical story with a vision of what blessed life looks like. So as we move forward with our theological trek the foundation upon which I will be building a theological world view will be that of a God's way of blessing and God's way of life.