Skip to main content

out of the cage


For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen's University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

I am grappling with a few concepts in my own personal systematic theology right now. The first issue I am not sure about is the concept of the Trinity, and the second one (creation 'ex nihilo' or out of nothing) just popped up this week. I am not questioning whether these are true or not (okay, I am but just hang on), more like whether these are adequate concepts for us today. Each people group in their own place and time has to find language and concepts that relate Truth to where they are at. This is not relativism; this is the beauty of eternal Truth taking some concrete form in our human world and being able to touch every person at every point in time. Some ideas that were explored and explained centuries ago still find a hold in our day and time, but others do not.

If anything, I feel that the concepts of trinity and creation 'ex nihilo' are too small and limiting. The fact that someone really smart wrote eloquently about them a long time ago makes us think that the theology has been figured out, that in some way we have got a handle on this part of God. And if there is one thing I know by now, it is that one cannot get a handle on God.

I loved what Dan Wilt said in the video lecture (Essential Worship Theology): "Trinity is God saying don't put me in a box. I will express myself how I want to, in ways you don't understand, and you will have to figure out how to process it."

The problem with systematic theology is that it is a system. God cannot be systematised, described, itemised, or labeled. He cannot be contained in our minds, thoughts, or hearts. He is the uncontainable. He is more than trinity, and where he is, there is never nothing. I don't know what God looks like; I don't know how to put words to someone who is some and one at the same time, but I sure would like to give him more breathing room instead of keeping him in the theology cage.

These are two bears in a cage at the Ecomuseum. You don't mess with bears.

Labels:

Comments

One of Freedom said…
I did a course on Trinitarian theology way back - and the biggest thing I got out of it was how inadequate most of my notions of Trinity have been. As evangelicals we like to have sure answers for tough theological questions - it is because we want to witness and think that to do that effectively we need to have a market on the Truth. But that course really opened me up to saying there is much more here than I could ever tap out in my lifetime - Trinity is a rich concept historically and even currently. So now I figure I'm more on the quest for Truth (rather than thinking I've got it) and my witness is simply inviting others to share that journey.

Have you looked at some of the Celtic ideas of panentheism? I find them way more compelling way of thinking through a theology of creation.
2:21 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

comedic timing

Comic by Joel Micah Harris at xkcd.com One of my favourite jokes goes like this: Knock, knock. Who's there? Interrupting cow Interrupting cow w--- Moooooooo!! Timing is important in both drama and comedy. A well-paced story draws the audience in and helps it invest in the characters, while a tale too hastily told or too long drawn out will fail to engage anyone. Surprise - something which interrupts the expected - is a creative use of timing and integral to any good story. If someone is reading a novel and everything unfolds in a predictable manner, they will probably wonder why they bothered reading the book. And so it is in life. Having life be predictable all of the time is not as calming as it sounds. We love surprises, especially good surprises like birthday parties, gifts, marriage proposals, and finding something that we thought was lost. Surprises are an important part of humour. A good joke is funny because it goes to a place you didn't expect it to go. Sim
Post a Comment
Read more

soul refrigerator

I went grocery shopping yesterday and came home with three bags of food. After I unpacked them all, this is what my fridge looked like: really empty. How does that happen? How can I feel so full and ready for any food emergency one moment, and after one quick glance, realise that I have nothing, really? Today is one of those days in my soul as well. I woke up with gratitude and fullness in my heart, ready to take on this day and all the wonderful opportunities that it presented. Then I caught a brief glance of some emptiness in my life and bam - my buoyancy was compromised. For the past few hours I have been treading water, trying to keep my head in a positive space, bobbing in and out of disappointment, and catching myself whining with pathetic indignity at the cement blocks of other people's stupidity that are tangled around my ankles. When I am staring at the empty refrigerator of my soul, these are my thoughts. Where do I go from here? Perhaps I should slam that refrigerator
1 comment
Read more

Names of God

The Hebrew word "YHWH" (read from right to left) This past Sunday I gave a talk on the Names of God, the beginning of a series on this topic. This first talk was to be a gentle introduction so I thought it wouldn't take too many hours of preparation. Well, I quickly discovered that the research is almost bottomless; every time I thought I had a somewhat definitive list of names, I found another source which added a few more or gave a different twist on some of the names I had already come across. After several hours I was getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data (and that was only looking at the Hebrew Bible). I wondered how I could present this to people in an orderly and accessible fashion and within a reasonable time frame. Not everyone is up for a 3-hour lecture crammed full of detail on a Sunday morning. So I took a break and spent a bit of time meditating on this problem and asking the Spirit for guidance. And then I thought that being overwhelmed by Go
3 comments
Read more