First Thoughts

What is our theology?  Is it based on a world-view that God is good and the universe is good?  Is God ambivalent, aloof and un-involved in a neutral, Newtonian physics-driven universe? Is God angry and vengeful over our sin, waiting to throw us into the pit of hell in a threatening, violent universe?

Does our theology promote a search for spiritual understanding? Or does our theology seek security and certainty in dualistic yes/no, either/or, right/wrong answers to spiritual questions?

Is our theology based on a big God who is broad, expansive, and inclusive in dealing with man?  Or is God small, exclusive, and tribal, belonging to this group (e.g., Jews) or that (e.g., Baptists), with everybody else on the outside looking in?

Is our theology built from a viewpoint of God’s relationship with man (as experienced and recorded in Scripture and Tradition)?  Or is it based on man’s rational concepts of God based on Scripture and philosophical speculation?

These are the types of questions theology asks and this is why theology is important.  It is the foundation of how we experience and relate to God and the universe.  It is the reason that God gave each human being a fully functioning nous (mind, intuitive conscience, spiritual intellect) to discover and use. 

Theology is important because it ain’t necessarily so just because grandpa or somebody behind a pulpit said it’s so.