Monday, September 11, 2006

True or False: A Theology of Everything

Judging by the many people who have either called or emailed demanding that comments be turned back on it should not surprise me that people actually respond to this new True or False question. So here it goes: True or False?

"Because we are created, God's handiwork, then it follows that all of our problems and their solutions in life are theological."

If you read this, response is required.
-Jer

34 comments:

Paul & Wanda Moores said...

How can my broken dishwasher be theological?

Derwyn said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Derwyn said...

If God is not, your dishwasher is not.

Anonymous said...

theological |θēəˈläjikəl|
adjective
of or relating to the study of theology.

According to the definition of theological, then I would say FALSE.

Unknown said...

theology also means the study of God. Does it not?

Theology would incorporate an element of the spiritual.
back in Moses day, according to what I've learned, if you said to someone 'how is your spiritual life?" to him, Moses would look at you like you're loosing your mind because God is in everything. He uses everything, he creates everything, he is God!

So, because our problems and our solutions are part of God shaping molding and maturing us, and because God is involved it is spiritual, then I would have to say the answer is...True.

Delbert said...

well, i dont have problems with dishwashers... so i guess i have no problems?

Paul & Wanda Moores said...

Sorry if I hijacked the thread by my dishwasher comment (it really is my biggest problem right now).

To honestly contribute to the post, I would say that my problems in life and their solutions would have to do with my understanding of God rather than the study of God.

Markimus said...

Can I do a markopedia -
Theological =
Theo = God +
Logic = Thought process
Gods thought processes involve solutions Yes ... but solutions that are beyond some of our problems... God uses problems often times to get us focused on other things.
IE - the dishwasher that doesn't work. God's solution might be that ...you have hands and that its a great opportunity for you and your wife to wash the dishes together. Washing dished together leads to good converstaion ... God conversation leads to 'other things';) A brkoen dishwasher can lead to a better sex life.

The dishwasher is never broken in my house [as long as my hands are attached].

Markimus said...

Thinking the Way God thinks means that our problems and solutions are theo-logical

Dan said...

I would agree for the most part, but maybe the solutions are "spiritual" rather than "theological", at least according to the above definitions of theology. Here's an interesting question that may or may not relate.
Does right belief bring about right actions, or do right actions provoke right belief? Or both? Just something to think about.

Dan said...

PS. I put that comment down before reading Mark's comment. Well said Mark.

Boomer said...

True, everything is rooted in God. Therefore theology is at the root of problems. Realistically I don't think all solutions will not all come from God because we now live in a state of separation and have been "given over to our sinful nature".

M. A. Hawkins said...

I love my dishwasher. It makes my life easier. We never used to have one. I complained all the time. Then we inherited a dishwasher. No joke. Seriously I'm not joking.
Ever since we got a dishwasher, I've had a lot more time for other things. Since then my son was born. I never thought dishwashers would lead to amazing... conversations about theology... cough cough aren't we spiritual.

Markimus said...

Matthew

Does your dishwasher have tassels by any chance. I heard they clean dishes really well.

M. A. Hawkins said...

Mark

Let me get something straight. When I commented on my dishwasher, I was not making reference to my wife. If you want tassles on your dishwasher or whatever type of magnets you want, then go for it.
Believe it or not, I was trying to take things a little further from the great comment you made earlier.

My dishwasher is great. I love it. However it breaks down, is it a problem? Or are there solutions? When there's a problem, solutions are inevitable. Eve ate the fruit - PROBLEM, Adam had a chance to make things right - SOLUTION, he didn't - PROBLEM. BIG PROBLEM. From that point problems became a part of everyday life. Solutions weren't and aren't so obvious anymore, but they are there. Your dishwasher breaks down, big whoop, you get some good convo time with your wife or kids. Your car breaks down, maybe you need some excerise anyways. You make a crazy decision, maybe you needed to step out in faith anyways. Problems are more adventageous than I think we give them credit.

Markimus said...

So this leads me to another question... If we are THEO - LOGIC in our perspective
Then do problems even exist? Or are they all mere opportunities for a greater expression of God?

Markimus said...

THERE IS NO PROBLEM -

M. A. Hawkins said...

You helped clear my words up even more. I think God is deep within the problems we have in our lives. God is a redeemer. He makes things right or provides opportunities to make them right.

So, does God create or provide problems to help show us He is in and a part of our lives?

jeremy postal said...

Hey Boomer,
are you saying, "This is the right answer but this is how it actually works." ??

I'm confused.

Jesse said...

Perhaps the solution to the problem isn't the point in God's eyes. I think people in general hate unresolved problems, however it's in those unresolved areas that God does some of His greatest work in our lives.

************
"So, does God create or provide problems to help show us He is in and a part of our lives?"

I'm not sure if God creates problems, but I certainly believe that He uses problems for our good.

Boomer said...

Hey Jer,
Yep. Sometimes how things are and how they may have been meant to be in their ideal form are different. The beautiful chaos of free-will.

Anonymous said...

free-will boils down to one issue though, serving God or not serving God. or is there a middle ground? free-will is a widely over used phrase for justification of lifestyle and lifestyle choices.

Markimus said...

Anon - Do we really need to boil Free will down to Lifestyle choice or personal holiness? I think its much broader than that...
Middle ground to what? Serving God or not? That seems very blurry to me? Can you clarify?

Boomer said...

Free-will is given by God, therefore it is not simply about a justification for lifestyle because the very giver of free-will isn't endorsing all lifestyles, but giving us the choice to act as individuals not puppets.

Anonymous said...

markimus- what are we free to do? free-will is what? after much study the free-will that is spoken about is the choice to serve God/follow Christ-or not to........the term used in any other sense blurs the issue, it (free-will) is a term used to widely to explain or justify what we do.
yes we have the freedom to worhip Christ how we want, as long as we do not wander from Biblical standards
God did not give "free-will" or anything else to create "chaos" (whether we throw the word beautiful before it or not) we do not serve a God of chaos.....
freedom, free-will, or whatever term we use in theneeds to be used and applied in the complete text-in it's proper context
if we are not free in God we are not free at all-we are then slaves to sin...........the only freedom we can expierence as fallen people is the freedom that serving Christ gives us......

Markimus said...

free-will - to follow God or not .... that doesn't seem like free will to me.
So I think however, it might be summarized in this ... "LOVE GOD... DO WHAT YOU WANT" Make sense?


*****
IF God is not the God of Chaos then he is not God.
Our Chaos is Oft times God's order.

Anonymous said...

where else do you find freedom? God has allowed his beings-His creations- to reject him so that they can truly exercise the gift of free will that he has given them. did Christ die on the cross so we could be free to follow our sinful nature? as far as DO WHAT YOU WANT- good luck on that, you can not show me bibically how you come up with that statement.
God of chaos.......?????hmmmm, -----when God removes his presence, there will be chaos, darkness, suffering, wickedness, pain and lies. God didn't create those things as they are just the lack of him,i was just reading Genesis, and seems that God created order out of chaos, GOD may allow chaos but like I said above, chaos is a result of God not bieng involved, but He does not create it, the fallen nature of our world creates chaos
maybe one has chaos in thier lives because they are not living as God intended? thus the creation of chaos! Chaos is the lack of order. Chaos only exists where order is not. You do not create chaos, rather it is the result of no order-it is the result of the choice made between the two trees, it is the result of us accepting our freewill and turning to Christ

Anonymous said...

sorry , the last line should read it is the result of taking our freewill and not turning to Christ, thus chaos

Markimus said...

Anon - I think you missed the point of my statement... doing what you want is precluded to Loving God... I won't do things that are detrimental to that LOVE RELATIONSHIP.

I REad Genesis as well and there is no refernce to God creating anything out of Chaos... God created [ex-nihilio] out of nothing... so if there was nothing ... that means that chaos came after the nothing... therefore God created chaos.
There is order in Chaos... its just not percieved to be order by the limitations of human perspective.

To say that chaos is a result of not living as God intended is a very dangerous statement ...it is very shakey ground to be saying that our choices have precedent over the preeminent providence of God.

Plus it is very arrogant to turn to a man whose family has just been wiped out by a tragic and chaotic accident and say ... 'this is happening because you are not living your life as God intended and that is why that this is happening to you.'

Human Chaos is a part of Divine order and when we can find peace in the midst of that ...that is when we begin to discover what this life is about. Its certainly not about me trying to control every element of my life with some kind of pious self proclaimation of personal providence.

Markimus said...

Also - ever heard of irresistable Grace?
Ever prayed that God woudl save someone... or do you pray that they would save themselves?

Anonymous said...

markimus, maybe you are missing the point. show me where God created chaos-in scripture. Shaky ground saying that the vacancy of God in one's life is or can create chaos? How so?
and where did i say i was turning to anyone and saying this happened because you are not living as God intended??? that did not come from me or more writing.
we live in a world that is fallen, God did not create the world in this state. if you wish to argue semantics i will do so. God took what was dark, without form, void, and created land, sky, animals, man.........He took what was chaotic and created what He says is good.

next, i take offence to your last question, at no time in any of my writing have i suggested that people save themselves. and "grace" is what accorrding to you? can we lose grace, are we always in God's grace, can a man/woman love God but be out of His grace?
In human terms, if a man loves his wife but has an affair did he really not love his wife?
I have met many people who claim they love God but continue to live lives that are as distant from what has been laid out for us to live in the Bible. Do they love God with all thier heart? That is between them and God, yet how can light live in darkness?

keep the attacks less personel, and perhaps we can educate each other

Markimus said...

Anon... nothing personal at all... I am sorry you took it that way... there was nothing personal directed to you... I am merely asking some probing questions into your lense on freewill and providence. You might want to ask yourself why it offends you?

you did pose a question 'maybe one has chaos in thier lives because they are not living as God intended?' This is a 'graceless' statement... as I dissect this thought I begin to see that if one were to take this approach...there is a lot of dependance on human behavior over the grace, mercy and preeminence of God. Whose in control? My behavior or Gods power and grace? If this was a question you were posing then there is no reason for you to be offended...unless you 'own it' and its really a question/statement about your own beliefs.

Also the line of thinking that is articulated does not make any sense... you are talking about chaos being a result of evil or the absence of God... So evil then is what God created the world out of? You alluded to God creating the world out of chaos but yet you say that Chaos is a result of the absence of God. This again makes no sense... Genesis states that God was present in this 'chaos' of nothing. Even that he 'hovered' in that chaos.
Is there such a place where God is not present? God is present in the midst of evil... we just cannot see Him because our tendency is to be afriad of the evil and and focus on its darkenss rather than seeing him at work in it all.

My question about your prayers was that there is an obvious answer... you do not pray that people save themselves... but your line of thinking on free will and human behavior suggests that they do... an unjustifiable paradox IMHO.

Markimus said...

Semantics is important... NO!!! Semantics is everythng...I don't merely want to know what your saying. I am are more concerned about the meanings of words than the collection the words you put together.
So do you want to engage me in semantics ... My answer is YES!!!

Anonymous said...

example after example in the BIBLE clearly shows that "chaos" exists when we (man) are not serving God.
If you wish to discuss the entire creation matter we should move to another forum, it will take away from what is here.,

FREEWILL is what? it is what Adam chose to throw away when he took the fruit and ate it. Eve was decieved, Adam chose to follow knowing full well what was up! The freedom Adam had ended at that point as he, as eve, became enslaved to sin, and allowed satan (lucifer) to begin his escapades here on earth.
freedom/freewill is a gift, but how can one be free when they are not serving GOD? if someone is not serving GOD then they are not free, they are bonded in the fallen nature of man/sin