Divine Questions

Below are thoughts gathered from a discussion in a theology class led by Barry Taylor...

What is theology?
The ultimate purpose of theology is to approach and encounter the divine. We live and articulate our experience of God. Mystery is a word that one is allowed to use in religion, where uncertainty is not. Love delights in truth.

In the case of Derrida, "non-philosophy" takes the form of infinite proliferation beyond comprehension. "To risk meaning nothing is to start to play, and first enter into the play of difference..."


What is the purpose of theology?
Everything falls short of recreating God. We need to worship God beyond our best words. Everything we say should be said with a degree of humility and openendedness. When we put God and thoughts of the divine into words, to a degree they no longer become divine but something else.

"Through the use of language we write God into existence. It is a blanket we throw onto the invisible to give it shape and form." ~ Nick Cave

We live in interesting times. In the 20th century, when one mentioned "theology" people assumed that the term meant Christian theology. In today's culture, people view the term as reasoning about God, but not necessarily a Christian God.

The theological grid of "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me” [John 14:6-7] is a modern concept derived out of the modern church admitting there were other religions beyond Christianity. We have to look forward, not back. We cannot answer today's quetsions with previous thought. We have to answer them with the now.