Overwhelmed by Theology

Cormack

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Thanks for this! I know theological discussions have their place, but it’s so disheartening to see so many of them end up with the implication of “you don’t really have the Spirit in you.” I always get caught up in the anxious trap of doubting myself and my faith when I hear stuff like that.

But, yeah. I always try to return to the Cross. Remember I’m loved. Then the semantics don’t matter so much. Just learning more, learning to rest, and being ok with being a work in progress.

I used to debate theology and world religions a lot, the important thing to remember is that you’ll forget 99% of the things you ever read. Hopefully that puts the mountain of theological traditions and perspectives in their rightful place.

They’re overwhelming by volume, not value. What will carry people through is daily lifestyle, community and companionship. Everything you’ll find from patient Christians and God, He’s not a doctrinal dictator, He’s a Father.

Our beliefs tend to sort themselves out in the thick of good friendships, family and prayer. He’ll perfect us in His own time.

God bless.
 
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gabriellaaaaa

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I TOTALLY get this sentiment. And then I end up feeling unsure about the meta-question "is it wrong to be overwhelmed by theology" or if I should have peace and not worry about theology. But then you worry that you're not worrying enough, and then worry that you're worrying since worrying contradicts the Bible...lol
 
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Duke of Stratford

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I TOTALLY get this sentiment. And then I end up feeling unsure about the meta-question "is it wrong to be overwhelmed by theology" or if I should have peace and not worry about theology. But then you worry that you're not worrying enough, and then worry that you're worrying since worrying contradicts the Bible...lol
I know, right? Anxiety is terrible.
 
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hedrick

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A lot depends upon what you mean by theology. There are things I think you need in order to be a Christian: That Jesus is God's son, that he died for us, that we're supposed to forgive others.

But when it comes to explaining exactly how he is God's son, the usual explanation is that there are two natures with one hypostasis. If you don't understand that, I doubt it affects your salvation. One of the biggest debates is how much free will we have. Again, I doubt your belief about that determines your salvation, although you certainly should not expect to earn salvation by being perfect. You should understand God's grace. But some people say "you don't understand God's grace if you aren't a Calvinist." Or an Arminian, or a Catholic. I have my own answers to most of these questions, but I'm skeptical about how much they matter to your Christian life.

There's a current thread that says if you don't believe many people are going to end up in endless torment in hell you're going to end up in hell yourself. I see no sign in the NT that we are judged based on that belief.
 
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Duke of Stratford

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There's a current thread that says if you don't believe many people are going to end up in endless torment in hell you're going to end up in hell yourself. I see no sign in the NT that we are judged based on that belief.
Honestly? I probably need to spend less time looking at threads here; that's where a lot of my fears tend to come in.

But some people say "you don't understand God's grace if you aren't a Calvinist." Or an Arminian, or a Catholic.
That's honestly one of the big ones, right there. I have my own position, as well, and I'm willing to say "I don't know everything, I can't understand it perfectly, and that's alright." These conversations get so uncivil--it honestly makes me kind of mad, how little grace I see there. These things can be serious matters, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be patient when discussing doctrine.

I suppose the area where things get difficult for me is where the theology can affect my view of God's character. Some doctrines just make Him look different--I don't know how much of it is me being sensitive or what have you--and that sends me into Anxious Doubt Spiral Fun Time. But I honestly think paying less attention to what people have to say will be beneficial for me there. Get back to that beautiful Sunday school understanding of His perfection and love, but with a little more of an adult understanding. Approach the throne like a little child.

Honestly, everyone's replies have been helpful. I don't think any of us have all the answers (much less all the correct answers), and I'm learning to make peace with that. Wheat and chaff, I suppose.
 
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hedrick

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I suppose the area where things get difficult for me is where the theology can affect my view of God's character. Some doctrines just make Him look different--I don't know how much of it is me being sensitive or what have you--and that sends me into Anxious Doubt Spiral Fun Time.
Yes, I agree. If you make certain theological choices, God chooses a few people (a lot of people have guessed 10% or less) to be saved. Everyone else is in intolerable torment forever. This certainly does have an impact on how you think of God. I can see how you might find that one an issue that's hard to put off. Under CF rules that can only be discussed in Controversial Christian Theology.
 
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Duke of Stratford

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Yes, I agree. If you make certain theological choices, God chooses a few people (a lot of people have guessed 10% or less) to be saved. Everyone else is in intolerable torment forever. This certainly does have an impact on how you think of God. I can see how you might find that one an issue that's hard to put off. Under CF rules that can only be discussed in Controversial Christian Theology.
Exactly. I try to avoid things on that particular forum. Not only are the conversations difficult, they tend to get rather ugly.
 
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hedrick

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Without pushing a view (because this isn't the forum for an argument), even if you don't want to get into the many theological issues we argue about, I think in the end you do need an image of what God is like.

Part of the problem is that there is quite a variety of Scriptural image. They can be put together into several different patterns. On the end hand, in the early OT God wipes out all but a few humans because they are offensive, and commands Israel to kill their enemies. Jesus speaks of judgement regularly, and the NT ends with God putting what is probably most of humanity into eternal torment.

Or you can see him as a modern type of Father, who through the prophets does his best to get his people to take care of the helpless: the widow, orphan and immigrant. He is eager to forgive everything. Paul sees an end in which everyone is joined with him, and with his Father.

These pictures both use Scripture, but they put give priority to different sets of passages, treat some non-literally, and take different approaches to dealing with others. I think they end up with very different visions of what Christianity is and what it means to follow Jesus.

You can quite reasonably hold off deciding, and simply concentrate on living as Jesus taught. That's probably what you're doing at the moment. I have no problem with that. But I think most people end up finding a position somewhere between these two opposites. Having watched a lot of discussions, I’m really not sure how people decide. I can tell you that many of them are absolutely convinced that theirs is the only possible Biblical view.
 
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Duke of Stratford

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Without pushing a view (because this isn't the forum for an argument), even if you don't want to get into the many theological issues we argue about, I think in the end you do need an image of what God is like.

Part of the problem is that there is quite a variety of Scriptural image. They can be put together into several different patterns. On the end hand, in the early OT God wipes out all but a few humans because they are offensive, and commands Israel to kill their enemies. Jesus speaks of judgement regularly, and the NT ends with God putting what is probably most of humanity into eternal torment.

Or you can see him as a modern type of Father, who through the prophets does his best to get his people to take care of the helpless: the widow, orphan and immigrant. He is eager to forgive everything. Paul sees an end in which everyone is joined with him, and with his Father.

These pictures both use Scripture, but they put give priority to different sets of passages, treat some non-literally, and take different approaches to dealing with others. I think they end up with very different visions of what Christianity is and what it means to follow Jesus.

You can quite reasonably hold off deciding, and simply concentrate on living as Jesus taught. That's probably what you're doing at the moment. I have no problem with that. But I think most people end up finding a position somewhere between these two opposites. Having watched a lot of discussions, I’m really not sure how people decide. I can tell you that many of them are absolutely convinced that theirs is the only possible Biblical view.
I do agree it’s important. And I do believe the truth is somewhere between these extremes—or, more accurately, beyond them. It’s hard (if not impossible) to comprehend a God that is ultimately loving and ultimately righteous. Personally, I’ve always been told to look to Christ to find God’s character, and that’s what I try to do. In His life, death, and resurrection, we see God’s goodness, righteousness, wrath, and love. Even so, there will always be things about Him I won’t fully understand until I meet Him. It can frighten me sometimes, the magnitude of it all, but I think that’s okay. I just try to take things one step at a time, try to grow closer to Him each day, and be gracious to people who are trying to figure out the same things.
 
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Cormack

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I suppose the area where things get difficult for me is where the theology can affect my view of God's character. Some doctrines just make Him look different--I don't know how much of it is me being sensitive or what have you--and that sends me into Anxious Doubt Spiral Fun Time. But I honestly think paying less attention to what people have to say will be beneficial for me there.

I don’t think it’s merely sensitivity talking there. Maybe part of arriving at our complete view on Gods nature and theology is to never adopt doctrines of Him which don’t sit right with our conscience. I’m not meaning to write “tickle my ears,” rather there are a lot of sections in Pauls letters where acting in line with our fragile faith and level of understanding are important.

Acting against those things we currently believe in is described as wrong because now, acting out new things, we don’t do them in a good conscience, we are no longer acting by faith. A lot of this was on the dietary laws, still I can see how it applies, if we are unable to put proper faith in God because of how he’s sometimes painted.

There are probably lots of people locked into what they see as their churches congregational voodoo because of family, friends, social constructs, there’s a sense of risking alienation if they’re not singing the party line. Not that their church intends to make them feel that way.

God can appear different through certain doctrines, and trying to rest our trust in God when He looks so different will probably play havoc with our entire lives.

1 John 3:19-24 teaches along those lines if anyone wants to read more on the idea.
 
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Akita Suggagaki

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even if you don't want to get into the many theological issues we argue about, I think in the end you do need an image of what God is like.

Yes, we can't avoid that even though God is beyond all images. And theology is a process to explore and analyze the many images. We actually cannot avoid it. Everyone has a theology.
 
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