The author of the second chapter (Missing the Point: Theology) starts by stating that “everyone is a theologian.” This is not necessarily a false statement as everyone from the atheist to the highly religious person has a set of beliefs about God, and as the author points out, this is, in its most basic form, theology. From that premise the author states that everyone tends to “absolutize” their own theology, convincing themselves that their own systems of belief that they have constructed are The Truth. That’s not a bad statement either, especially if we’re dealing with people who create their own theologies rather than testing their theology against Scripture. The author goes on, after referring to God as him or her, to state:
“Far from any individual’s theology being The Right One, in one sense all theologies are heresies. For theologies, like heresies, are major or minor distortions of the truth.”
Then, after taking 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 out of context he continues:
“In other words, what you believe may be partly correct, but it is certainly not completely correct. The point? We must always be open to further insights that will give us fuller understanding of what God is all about.”
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the beginnings of deadly heresy. First of all, the authors premise is quite faulty. For starters, if a theology is a distortion of the truth it no longer becomes a good theology but in actuality a heresy. An accurate theology will survive the scrutiny of Scripture. If there is error within the theology then the error must be removed lest it contaminate the whole thing. For example, the errors found within this foundational chapter can be seen in the way other subjects are approached throughout this book. Secondly, while I understand the (not quite true) point that he’s trying to make, the author then leaves scripture all but out of the solution. He states:
“Let’s get one thing straight. The one certainty against which all our theologies are guesswork. ‘This one thing I know,’ the apostle Paul wrote: Jesus and how his crucifixion delivered us from sin, and how his resurrection assures us of eternal life.”
That certainly is a good starting point, but the author makes it an ending point. As long as a person affirms that, all other parts of theology become relative. Apparently everything else that is said in Scripture about all aspects of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, Sin, Salvation, Sanctification, Angels, the Church and End Times are up reinterpretation based on what current culture is predominate (He uses examples of liberation theology and black theology). He also assumes that all (certainly there are some that are…for example, this book) theology is “guesswork.” The god of a guesswork theology is a god who thought his holy word would be a good way to reveal himself to his creation, but discovered too late that it was to0 foggy to be accurately understood.
So for the majority of the chapter I’m looking at this relativistic quagmire but then at the end the author (finally) makes this statement:
“Although Scripture can be interpreted in countless ways, it remains the sole authority to which all theologians must answer. In the end, all Christians need to make a biblical case for their own claims.”
I think the chapter would have been better if he had just written that paragraph because it doesn’t line up with everything else that was said. Because of the seeming relativistic view of theology and the inconsistencies of the writing, I could not in clear conscience suggest that any new believer or person struggling with theology read this chapter.
