#doctrine

dailynietzsche:

“Nobody is very likely to consider a doctrine true merely because it makes them happy or virtuous.”

—F. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, §39 (excerpt).

dailynietzsche:

“Modern philosophy, being an epistemological skepticism, is covertly or overtly anti-Christian, though by no means anti-religious. Since Descartes, every philosopher has sought to assassinate the old soul concept, which is the basic presupposition of the Christian doctrine, under the guise of a critique of the subject-and-predicate concept.”

—F. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, §54 (edited excerpt).

I’m realizing more and more how much my theology was forged in the furnace of dominant westernized thought and how easily the wax scaffolding of that doctrine melts under scrutiny.

If Scripture is from the East, told in eastern oral tradition, and spoke against the western trappings of materialism and expansion: how much of my faith was stripped of its eastern roots and baptized in manifest destiny?

Looking back on the textbooks I read in my SBC seminary, they’re all by one demographic. Yes, we can learn from anyone. But the lack of diverse voices meant my faith was squeezed by a narrow lens. Not timeless at all.

In 1807, British missionaries made a “Slave Bible” that removed chunks of Scripture like the book of Exodus. They were afraid it would incite rebellion among enslaved Africans. Much of our theology is still taught this way: ignoring the parts that would inspire the oppressed and shake those in power.

How much did I miss by being raised in a constricted, breathless, imperialized faith that was the “only way”? How much has the church today limited God’s imagination?

I’ve heard often, “Because the Bible says so.” Okay, but whose interpretation? Yours? Mine? From the era of the Crusades? When they were burning people at the stake? When it was used to support slavery? What if we have different conclusions? What if we’re both wrong?

When someone says, “I disagree with your theology,” they’re saying, “I disagree with your interpretation of theology based on my interpretation of theology.” So where did it come from? Trace it back and it’s always from a person. With a tiny brain like yours and mine.

If my opinion is always matching up with my interpretation, I’m carving God into my own image. Then I am not in dialogue with God, but manipulating a robot-idol to do my bidding and to turn off at my convenience. I’m only colluding with myself as my own accomplice to maintain the power I want to keep.

One thing I know is clear. Jesus said plainly: I must love people. Especially the wounded and oppressed. There’s no equivocation or wavering there. How it looks will differ, but that it must happen cannot. Where Christ is, I want to be too.

— J.S.

If you think we can “agree to disagree” on theology so easily, I have to tell you about my old friend “Don.”

Don was a pastor who told me satan was using me. I was eager to believe Don because I didn’t want satan using me. In my impressionable young mind, I tried hard to get on his good side.

Don was the type of guy in constant lecture mode. Always condescending. But his theology only made that worse.

Here’s when I knew it was all wrong.

At the church Don was working at, a student took his own life. The lead pastor told the staff, “This is the biggest attack on our church from satan we’ve ever faced.” The student’s suicide was “spiritual warfare” against the church. Don believed that completely.

I still would’ve done anything for him. I did. I listened to Don lecture me for hours and trash talk every pastor in town and he confided in me his own deepest heartbreaks, though he never listened to mine. And even then, I was put on his list anyway: the list of people being used by satan. I feel a deep shame about all of it. Part of me still wonders, “Is Don right? Am I being used by satan?”

Don’s story of spiritual abuse is mild compared to so many stories I’ve heard over the years. My sad suspicion is that if it were not for his theology, we might still be friends.

I say that to say: Your theology matters.

If your theology demonizes others so much that even their suicide is called an attack from the devil, then hey: you are the devil. It’s you. You can go straight back to hell with that theology. Or throw it out and start over.

I know I’ve gotten it wrong too. But what I know is that if my faith ever compels me to erase someone’s dignity, then Scripture has become my weapon and not a mirror to check myself. It is a no longer a home for connecting with God, but a throne in my own image.

If your faith makes you a jerk, then what is it even for? If you harm others in the name of Jesus, in the end the only name you’re dragging is yours.

I believe that Scripture must move us to a theology of compassion, accountability, to be wildly kind. Otherwise it is not the life that Jesus had in mind. Christ is for the wounded. This is where I will be too.

— J.S.