Theology: Five Interrogative Questions.

Remember back when learning English grammar, you learn the five interrogative question words: who, what, when, where, and why? With my countless number of questions about God and being a "vessel of ideas" (The Rain Fell...), I've managed to barely organize my questions into these interrogative questions.

What is God?
In the Christian tradition, God seems to be this immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent being, but what do all those mean? These vague characteristics are in need of a more full definition. For simplicity sake, it seems more appropriate for the Christian believe these things and ignore what they truly me and rest on the belief that God as something that cannot be understood. That this "that than which nothing greater can be conceived" being is just as stated and could never be understood but rather must be followed by faith, requiring belief with the possibility that something will not work as hoped. But individuals still seem to rise the argument that they do not believe this God-thing exists but rather they know this God-thing exists, making the distinction between believing and knowing. Isn't the core of Christianity based around the belief that God exists? This Christian statement is contradictory in itself; and for this reason, I'm resting on the fact that although I may not think that God exists, I still hold on the belief that He does.

Who is God?
According to Christian belief, God is an individual who in its core is absolutely necessary, a being that must exist as the first-cause of all that which exists. It is a nice idea to think that all that which exists came into existence through the power of some powerful being who brought it all into existence. Lacking an evolutionary background, this seems to be one idea that, in its absence, leaves me in mystery wondering the origins of nature.

As a supposed all-loving, unchanging, all-powerful, all-knowing Creator, God’s number one characteristic mentioned by Christians today is His love, where the life altering belief of Christianity lies. Does this mean that although life may not seem to be going well, we can dwell on the belief, “At least I am loved by God”? Seems like a crutch, but maybe that’s where the secret resides. Leading me to my next question, “So then what am I to do?” Live life as though my sins have been washed away and follow Christ’s first and foremost commandments to love God and love others? Sounds about right, so why do people get caught up with everyone following the law and producing the works?

When is God?
When is God in respect to time? God is eternal. God is everlasting. Two similar and yet paradoxical ideas. The eternality of God states that He is without beginning or end, “Alpha and Omega,” that He is forever and outside the bounds of time, and therefore infinite. Everlasting, similar in the infinite sense of God’s being, but different stating He is ever lasting, enduring through time. Some would argue that this is just an aspect of God that we cannot understand and beyond our comprehension, similar to what was mentioned in the “What is God?” section. Well, that is an area of God that I cannot go because I cannot come to an firm truth, but just leads me to “Where is God?”

Where is God?
How does this God interact within nature? If this God-thing is outside of nature (Creation) but still interacts within nature, it still seems He is confined only to human conventions in order to present Himself, which beckons the even greater question “Does the will of this God hold power over our own free will?” The vastness of this question simultaneously calls the definitions of the terms into question, the statements of the Bible into question, and ultimately but unintentionally the authority of the Bible into question.

Is God present currently and interacting with our lives today? Did God create the world and let it roll, or is He still working? If He is, how is He working? From the stories of the Bible, I can derive that God interacted with those people, such as that in the supposed exodus and the giving of the Ten Commandments. So I very well believe God is interacting with us in some sort of way, but the extent is murky. Is God leading me to an ultimatum or is He letting me live my life allowing it to flourish where I can be most beneficial to “the Kingdom of God”?

Surely God can place boundaries on my life, but surely He also cannot make me choose the option to love Him. Perhaps I should not say that he cannot make me choose, but He leaves it open for me to choose. Therefore in the end, I will have chosen to love Him out of my own choice, bypassing forced love or forged love.

Why is God?
What is God’s purpose? As the first-cause of all that exists, God was not created with a purpose as that which resides in objects of Creation. More appropriately, what is God’s purpose in relation to mankind? Provide a list of dos and don’ts for people to live by? Interact with humankind and make life easier? Nah. Provide humans with supernatural gifts in order that He may be glorified? Eh, maybe partially. Work supernatural things in the lives of others and divinely reveal Himself? Closer. Redeem His created people from their sin that they may be free? Almost there. Redeem His created people from their sin that they may be free to live a life in which they can work to further His Kingdom of believers? Mmm, I like it.

The Rain Fell, The Floods Came, and The Winds Blew...

Matthew 7:24-27

²⁴"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵"And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷"The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

Everyone says that when you come to college, you not only learn new things and meet knew people, but your beliefs are challenged and formulated. On a few occasions last year, I felt some of my beliefs were being challenged. But, the greatest struggle of my first year of college was being in a foreign environment and adapting to all that was around me, realizing the people I wanted to surround myself with and the people I didn't. Life has changed drastically from last year and establishing more of those friendships has begun to flourish. Not until recently though did I begin to truly have my beliefs challenged, nay demolished... obliterated.

Through my philosophy class and some conversations with professors on varying perspectives of theology, I have begun to lose where I stand on my ideology on myself and most importantly God. My philosophical idea on my own psychology has me content with pondering ideas and not coming to some sort of consensus but rather thinking about myself for the sake of learning. This has opened me up to the different theological perspectives and seeing where they stand, but not absolutely see the harmony between ideas or even figure what I believe myself. "This idea makes sense. That idea makes sense. Which one fits the best in my web of beliefs? (If I even have a belief that is founded on logical methods)"

Throughout the Christian environment, there are universal beliefs on the character of God, but give it a little bit more thought and where do these terms come from and how do they come from? They don't really seem to be mentioned in the Bible, given the Bible has absolute credibility; and if they are stated, they seem to be blown out of proportion. To some extent, it seems these beliefs are held onto out of pure ignorance and possibly insecurity.

Recently, the most difficult task has been not using my faith in God as a "crutch." To think of this idea of a God that loves us all regardless and His Son died on a cross so that we can live "free" all sounds a little obscure. Yes, I know it's supposed to, but lately, the church spends much focus on the love of God, the love, the love, the love. "Don't worry, God loves you." Could it be that given someone eases up on the stress of life, they are more relaxed, perform better, optimism rises, and they are able to see some good in life suddenly?

Gnostic ideas lead me to Christ being the expert on humanity and knew the best way in which humans could function, in community with one another supported by good deeds; but that idea dies after taking a glance at the miracles and then the resurrection. But even, the resurrection is about the only thread holding me to what I believed before, and if that never happened, we're left with nothing. So I've been battling feelings of agnosticism, and pondering the existence and character of God.

To those around me, I've described myself as this vessel of ideas, but I don't know what is true and I don't have any sort of foundation. But the key aspect of Christianity is belief and faith. Although I may not think some things are true, although I may doubt some of which I've been told, Christianity requires having faith. Don't toss out what you've been told because you've become skeptical on its rationality. One of my professors was telling me that the thing about us youth is that we become so passionate about a new belief we have, and we jump from passion to passion. Slow down and give it more thought. So in light of my skepticism, I'm holding a remote foundation and discovering my beliefs on God.