what is your theology based upon?

There's no such thing as a pure or entirely biblically-correct theology. As humans, our thoughts and understandings about God, as inspired or 'Spirit-led' as they may be, are still filtered through the mesh of our own humanity and struggling sinfulness.

Are we destined to an impure or polluted interpretation of Scripture? Are we therefore unable to understand what God has revealed in the pages of the Bible? Who can help us? What can we do?

Panic is not an option. While there is no such thing as a pure reading of Scripture (or pure theology), there are things we may recognize and can do.

First, let us recognize that God is sovereign. Most of us reading this will agree that this is the case. And this being the case, we can trust that where God wants us to understand something in Scripture, He will make it known in His inestimable and mysterious ways. Having said that, however, we have a responsibility to be responsible in the way we interpret what is on the page. We can understand this dialectically. God has condescended for His interactions with humanity to allow for us to have some measure of freedom, knowing full well that that we may and sometimes will mess up (we see this happen in every area of life). This being said, we see our reading and subsequent interpretation of Scripture being in operational tension, where somehow, it's a mix between God's Sovereign revelation of self, and our own human intentions and effort.

Second, we must, in as much as it's possible to, both recognize and correct (or even repent of) the things that hinder our reading of Scripture. What I mean by this is simply that each of us is the product of our humanity, our culture, and our own wants and wills. 1) Our own sinfulness (or that of others) may effect our reading and interpretation of Scripture. 2) Our culture(s) that we inhabit will influence both. And 3) our own wants and wills, what we may call our agenda(s), definitely influence our reading and interpretation of Scripture.

There is no such thing as an objective theology. Some within the Liberal Protestant approach to theology may still claim as such, but if we are honest, we can simply acknowledge all of our readings of Scripture are in some way tainted with each of these in some measure. That being said, subjectivity always plays a part in our spiritual journey, for good and for bad. The question we must answer, therefore, is how can we both identify and understand, and where necessary, remove those "things" that influence the making and use of our theologies, both personal and corporate?

We must step back and try to identify them (feel free to make a list). Am I conservative, liberal, black, white, male, female, rich, poor, active, sedentary, urban, suburban, artistic, intellectual, etc.? I think you get my point.

Each of these things influences how we understand our world. Each influences how we interpret and understand who God is based on His self-revelation in the God-man Jesus Christ. Kevin Vanhoozer, Roger Olson, and several others have been propagating a new school of theological development and understanding that acknowledges the need to be "post" - that is post-conservative, post-propositional, and post-foundational. Note that the use of 'post' does not mean an utter rejection of any of the three, but rather that we must move beyond each while respecting what they have brought to the discussion so far.

In the end, our attempts to "purify" our theology is only going to be as effective as the power of the Spirit will allow for. And yet, we are called to pursue a good and proper reading of Scripture. God revealed Himself within a particular human context. We must trust that even within our own cultural, personal, and communal contexts, God can still reveal Himself and His divine will to us.

What do you think? Let me know.