Previous post: Some Treehousekeeping. (Newcomers, please read!)
As a sort of preamble, I want to clarify how I approach the Bible. First, I don’t interpret it literally — I accept the world took longer than six days to come into being and is older than several thousand years. Second, I don’t read its contents as dictated by God and written down by obedient scribes. Divinely inspired? Eh…ish. But also, yeah.1 Third, I read it as a “why” rather than a “how” collection. It’s not a science book and it’s not supposed to be, so I don’t impose questions that it’s not meant to answer or assumptions that it can’t possibly fulfill. I read it as a book about faith by people of faith for people of faith.
Okay. Here we go.
Any argument has to have a starting point. Mine is this: there is a God/Someone who created all that is. For our particular purposes, that’s not up for discussion or debate. In this theological construction, we begin with God exists.
The question for us now, and all that theology (Theo = God, logos = word) really is, is people discussing what kind of God? What are the qualities we assume? What things can we say about this God? And what are the implications of what we say?
A common basic tenet of systematic theology is the concept of creatio ex nihilo, literally creating out of nothing, which I sidestep by using it as part of my construct in a poetic rather than literal way. A key foundational piece for me, maybe the key foundational piece in this endeavor, is holding that the impetus for God creating was and is love, and therefore I see God as relational.
Okay! We made a start! In addition to the email you receive with the publication of this post, you’ll also get an email inviting you to a chat. Please chime in there or in the comments below. Or both!
One thing I want to try to do as often as possible is to define my terms. So what do I mean by divinely inspired? I’ve heard the phrase “God-breathed,” which I think as a poetic metaphor works fine for me. File that one away.
New subscribers be prepared for thoughtful and provocative writing. I hope you will find Becca's teaching and insights as interesting as I do! Welcome to the Treehouse! Be sure to read one of the first of her Substacks where Becca relates her vision of what she hopes we'll be doing. Her description of sitting around, up in a tree, in comfy chairs, tossing around ideas, in a community of people who feel valued, is truly engaging!