Why Does Theology Have To Get So Complicated?

“Very simple was my explanation, and plausible enough---

as most wrong theories are!” 

― H.G. Wells, The Time Machine

 Why must the gospel become so complicated, is'nt it supposed to be so simple a child may understand?

I answer yes, yes and amen.

The gospel is simple so that a child may indeed understand and be saved, on the other hand it is so profound that Phd's completely miss the mark.  

When a child asks: How does a television work? It may suffice to explain the on/off switch, some basics about electrical energy converted to visible light emitting diodes and such like but it would be wrong to make it too simple as much as it would be wrong to make it too technical. It must be aimed according to the capacity of the child. The aim is to increase their understanding without overtaxing and discouraging them. But perhaps the worst form of abuse would be to treat them like children to such a point as to keep them as perpetual children.

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."1 Corinthians 13:11

Let me here ask a simple question: What do you think a brain surgeons' patient would say if you asked him this question?-

"Does it matter to you if your surgeon is not an intellectual?" !!!

Difficult diseases require complex surgery and the administration of complex cures. "Diseases" of the "heart" sometimes require no less abilities.  The gospel requires "mental dexterity" for the many and varied abuses of it that require a clarity of focus and dexterity of mind to effectively weild the sharp scalpel- the Word of Truth.

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

Listen to  St Peter: 

"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."  (2 Peter 3:14-18) Emphasis mine.

Didn't Christ himself express his thoughts on intellectual apathy? 

“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” Luke 24:25,26

"Oh dull-witted men...." the Weymouth New Testament translation puts it.

Pauls letter to Timothy:

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

Peters letter to the Church:

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge..."

I feel this is ample evidence that in some places we must struggle and grapple with the meaning of certain scriptures and truths, and those ideas which would otherwise subvert the Gospel, just as we must grapple with those ideas upheld and promulgated outside of Christianity. As it is written (Jude 1:3) 

"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 1:4) For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."(my emphasis)

Is it any wonder that the divine Logos would use logic in the warfare against false beliefs?

"The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans. Rather, they are powerful weapons from God. With them we destroy people's defenses, that is, their arguments, casting down reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ" 2 Corinthians 10:4,5

Why then do we need to get bogged down with all the theology etc? (Remembering that apologetics is a branch of theology)

 C.S. Lewis was speaking to this issue when he said something like 

" Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason because bad philosophy needs to be answered"

He was alluding to the fact that truth- simple truth, is very often obscured and hidden by sophisticated models of natural reasoning.

God is not the author of confusion but many are confused by complicated theories, false doctrines and religions that demand difficult and sometimes subtle arguments to dismantle them. When Christ said that we must come to him as little children because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these he was saying we must accept his simple word with the innocent trust that children express naturally. But there is a vast difference between simple and simplistic. He also said: 

 "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."(Matthew 10:16)

In short the devil does complicated to confuse and obscure! It is for this reason that the saying arose: "A liar must have a good memory" because "He who first decides to deceive must a tangled web weave" -  

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him,:

"If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; (John 8:32) And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." and (John 8:36) "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed"

If the word of Christ was exhaustively simple then what need would there be to continue in it, wouldn't its total meaning be comprehended at once?  


What difference does it make? What do these truths change in our thinking, in our lives, in everyday practical life?



Nancey Pearcey who authored the excellent book- Total Truth- Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity certainly believes in an in-depth sort of faith. Listen to what she claims about the way believers are perceived by unbelievers:

"It's crucial for us to realize that nonbelievers are constantly filtering what we say through a mental fact/value grid. For example when we state a position on an issue like abortion or bioethics or homosexuality, we intend to assert an objective moral truth important to the health of society- but they think we're merely expressing our subjective bias. When we say there's scientific evidence for design in the Universe, we intend to stake out a testable truth claim- but they say, 'Uh oh, the Religious Right is making a political power grab'. The fact/value grid instantly dissolves away the objective content of anything we say, and we will not be successful in introducing the content of our belief into the public discussion unless we first find ways to get past this gatekeeper"

Total Truth- Liberating Christianity Free From Its Cultural Captivity- Introduction P22



She was interviewed on a radio program called "Culture Shocks" and she was challenged with the statement:

"conservative Christians discourage any questioning of their faith" to which she responded

"He was painting with a broad brush, but admittedly there is some basis for such a negative stereotype. In fact, it has become one of the main reasons young people are leaving the church."

A wise sage once said:"He lives poorly who believes badly of God". Although the depth of our knowledge of Christ we hold is not a guarantee of true spiritual maturity- though not sufficient- it is a necessary criterion for coming into the "unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:"

 Jesus said "I am the Way the Truth and the Life" Knowing the truth in deeper ways is to know God's heart because He is the truth and this springs up in us to eternal life:

" As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. (John 17:3) And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent".(John 17:2)

We come into this world in spiritual darkness, that is our inherited position, God has brought us out, and is bringing us out of darkness into His glorious light, but it is the common presupposition of mankind that we are inherently free and enlightened, and because of this we believe we are in a position of superiority and power. Naturally then from this perceived position of freedom we tend, consciously or not, to elevate our own state and overestimate our abilities.

Note the reaction of the believers when Jesus said:"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:33) They answered him, We ...were never in bondage ...: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Despite the fact that they were under Roman occupation, let alone speaking of spiritual realities such as being under the law of sin and death; the blindness of their heart precluded any sense of being in bondage.

  There is no more secure prison than those strongholds or blind-spots of the mind/heart which we are unaware of, and therefore seek no escape from.

A paradigm shift is a change in thinking that is so deep that its ramifications will go on rippling through our minds and hearts so that our whole worldview takes on a different perspective, nothing is ever quite the same again. 

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2)

For the final word on a simplistic Gospel we turn to C.S. Lewis defending the complexities of the Gospel. (Mere Christianity- The Invasion) After dealing a serious blow to the simplistic atheistic worldview he turns to an equally damaging "Christianity-and-water" view.

I will tell you another view that is also too simple. It is the view I call Christianity-and-water, the view which simply says there is a good God in heaven and everything is all right- leaving out all the difficult and terrible doctrines about sin and hell and the devil, and the redemption. Both these are boys’ philosophies.

It is no good asking for a simple religion. After all, real things are not simple. They look simple, but they are not. The table I am sitting at looks simple: but ask a scientist to tell you what it is really made of- all about the atoms and how the light waves rebound from them and hit my eye and what they do to the optic nerve and what it does to my brain- and, of course, you find that what we call ‘seeing a table’ lands you in mysteries and complications which you can hardy get to the end of.

…if you want to go on and ask what is really happening – then you must be prepared for something difficult. If we ask for something more than simplicity, it is silly then to complain that the something more is not simple, Very often, however, this silly procedure is adopted by people who are not silly, but who, consciously or unconsciously, want to destroy Christianity. Such people put up a version of Christianity suitable for a child of six and make that the object of their attack. When you try to explain the Christian doctrine as it is really held by an instructed adult , they then complain that you are making their heads turn around and that it is all too complicated and that if there really were a God they are sure He would have made ‘religion’ simple, because simplicity is so beautiful, etc. You must be on your guard against these people for they will change their ground every minute and only waste your time. Notice, too, their idea of God ‘making religion simple’; as if ‘religion’ were something God invented, and not His statement to us of certain quite unalterable facts about His own nature

Reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed. That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed. If it offered us just the kind of universe we had always expected, I should feel we were making it up. But, in fact, it is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have. So let us leave behind all these boys’ philosophies- these over-simple answers. The problem is not simple and the answer is not going to be simple either.

One of the very real problems within Churches today- and not Churches only, but is common also within Western culture- is the problem of intellectual shallowness. We live our whole life most of us with the knowledge that a life lived well, is one that will require great wisdom, and yet we do not avail ourselves of a Christian philosophy or worldview. This is also reflected in the world, there are not many that study philosophy, which is after all, a love of wisdom. This is reflected in the story of Christian apologist Lee Strobel.  The one time skeptic and investigative journalist, a graduate of Yale, now a committed Christian and author of several Christian apologetic works including "The Case For Christ" and "The Case for Faith" was in a quandary. Recently his son approached him with the idea of studying philosophy.(Apparently he had become an avid listener of Ravi Zacharias) "Son" he is reported as saying, "do you know the difference between a large pizza and a Philosophy Professor?" No doubt this was followed by a perplexed look from his son. "A large pizza will will feed a family of four!" 

This lack of appreciation for philosophical rigor is strongly reflected in the fact that it may not attract a high paying salary or even a steady income.

  What is perhaps even more important is that in conservative Christian circles intellectuals are held with suspicion or even derision as if God were not the author of intelligence!

That is not to say that character is unimportant- but history has shown that the sources of the greatest impact on humanity on behalf of Christ has most often been achieved by those whose minds had been sharpened by other sharp minds, and this was also reflected in their character. It would be entirely remiss of me if I did not also concur with scripture the dangers of knowledge puffing up, causing pride. But where in scripture does it say we ought to remain ignorant for the sake of a danger of pride! In fact it is in taking note of some scriptural "knowledge" that we are denied any grounds for pride, like the following verse:

"Who says that you are any better than other people? What do you have" [knowledge] "that wasn't given to you? If you were given what you have, why are you bragging as if it weren't a gift?" 1 Corinthians 4:7

So it is through the knowledge of this truth that we ought to be cured of pride or at least denied any justification for it. It is also to be noted that people can be proud of their claim to be "humble, simple folks" and thereby deceiving themselves as to excusing intellectual laziness which is vice posing as a virtue.

"Brethren" Paul thunders, "I would not have you ignorant..." 1 Thess. 4:10

There is a real difficulty to make things that are not easy to understand accessible to those who also are not used to making a concerted effort to understanding complex things. Difficult ideas will require a growing mental dexterity and a certain- to coin a mechanical phrase- Warrant of Fitness. We are increasingly intellectually flabby, and this tells in the preaching where the temptation is to oversimplify, and in the understanding where there is insatiable demand for McDonald style spiritual "fastfood".  Zacharias tells us very graciously of an amusing story in this regard:

"I remember the first time I was doing a lectureship at a Church, a woman came to me afterwards and she said: 'I hate to tell you this- by the end of a week I feel like I've got blisters on my brain',...and ah, I wasn't thinking too well at that point and I said: 'You know Ma'am when I take a hammer and a screwdriver and work around the house within minutes I get blisters in my hands- whatever you don't use too much will deliver up blisters when you use it very very infrequently out there'... she was kinder than I was wise- but she made a point, and that point is a stinger for us as Christians. She was trying to say I'm not accustomed to thinking when I come to listen to a talk on Jesus Christ, and you know that's not a very good indictment for us- I was not smart in my response ... but the fact is we do need to think... " 

People who feel like this woman seriously need to take heart, as recent research on neuroplasticity has revealed and confirmed the physical marvel that is our brain is remarkably flexible and able to adapt to new ways of thinking and able to develop its capacity in much the same way as a muscle.

In a recent article,it has come to light that science fiction author H.G. Wells is said to have submitted a piece to the Readers Digest for publication some 75 years ago that was never put in print, apparently because its message was "too strong for the conservative magazine." This is an excerpt:

"Democracies need not merely freedom to think and talk, but universal information and vigorous mental training" .

Well the computer age, and the advent of the internet has given universal information yet sadly mankind is less able than ever before of taking the best advantage of it "having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction" (Malcolm Muggeridge- Something Beautiful for God)

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever thingsare just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."Philippians 4:8 (my emphasis)

Some Thoughts Following A Discussion Re. Predestination

Well how are you all doing? I thought I'd just keep our topic in the forefront of our minds while the subject is still fresh from our last evening. The first thing I had to do when I sat down at my computer was get to my display with a soft cloth to remove all the stab marks from my over-zealous finger the other night. Do LCD's bruise easy?

I hope you all are not feeling like your'e being poked at, sometimes I get this horrible image of me wagging my finger at everyone from some sort of superior position. I am aware that even as we work at destroying all reason for human pride and arrogance so that we can honestly say there are absolutely no grounds for it, pride will raise up its ugly head even while we denounce all reason for it. Such is the nature of the beast!

Let's look at some of the concerns that were raised last night. As usual there were some excellent observations and from all quarters!

How would we know, (if we accept the view of predestination and omnipotence as the prior condition to our faith) when we have taken it too far? Of course there is a danger in taking a doctrine to an extreme, to the point where we exclude other truths that God has given to give us checks and balances. The full Gospel is fully balanced to bring God's children to maturity- how would we know when we had exceeded this balance or tension between the extremes of predestination and freewill?

This is an interesting question, but before we answer, let' s ask another one. Whenever I have had the opportunity and the freedom, I have spoken at length of these themes and this question of extremism is often raised. But do you know that, conspicuous by its absence, is the question that is invariably never asked, and that is: 

How would we know if we had taken the idea of human autonomy or freewill to an extreme and excluded other truths because of it?

The very nature of the question about taking predestination too far often belies the implicit bias of the questioner. Whenever the absolute omnipotence of God is raised there is an outcry. Whenever the supremacy of human ability is engendered there is full unconditional , and unquestioned acceptance. I am not getting personal here, honestly this is human nature, and I fully appreciate that this is the stand all people take because paramount in our paradigm is the idea of human autonomy. Why is it (and this is a consistent observation) that whenever the subject is raised there is an immediate reaction to it? Just because a certain view is "mainstream" does it therefore stand true simply by majority rule? History agrees with scripture and shows otherwise. Again I thank God you are willing to listen to scripture.

Just the other day I heard a chilling account of the last words of unrepentant Timothy McVeigh shortly before he was executed for the murder of around 165 fellow Americans (a number of whom were children) following the bomb explosion that ripped through the Murrah building.  
McVeigh left a handwritten statement quoting "Invictus", a 19th century poem by British poet William Ernest Henley:

Out of the night that covers me, 

Black as the pit from pole to pole, 

I thank whatever gods may be 

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance 

I have not winced nor cried aloud. 

Under the bludgeonings of chance 

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears 

Looms but the Horror of the shade, 

And yet the menace of the years 

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, 

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate: 

I am the captain of my soul.

 "...we can read the [last] stanza as an acceptance of whatever judgment or doom death may bring. He accepts no master but himself. He bows to no authority. He is his own god, guide and judge. He is the Captain.
(Henley was a lifelong atheist, and, with his missing leg and braggadocio, he was also the inspiration for the character of Long John Silver in Robert Louis Stephenson's Treasure Island,a Captain indeed.)" (from http://wiki.answers.com)

"Invictus" in Latin means "unconquerable" or "undefeated".

Compare this with these words:(Matthew 10:28) 

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him (God) which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Did McVeigh speak from wisdom and light or from darkness and ignorance? Is this human freedom? In a few verses after we read:(Matthew 10:32-33) Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. If we deny the omnipotence of God as he teaches in His Word, and uphold the supremacy of man do we risk incurring Christ's denial of us to the father?



Let's look at this from a pragmatic vantage point.

They say we live in a post-modern society, I think what they mean by that is: a modern society is one which has discarded the "old fashioned, out-moded idea" of an omnipotent God, and a post-modern society is one that has not only cast out the idea of any God, but has also (because God is no longer an issue) jettisoned the idea of any sort of universal morality.

Now lets ask ourselves: what are some of the issues that highlight these last decades?

• On demand abortion
  
• Sex outside of institutional marriage
  
• Euthanasia
  
• Legalization of prostitution
  
• The rights of children at the expense of parental rights
• Normalization of homosexuality
  
  

If we break all these things down, and there are no doubt others, we can see that each issue is actually a celebration (if you can call it that) of human autonomy. Abortion is about a womans "right to choose" what goes on in her own body without reference to any higher authority let alone the rights of the unborn.
The "hippie era" was all about "free love" the right of the individual to indulge in pleasure without the responsibility that came with the blessing and again without reference to a higher authority.
Euthanasia is all about the "freedom of the individual" to determine their own death, again without reference to God. Etc.
Homosexuality is about proclaiming "my truth, my reality" as was succinctly spelled out by ex Governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey

Post-modernism is all about the celebration of mankinds self-determination. It is no accident that nearly all hardsell advertising appeals to the twin opiates: freedom and choice. As I think Swinbourne said "Man worshipping himself"

In an excellent presentation called "Apologetic Evangelism With Post-modern People" Dr, Jerram Barrs said this: 

"The greatest idol in our culture is personal autonomy."  

Now the rot is setting in "the church" where we are told in order for God to intervene in any given situation we have to "give him our permission"! Is that the biblical basis for omnipotence? I think not!
I have, over the years, regularly heard the phrase: "....release the Holy Spirit..."

What! I did'nt know he was held captive...! I find it hard to perceive how people I otherwise hold a great deal of respect for can say this without pondering the ramifications of what they are actually saying. It goes almost without saying that this atitude is the responsibility of the erroneous and damaging doctrine of absolute human autonomy. Don't they know that when God gave the "keys to the kingdom"  He did not mean them to assume that He gave the Master Key???


Sad to say Post-modernism is a disease primarily of the West where the Gospel once had it's greatest impact. In fact it is a direct offshoot of warped theology. The greatest exponents of "free-will theology" have always been, and still are, the Roman Catholic Church. If I am not mistaken this is in large part due to the theology of Thomas Aquinas who, is widely recognized as melding Aristotelian philosophy with Christian doctrine. When more and more "modern protestant" churches espouse the idea of free-will strongly, it is perhaps not a strange consequence that they become more and more authoritarian and "Popish" (infallibility of leadership, unquestionable authority)

When Christian values and ideas held greatest sway in general society in the West, the doctrine of free-will filtered down through society to become an established "fact of human existence" and todays Western civilization is to a huge degree testament to its pervasive evil. (please note I am speaking here of libertarian free-will not compatibilistic free-will and one should know the difference before protesting!)

Having said that let's answer the question:
How do we know when we have become obsessed with omnipotence?

The short answer is when we become fatalistic in our thinking and behaviour. Que sera sera, whatever will be will be, the future's not ours to see..... If we no longer feel the need to speak to people about Christ because he will save whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth, it's all predestined so what's the point of making an effort?- these are attitudes to guard against, and they spring up for reasons other than obsession with omnipotence also.

Now let's ask the question:
How do we know when we have become obsessed with free-will and human autonomy?
Why don't we let James answer that?: (James 4:12,13) There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? (James 4:13) Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and and get gain: (James 4:14) Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:15) For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
In God alone the issue of eternal life and death rest, we cannot dare say specifically who will or will not be saved. We can't even determine with any sort of absolute finality whether it is this day or another day that we will go to a city, and buy or sell or make a profit. What do we really know about tomorrow? Our present life is not eternal but is temporal, just like vapour that is visible one moment and gone the next.
Our atitude should be "If the Lord has determined it so,we shall live, make a profit, save a soul etc., because he alone, in any sort of absolute sense, is self determining and our freedom in this life is at best temporary and illusory. If you don't agree with James's appraisal be assured you are enthralled by your own sense of autonomy.


2.What if the translators got it wrong? IIPeter 3:9 :The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. If we relate this verse with (Isaiah 46:10) Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:11) Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: There are by necessity only two ways to uphold the veracity and coherence of the scriptural account and of course truth by its very nature is exclusive, that is, only one understanding is correct and true otherwise we fall into the trap of relativism.

If we affirm, as the scripture gives us to understand, that whatever God plans to do, he brings it to pass, we have a simple definition of omnipotence. This is Isaiah's expression of omnipotence. If we also take IIPeter 3:9 to mean that God is not willing that any person in an absolute sense should perish eternally but come to repentance, then we would see all men coming to Christ in repentance and faith according to the definitions of omnipotence and the will of God.Our experience shows that this is not the case. Which leaves us with only two alternatives-Either omnipotence is in name only (like a V8 with only two sparkplugs) and the will of God is misrepresented or it is effective and therefore we have misunderstood what IIPeter 3:9 is really saying.

(To be continued.........See the POST "Is That All")

My friends I will leave it that for now but I would like you to consider this one verse and if you think about it long and hard and with the prayer that God would open His word in your hearts I'm sure you will come to the only conclusion possible.

(John 17:2) As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.                                                                                                         (See this post also http://struth-his-or-yours.blogspot.com/2009/08/power-over-all-flesh.html )

If you are among the growing number of people who see the inherent danger and colossal damage that this incorrigible menace to true freedom has caused register your protest by going here and purchasing this tee shirt which at the very least may provoke some necessary and long overdue serious discussion that would otherwise leave this as a "no go" zone.