rethinking my theology

Over the past few months I have been reading a number of interesting books on postmodernism and prayer, all of which are well-intentioned efforts at helping Christians develop a more meaningful and a more intimate relationship with God. In the past I have been warned against reading too much into postmodernism (and the movement called the “emerging church”) due to its alleged flimsy basis and its verging onto pluralism. However, I have found my reading very helpful and have found myself questioning things I have previously taken for granted or rethinking ideas I had assumed to be true.

A simple example… the Bible clearly points out that God is omnipotent – that is, all-powerful. He can do anything he wants, whenever he wants. It’s one of the three O’s that I was taught about God; the others being omnipresence (everywhere, all at once) and omniscience (all-knowing).

So, God is omnipotent. Yes. But does God exercise his omnipotence on earth? Well, yes… I believe miracles happen. However, I am swiftly coming to the conclusion that God more often that not chooses not to exercise his omnipotence on earth. C S Lewis in “The Problem of Pain” says that, due to the delicate balance and fundamental laws of nature, instances of miracles – that is, God exercising his power – “should be extremely rare”.

Where am I going with this? Well, there is this modern idea of God being sovereign and omnipotent over his creation; the idea that he has his finger on every button and oversees and orchestrates every detail that happens in the world. While I agree that God is both sovereign and omnipotent over his creation, I no longer believe that he orchestrates and forces every single detail on earth.

And I think it’s a good thing he doesn’t.

If God was responsible for every human interaction and situation (and even a rugby game’s score line) then where is free will? Furthermore, given the apparent acceptance of the above view amongst a lot of people, isn’t it easy to see why so many people struggle with the problem of suffering and blame God for so much?

I do not think God is responsible for World War II nor do I think he is responsible for the scoreline in the last rugby game I played. Rather, I believe that God has created the world with certain rules (a.k.a. the Laws of Nature, and hence the idea that miracles are rare) and allows people to be governed by them and (is this the right word?) “suffer” from causality. This means the blame for the problems in the world should not be given to God. Instead, it rightly lands with us.

The above is only one example of a rethinking of my accepted theology. There are plenty more examples that I’m sure I’ll voice here. This shift in thinking has been (and still is!) disconcerting and lonely. So much so that I have even given consideration as to whether or not I should continue in some of my leadership roles in my church family! However, I do feel that the shift is towards a positive end – a more realistic expectation of God in my life and a more authentic relationship with him.