As I sought to capture the details of "my" beliefs upon the pages of my Doctrinal Position paper, I found myself stupefied by the plethora of possible perspectives on any given topic addressed within my Systematic Theology class; from traducianism to semi-apolonarianism the possibilities are endless. I am struck by theologians diligent resolve to not only hold any given view with such regard so as to author, books and dedicate their lives work to defending their perspective, but to their confident proliferation of didactic literature so as to birth the next generation of Augustinian, traditional-dispensational, psychopannychism, continuationist zealots. It is remarkable to think they defend these nuanced branches of theology with such resolve, in spite of the countless alternatives with equally formidable scriptural support and logical foundation. How one comes to a conclusion on any of these issues is beyond my comprehension. Perhaps, my dedication to truth without compromise has paralyzed my ability to function out of fear that I might choose the wrong concept. I have been reminded of what a friend once told me:
Maybe I will never have a perfect theology for life, but perhaps I can settle for an achievable philosophy.
"I used to think I needed to hold out for the ultimate cause, the biggest scheme, the most difficult task, the greatest burden... only problem is that there is no such thing and I was being cleverly paralyzed and left innocuous. I wanted to turn the world upside down. But I needed to be turned upside down instead. Now I just pray to be faithful when I sit down to write a friend on facebook... :) There may never be great fanfare in my life and there are no perfect causes. I'm learning to be PERFECTED instead of looking for perfection in this crazy world. So translation for right now: I'm committed to things that God has put in my life... my family, school, PCM, dorm friends, and church. They're not ideal, but what's idealism if it isn't a cop out on life??"
Maybe I will never have a perfect theology for life, but perhaps I can settle for an achievable philosophy.