The Difficult Task of True Theology


Nothing is as difficult as true theology. Simply saying something correct is beside the point. Correctness does not rise to the level of theology. Theology, rightly done, is a path towards union with God. It is absolutely more than an academic exercise. Theology is not the recitation of correct facts, it is the apprehension and statement of Beauty.

It is this aspect of liturgical life that makes it truly theological. It is also the failure of most contemporary Christian worship efforts. Gimmicks, emotional manipulation and a musical culture that barely rises above kitsch reveal nothing of God – and embarrassingly much about us.

This is equally a failure of theological argumentation in most quarters. Authoritative sources, managed like so-many hands of trump cards, are deftly played in order to dominate and destroy. But words have a divine origin, having preceded all of creation. They have a right relationship with every created thing. Just as in the beginning, every word brought something into existence, so every word, in right relationship, reveals creation to be what it truly is, and in so doing, makes God known, even present.

Theology looks for the words, in the right relationship, in the right order, at the right time. Written, spoken, sung, carved, inscribed, printed or lighting a digital screen, they share and commune the relationship, in the right order, at the right time to the right one. Sometimes a single word suffices.

But every word has its own meaning, or expresses and carries the reality of a thing-in-relation. All of creation is the words God spoke and speaks and waits in expectation to be heard.

And this is the task of theology: to hear the words God speaks and write them down.

There were also other words spoken – not in the beginning but soon: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

These are counter-words, non-words. Words that abuse: God; said; you; eat; tree; garden. The right words, in the wrong order, to the wrong person, at the wrong time. A death of theology, or a theology of death.

I break here for a more prosaic set of thoughts. Writing theology, in whatever manner, must always strive towards repeating the words of God. There are many things that use “God-words.” Sometimes they can even be the words of the Creed or Councils or beloved Fathers. They can give life or they breed death. They can lift up or crush.

I frequently encounter a form of spiritual abuse: the use of true words to do untrue things. Words never stand by themselves. You cannot simply place them before someone and proclaim: “The text says!” That a statement is “true” can also be used to pretend that its every use is justified – that truth “de-weaponizes” any statement. Tragically, the very truth of a statement can give it the power that makes its use as a weapon so devastating. The reality is that “truth” wielded in such a fashion ceases to be the truth.

When Christians appropriately observe that “truth is a Person,” they should recognize that this extends far beyond the recognition that Christ Himself is the Truth. It should recognize that mere factual truth is insufficient. It is relational (a fundamental reality of what it means to be Person). It must be the right thing in the right way at the right time, etc. In short, this is the union of truth and love. For the Christ who is the Truth, is also the God who is love, and they cannot be separated.

The truth that is love is the content of another word: good. Thus when St. Paul says that “all things work together for good,” he is describing the apokatastasis (Acts 3:21), God’s unfolding salvation of the whole of creation. That unfolding is a movement towards truth in love. All created things are becoming more fully what they are meant to be in relationship with God and all things around them. This movement is “good.”

Theology, at its most profound level, participates in this same movement. It reveals, through the shared word, the good work of God. In doing this, it invites the one who understands to participate, through self-offering and acceptance, in the life and work of the good God. And that is true beauty.

About Fr. Stephen Freeman

Fr. Stephen is a retired Archpriest of the Orthodox Church in America. He is also author of Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe, and Face to Face: Knowing God Beyond Our Shame, as well as the Glory to God podcast series on Ancient Faith Radio.



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105 responses to “The Difficult Task of True Theology”

  1. Fr. Stephen Avatar

    Dee,
    Thank you. St. Isaac is always so grounding.

    I have been reflecting a bit about the “Buddhist” question/comparison. Nothing in Buddhism requires that Buddha ever have existed. There is nothing historical, per se. In a sense, it’s about “head-space” – our experience of the self and the world. It could even be independent of the nature of the world itself – perhaps the world is just an illusion, etc.

    In our Christian faith, everything turns on the historical claims regarding Jesus of Nazareth. If He is not the Incarnate God, if He is not risen from the dead, then all bets are off.

    My life experience is of interest to me – but isn’t the center of my existence – and it shouldn’t be. For me, everything is “relative to Christ.” He alone is the point of stability. He is the definition of stability: “He changes not.”

  2. Owen Kelly Avatar
    Owen Kelly

    Father Stephen,
    Can a person have a strong appreciation for another religious tradition – such as Buddhist or Hindu – and even assume some of its ideas or practices into their life and remain an Orthodox Christian? Would such an approach render someone an apostate? Where would you draw the line in this case, to withhold the chalice?

  3. Fr. Stephen Avatar

    Owen,
    There’s all kinds of room in the “cure” of a soul – and it’s a very individual thing. A wise priest might very well give lots of leeway. A less-wise priest might not have the ability to be so generous – God alone knows. So, there’s not a single rule. The question for a priest is, “What’s going on in a soul? Is this good for them or bad? And it varies from person to person. It calls for wisdom, discernment, and prudence. All very hard to quantify. Canon 102 of the Council in Trullo (sort of between the 5th and 6th Councils) is among my favorites. It describes what is taking place:

    It behooves those who have received from God the power to loose and bind, to consider the quality of the sin and the readiness of the sinner for conversion, and to apply medicine suitable for the disease, lest if he is injudicious in each of these respects he should fail in regard to the healing of the sick man. For the disease of sin is not simple, but various and multiform, and it germinates many mischievous offshoots, from which much evil is diffused, and it proceeds further until it is checked by the power of the physician. Wherefore he who professes the science of spiritual medicine ought first of all to consider the disposition of him who has sinned, and to see whether he tends to health or (on the contrary) provokes to himself disease by his own behavior, and to look how he can care for his manner of life during the interval. And if he does not resist the physician, and if the ulcer of the soul is increased by the application of the imposed medicaments, then let him mete out mercy to him according as he is worthy of it. For the whole account is between God and him to whom the pastoral rule has been delivered, to lead back the wandering sheep and to cure that which is wounded by the serpent; and that he may neither cast them down into the precipices of despair, nor loosen the bridle towards dissolution or contempt of life; but in some way or other, either by means of sternness and astringency, or by greater softness and mild medicines, to resist this sickness and exert himself for the healing of the ulcer, now examining the fruits of his repentance and wisely managing the man who is called to higher illumination. For we ought to know two things, to wit, the things which belong to strictness and those which belong to custom, and to follow the traditional form in the case of those who are not fitted for the highest things, as holy Basil teaches us.

    It’s a medical question – not a legal question.

  4. Owen Kelly Avatar
    Owen Kelly

    Thanks, Father. Much to consider there.

  5. Fr. Stephen Avatar

    Owen,
    For each of us – there is a sickness of soul. Understanding it is part of the deepest knowledge of ourselves. Working our way through it is our salvation. Our minds are frequently all over the place. Christ is with us in all things. May He give us grace to become fully what He’s called us to be.

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