The Null Theology

I wrote an email today responding to a friend's questions following up on a conversation we had about reform theology. Part of that email is worth revising and reprinting.

This is my "personal theology", if one can righteously say such a thing exists. I call it the "Null Theology".

• I accept the Bible as God's true word, and I am convinced by the archaeological evidence that it has come down to us almost untouched. There is ample evidence that it was not tampered with at Nicaea or anywhere else.
• I believe the Bible says first what it means. A passage must be farmed for its principal meaning; secondary meanings inferred from the text may or may not be valid.
• God never promises that we will understand His ways; in fact, He says we will not understand them.
• Based on my reading of the Bible, I do not see it presenting a unified, codified theology. There are some basic, crucial points that it hammers home again and again; many of the "finer points" of doctrine are touched on only tangentially.
• Any human document must stand up to the criticism of the Bible, and does not receive the benefit of the doubt. I.e., if something is seemingly supported by one passage, but contradicted by another, it is false. Most dogmatic theologies depart from the Bible. Even when they venerate it as God's Word, they find that it does not well state their points, and they bring in passages to defend what they believe.

In conclusion, any argument that cannot be made by simply reading the Bible aloud is an argument that should never be presented as dogma. We may have opinions and traditions and preferences, but if the Bible is not explicit about a specific matter, then it does not apply even if it follows directly from scripture by means of logical arguments. We lack explicit permission to "extend" God's word by use of Reason (or Superstition, or Empiricism, or any other human thought pattern), and when we do so we invariably introduce divisions into the body of Christ.

Of course, my theology is self-defeating: it is formulated and advanced using reason and syllogisms. Hence its title. However, I am satisfied that before its self-immolation, it takes down with it all other human systems, leaving us with only... the Bible. And I'm happy with that.