Embedded & Deliberative Theology

Theology = theos (Greek word for "God") + logy (Greek for "the study of...").

Every human being has a theology, regardless of their religious affiliation (or lack thereof). This theology very much leads and guides our actions in more ways than we'd imagine. One of my favorite authors AW Tozer, said this in his book "Knowledge of the Holy":

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us... The most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God.”

Therefore, theology can be good or bad in so far as it leads us towards truth and inevitably into a truer humanity (or a lesser form of the same). In a book by Howard Stone and James Duke called "How To Think Theologically", they speak of two kinds of theology:

1) Embedded Theology
2) Deliberative Theology

Embedded theology are things we've believed about God without even realizing it. Since we've been kids, we've heard statements about God or about the way he interacts with us that linger in and affect our understandings without us even realizing it. We've heard some people say, "I'm trusting God will provide me with a job," while we've heard others quote Benjamin Franklin, "God helps those who help themselves." Regardless of our persuasion, those little phrases stick with us and without us knowing it, affect us. Some of these snippets are helpful and good, while others aren't true and need refining.

Deliberative theology is the theology that one develops through a "process of carefully reflecting upon embedded theological convictions... Deliberative theological reflection also carries us forward when our embedded theology proves inadequate." This is the process of pruning and growth that each of us experiment with and experience in life. So often we accept thoughts of God and the way we look at things without even examining them. This sort of theology is worked out in the fire, as we ask true questions of why we think the things we do (and ultimately do the things we do).

Here are a few questions that might be helpful:

• What good theological truths have been embedded in you?
• What are some that you might have believed that aren't true of God or the world, and therefore should be eliminated?
• What are some ways you can take time to intentionally seek some of those areas out?
• Anselm of Canterbury said that theology is "faith seeking understanding". How are you balancing that tension? How are you living in faith? How are you seeking that understanding?