Theology for This Moment

Abstract

Systems and ideologies pretend to present truth but ignore important areas of experience. Scientific method is designed to exclude error but invites the greater error of suggesting that science is the arbiter of reality. There are schools that challenge the moral self, human agency, and human consciousness, or try to reason away rea-son itself. Such thought is fundamentally incoherent. The plenitude of things is a marvel. The totality of Being may be regarded as the theater of God’s glory. It includes beauty, holiness and grace as well as the human ca-pacity for profound error and grave harm. Theology, uniquely among forms of Western thought, does not need to proceed by exclusion. It can acknowledge that the universe is irreducibly thrilling. It can acknowledge mor-al choice and subjective experience. It can acknowledge that the world is preciously lawful, although we are not. A theology for our time should create a conceptual space large enough to accommodate human dignity. It should encourage us to open our eyes to a reality that can never cease to astonish. Above all, it should invite awe at the entire phenomenon of Being, for awe is a first step in satisfying the commandment of love.