Mysteriology

What's the point in arguing? We're all just taking things on faith anyway.

Seriously, I'm tired of it. What's it accomplishing? The more detailed and thorough we get on our theology, the more the Church splinters. Before the year 1054, there was literally one unified Church. One doctrine, one faith. What happened? Why? Arguments about theology. The more we talk, the less we agree.

What's worse, the more I think about it, the more pointless it seems to argue about things like theology. Because what theology is really about is the Mystery of faith - “theology” literally means “words about God”, and God is profoundly Mysterious.

I mused about Mysteries a couple days ago – the point of a Mystery is basically that it's ineffable. It can't really be said or named – it can only be encountered, like in a mystical experience. You might know what I'm talking about – you kneel in front of a cross and you're overwhelmed by the Mystery of Christ's sacrifice; you step into a cathedral and feel the wonder of God's presence. It's not really something you could put into words for me, but you might say or do things that sort of point me in the right direction. And since the Mystery is totally unintelligible, you can't give any reason for believing it; you just have to have faith.

Now of course, if I assert anything substantive about a Mystery, I immediately demystify it – once I make it intelligible, it's not mysterious anymore. If I were able to explain the Incarnation – how Jesus is fully God and fully Man – it would become intelligible, it would no longer be a Mystery, and it would no longer require faith to believe in it.

So if I can't describe Mystery, and I can't give a reason for faith, how can I possibly argue about these things?

The only thing I could say against any theological statement whatsoever is that it misses the point. It doesn't direct me to the Mystery... it demystifies it. Not that it's wrong per se... just that it's totally pointless and irrelevant. It distracts us from what faith's really about.

So what about all these factions, divisions, denominations, and all that? Obviously we disagree about something... The best I can figure, we've gotten off track. We're focused on the wrong things. I guess there are some root “essentials” or “fundamentals” that all Christians have in common (you know, “Mere Christianity” or whatever), and then we just argue about the details of it, or what follows, or what have you. But why go on about details? That sort of speculation has nothing to do with faith. The point is the Mystery. After all, what really makes those essentials essential is that they point us to the Mystery. They aren't the Mystery themselves, but they help us find it. If we take any part of them away (like saying Jesus isn't fully human), or if we add any explanation (like explaining just how the Trinity is possible), we lose the Mystery. Good theology keeps the focus on the Mystery, not on points and propositions – not a “systematic theology,” but a “mystical theology.” Maybe call it “Mysteriology?”

Thomas Aquinas, the author of Summa Theologica, arguably the most extensive, masterful, and definitive work of systematic theology in history, suddenly stopped writing on December 6, 1273, after having some sort of unexplained mystical experience. The Summa was left unfinished. When his friend urged him to continue writing and finish what he started, he replied, “I cannot, for everything I have written seems to me like straw.” Having had such a direct and powerful encounter with the Mysterious, Thomas realized that no systematic theology he could ever write could capture the Mystery, or even be relevant enough to be worth the bother.

Maybe what the Church needs is (dare I say it!) less of Thomas Aquinas... and more of the desert fathers. Less of John Calvin, and more of Søren Kierkegaard. Less of Martin Luther, and more of George MacDonald. Less arguing about God, and more fellowship in His Mystery.