{"id":2769,"date":"2014-10-23T17:12:40","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T17:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=2769"},"modified":"2014-10-23T17:12:40","modified_gmt":"2014-10-23T17:12:40","slug":"never-assume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/never-assume\/","title":{"rendered":"Never Assume"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my last post I mentioned that \u201cMy American evangelical bubble is deflating; maybe that\u2019s good.\u201d Jason Clark asked me to comment further on what I meant and why I thought it was \u2018good.\u2019 I\u2019d like to answer that in this post. My reality has been deflating generally since I started this GFES graduate study, and specifically since engaging with this weekly group of sojourners at Cork Grinders. It is the reality of the assumed. I could be happily oblivious by assuming we\u2019re all thinking, understanding meaning, perceiving reality and doctrine basically the \"Untitled\"<\/a>same way.<\/p>\n

I can preach sermons, lead Bible studies, offer counsel, administer teams; I\u2019m comfortable as long as I stay in the world of the assumed. I know how I understand things like the trinity, deity of Christ, inerrancy of scripture, nature of man, sin, salvation, etc. I assume my thinking on these doctrines is grounded and tested and therefore I feel solid. I know me and I assume others in my community are on the same page. I assume we\u2019re all one happy family \u2013 we might use different words at times, but basically we are singing from the same song sheet, or at least that\u2019s what I was assuming.<\/p>\n

My studies and my ongoing conversations using \u201cTheology: A very short introduction\u201d by David F. Ford, are poking holes in my assumptions. Why? Questions. Asking lots of good questions. When at fourteen I became a committed Christ Follower, owning the faith as my own, I didn\u2019t have questions. I grew up in the church and I had a solid religious education from the cradle on. So when I grasped onto the faith, it was the faith I already knew, and I experientially made it my own. I didn\u2019t need to figure things out, didn\u2019t need to explore, and didn\u2019t need to ask questions\u2026 I just believed. Thanks to God, I was in a biblically grounded community, and He directed me to some great schools but still I never questioned, not significantly, anyway.<\/p>\n

Opening up a dialogue, not about doctrines, or orthodoxy per say, but about theology as a practice generates lots of questions, questions that I find that I\u2019m not necessarily ready for. Here are some questions prompted by this book:<\/p>\n