I was raised learning the stories of the Bible, but I was also raised learning the reason for the stories, the back stories, the authors of the stories, and the background of the authors. I was raised to ask "why?"
This past semester, I was talking with a good friend of mine about a theological subject. His stance on it was completely different than mine and I was shocked. I asked him why he was uncomfortable with my stance and his response truly frightened me. "Because it's always been that way".
John Wesley's Quadrilateral includes Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason. Yes, tradition is included into John Wesley's Quadrilateral, but so was Scripture. (Also, John Wesley was a very very smart Christian man but that is also all he was...not God...). HOWEVER, the idea of Tradition often tramples the other three despite being disguised as "Scripture, Experience or Reason". To be correct, tradition in the sense of John Wesley's Quadrilateral "is experience and the witness of development and growth of the faith through the past centuries and in many nations and cultures" (The United Methodist Church), not simply "because it's always been that way."
I think a fault in the Church is and always has been the word "why?"
As we look at the earlier catholic church, we find this fear of the word "why?"
In some instances, the word 'why' is the reason for Martin Luther and his 95 thesis in 1517.
Believers at this point were kept almost completely in the dark from their faith. There were (are) MULTIPLE things wrong with the Church at this time, such as relics, indulgences, and the complete political reign the church. These things were factors towards the 95 thesis.
But I believe the question "why" did take part.
Believers were denied the right to completely understand their faith. All services were performed in Latin (fun fact, this still continued until 1969), but not only was this a problem, but they were denied reading the Bible unless they were deemed Holy 'enough'.
Imagine sitting in a service in a language you did not understand, and being told to believe in things that you only heard about, never actually reading for yourself (not that this is completely gone......).
I digress.
This is what the situation was (AND YES SOMETIMES STILL IS) previous to the 95 Thesis, and the years afterwards.
Although Martin Luther's 95 thesis and his push towards Bible translations was a step in the right direction, the fear of the word 'why' still plagued the church.
People mistook this word as blasphemy rather than knowledge.
This problem can still be found within different settings of the church today.
One common situation is the idea of 'Sunday School Answers' - now sometimes these answers are justified. But when the teacher simply answers "Because that's what God does" or "Because God says so" or even just the answer, "I don't know" can be damaging. Yes. Because right then, they stop or halt that child's curiosity, which inherently halts the possibility to deepen their relationship with God.
You may be thinking that this is some of the most far fetched bologna that you have ever heard and to that I say - that's probably because you never asked God why?
Now I should probably explain what I mean by asking God 'why'
Sometimes it truly can mean looking up at the sky and yelling WHY - but that's not what this entire blog post is about.
Asking the question WHY opens doors to better understanding who God is, what our relationship is, and how I can deepen my relationship with Him.
One of the first theologically pivoting time I asked 'why' was when I was 13. My friend told me about this verse in 1 Corinthians about women in the church. I'm sure if you have been in the church for awhile, you know which verse I am talking about.
1 Corinthians 14:34, "Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says."
After reading this verse, I was CONFUSED. How could God be loving, but value one sex over the other? How could my savior Jesus die on the cross, but for one sex a little bit more than the other???
I had never heard this verse before and my faith began to crumble at that EXACT moment.
I instantly asked WHY to God.
I asked my theologian father why this verse was in the Bible. He told me to look at the context. This meant to look at who the author was, WHY the author was writing it, WHY this book was included into the Bible, and WHY it altered my view on God.
Incase you are wondering, 1 Corinthians was written by Paul.
Paul, who was originally known as Saul, was a devout follower of Christ. He was not one of the original 12 apostles, but was a strong contributor towards the growth of the Christian faith in the first century world.
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to the church of Corinth.
The New Testament includes 21 epistles, which means "letters" in Greek. 13 of these epistles in the New Testament were written by Paul. Although there are 21 epistles included in the New Testament, these are NOT the only epistles written by the apostles.
It is believed that the Council of Nicea canonized the New Testament, although some scholars believe otherwise. However, who canonized the New Testament is not completely what is important here - rather than the fact that someone DID canonize the Bible. The New Testament was canonized to include guidelines, ideals, situations, and lessons to help the Christian faith. That is why these epistles are included and so widely used.
Paul wrote this epistle to the Church of Corinth because there had been complaints. There had also been a first letter Paul had wrote towards Corinth, but it did not survive the years. At this time in Paul's life, he was on his third mission and had been living in Ephesus for two years.
During this time, his church that he planted and the church of Corinth were both dealing with divisions and quarrels.
In attempt to solve the issues between the believers in the church of Corinth, Paul wrote a letter to try to address the issues head on - which is why the letter is so specific.
The epistle Paul wrote towards the church of Corinth was in response towards its division in the church in hopes of reconciling. He wrote down guidelines and suggestions for a better church.
After learning this, it can be seen how context is so extremely important for Scripture reading. Without fully understand why Paul had written to the women in the church of Corinth, (which was because they were not being good Christians by spreading rumors and indulging themselves with materialistic things), one can assume this is meant for all women. Instead, this was meant for the women in the Corinth church, and this was how Paul was telling the head of the church to deal with the issue.
Now, this is a good start to asking God 'why', and for my 13 year old self, I thought this was a good place to land on my stance.
Although this is a MUCH better stance than my previous one, it is still just one level up.
Next we add more studying, most question asking.
These could include looking at different denominations and their stance on this - which I did, another way to ask and learn why is to READ.
People such as C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, and John Piper are great places to start.
To get even more in depth, try reading diversely. Read up on different religions and why they view this same topic the way they do.
The more research I do, the more I better understand my God. The closer I feel with Him.
I have learned to ALWAYS ASK WHY.
So many times I feel like people are like my friend in the beginning conversation believing in things the church does because they don't ask the question WHY.
I remember a story my 8th grade teacher told my class. Growing up, when her mother was making a pot roast, she always cut the back half off and used it for other meals. This made my teacher do this when she was older and cooking for her own family. Curious, she asked her mother why she had to do this. Her mother, too, became intrigued and decided to ask her mother, my teacher's grandmother. My teacher's grandmother replied, "because my pan couldn't fit the entire pot roast."
This entire time, my teacher had believed she had to cut the roast to make it right, when it reality it was from lack of questioning.
People in the church do this countless times.
I have friends and family who have solid beliefs because that's what they were told. They completely stand by beliefs simply because that's 'how their parents believed' or 'thats how it's always been'.
It not only frustrates me, but it saddens me also.
The question 'why' has let me understand God more. It has created such a deep relationship.
If you are getting to know someone, whether it be a friend or a significant other, you find yourself asking a lot of questions. If you are truly trying to better understand someone, you will start using the word 'why'. "Why is your favorite color green?" "Why do you want to live there?" "Why are you studying what you are?"
So why not ask God these same questions?
I see how scared the Church is at times from the word 'why'.
They take it as a lack of trust rather than a term of endearment of wanting to understand our God more.
Now, I'm not writing this to turn your theology into mine - but I am writing this in hope that you start question WHY.
- Examine your ideas of God, look at your theologically ideals, and ask yourself WHY do I think this.
- If you think a certain thing because your pastor told you, I URGE you to start studying. To ask why.
- Starting looking at the context of your verse that you use to back up your ideals, start reading books that support your idea, start reading books that don't support your theology, read up on different religions, listen to someone that believes your theology and someone who doesn't.
I BEG you, please put WORK into your own personal theology.
Do not believe something because your parents believe it, they may believe it for a good reason, but they may be in the same hole you are. Study together, ask questions together.
Ask your friends question, heck, ASK ME QUESTIONS! Ask me why I believe what I believe. (Just be prepared for an hour long sermon with a lot of sources)
Ask yourself WHY.
You WILL feel closer to God. You WILL better understand Him. And you will better understand yourself, you'll better understand your faith.
Therefore, I URGE YOU brothers and sisters, to ASK YOURSELF WHY YOU BELIEVE THIS. To wonder, to seek truth, and to seek God.
God bless,
Kasia.
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