Skip to main content

Part 2: Personal Theology

Our personal experiences play a crucial role in shaping our understanding of the divine. From childhood, we encounter various ideas and experiences that inform our beliefs about the world and our place in it. These early influences, whether familial, educational, or social, form the bedrock of our personal theology.

Personal theology is deeply individual, reflecting our unique life experiences and perspectives. It is a journey of discovery, where we continuously refine our beliefs based on new experiences and insights. This evolving nature of personal theology allows us to adapt and grow, seeking meaning and understanding in the face of life's challenges and changes.

However, personal theologies often face conflicts and growing doubts that can hold us back in all areas of life. For example, if someone believes that all suffering is a punishment from a higher power, they might struggle with guilt and self-blame during tough times, affecting their mental health and relationships. Similarly, if a person’s theology tells them that they must always achieve perfection, they might experience constant stress and anxiety, impacting their career and personal life.

These conflicts and doubts can create a sense of instability and fear, making it difficult to fully engage with and trust in our beliefs. Such internal struggles may lead to avoidance of theological reflection or a superficial adherence to comforting but shallow ideas. This hinders our personal growth and limits our ability to engage deeply with life's profound questions.

Addressing these conflicts is crucial for personal development. By confronting our doubts and seeking deeper understanding, we can reconcile these internal tensions and move toward a more robust and resilient theology. This process requires openness, reflection, and a willingness to challenge and refine our beliefs.

In Part 3, we will explore how shared values and community practices contribute to our theological understanding. This collaborative approach to moral theology can help reconcile personal conflicts and provide a stronger foundation for our beliefs. Understanding that we are not alone in our struggles and that others have faced similar challenges can be immensely reassuring and empowering.

For those interested in deepening their personal theological journey, our course on discovering personal theological insights is available. This course encourages reflection on personal experiences, guiding participants through exercises and discussions that help them explore and articulate their beliefs more clearly.

Stay tuned for Part 3, where we will discuss how shared values and community practices contribute to our theological understanding, highlighting the importance of moral theology as a collaborative learning process.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Who's Leading Your Church?

Churches  are led by their leaders based on everything they've learned from experience, Scripture, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Each congregation draws from these sources in unique ways, creating a wide variety of leadership and shepherding styles. While this diversity can reflect the richness of God’s work in His people, it’s crucial to ensure that Fundamentally Biblical (FB) principles remain at the front. There are many ways churches approach leadership and shepherding, but they can often be understood through three broad categories: Culturally Modern (CM) churches  are skilled at engaging with the current culture, using modern tools, technology, and language to make ancient truths more accessible to their communities. These churches are innovative and connect with people in ways that resonate with today’s society, striving to make truths of the past relevant in a modern context. Traditionally Practical (TP) churches honor the practices and traditions passed down ...

A Journey Through Time: The Church’s Evolution and the Return to Its Roots

Since the time of Acts, the church has undergone a remarkable journey, adapting its structure and methods through centuries of change. Each era has introduced new possibilities for worship, fellowship, and leadership, reshaping how believers experience and express their faith. But in today’s age of digital developments, we have a unique opportunity to ask: is technology guiding us back to the church’s roots, where each believer takes an active, Spirit-led role in the church’s mission? Acts 2: The Original Church Model In the earliest days of Christianity, the church in Acts 2 embodied a vibrant, Spirit-led community. Believers met in homes, broke bread together, and supported one another through prayer, teaching, and shared resources. Leadership was informal and Spirit-directed, focused on helping every member live out their calling to glorify and enjoy God. It was a model that required the active participation of each believer, a fellowship driven by faith rather than structure. The I...

AI in the Church: Tools, Temptation, and Truth

  A Declaration to the Church in an Age of Misplaced Trust Artificial intelligence is not a threat to the Church— until it is used as one. It is not a voice from heaven, nor is it a voice from hell. It is a tool —no different in essence than a hammer, a concordance, or a spreadsheet. But when a tool is mistaken for a transformer , or worse a truth-creator , it becomes  treachery to the Church by the ones who use it. The fear is not that AI will think for us. The real danger is that we will stop thinking at all , and allow clarity, conviction, or even theology to be outsourced to something that cannot believe, cannot repent, and cannot follow God. We can use AI to organize , clarify , and challenge our  reasoning —but never to replace the Spirit, the Scriptures, or the community of believers. When AI is used to assist, it serves. When it is used to replace, it deceives. Consider this: if a pastor uses AI to generate a sermon without convi...