What is Your Theological World View
Have you ever taken a quiz to see where your theological views might place you in the big picture of Christian theology. I just recently went to this web site and took such a quiz. Here is the site.
http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=43870
What did my quiz reveal?
It says that I have the theological worldview of a Roman Catholic. Hmmm... If you read the reasons for why I scored this way, you will see that what is true of me is the high value I place on Church tradition and ecclesial authority.
In the Episcopal Church, Tradition is one of the three sources of authority that helps us define the life of our church. We refer to Tradition, but are not dominated by it. It is important, but it must be balanced by Scripture and Reason. So, while I value Tradition, I do not worship it or turn it into something of greater value than God. It is simply one of the three ways I have come to understand God.
Neo-orthodox is my next highest score on this quiz. This score shows my very strong Protestant beliefs and demonstrates the balance with the Episcopal Church between Catholicism and Protestantism. If you read about this post World War I theological movement whose advocates included many German theologicians (Barth and Tillich are two of my favorites), you will probably recognize why I have a passion for Scripture. Note that my lowest score was as a Fundamentalist. It is possible to be a lover of Scripture; someone who believes that God reveals who we are (anthropology) and who he is (theology) through Scripture without being a Fundamentalist.
Jesus is the cornerstone in my reading of the entire Bible. When I read the Gospel, I focus on the fact of Jesus' life and his death. The rest of Scripture, for me, can only be understood as it either reveals what Jesus revealed or fails to reveal what Jesus revealed. I believe the Word of God is contained in Scripture, but is most completely revealed in Jesus' life, death, and Resurrection. I believe that left to our own best thinking, without Jesus, we continue to repeat blindly the old relgious ways of scapegoating, exclusion, and violence. As we hear in Eucharistic prayer B, Jesus, brings us "out of error into truth..."
My third highest score was as Post Modern/Emergent. My sense is that I am what is called a "liminal," in the language of Alan J. Roxburg, The Sky is Falling: A Proposal for Leadership Communities To Take New Risks for the Reign of God.
A liminal is someone who is tied into the traditional church and who would like to limit the impact and stress of the increasing changes that are happening in our daily lives. As liminal implies, we have reached a limit, a boundary, and we see the future that is quickly coming towards us as risky and changing. Roxburg reminds me that we can not stop the changes, but we can decide how we will respond to these changes. He suggests that many of the gifts of the mainline churches need to be offered to the emerging churches that sometimes seek to remove everything that is part of the past. I value both positions and know that each expresses the needs of the other.
So, I am a man born in the previous century (1946)who seeks to find creative ways of sharing the Good News of God with those whose experiences growing up have been very different than my own. My youngest years of life did not include computers, televisions, IPods, cell phones, digital photography, increasing life spans, new forms of international terror,increasing fears and ignorance of pending global environmental disasters, and a globalized job market that is less and less dependable and ever shifting. What is the Good News that God wants to share with this generation? What treasures from our tradition will be considered gifts for the times of immense change?
Here is the summary of my test results:
You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you.
Roman Catholic 68%
Neo orthodox 68%
Emergent/Postmodern 61%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 57%
Reformed Evangelical 39%
Modern Liberal 39%
Charismatic/Pentecostal 32%
Classical Liberal 18%
Fundamentalist 7%
http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=43870
What did my quiz reveal?
It says that I have the theological worldview of a Roman Catholic. Hmmm... If you read the reasons for why I scored this way, you will see that what is true of me is the high value I place on Church tradition and ecclesial authority.
In the Episcopal Church, Tradition is one of the three sources of authority that helps us define the life of our church. We refer to Tradition, but are not dominated by it. It is important, but it must be balanced by Scripture and Reason. So, while I value Tradition, I do not worship it or turn it into something of greater value than God. It is simply one of the three ways I have come to understand God.
Neo-orthodox is my next highest score on this quiz. This score shows my very strong Protestant beliefs and demonstrates the balance with the Episcopal Church between Catholicism and Protestantism. If you read about this post World War I theological movement whose advocates included many German theologicians (Barth and Tillich are two of my favorites), you will probably recognize why I have a passion for Scripture. Note that my lowest score was as a Fundamentalist. It is possible to be a lover of Scripture; someone who believes that God reveals who we are (anthropology) and who he is (theology) through Scripture without being a Fundamentalist.
Jesus is the cornerstone in my reading of the entire Bible. When I read the Gospel, I focus on the fact of Jesus' life and his death. The rest of Scripture, for me, can only be understood as it either reveals what Jesus revealed or fails to reveal what Jesus revealed. I believe the Word of God is contained in Scripture, but is most completely revealed in Jesus' life, death, and Resurrection. I believe that left to our own best thinking, without Jesus, we continue to repeat blindly the old relgious ways of scapegoating, exclusion, and violence. As we hear in Eucharistic prayer B, Jesus, brings us "out of error into truth..."
My third highest score was as Post Modern/Emergent. My sense is that I am what is called a "liminal," in the language of Alan J. Roxburg, The Sky is Falling: A Proposal for Leadership Communities To Take New Risks for the Reign of God.
A liminal is someone who is tied into the traditional church and who would like to limit the impact and stress of the increasing changes that are happening in our daily lives. As liminal implies, we have reached a limit, a boundary, and we see the future that is quickly coming towards us as risky and changing. Roxburg reminds me that we can not stop the changes, but we can decide how we will respond to these changes. He suggests that many of the gifts of the mainline churches need to be offered to the emerging churches that sometimes seek to remove everything that is part of the past. I value both positions and know that each expresses the needs of the other.
So, I am a man born in the previous century (1946)who seeks to find creative ways of sharing the Good News of God with those whose experiences growing up have been very different than my own. My youngest years of life did not include computers, televisions, IPods, cell phones, digital photography, increasing life spans, new forms of international terror,increasing fears and ignorance of pending global environmental disasters, and a globalized job market that is less and less dependable and ever shifting. What is the Good News that God wants to share with this generation? What treasures from our tradition will be considered gifts for the times of immense change?
Here is the summary of my test results:
You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you.
Roman Catholic 68%
Neo orthodox 68%
Emergent/Postmodern 61%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 57%
Reformed Evangelical 39%
Modern Liberal 39%
Charismatic/Pentecostal 32%
Classical Liberal 18%
Fundamentalist 7%
posted by Father Bob+ at 6:50 AM
1 Comments:
Father Bob,
Here are the results from my quiz. I put down disagree if I had no idea what the question meant. I am relieved to see fundamentalist at the bottom!
You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.
Emergent/Postmodern 75%
Classical Liberal 64%
Roman Catholic 61%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 61%
Modern Liberal 43%
Charismatic/Pentecostal 39%
Neo orthodox 36%
Reformed Evangelical 21%
Fundamentalist 4%
The explanation makes sense when looking at my history. I had a childhood upbringing in the Episcopal Church which I attended from 4th grade through high school. In high school I went to the Rock Masses at the neighboring (activist) Episcopal Church and spent a lot of time with my friends in Young Life. I drifted away from religion in college and returned to the Episcopal Church about ten years after high school. Since getting sober in 1987, I have been on a spiritual path as I work the 12 steps of AA. I am grateful that Christ Church is part of my search for God.
I always appreciate your sermons which I find understandable and full of hope. You have painted a picture for me of Jesus as the human form of God who ate with the sinners, was touched by the unclean, and brought the message of God to all of us, not just those who acted holy. Bishop Bruno's "Open Hearted, Open Minded Christianity" piece makes me happy to call myself an Episcoplian. I do best when I keep things simple: like love God, love your neighbor. kv
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