Theological Depth

[Rival]

From the discussion in my thread Real Polytheism | Religious Forums I've decided to start this one.

If you are religious, do you require theological depth from your faith? Are you satisfied more with ritual, spells, offerings etc? Do you have, or would you like, indepth, complex theology/ies, dogmas etc., or is this not an issue for you? Is it more about connecting to nature, spirits, ancestors and so on?

 

[idea]

... Do you have, or would you like, indepth, complex theology/ies, dogmas etc.,

Haha, when I first skimmed this I thought it said "would you like more indepth, complex... lies"

The more complex it is, the more lies it has in my opinion.... legit questions are often answered with "it's just too complex for you... if you give us more $ and service in time you will understand".

Nature, and simplicity for me thank you.

 

[Dawnofhope]

From the discussion in my thread Real Polytheism | Religious Forums I've decided to start this one.

If you are religious, do you require theological depth from your faith? Are you satisfied more with ritual, spells, offerings etc? Do you have, or would you like, indepth, complex theology/ies, dogmas etc., or is this not an issue for you? Is it more about connecting to nature, spirits, ancestors and so on?

A theological narrative needs to tick several boxes for me:
1/ It needs to make sense
2/ It needs to reflect the reality of my experience
3/ It needs to be plausible
4/ It needs to be in harmony with science and history
5/ It needs to be coherent
6/ It needs to be practical
7/ It needs to make a tangible difference for those who subscribe to it and to the community as a whole

Any theology that does all those things well will inevitably have aspects that intellectually challenging and satisfying for one who is inclined to more scholarly pursuits. It should also meet the needs for those who are ordinary good hearted but not academics.

 

[stvdv]

1 If you are religious, do you require theological depth from your faith?
2 Are you satisfied more with ritual, spells, offerings etc?
3 Do you have, or would you like, indepth, complex theology/ies, dogmas etc., or is this not an issue for you?
4 Is it more about connecting to nature, spirits, ancestors and so on?

1 No, to achieve the highest goal it's enough to "Hurt Never, Help Ever" and offer all acts to God, my Master said
2 No rituals, spells, offerings at this moment ... though I do offer everything I eat/drink to God
3 I rather do not have complex theology, dogmas
4 No, it's more about connecting to the Spiritual heart

* Note: I have done rituals years ago in a Portuguese Church singing hymns for 12 hours, really powerful; connecting to Jesus...the best

 

[amorphous_constellation]

You have to define depth, complexity, and rigor, or whatever it is you determined is at the core of this thing. Is it a complicated thing you study, but why do we do that? Anything complicated at first, usually doesn't stay that way forever. What is granted to the student once they become master?

 

[amorphous_constellation]

Is it more about connecting to nature, spirits, ancestors and so on?

For example, I think what those things deal with is beyond depth, or meta-depth. I tend to think the core falls short of what can be understood or described

With theology you try to build a door , but what is inside deflects description

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

From the discussion in my thread Real Polytheism | Religious Forums I've decided to start this one.

If you are religious, do you require theological depth from your faith? Are you satisfied more with ritual, spells, offerings etc? Do you have, or would you like, indepth, complex theology/ies, dogmas etc., or is this not an issue for you? Is it more about connecting to nature, spirits, ancestors and so on?

when I was religious, I had no particular desires
since I became areligious, in my studies of spirituality, I prefer in-depth theology (it need not be complex)

 

[Deeje]

A theological narrative needs to tick several boxes for me:
1/ It needs to make sense
2/ It needs to reflect the reality of my experience
3/ It needs to be plausible
4/ It needs to be in harmony with science and history
5/ It needs to be coherent
6/ It needs to be practical
7/ It needs to make a tangible difference for those who subscribe to it and to the community as a whole

Any theology that does all those things well will inevitably have aspects that intellectually challenging and satisfying for one who is inclined to more scholarly pursuits. It should also meet the needs for those who are ordinary good hearted but not academics.

Well put Adrian....just one of those is off putting for me.....#4. My beliefs do not need to harmonize with man altered or assumed science or history. Humans have taken license with both IMO. But the rest is spot on....

 

[mangalavara]

If you are religious, do you require theological depth from your faith? Are you satisfied more with ritual, spells, offerings etc?

Wonderful questions! In my case, I require theological depth because of what kind of person I am. Ever since I was 19 or 20 years old, I have thought about the 'big questions' or what might be called existential questions. 'Where did we come from?' 'Why are we here?' What comes after this?' 'What is the meaning of life?' 'What is the divine?' 'What is truth?' 'What is good?' 'What is evil?' These have been important questions to me and I have been on a journey where I have investigated various religions and philosophies to see what their answers are to such questions. As someone who likes philosophical depth, I am, not surprisingly, also someone who likes theological depth.

When it comes to my relationship with God, I want to know who he is so that when I think or speak about him, what I think or say about him is consistent with who he is. For that reason, I like to read actively rather than passively the scriptures of my particular faith. Although this might be a boring or tedious thing to do for some individuals, I really enjoy doing it because when I read about God in the Upaniṣads, for instance, what I read will often make me feel closer to him. Reading about him can be special just like making offerings to him.

Rituals, prayers, chants, meditations, and offerings are wonderful things in my experience, and there is no way that I would cease from practicing them. Hypothetically speaking, if I were for some reason utterly unable to do those things, and I were still able to think, I would think about what I know of God. What I know about his being, his personhood, his glory, and his relation to everything and every other being is amazing to me. If all I had were practices and no rich theology, I would likely feel that something is missing.

 

[1213]

...
If you are religious, do you require theological depth from your faith? ...

I have understood that in Bible faith means loyalty to God and Jesus. To be loyal, I think it is important to understand to what is the loyalty for and what it means in practice. This is why I think it is important for a Christian (disciple of Jesus) to know to know what is said in the Bible and what is the will of God.

 

[Rival]

You have to define depth, complexity, and rigor, or whatever it is you determined is at the core of this thing. Is it a complicated thing you study, but why do we do that? Anything complicated at first, usually doesn't stay that way forever. What is granted to the student once they become master?

There should be so much it's impossible ever to stop learning it. One should always be a student. Not that it's necessarily hard to understand.