To question or not to question, that is the question.

Pete Phillips
Jul 10, 2017 · 4 min read

I have signed up to study Systematic Theology part time at Vose Seminary. I’m going to be sharing my thoughts as I study.

This is partly to help me process the material as I learn it, so that I can integrate it into my worldview; it is also so that friends or others who are interested can follow my journey in the pursuit of knowledge.


My first thoughts are on the topic of the value of theology and the value of knowledge of God. Is this something worth pursuing? Is it even relevant to life in a hyper-complex late-modern consumer-capitalist society like suburban Australia?

Is knowledge of God something that should be blindly accepted or should it be questioned? Is it something that should be abstract theoretical knowledge or should it be applied and integrated into my life? Are hard questions (about the knowledge of God and its application to my lived experience) valuable, or should they be avoided because they may inadvertently lead to heretical thoughts?

If we are ready to listen, the Bible has the power to shake us violently with its terrible questions: “Adam, where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). “Cain, where is your brother Abel?” (Gen. 4:9). To judge the cause of the poor and needy — “Is not this to know me? says the Lord” (Jer. 22:16). “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29). “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). When faith no longer frees people to ask hard questions, it becomes inhuman and dangerous. Unquestioning faith soon slips into ideology, superstition, fanaticism, self-indulgence, and idolatry. Faith seeks understanding passionately and relentlessly, or it languishes and eventually dies. If faith raises ever new questions, then the theological task of the Christian community is to pursue these questions, to keep them alive, to prevent them from being forgotten or suppressed. Human life ceases to be human not when we do not have all the answers, but when we no longer have the courage to ask the really important questions. By insisting that these questions be raised, theology serves not only the community of faith but also the wider purpose of God “to make and to keep human life human” in the world.

Finding this quote in the early sections of a respected Systematic Theology textbook is a strong argument for the value of questioning my faith. This is an argument that rests upon accepting the authority of a peer reviewed academic theologan. It is of course only one point of view.

An argument that runs counter to this is that if I start to question the knowledge of God, then I will be led astray by the temptation of the devil and that I will stray from the true doctrine/dogma/knowledge of God into heretical thought.

This argument can be based on one of several assumptions.

  1. That common church members should rely on ordained/professional ministers to grapple with hard questions and that common church members should accept with blind faith, solutions given by the ordained/professional minister. This model assumes that ordained/professional ministers will not be led astray by questioning, or that they will in turn, find an answer from a higher authority. This model puts the common church member into a passive role, and the minister into an active role.
  2. That if a follower of Jesus, sets out to gain knowledge of God by asking questions, that the devil has power over this person to lead them into heresy. This then assumes that through the act of seeking to learn about God by asking questions, the devil will become a more powerful influence, than Jesus, on the life of the questioner.
  3. That the knowledge of God is a black and white thing. That you are either 100% accurate in your knowledge of God, or you are a heretic and you are 100% wrong about it.

This third position quickly leads into an illogical line of reasoning. If the knowledge of God is not 100% black and white. If there are more than 2 positions that a person can hold on the spectrum of knowledge of God then the question can be asked; at what point on the spectrum does the label of heretic come into effect. However by asking this question I am already beginning to question the knowledge of God. So according to this third assumption, I am already on the path to heresy.

The second position also leads into an illogical line of reasoning. If the act of asking questions inorder to gain knowledge of God will give the devil the power to ensure that the questioner cannot know God, then how is anyone to gain knowledge of God?

If the first position is to hold any weight then it would need some strong reasoning and referencing to back it up . I will leave that for another article.


I have started asking questions. Perhaps I will have some answers by the time I write next. Maybe I will just have more questions.

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