Please welcome one of our new contributors, Brent, who is Thomas's brother.  Brent and his wife are currently involved with the daily ins and outs of Camp Forest Springs in Wisconsin as they pursue opportunities in camping and outdoor ministry.

In a recent theological discussion (that both fortunately and quite unfortunately progressed past 3:00 in the morning) I found myself articulating what seemed to me a gem of truth.  It isn't complex, and unlike my gifted writer of a brother, I do not expound thoughts but rather express them.  I just thought that its simplicity was worth sharing.  The idea is that all theology should be normative.  What I mean is that, typically when discussing issues we seek to disprove the other by posing difficult hypotheticals.  For example, whenever soteriology is discussed it is inevitable that questions rise concerning content of salvation when someone has a pious friend of a different religion or knows of peoples of tribes and nations that have discovered a relational god beyond the animism that is typical to them.  The thought is that God must show mercy on these peoples.  Maybe so, but that is not my purpose.

What I speak of is formal theology.  It must be fundamentally grounded in Scripture and function independent of the exception clauses.  Again to visit soteriology we already know that the Bible is incredibly specific from object of faith to regeneration.  To build on the foundational example: it is true according to Scripture that the unregenerate who does not bow to Christ alone cannot be saved under any circumstance.  That is what the theologian knows.  That is what the theology is to reflect.  One's behavior should in turn be an overflow of their theology (is that not everyday liturgy itself?). When addressing issues of theology we must determine and behave according to norms so that these things become firm truths.  A possible exception does not thwart the power of the Gospel.  God is able to show mercy as He pleases, yet as humans, with limited understanding, we are not to judge apart from the Word which He has given us.

All this is to say when struggling through theological principles, we should not waver according to foreseeable exceptions but instead should be steadfast in determining consistent truths from the words of the One True God.