Theology and Reality

"Theology cannot compete with reality." I just read a news article containing the line quoted above. I can run in a dozen directions on that one. I won't say who wrote it, or in what context it was written, but it raises some very interesting questions. What is reality and how does one determine it? Doesn't theology deal with reality? How does one define reality apart from their own personal theology? The truth is that there is such a thing as truth. At least that's what I believe, and suddenly my theology speaks to my reality. We have a choice. Do we allow our theology to address how we live (i.e. our reality), or do we allow our "reality" to rewrite our theology? What we believe (i.e. our theology) must always speak to how we live, but we live in a world that insists life should be lived the other way round. To use an old analogy, it is always easy to shoot bulls eyes if you draw that target after you shoot, but that doesn't actually make you a good shot. By the same token, it is easy to be self righteous if we define our morality and theology by how we choose to live, but that doesn't make it right.

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