As part of the church I serve as a teaching elder/pastor, we have begun sending out 60-second reels on social media entitled “Truth Through Theology.” The goals are simple: depth and brevity simultaneously. It’s no use decrying the fact that we live in a culture plagued by short attention spans. Most folks will not suffer through legthy, weighty, deep discussions or lectures or books. I could whine about that. But as the cliche goes, it is what it is. This is simply where most folks are. To gain a hearing, we almost always have to keep it pithy and easily digestible. Hence, our efforts via “Truth Through Theology.”

So what, right? Why should you care? Well, I’m glad you asked. The reason is that theology is unavoidable. Everyone has a worldview. No exceptions. Some folks are atheists. Some are materialists. Some are pantheists. Some are polytheists. Some are monotheists. Some are nihilists. Others, still, claim to be agnostic. The list could continue.

Regardless of the camp, however, everyone has a worldview. And theology is unavoidable. Everyone has a worldview, coherent or not, conscious or not, regarding basic questions/issues like the following:

• Where did everything come from?
• Does God exist?
• If God doesn’t exist, on what basis should creatures complain about categories regarding ‘justice’? Rocks don’t complain.
• If God does not exist, are we not by definition just matter in motion, molecules in motion, hairy apes without freedom?
• Why is there such evil in the world?
• Where do we get categories of right and wrong, good and evil?
• Where did mind come from?
• How do you explain irreducible complexity?
• Why is there so much suffering in the world?
• How do we explain language?
• What happens when we die?
• What’s wrong with the world and is it fixable?
• Why is there something rather than nothing?

This list of questions could go on and on. But each worldview has to grapple with these and other foundational questions. Regardless of one’s worldview, you have to grapple with these issues. Hence, “Truth Through Theology.”

In the Christian worldview, we have answers to these profound questions. God does exist. He has spoken. He has revealed himself in creation, in conscience, in the incarnation of Christ the Son, and in Scripture. For example, David wrote in Psalm 19 the following:

19 The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voicemgoes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat. (Psalm 19:1-6)

This is what’s known as general revelation. God’s creation attests to and manifests his existence.

Illustration: As I sit in my library each night and study, my desk and tables and chairs are littered with books. (My wife lets me know the stacks often grow out of control and that I need to give more of them away. Pray for me!) But here’s where I’m going. As I look at the book on my table beside my chair right now that I’ve put down in order to type this out, I could pose some basic questions about the book: 1) Did it just come into existence on its own? No, of course not. That would mean that it had to exist before it acually existed. Self-creation is utterly illogical. One does not birth oneself; 2) Did not the book have an author? Of course. It had an author. And it had an editor. And it was typed. And it was bound. And it was marketed; 3) And did the book not have a mind behind it, a mind that communicates with my mind through the media of language and culture and ideas?

Takeaway: Theology is unavoidable. Everything that has been created has a creator. Each worldview has to deal with the matter of origins. God is the Author of life (Acts 3:15). That’s enough for this installment, but I hope it encourages you to explore foundational/worldview questions. Thanks for sticking with me. More to follow.