Navigating Theology
Long read…
I’m 22, raised non-denominational, saved at 16, and continue to passionately serve the Lord. I have tendencies to overthink and love knowledge & wisdom. I fell off of reading books when I entered high school but some recent convictions to educate myself further has me building a bookshelf in my apartment and ordering books on Amazon
Most recently, I began my first ever dating experience with a beautiful woman born and raised in Eastern Orthodoxy. I’m glad I waited to start dating because it’s allowing me to approach some high level mental gymnastics with a lot more clarity than if I was up to no good in my teens.
Obviously she wants me to convert to Orthodoxy but she understands my needs for research to find answers before I even tap into the possibility of conversion… especially since I am alive and active within my non-denominational church.
As of right now I’m feeling like I’m spiraling in theology. My hope was to enter the world of theology with a foundation of basic faith and from there I just grow my beliefs. Instead I’ve been left questioning the authority of my Bible, an aversion towards important biblical figures due to the “icons” label, and questioning how long I should keep up my relationship if I find out I’m not going orthodox…
- The orthodox makes a strong point for their accuracy due to them being as close to the early church as possible, if not entirely the early church. They argue that my standard bible is not proper as it is missing early texts - The Apocrypha, this makes me feel like I cannot rely on my Bible to tackle theological questions because I don’t have the full set.
(One thing I’ve found interesting is that these more organized denominations like orthodoxy and Catholicism have made things more complicated as time goes on while more western denominations have kept things more symbolic rather than traditional allowing for a faith more intellectual rather than traditional and governed by authoritative figures)
- I’m “repulsed” by saints and Mary now because of the defense for icons which makes me feel like I’m supposed to now be diverting some of my love for God to veneration of people throughout history. That was not an intention I had going into this
-Primary Question-
Where do I start, what do I rely on?
At this point I’m left feeling like I need to read endless books and can’t rely on the Bible because I might have the wrong one and I’m going to have to study all of history to understand why things are the way they are…. When all I wanted was to learn why some people go to Methodist churches, why some go to Lutheran churches, and why I go to non-denominational…