1. a relationship with god is not established syllogistically
neither are one's relationships to others
and especially not one's initiation into a faith community
the communal & cultic (liturgical) precede both code (moral) & creed
formatively and these nonpropositional aspects of the journey will not only
enjoy this primacy formatively but often will be emphasized throughout
most believers' transformative journeys
we are belongers & desirers long before we ever become behavers &
believers (often barely so at that!)
and all of this is reflected in the fact that theology is far more a practical
science, far less a theoretical one, enjoying much more performative than
informative significance, clearly being much more an existential enterprise
than a speculative exercise
for example, exactly what people imagine they are doing onto-theologically
or metaphysically when praying in tongues or during a 20 minute
nondiscursive sitting, even if technically in error, will generally be more
than compensated for thru the values they will realize via participation in
community, sacraments & eucharist, which also happen to be mysteries
that very few of the faithful can account for in error-free theological
propositions either, but not to worry (it just ain't that important!), for ...
god is not a syllogism
love is not a syllogism
faith does not primarily belong to academics & theology-wonks
few religious values are realized foremost thru rationalistic formulae and,
whenever such takes center stage, it deserves a quick deemphasis (no, i
didn't say negation)
that's why heresy-hunting is ordinarily a losing proposition (for the
nonpropositional is what primarily orients us existentially)
that's why not even moral theology can succeed primarily syllogistically via
arcane metaphysics & essentialistic definitions ...
and, when it does so pretend, it just leaves people dumbfounded at the
profound existential disconnects from their concrete lived experiences!
exhibit A - the contraception debate
1