​Outlook of theology-Peter Elder Hickman
My thoughts for Today: Theology at its best is understood to be as Saint Augustine said, "faith seeking understanding." The human experience of the phenomenon of faith is primary. What we think and say about the experience of faith is of secondary importance. Theology without faith becomes mere ideology. When the experience of faith is absent then, as A. Roy Eckhardt observes, "the theological enterprise has often reflected and fostered "mere ideology" -- teachings infected by dubious motives and self-interest." Ideology takes a particular system or scheme of thought, a so-called world view, and elevates it to the level of an absolute certainty. This produces an intellectual arrogance that necessarily bears the bitter fruit of intolerance and hostility toward any other way of thinking or believing. Ideology reduces truth to a concept and elevates it to the level of an idolatry, a false god, an absolute concern that must be defended at the expense of all else, but especially at the expense of objectifying others who are different and the subsequent destruction of peace and harmony in human relationships. Ideology values ideas over persons and ultimately leads to the breakdown of human relationships and the separation of human persons, the disintegration of the common good and the life of the community. Dogmatism is its constant companion, and fundamentalism, of whatever kind, is its enduring symptom. So-called religious, political, and scientific fundamentalism are the ideologies that have become the greatest threat to human civilization and human well being in our own time. The great and destructive wars of the twentieth century were the outcome of the ideological conflicts of human civilization, conflicts that threatened to destroy not only modern human society but the whole of the human species itself. When Christianity is reduced to a mere ideology or world view then we have destroyed Christianity. 

​True Christianity is not an ideology. It is an experience of faith which utterly transforms one's relationship with God and others. It is deeply personal and relational and is always characterized by love. It always seeks to accept and embrace the other no matter how different that other may be from ourselves. It is a call to loving union with the personal God and with other human persons. Therefore, the fear and hatred of others, all others, because of any accident of human distinction, be it ethnic, gender, religious, or cultural has no place in the Christian experience nor in the Christian community of the Church. The radical inclusivity of human persons in the way of Jesus causes us to realize that we need each other. Indeed, it teaches us that we all belong to each other, whether Catholic or Protestant; Muslim or Christian: Straight or Gay; Believer or Unbeliever; Jew or Gentile; Male or Female; Rich or Poor, or by whatever measure we use to distinguish ourselves from each other, because we all belong to God in whose image we all are being created. We either learn to live with each other in mutual love or we shall eventually destroy each other to the point of human extinction. This is the challenge that we are confronted with in the Gospel of Christ.