Network Theology is many things. Firstly, it is a website by this author which tries to express contemporary and classic Christianity in a safe, meaningful, and understandable way; through many mediums (written, oral, visual). But beyond and underneath that Network Theology is a term coined by this author intended to capture the essence of true spiritual seeking. What does it mean to try and understand God, and to pursue God? – it is starting from the point where you find yourself (you can’t start from anywhere else!), and from there (even with all the experiences and thoughts which taint and bias your understandings, pursuits, and choices), you move forward. You try your best to learn and grow through study, prayer, experience, and meditation, in order to see “how all of life fits together” in a whole. This is Network Theology: to enter the web of ideas and experiences, reflectively and intelligently asking yourself how this all might make sense, trying to find out Who God is.
The term “Network Theology” is used in slight contrast from other types of theological inquiry. Theology means “study of God” (theos= “God”, logos = “word”), and so theology is understood to be the pursuit of knowledge of God. But further, what one actually believes about God becomes “one’s theology”. Theology began as people started to put words onto their beliefs and experiences, and it further developed as theological writings emerged and people took those writings as truths and authorities. Further still, theology developed as people reflected on those truths, trying to find how they all made sense in a logical whole (this “systematic theology” and its rationalism drove the modern era). Another more recent turn has been to see theology as almost inextricably shaped by one’s own perspective, culture, and upbringing; so a true, objectively-determined “systematic theology” has been deemed impossible by many. That is, you can’t crawl out of your own skin and truly see things from a different point of view and “know it all”. Network Theology takes this into account – that we do come at life from our own limited perspectives; but it also says that through continued pursuit and thinking, and ultimately through faith, we can come to better understandings and more life-giving beliefs. As Jesus said “seek and ye shall find.”
So Network Theology is an invitation. An invitation to give it a try; to learn and grown, think and study, cogitate and ask and press on. It is a dare to enter the web, and to see where your thoughts take you. Perhaps in the end you will find this particular network of thoughts and ideas having intersected your own, even shaping them, showing you who you are and what you believe. Perhaps, as this author has, you will find theology leading to Jesus Christ, to orthodox Christianity, to helpful tools for understanding life, to wholeness, to love, to a relationship, and to a life-long friend. Come on, dive in, and see for yourself…