My Theology Paper
United Church of Christ
Ordination Paper
By
James Paul White
To
Committee on Ministry
October 1, 2012
Committee on Ministry
Kansas-Oklahoma Conference
Part One
Personal Theology
“Theology of Community”
In this paper, I am going to share my ideas of theology. I believe that one of the biggest mistakes I made in the past was that I was afraid of being rejected, so I wrote a theology paper and tried to give the previous COM what I thought they wanted to hear instead of what was truly inside of me. Fortunately for me, even though I was not given a green light in order to see the Eccleastical Council, I was licensed to preach and this gave me time to wrestle with my theology and helped me to see where I stood on these very important areas of Christian faith.
I want to briefly mention that although I have a lot of respect for liberation theologians, I disagree with them in one key area. Many liberation theologians start off with their experiences, and then look to the bible and interpret it. I believe that theology must start off with the Bible because it is the best source of information about who God is, who Jesus is, and what the early church was like. I do believe that the Church should speak out when there is injustice. However, it comes from a belief that we should treat others as if we see Jesus in them (see Matt 25:31-46).
I refer to my personal theology as the “Theology of Community”. I reject this modern notion that Jesus is my “personal savior” because it highlights the rampant individualism in America. We are so consumer driven in the United States that if we have to wait more than two minutes in a drive-thru in order to get our food, we get upset. I believe that Jesus saves us from our selfishness, and self-destructive behavior; but that He draws us in to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.
Overview
I see the entire
Ordination Paper
By
James Paul White
To
Committee on Ministry
October 1, 2012
Committee on Ministry
Kansas-Oklahoma Conference
Part One
Personal Theology
“Theology of Community”
In this paper, I am going to share my ideas of theology. I believe that one of the biggest mistakes I made in the past was that I was afraid of being rejected, so I wrote a theology paper and tried to give the previous COM what I thought they wanted to hear instead of what was truly inside of me. Fortunately for me, even though I was not given a green light in order to see the Eccleastical Council, I was licensed to preach and this gave me time to wrestle with my theology and helped me to see where I stood on these very important areas of Christian faith.
I want to briefly mention that although I have a lot of respect for liberation theologians, I disagree with them in one key area. Many liberation theologians start off with their experiences, and then look to the bible and interpret it. I believe that theology must start off with the Bible because it is the best source of information about who God is, who Jesus is, and what the early church was like. I do believe that the Church should speak out when there is injustice. However, it comes from a belief that we should treat others as if we see Jesus in them (see Matt 25:31-46).
I refer to my personal theology as the “Theology of Community”. I reject this modern notion that Jesus is my “personal savior” because it highlights the rampant individualism in America. We are so consumer driven in the United States that if we have to wait more than two minutes in a drive-thru in order to get our food, we get upset. I believe that Jesus saves us from our selfishness, and self-destructive behavior; but that He draws us in to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.
Overview
I see the entire