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Bulletin 99 Date : 30th May 2007
Theological Dyslexia

I was listening this morning to the BBC news and was grabbed by the article on dyslexia. Some people have suggested that there is no such thing, but this was strongly refuted by one of the interviewees. His defence was that when a person struggles with dyslexia, before they discover they have it, they doubt their own ability and think that they are stupid when, in reality, they are quite bright. Once they discover that the problem is dyslexia, a great weight is lifted from them. Today we know how to deal with this condition.

Dyslexia is no longer stigmatised in the way it has been in the past. There are many prominent people who have dyslexia and yet, once they have discovered how to deal with the condition they have gone on to fulfil their true potential.

I have recently been looking back over the history of the church and, in particular its debates and arguments regarding theology. Throughout the history of the church, people have drawn different conclusions over central issues like original sin (it all started with Eve), the meaning of Jesus’ death (was God really venting His anger on His only Son?) and the Trinity (every preacher’s nightmare), to name but a few. The lives of sincere people have been taken away in the dark ages because they disagreed with the ‘orthodox’ view whilst others were excommunicated or robbed of their positions. More recently, disagreements have arisen amongst evangelicals over how we might understand the atonement.

Many years ago, when I first studied theology as a trainee Local Preacher, I really struggled with this subject. Having an analytical mind which always tries to come to a logical and proven solution on any issue, theology often left me confused and doubting my own intelligence – I felt that I suffered from “theological dyslexia”. Fortunately, I sat down with a wise minister who helped diagnose my problem and I discovered that I was approaching the subject all wrong. I was pleased to sit the exam some weeks later and gain a top grade!

However, the church is full of people who genuinely struggle with the important theological issues which I have mentioned above. It’s not that they are deliberately awkward or stupid, but that they find the issues problematic. Let’s face it, the church, throughout the ages, has written creeds and statements seeking to clarify issues of doctrine and left people more confused than ever. Have a look at The Statement of Faith of the Third Council of Constantinople (AD681) which sought to clarify the issue over whether Jesus had two wills – one for His human nature and one for His divine nature (a heresy known as monothelitism had arisen). If you can understand their conclusions, you’re a better man (or woman) than I am. I take heart in the words of Jesus in Luke 10:21 when He said, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.” I think Jesus would have torn His hair out at the statement above.

In a world where cynicism with church and religion is rampant (in spite of optimistic news by the BBC) we need to re-learn the lesson of putting across the gospel in a way which people understand in the 21st century and not to resort to ‘churchy’ language which gives us the feeling of superiority but turns everyone else off. Too many of our internal debates are reliving the past. For Jesus, the gospel was simple:-

“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)