What is more natural to us as human beings, at least as human beings birthed and nurtured in the epistemological framework of Western Civilization, than to categorize… EVERYTHING?
If we can conceive of it, we must categorize it. In fact, every word in this document can be categorized into at least one category.
So, it’s not unusual that we categorize types of Christians. In short, we pigeon hole them…. thus the title of this entry.
The better we know something, the more we categorize it. So, most of us from the west categorize all Jews into a single category. All Muslims, likewise fit into a single category. But we (I’m speaking in very general terms here) know Christianity fairly well. So we break it down into categories. Were we Muslim, we might categorize Islam into numerous sub-groupings, while lumping all of Christianity into a single group. The same can be said of those of Jewish background.
As Christians, we are aware of the over-arching categories of Christianity, namely Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox.
There are smaller categories as well. There’s fundamentalists, and literalists; evangelicals; conservatives, liberals, radicals. There’re creationists and, well, non-creationists. There are traditionalists and ‘post-modernists’. I could go on and on, I’m sure.
No matter how disorganized we are as humans, we tend to get pretty stuck on these categories. So, it’s unlikely that we would think of someone as a fundamental, evangelical liberal. A Post-Modern creationist? I doubt it. On the other hand, some categories do mix well. I guess it all depends on where various categories fit on the spectrum of Christian thought.
I wonder if anyone has put together such a chart? Probably.
So, why all this discussion of category? It’s because of a small project I’ve taken on, somewhat at the behest of a fellow pilgrim (yes, the one elsewhere addressed in my blog. You know, the one I don’t name, except when I call him Jeremy which may, or may NOT be his or her name, just in case you’re wondering.)
See, it’s like this. How do I categorize myself? Or more to the point, how do I reconcile my theology with the spectrum mentioned above? This is especially troubling because you see, I think of myself as a (takes deep breath) Conservative, evangelical, post-modern, non-creationist, fundamentalist Traditionalist liberal. Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it!
How do I reconcile all this? Should I?
So, I decided to sit down and codify my beliefs, at least to some small degree. And I’ve begun by rewriting the book of Genesis… at least, I’ve begun to. I know the chapter structure of the first 7 chapters. I’ve written the first 2 or 3.
Wanna read them? Ya gotta ask! Just wait, though. Before you say yes, are you sure you know what you’re getting into? I’ve a bit twisted mind, you know. By reading these you may get sucked into the swirling maelstrom of my madness. Or, you might just laugh and throw it away!
