Consistent theology refers to a system of beliefs about, and postures toward, God that is as consistent as possible within itself. The more pieces you add to a system, the more complicated it becomes. The more complicated it becomes, the harder it is to keep it consistent. I talked about that in my other post, Consistent Theology , but I didn’t talk much there about why it’s difficult to have a consistent theology. To understand that, I think we have to talk about first premises. What Is a First Premise? A first premise is the beginning or starting point of a line of reasoning. Definitionally, that's a pretty easy concept. If I say, “bananas are good,” then I can build all kinds of logical arguments about bananas and believe all kinds of things about bananas and how they relate to me or fit into my lifestyle — arguments that are built off of this idea that bananas are good. This is the kind of approach that people use every day to reason about almost anything. Sometimes,...

I speak often, and perhaps I have written often, about consistency in theology. It is one of the most important things to me in my pursuit of God that what I choose to believe be consistent with itself. Any theology, philosophy, or posture that is unwilling to subject itself to cyclical and reciprocal examination for the sake of consistency is not worth having. What Is Theology? Theology is the study of God or gods, but it can also refer to a system of belief or understanding about God, which is how I use it here. A person’s theology is their personal understanding about God that informs how they live and what they choose to do. It’s possible that a community might have a shared theology, a system of beliefs or understandings about God that guides their communal lives, but I usually refer to those shared theologies as doctrines or postures. My experience is that as communal doctrines or postures are examined in the context of each person’s life, differences in understanding rev...