Unorthodox Orthodoxy: Why There is no ‘Right’ Way to do Religion

Abstract

Critical Reflections Submission 2018 “Unorthodox Orthodoxy: Why There is no ‘Right’ Way to do Religion� By: Ashley Ruby, B.A. (Religious Studies) Candidate: Master of Philosophy (Humanities) – Memorial University of Newfoundland An integral branch of philosophy is that of philosophical theology, a branch both heavily contributed to, and hotly contested by philosophers and clergy for millennia. Many religious leaders have exclaimed that the use of philosophical thinking in theology leads to corrupt beliefs and practices while others, such as Augustine have argued that a via-media approach to theology and philosophy can be both useful non-heretical. These arguments themselves have continued for thousands of years, the philosophical side demanding logic while the religious side demanding faith, proclaiming that applying logic to an illogical God would lead to chaos, encourage doubt, and bring about unorthodoxy en masse. The term “orthodoxy,� in Christian theology, refers to “right� or “correct� belief. By this definition, we can assume that a Christian who considers themselves to be orthodox is one who believes, unwaveringly, in the set of beliefs articulated for them by their church or other governing religious body. Orthodoxy and orthopraxy are sometimes convoluted into one, with the former referring solely to belief while the latter defines physical practices such as prayer and ritual. For the purposes of this argument, this paper will focus on orthodoxy alone. The idea that one belief pertaining to an untouchable, un-seeable, long-silent God can be labelled as “right� while another wrong is widely held, despite the fact that both scripture and doctrine are scribed by mortal hands. This concept of orthodoxy permeates history to the point that Jesus himself was executed on charges of radical unorthodoxy (blasphemy and sedition). Though a far-reaching and ancient concept, this paper aims to argue that the concept of orthodoxy, of dictated right and wrong beliefs, is completely non-existent. This research supports its claim using methods of philosophical theology as well as the lack of scriptural support for many Christian rituals and practices (such as the Holy Rosary), lack of coherence among books, verses, authors, and translations of the Holy Bible, and the fact that God himself has had no say in any of these matters to begin with with the last instance of God directly and verbally interacting with a human occurring in the Old Testament. This paper will attempt to make orthodoxy, as a term to be applied universally, obsolete, and instead solidify the true essence of orthodoxy, which is in reality a personal and unique pattern of belief for each and every human being. In short, orthodoxy is not something that can be spelled out by one person to be obeyed by all persons, but something that exists only between the individual and God, and that individual, unwritten, doctrine that God has inscribed on the heart of each person is different, for Christians and non-Christians alike. God is universal and yet personal. As such, the concept of orthodoxy is abstract and impossible to define in a universal sense. The concept simply does not exist. Key Words Theology Philosophical theology Orthodoxy Biblical studies Source criticism Augustine Justin Marty