C. S. L

Hey guys, sorry I haven't written in a while. My best friend David told me the other day that my posts are too long. 'If only you would write smaller posts more often', he said, 'it would be easier for me to keep up'. I told him that I wasn't witting for anyone else but myself. Well now I am second guessing that statement. Someday I would like to write for an audience (meaning, I intend to write some books before I die). I hesitate to say that because, as we all know, hype kills good things.

To some degree it is emotionally healthy to write for no one but myself. How free it feels to stretch out in the warm, creative waters of my blog, allowing the jacuzzi-like bubbles (called hits by people I will never meet face-to-face) to validate my vulnerability. But is it possible to retain the important things about such a posture, and still make small adjustments to my writing style over time so as to be persuasive or appealing to a wider audience? I do not know the answer.

C. S. Lewis is overrated. Let's be real. The guy didn't say too many original things, he just baptized things like Platonism in Christianity. He repackaged older saints in metaphorical plastic wrap. He updated the same ole arguments to counter the same ole poppycock that people had been saying for centuries. But people connect with C. S. Lewis. Hey, even I enjoy reading his stuff. Part of his appeal is that he is a little vulnerable; he allows some playful intellectual experimentation to show through in his writing. It makes reading him kind of romantic - something to do with tea on a crisp morning in a park.

Aquinas provided just the opposite experience for me. I recently read his Shorter Summa, being the summary of his summary of all theology. That sucker is packed. Every sentence is a clear, concise, definite statement about the way God is. I had to read like one or two pages a day, allowing the lump ample time for swallowing and dissolution in my stomach. Parts of it were pretty dry because he adds little or no personality. I will be honest, his section on the trinity is the best I have ever read, hands down confessional.

Well I hereby declare this blog an experiment. Experimentation should be a healthy component of one's theology, anyway. Really, this is what is has been from the beginning. Isn't it apropos that sort of our first topic's theme has centered on whether God exists? Surely that is some sort of foundation for theology... I guess it feels good just to write. For you, for myself, and in declaration. If I never get another reader - if I lose the couple of readers I have - thats fine. Let me find my voice through these posts and work out some more of my beliefs.

Don't worry you will see Chris and me continue our conversation about God's existence. I want to give atheists a voice here at Raw Theology. Besides, we happen to be related, and he is a pretty cool guy all around. Others continue to be welcome to add their thoughts, insights, and questions, too. This post is just a declaration of freedom. In writing this, I am busting the shackles I put on myself regarding writing on this blog. I refuse to be confined to any topic or any style. I refuse to write only for myself or only for others. I refuse to write regularly or irregularly. Here I am, take me or leave me, as I am. May I stand or fall solely on the grounds of my honesty.