RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALS

By Gregory

I’ve found that when I engage others theologically, it’s usually helpful to have a sense of where a person is “coming from” theologically – what is the basic religious outlook – what are their religious fundamentals?

Knowing these basics saves time later when discussing issues where a person’s religious fundamentals determine what or how a person thinks concerning topics such as salvation, abortion, marriage, politics, and so on.

For me, addressing a set of five basic questions can help all involved in achieving mutual understanding. Each question overlaps, and each question sparks new questions and discussions, but in general, these five questions tend to cover most of the necessary basics. Assuming a Judeo-Christian context, here are the five religious fundamental questions as I see them:

What or who is God for you? How do you understand Divinity? If and how do you communicate with God? Is God active in your daily life? How so?

What are your sacred texts, what is their nature, and what role do they play in your faith? What is the Bible for you? How do you read it? What principles do you apply to help interpret its meaning?

How do you understand human nature? What is a person? What’s the purpose of human life?

What are the sources for understanding moral truth? How do you tell right from wrong? What constitutes a good life in your opinion? What criteria do you apply in moral decision making?

What are your sources of authority? What foundations do you stand on? How do you know your previous answers are reliable? How is your religious community structured?

There are certainly a host of other fantastic questions, but in my experience, these five tend to help everyone involved understand each other’s religious fundamentals.