Opus 2024-133: Jigsaw Theology

How can people get so many denominations out of one Bible?  I’m thinking about theology as a gigantic jigsaw puzzle that God has given us.  All the pieces are there.  When it’s put together, it will be a glorious picture.  But there are so many pieces and the colors are so radical that putting it together is a real challenge.

I think about the parallels.  The first thing I do when I try to put together a jigsaw puzzle is look for the straight edges that make the sides of the picture.  Then I look for obvious features that might continue from one piece to another, and indicate what group of pieces go together and try to assemble that one spot of the of the big picture.  Eventually I get down to the point where I have to start taking pieces and seeing if they fit.  That is where I can really run into trouble.  How many times have you found a piece that almost seems to fit and so you force it.  But it is really not the piece that goes there. And you have to be open to someone presenting you with the right piece which will fit in exactly.

We have all the pieces to this puzzle.  Putting it together, however, is a major challenge which may take all of eternity.  Pull up a chair, sit down and join me looking for the right pieces and how they fit.

Actually, the first thing I do is turn all the pieces right side up. I think some people try to put the puzzle together without turning the pieces over so they can see the true colors. Many world religions are simply human beings, taking the blank side of the back of the puzzle and trying to fit the pieces together.  The chances of that happening, even an eternity, are very slim.  Even if they succeeded they would not know what the picture showed.

homo unius libri