Theology is a science. 

Yes you read that right. 

All religion if done rightly is a science.

And like the fields we usually think of as science, there are those who investigate and those who obfuscate. 

There are those who seek truth and try to explain it to others, and those who hide the truth and tow the line for money, power, position, or peer-pressure. 

In every scientific study there are two basic methods. 

There is The Scientific Method - that is the one we are supposed to be using and measuring by if we are genuinely searching for the truth. And then there is the one we call The Satanic Method, which is typically employed by those who don’t want truth but rather confirmation bias. 

Whatever we are studying, we must begin with a love of and a desire to discover the truth. 

Personal preference cannot be considered.

Emotions, desires, influences, finances, etc. must all take a backseat to the objective search for whatever the reality happens to be, and that reality whatever it is, is the truth.

The scientific method is not simply a list of things to follow a single time from start to finish and then it is over. It is rather a cycle and an eternal one. Because it is a cycle and because we always approach the beginning of our study at different points upon it, the steps really should not have a strict starting point, though they must always follow the given order. But for the sake of explanation, we will begin with observation. 

Either we made an observation or someone made an observation to us, or we stumbled upon the observations of others. However it happened, we have an observation, and now we have an obligation… And that is to question the observation.

Again, we begin with a goal of the truth so our questions are aimed at finding truth. Therefore, they will not be set up questions. They will not be rhetorical questions. They will not be loaded questions. 

They will be genuine questions, hoping to find genuine answers. 

From these questions, we form a hypothesis. That is a “what if”, an unfixed and potentiality rather than a certainty and a reality. It is a maybe because we do not yet know, and we need a temporary answer to our questions to proceed on in the process.

If we question, but do not hypothesize or if we hypothesize and do not question, we have introduced folly and prejudice into our equation. To jump from observation to hypothesis skips reason. And to jump from question to experimentation adds in an over-abundance of unnecessary effort. Forming the hypothesis eliminates the obvious absurdities and ridiculous scenarios, which must be considered because all things are considered, but must be eliminated before experimentation. Otherwise time is wasted testing nonsense.

And so we move on to experimentation of our hypotheses. With an eye looking for the truth, and only in the aftermath of the previous steps - observation, question, hypothesis - we begin our experiment which will yield in the next step, a conclusion. If we skip those steps our conclusions will not be ours but those that were applied to us by outside influence - our feelings, our finances, our pre-existing faith.

And contrary to the finality of how this step in the method sounds, conclusion is not the end of our investigation. Because the conclusion produces a result. And the result can then be observed by ourselves and by others. And that should begin the process all over again.

When we arrive at a conclusion and form a result, it is our obligation to observe our result, and to follow the scientific method to analyze our result. And it is the obligation of any who observe the results of our conclusions that they likewise follow the scientific method as well to evaluate our findings.

Because we are human and subject to fault, it is our obligation to constantly follow this method over and again checking and recheck our findings and the findings of others. There is always the possibility that we missed something, that we made a mistake in our calculations, that we were accidentally and unknowingly influenced by outside aspects. And only by checking and recheck, can we ensure that these missteps may be found out and fixed by following the process again and again.

Some of us may come to the process with a question. If so, that is the part of the cycle at which we should begin. If we approached the process with a hypothesis then that is the part at which we should begin. If we begin to encounter the truth at the stage of experimentation, then this is where we should start because that is where we are. What if we start with a conclusion? Or a result? That is fine. So long as the process is followed in order from there and we take the conclusion, acquire our result, and then begin an observation of it, followed by questioning it for a hypothesis and conducting an experiment to form a conclusion, at which point we then must formulate our new result and observe that result, question that result and form hypotheses again. 

The process goes on and on forever if we are actually seeking the truth.

Contrary to this method is the more popular and familiar and expected method which we refer to as The Satanic Method. That may sound harsh, but it is entire of the devil and is the antithesis of all true analysis. 

This is the process of observation, hypothesis, conclusion, and application. Sometimes the satanic method even skips steps in itself which is another a devilish thing to do. With an eye looking to name things as truth, and not finding actual truth, one may simply make a twisted observation and do no more. Or one may observe and hypothesize foolishly and leave the nonsense hypothesis open-ended. One may jump from observation to conclusion without any hypothesis whatsoever. One may make an observation and jump straight to an application. Or one may never observe or hypothesize and simply go about with foregone conclusions applying them in anarchy wherever they go.

But the typical Satanic method followed by most religious folk, and the majority of the scientific community, begins with an observation, and no acknowledgment of obligation to the truth. Skipping the step of asking questions and jumping straight into a biased hypothesis, it runs on predetermination and prejudice projecting a finding ahead of time so that the conclusion will be what was intended from the beginning rather than what was found by the process. 

And finally, if we are working in the science of theology, following the Satanic method instead of the scientific method, what we will do there is approach the Scripture with our substantially silly study of the subject and apply our findings to the Bible. If we are given to this twisted method then we will, either superimpose our stupid ideas upon the Text or we will select out from the Scriptures isolated versus which will in the absence of context seem to support our conclusions.

The vast majority of teaching these days follows the Satanic method. Even by well meaning preachers. This applies both to Christianity and the Messianic movement. 

Most people have not been taught that theology is a science, and most people have not been taught the proper method. What is taught most often in theology is tradition, denominational or individual and always with theology as dominant over Scripture.

Our job as theologians is to question everything and to do so with an end goal of finding the truth, not an aim to discover that what we had all along was the truth.

But for most theologians, unfortunately the goal is simply to be able to present the pre-existing condition as if it were the truth and present the Bible piecemeal as back up. 

Our ideas become the hero, and the scripture made a sidekick.

So if you are studying, be aware of these two methods. Whatever way, you are searching, you will be following one or the other. 

If you are following the scientific method, you will have a lot more work on your hands, and the process will never end. If you are following the Satanic method, you will have an easy time of it, it will be a short investigation, a small amount of memorization, and a lifetime of lauded, though laughable, results.

Questioning everything and studying properly will not gain one financial success. It will not acquire for anyone great praise. And it will not give anyone an easy life. Following the proper process will be running against the grain, swimming upstream, and leave you alone in the crowd.… But you will be right. And what is more?…you will be helping others to find the light.

Question Everything 

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