THEOLOGY AS CREATIVE LANGUAGE. THE CASE OF THOMAS BROOKS

Abstract

The problem of theological language has been a hindrance in coming closer to God, ever since complex patterns of thought have combined with the theological inquiry. The conclusion that helped Protestantism gain ground was bringing the theological message of the Bible to the understanding of every-day believer. An effort was made to explain how God works in history, and how to become more like Christ in one’s every-day life. However, mere copying was not the foundation of Christianity. Inner conviction born out of understanding the explanation from the Biblical message was crucial. Thomas Brooks was one of the protestant theologians who aimed to explain how the Devil and evil work against the believer, in order to create chaos, disorder, sorrow, hatred, deception, and ignorance. He did this by transforming the theological message into creative language, using every-day images in order to create a relation between theology and praxis. This paper will analyze some of the aspects found in Brooks’ theological presentation, in order to show how theology could be used for the benefit of the individual believer, as well as for the benefit of society.

Keywords

• Evil
• Deception
• Theology
• Creative language