Questions Without Answers

The central doctrines of Christianity have remained mysteries to me ever since I first tried to understand them as a child in Ostrobothnia. In that small town, most people were so-called nominal believers, if that, and in addition, there was a strong Conservative Laestadian minority in the area. There were Laestadians among both schoolmates and neighbors, and their rules and views on religion differed from other Christians. Laestadian children might, for example, tell us that we would go to hell because we listened to music, or come to our homes to watch TV since they weren't allowed to have one at home. There's nothing particularly strange about people with different beliefs living side by side - this is the case in many places. Perhaps what made this relationship most interesting and complex was that some of the priests working in the parish were Laestadians. Being a regular parish priest was thus a day job, but by conviction they belonged to the Laestadian community, which had its own prayer house and its own rituals - not to mention the long list of things that were forbidden to them while permitted to us laypeople.

In addition to this, there were many smaller revival movements, each with their own doctrines to some extent. Without knowing the revival movements in more detail, I cannot analyze their differences, but as an observer I have seen that they are often somehow regional - strongly admiring, for example, Laestadius who worked in Northern Finland and following his teachings. This always felt very foreign to me - that there would be an entire world with billions of people, but the only true teaching would be found only from a preacher who worked in a small country, in a small language. It should be noted, however, that I am not sure whether most revival movements follow the view that they are the only ones who are right. The view of Conservative Laestadian children on the matter was clear, but once in a school religion class we were allowed to ask questions to the priest and one of these questions was daringly bold: "Do you Conservative Laestadians believe that the rest of us will go to hell, and if you do, how can you work as a parish priest?" The answer to this did not stick in my mind, I only remember the priest's face showing an awkward smile and a circuitous and meandering response style without giving a clear answer to the question.

In that same religion class, other difficult questions were put to the priest - for example, the doctrine of the Trinity - is it one or three and why is it so difficult to understand? Atonement death - what does it really mean and why was it even required if God is omnipotent? Inconsistencies in the Bible - stories of prophets in at least unprophetic situations or simple factual errors, for example, in the way the creation of the world is explained. We did not get clear answers to any of these questions. In fact, in my experience, Christians generally do not want to discuss these topics but dismiss them as "mysteries of faith" and things that one should just believe, and if that believing is difficult, then the Holy Spirit can help. Discussion, let alone debate, on the subject is usually not welcome and is dismissed as pointless.

Most people probably leave pondering these questions aside because they seem too vague and there is no real way to concretely grasp them. The e-book found on this site is indeed a breath of fresh air, where each of these doctrines is examined in the manner it requires, going through in detail exactly what the Bible says about these topics and how Christianity has changed its attitude towards these topics throughout history - and how sources outside the Bible have been used in forming doctrines. For me, the most important of these Christian doctrines - so familiar yet so difficult to define - are the Trinity, atonement death, original sin, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit. This book offers exactly the thorough and open examination that these themes deserve.

The original English book MisGod’ed is available on Dr. Laurence B. Brown's website