Doubt part 2

As a follow-up to my previous post about doubt/deconstruction, I thought I would address a question I got from a trusted friend. How far is too far when it comes to deconstruction? or stated another way, is it possible to go too far?

For me, the answer is no, it's not possible to deconstruct too far. Let me qualify that though. If one's intention is to: know and love God deeper, know and love others deeper, know and love oneself (and how we were uniquely created) deeper, and know and love God's creation deeper, then no, you can not desconstruct too much.

If one believes, like I do, that our thoughts about God, others, ourselves, and creation are shaped by culture, context, history, etc, can we also agree that those thoughts are human constructions? Even if we talk about revelation, we still have to say that revelation is mediated through our humanity. No one has the God's eye view of truth. It's amazing how we can think we finally have God nailed down. The church throughout history has thought that, and I would offer that they were/are wrong. Right about things? Yes, of course. Beyond and above deconstruction? No, of course not. And, this finitude (the condition of our humanity) is not something that is a problem, but it leads to a plurality of truth (Thanks John Franke for exploring this topic!).

So if our ideas and thoughts are human constructions, my contention is that they are always open to deconstruction. And, in fact, deconstruction should be the normal way of life for someone on the path to an integrated spiritual wholeness. Deconstruction is allowing the voice of the Other (God, another person, another culture, another lens to view things, etc) to be heard and embraced.

Next post - I talked about glimpes of a reconstructed faith in the first post about doubt. So, in the absense of clarity, what are some of the characteristics that will be part of a reconstructed faith?