Why Cowboy Theology?

So why on earth have a blog entitled 'Cowboy Theology?' I'm not a cowboy - the closest I've been to the 'Prairie' is a bank called 'Bank of the Prairie' that sits next to a burger joint I frequent in my hometown. The last time I rode a horse I was eight years old, and it was a pony named Trixie whose top speed approached 4 miles per day or so. I'm also not a theologian - I've never formally studied theology - though I am a big fan of the Bible and enjoy reading it, thinking about it, and debating it (lovingly of course) with friend and foe. But I wanted to call this blog Cowboy Theology simply because I think we're all theologians, whether we admit it or not. Everybody from a cowboy on a horse in Wyoming smoking a Marlboro, to a stockbrocker in New York, to some American guy living in London with nothing better to do than write this (me), is a theologian. This goes against our usual image I think - I doubt anybody thinks theology and the first thing that comes to their mind is Clint Eastwood with that "I'm going to show you my cast-iron testicles before I beat you to death with them" look on his face. We generally think of old men with trimmed beards and pipes debating archaic ideas that no one cares about in a dusty bookshop somewhere. But here's the thing. Consider this definition for theology (per Dictionary.com):


"The field of study and analysis that treats of God and of God's attributes and relations to the universe; study of divine things or religious truth; divinity."


In other words, the study of God, what He's like, and how He relates to the universe. Since the vast majority of people believe in some form or concept of God (no matter how varied - and don't worry, we'll get to the atheists in a minute), this would make all of us, to some extent, theologians - we've all amassed some amount of infomation regarding God's existence, what He's like, and how He relates to the universe, and formed a system of beliefs.


Now one might counter that this is contingent on God's existence - in other words, you don't have an opinion on what God's like if you don't think He exists. But we can't escape that way either. Why? Well, if one does not believe in God, one is saying something about what God's like (non-existent) and concluding then that no relationship is necessary (talking to God is about as productive as talking to an orange if one is atheistic). In other words, even if you are an Atheist, you are still taking a theological view. Many athiestic philosophers disagree with me on this point (that atheism is an affirmative belief), but others have argued that one out so I'll leave it alone at present.


The bottom line is, we need to think about what God is like, how He relates to the universe, particularly ourselves - because that will determine how we relate to Him. Here's hoping a crackpot like me has something to contribute!