About Theologica

On May 25th 2008, Michael Patton created Theologica. He created it to be a place where the conversations that were taking place in the comments section of his blog at Parchment and Pen could continue. Michael Patton is President of Reclaiming the Mind Ministries, which produces The Theology Program, Converse with Scholars, and Theology Unplugged Radio. These three programs seek to bridge the gap between the pew and seminary, educating people in the basics of systematic and historic theology.

This site is thriving, and we the moderators want to thank everyone that participates for doing so in a gracious way. We have had a few minor incidents, and one person temporarily banned, but overall you have followed our site’s Rules of Engagement. We would now like to take some time to point out a few items.

What Each Area of the Site is Meant For:

Blogs - This is your personal space. This is where you should post thoughts that are not intended for extensive further discussion. Observations from personal study and events that have occurred in your life belong here. Unless your post ends with questions or makes it apparent that discussion is to follow, it should probably be a blog. As discussed later, blogs are limited to those who hold to historic Christian beliefs.

Forums - This is for open discussion relating to the topic posted. Dialogue is encouraged to stay on topic, so if a side conversation begins, open a new discussion. This is where the majority of the activity has taken place so far. Topics should remain general in nature, while in depth discussion on narrow topics should take place in groups.

Groups - This is a place to congregate with people who have similar interests and positions in order to have open discussion. The conversation in here is not required to remain on topic, so it is more ready to follow rabbit trails. This is where you should go if you want to gather with a particular kind of theologian. Before initiating a new group, we ask that you consider posting a question in the discussion forum area to see if there is enough interest to justify a separate group. The reason we encourage such action is that, in the event that a group is inactive for 6 months or more, the moderators of Theologica reserve the right to close down and delete the group due to inactivity.

Events - This is available to anyone that wants to post an event that you think the members of Theologica may be interested in. Contact Michael for more details on advertising.

Our Rules of Engagement: In case you missed them on your way in, take some time to become acquainted with the conduct we expect on this site. You may find our rules on the main page. Our purpose at Theologica is that the conversations move in a meaningful way.

We define meaningful in the following way:

1) Not closed minded

2) Not self-promoting

3) Not characterized by mass amounts of cut-and-paste proof-texting

4) Not characterized by mass amounts of cut-and-paste from other places

5) Irenic

6) Not slanderous

7) No spamming

8) Perpetual venting bitterness

9) Not confusing or disruptive

Anyone who holds to historic Christianity, can blog here. Those who don't please stick with the forums.

We would also like to point out member Rey Reynoso’s blog posts “Words That Don’t Prove Your Point”, You Believe That 'Cause, and Scripture That Never Proves Your Point as excellent guides of the type of fallacies to avoid in discussion.

Lastly, we want to point out three posts by the site’s creator that we feel can aid us all in proper online etiquette. Blogging to the Glory Shame of God, What Part of Gentleness and Respect Don’t You We Understand?, and Christian Blogging 101 are excellent reads. So is ScottL's blog post on The Saga Challenge. They all deal with the kind of behavior and attitudes that we try to foster here.

As the rules state, "Only Christians post blogs. Heretics, other religions, and aliens can post all they want on the forums, but we have reserved the blogs for Christians (not Mormons, JWs, or others who fall outside of historic Christianity)." As moderators are charged with enforcing that rule, we came up with a list of beliefs that are taken primarily from the early church creeds. This list is a work in progress, but for the purposes of blogging here on Theolgica, here is how we are currently defining "Christian".

I believe in God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe God to reveal himself as three eternal persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I believe in Jesus Christ, the only unique Son of God, our Lord.
I believe Jesus Christ was both fully human and fully God.
I believe Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, crucified for the sin of mankind, actually died, and was buried.
I believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day and subsequently ascended into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father and shall one day judge the living and the dead.
I believe the Holy Spirit to be both divine and a person sent to indwell believers.
I believe in the one unified and true church.
I believe Jesus Christ is the Head of the church.
I believe in the all-sufficient atoning work of Christ.

If you would like to blog here and do not agree with some of these statements, please contact the moderators so that we can discuss it with you.

Above all, the moderators want you to understand that this site belongs to all of us and Rules of Engagement are here for the protection of conversation, not the stifling of it. We were placed into moderator positions by Michael to ensure that the Rules of Engagement were adhered to, as well as deal with other technical issues (Michael is a busy man and can’t do everything by himself). But this is your site. We’ve made it clear in the past that no one will be banned from this site for their theology. It is the way that someone’s theology is presented that results in their dismissal. So talk! Don’t be afraid that someone is going to slap you on the hand for honest views and questions. The moderators will step in if your questions aren’t handled properly and addressed in an irenic manner. For some guidelines on how to keep a conversation irenic and objective, check out Thoughts on Theologica Discourse.