Importance: 30%
The Big Idea
The basic idea that Western thought has gone too far into relying only on a mechanistic explanation of the universe. A balance needs to be found between being able to see the universe (or any other smaller part of the world) as a unified whole first and foremost. The specifics of how things work mechanistically can be figured out and flow from our core understanding of the whole.
This is in opposition to the usual way of trying to get all of the mechanics figured out so that we can construct an understanding of the whole like an erector set. But the problem with that is if you have even a few bad parts your picture of the whole can get very distorted. Not to mention it also is impossible to judge which mechanics are most faithful unless you see them through which in some cases can cost the effort of a whole generation.
A metaphor for this is to think of two frogs on a table. One is alive and whole the other is split open and pinned on the board. Which frog gives you a better example of what a frog really is? The dissected frog can teach you a lot about the mechanics of how a frog works internally. But if that is all you ever have access to you never really will have a good idea of what a frog is like or how it sounds or where it lives or any of the other things that makes a frog a frog as a whole created creature.
Related Notes: Structure Preserving Transformation or Smooth Change, Notes on the Nature of Order, The Quality of Life in Environments and Objects, Center Composed Wholeness, The Ways Centers Help Each Other Have More Life, Thinking of Spatial Relationships as Centers
Application of this Principle to our Approach to Scripture
The idea that when we approach Scripture from a mechanistic framework we often view scripture as incomplete. There a details missing or the exact way things mechanically work is not fully explained so we tend to see “gaps” in the text and spend a lot of mental energy trying to rectify or explain them in some form.
But this then leads to the idea that scripture only really gives an overview or some kind of spiritual perspective on how the world works not an actual full account of everything we truly need as God’s creatures.
I think that Scripture works from a wholistic standpoint of the human and the universe. We see an accurate and immensely deep and nuanced perspective of everything in scripture. The problem is that if we are looking for the mechanics of everything we won’t find it but if we are looking for a wholistic approach to life and everything, than Scripture and theology already has all we need allowing us to make decisions and choose mechanisms that are in line with our overarching holistic perspective.