Failure is always an option

https://solomedicalsupply.com/2024/08/07/mko82z2i Yes, Father Orthoduck is a huge Mythbusters fan! There are several sayings that have come from that show that are favorites of Father Orthoduck:

• Failure is always an option.
• I reject your reality and substitute my own.
• Jamie wants big boom.
  
• Am I missing a eye brow?
• Well there’s your problem!
• If I had any dignity, that would have been humiliating.
• When in doubt C4.
• Here comes chaos!
• This is starting to feel like a bad idea.

Father Orthoduck’s favorite is the one at the top of the list, “failure is always an option.” It is a good statement for any human activity. And, it is a statement that will certainly help, not only as we do science, but also as we do theology and as we make choices in how we will live out our lives. [I think that our youngest daughter goes for the saying, “when in doubt use C4.”]

https://www.clawscustomboxes.com/gvlspfy1nln Mythbusters regularly demonstrates that the results of a scientific experiment are not fully predictable. Time after time, when experiments go wrong, their attitude is that failure simply shows them that either they have not controlled the various options in their experiment or that their original assumption was wrong. They do not treat failures as depressing examples of their inability to think correctly. Rather, every experiment that they perform, whether is goes as expected or not, teaches them more about what we all call “reality.” The staff at Mythbusters learns as much from their failures as from their successes.

But, we often do not wish to admit that the same it true when it comes to theology. No, Father Orthoduck is not talking about the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils. Eventually, one must decide that something is true and that which disagrees with it is not. And, no, Father Orthoduck does not believe it is a purely individual decision. There is a reason why over 95% of Christianity overtly agrees with the first four Ecumenical Councils, and in practice agrees with the first six Ecumenical Councils. Father Orthoduck does not buy the “conspiracy theorists” who claim the agreement is merely the result of persecution. Here is where Father Orthoduck is convinced that the post-modernists are wrong. But, that is for another post. [In passing the seventh council is also true and to be believed.]

Nevertheless, what Father Orthoduck is talking about is the reality that the changing nature of the canons of the Orthodox Church point to two realities. The first reality is that the practice of the Church needs to be continually adjusted to the changing reality of the world in which the Church lives. [Note: Notice that Father Orthoduck did NOT use the word “theology” but rather used the word “practice.”] The second reality is that, regardless of how saintly the person, there is always the possibility of failure in someone’s theology. It is that possibility of failure that quite a few people need to acknowledge. Having said that, there are many many Christians who need to acknowledge that the Church can speak truth and be successful in communicating the reality of God and his expectations for us.

Oddly enough, Father Orthoduck would argue that the Orthodox argument that God is unknowable would also be a recognition that our theologies can be quite wrong. But, there are all too many Orthodox who argue that the presence of the Holy Spirit within the Church guarantees that no theology will ever be wrong. However, that is a contradictory statement given the several Ecumenical Councils. That is, obviously many people must have been wrong if it was necessary to call an Ecumenical Council. What Father Orthoduck is willing to argue is twofold. On the one hand, on necessary theologies, the Holy Spirit is our guarantee that our Ecumenical Councils have reached correct decisions. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit has ensured that no theology is stated within the Orthodox Church that would so lead believers that they would fall into irredeemable heresy.