One of the reasons I put this Blog together is to help me organize and clarify my concepts surrounding the Orthotomeo Project. As I’ve interacted with people and tried to explain my ideas this has had a positive effect. Things have become clearer to me and new aspects have dawned on me. One of them is the subject of this post.
I think what I’m trying to accomplish with the Orthotomeo Project is to create a hermeneutic of interpretation two levels removed from the original subject of interpretation or in other words a meta language of a meta language, a second order meta language.
My layman’s definition of a meta language is very simple: a set of categories defining a specific segment of reality and the logical relationships between them. Grammar is a meta language which describes out use of speech and communication. Mathematics is a meta language. It defines mathematical concepts and the relationships between them. Musical notation is a meta language. It has a clearly defined definitional domain and a fairly simple logic of the relationships between them. Economic theory, psychology and many other theoretical definitions fit this understanding of meta language. I consider all of these to be first order meta languages. That is, they form a theoretical representation of reality directly, one “meta-level” removed.
Theology is also a meta language. It defines a set of realities and works with the logical relationships between them. IMO the central aspect of the theological enterprise is that of interpretation. Different theological systems are the results of different approaches to interpretation. They define what kind of data is allowed into the system[1], what logical relationships have precedence or influence on others, which kind of interpretations are allowed and what kind of criteria are used to determine interpretive correctness.
Practicing theology, doing exegesis according to a specific set of principles, applying a certain kind of systematic theology and a host of other things involved in a specific brand of theology is a practice that I would call a first order meta language. The Orthotomeo Project is an attempt to create a second order theological meta language. Rather than describing theological reality directly the Orthotomeo Project desires to describe, or rather document, the ways that various theological systems describe theological reality. It will show how different theological systems approach the same data and how they come to their individual conclusions. One will be able to see where there is overlap and difference. One will be able to compare theological systems side-by-side and make a judgement as to which one is preferable.These are only a couple of the possibilities that will be available.
All of this rests on the simple meta description of theological systems as being reasoned systems. The Orthotomeo Project is based on the simples definition that theological systems consists of statements and the application of principles to interpret these statements, no more no less.
This is why, I hope to be able to claim a high degree of objectivity for this project. I am not pushing a particular theological slant. I want to represent differing theological slants and compare them on a level playing field. Of course, there is the possibility that the meta language behind the Orthotomeo Project may inherently favor a particular brand of theology. If, and when, I become aware of this a remedy will be sought. This will be part of the ongoing theoretical analysis of the project itself.
- [1] Natural theology or sola scriptura, for instance. ↩
