Before tackling the question that Pilate asked the Messiah, “What is truth?” on any particular subject, one needs to first address the question of “Why does this matter?” or “How important is this?” Questions about eschatology, histology, chronology, the route of the Exodus, Noah’s flood, etc. are all different aspects of Scripture that can be mined for truth. But before doing so, it is critical to ask, “Why do I care about this?” and “How will this at all affect my life?” If you cannot give very good answers to either of these fundamental questions, the subject is probably better left untouched, at least for the present time.

My study of theology starts with the question “How is this important in my life?” I am not inferring by stating this that the pursuit of truth proper is not a worthy enterprise or that it will not inform me of what really is important. The question of “What is truth?” will be tackled later; it is just not what I am choosing to start with since I believe it is too vast.

So before you try to figure whether Genesis 1-11 is literal or poetic, what the proper mode of baptism is, or where Cain got his wife, first ask yourself why you should care about any of this and how important or relevant it is for your life. Theology becomes much less cluttered when we focus on this basic principle. After all, this is probably why we are interested in theology in the first place.