When does “speculation become pointless?”:http://open-dialogue.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1526#1526 Just how many times can one ask, ‘What if…?’ before one ends up beating a dead horse? There are a lot of questions asked within the realm of Christianity and theology, a lot of arguments and discussions that can be viewed as pointless because the answers can never be fully known, because many of the conclusions are left to the individual’s opinion and discretion, because the discussion ends up only spinning its wheel, cycling again and again through the same arguments and logic. Are these questions and discussions then, in and of themselves, pointless? I would say, Not necessarily.

The backbone of most theological questions within Christianity rests upon the assumption that God exists, that He is active in the lives of His image-bearers, that we are in need of His salvation, that His Son provided the means to obtain that salvation, and that we only need accept that gift in order to permanently secure our place in Heaven in eternity to come. Everything else is, to some extent, up for discussion once you have accepted these foundational principles. I believe that God expects His children to be curious about everything, to ask questions, even if those questions have no answers right now. I think it hurts nothing at all to entertain speculative discussion, so long as that undertaking does not result in anger, hatred, and bitterness. It is all too easy to formulate an opinion about something and then hold to that opinion so strongly as to consider it proven truth.

The point of speculative discussion is, I believe, to ferret out falsehoods, as much as possible, and replace them with Biblical truths. God has provided for us everything that we NEED to know through the medium of the Bible — everything that we need in order to know Him, to enter into a relationship with Him, to live a righteous and moral life that is pleasing to Him. What He doesn’t tell us or leaves unclear is, therefore, less important, though no less open to our searching. I believe that it pleases Him when we entertain those questions that have no answers because it means that His image-bearers are exercising the image of God by thinking critically, using creativity, and discovering the vast intricacies and mysteries of this world, this universe in which He placed us. But I believe that it displeases and saddens Him when this exercise of His image results in conflict with each other and with Him.

So, ask your questions, entertain your ‘pointless’ discussions, but bear in mind that all this should bring glory to God and should be done with the end of learning more about this God we serve and to deepen and make richer the fellowship of the Body of Christ.