Theobabble consists of trite, superficial religious language or symbols often based on a sacred text taken out of context and without consideration of texts suggesting other perspectives.
Theobabble may include religious jargon or buzzwords having little meaning to those unfamiliar with the context. Theobabble can also refer to religious expressions used in a way that does not make sense even to those who understand theology.
Theobabble can be harmful when phrases or banners display hateful language toward a different religious or nonreligious group or when texts are hurled at people who interpret texts differently.
Holding up a poster with the numbers 316 at sports events. Christians would know the text, John 3:16, but the meaning is not so obvious to those who do not know the text or think about the nuances in the text.
"God has not given us a Spirit of fear." Reasonable people avoid dangerous situations. I don't know if he was afraid, but even Jesus avoided an area when he knew people planned to kill him.
"All the promises in the book are mine." A rather arrogant belief that all promises attributed to God by the Bible writers are personal promises from God to the contemporary reader.
Theobabble can be harmful when phrases or banners display hateful language toward a different religious or nonreligious group or when texts are hurled at people who interpret texts differently.
Examples of theobabble
Holding up a poster with the numbers 316 at sports events. Christians would know the text, John 3:16, but the meaning is not so obvious to those who do not know the text or think about the nuances in the text.
"God has not given us a Spirit of fear." Reasonable people avoid dangerous situations. I don't know if he was afraid, but even Jesus avoided an area when he knew people planned to kill him.
"All the promises in the book are mine." A rather arrogant belief that all promises attributed to God by the Bible writers are personal promises from God to the contemporary reader.
"God is in control." A phrase that sounds quite pious until you realize Christian friends and relatives get sick, have heart attacks, experience accidents, face traumatic situations, die, and try to recover from all sorts of "acts of God" (e.g., tornadoes, hurricanes). Whatever God controls, God does not appear to offer "blanket Protection" for Christians who must deal with the events of daily life like non-Christians.
"God wouldn't give you more than you could handle." Plenty of Christians struggle with close to overwhelming circumstances. It might be better to offer a meal, transportation, or something else a person might need when dealing with a crisis.
"God is good." Well that's good theology, but how helpful is that when a person is in a crisis and feel like God isn't helping? Why not skip the theobabble and offer to help instead?
"Maybe it happened for a reason." Go figure! How does a reason help when a person is in serious pain? How does a reason help when a loved one dies? Skip the theobabble and lend support.
There are many more examples on bumper stickers and social media posts.
Polite and helpful responses will be accepted.
Cite this post
Cite this post
Sutton, G. (2020, March 14). Theobabble. A House Divided. Retrieved
from https://dividedchristians.blogspot.com/2020/03/theobabble-defined.html
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