Zero Theology: Escaping Belief through Catch-22s

by John Tucker

In ZeroTheology, John Tucker argues that not only can one be a Christian without holding any traditional beliefs but that one can only be a Christian by getting out of religious belief altogether. Utilizing the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, John offers a way of escaping the belief/disbelief trap that explains why believers and unbelievers cannot understand each other and why neither understands the alternative religious path that the author promotes. Tucker addresses many of today's most pressing religious questions and introduces his own: Why do evangelicals believe that homosexual fidelity is more harmful to marriage than heterosexual infidelity? Why are believers so bothered by science and so impressed by miracles? What if Sin and Grace are synonyms? What if Jesus is sinless in an ironic way? What is the difference between making judgments and passing judgment? Why does the literal versus metaphorical debate completely miss the point of religious language? Using Catch-22s, ZeroTheology offers a new way of looking at Christian religious life that emphasizes the non-reasonable transcendent choice over the perfectly reasonable choice of belief or unbelief.

John Tucker is an honest religious thinker interested in how language and concepts can both liberate and imprison. He is an Ordained Elder in The United Methodist Church. John is originally from Alabama so he understands that fundamentalism is a threat, that college football is king, and that barbecue is a noun. He and his family currently reside in Oregon.

Genres: Religion, Theology

131 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2019

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Tucker aims to set us free from the belief paradigm. But the liberated religious that emerge, are not simply 'irreligious,' Instead we are set free toward something beyond belief, where faith and doubt are held in paradox.

Taking the idea of Catch-22s from Joseph Heller's novel, Tucker describes paradoxes which eschew both 'faith' and 'doubt,' literal and metaphorical readings. What Tucker hopes to do through the book is to take away our defenses and religious comforts away so that our absolute grief (how 'we respond to change, loss and deprivation,' 9) comes face to face with our absolute need -- 'our existential, spiritual need to make peace with morality, vulnerability and powerlessness' So with paradoxes in mind and a good dose of Wittgenstein, Tucker examines 10 catches in the religious life:

* The first step in the religious journey is to not take the first step
* The religious need is only met when you no longer need it.
* The only acceptable evidence for religious belief is evidence that is unacceptable
* The only God that satisfies is that God that does not satisfy
* You can only feel safe when you're in danger
* Mystery is only possible when explanation makes it unnecessary
* You are damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
* Repentance is most needed when it is least necessary
* Forgiveness is only possible when it is impermissible.

This a deceptively hard read for such a short book (less than 130 pages). I found myself re-reading chapters to try and wrap my mind around all that John Tucker was saying, or not saying, affirming or problematizing. In the end, I am not certain that I agree with everything. Perhaps I still cling to tenaciously to pieces of the belief paradigm? But I did feel like Tucker named some of the tensions between 'faith,' as such, and the evidence based scientific worldview and the ways those get merged for modern readers of theology and the Bible. Our need for certainty and our psycho-spiritual crutches (or in Tucker's metaphor, mattresses) give way and there is life after certainty in the "As if." And I appreciate wrestling with these issues.

[Terry Cooke-Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

A challenging read, that has transformed my experience of prayer and my sense of well-being.

[Paul Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so deep and every statement requires thought to absorb. It was slow reading for me. Yet, extremely rewarding. Helped me to reframe the place of ‘belief’ in theology and philosophy. It also turned me on to another fabulous book about the world history of glass. If you are willing to open your mind to new ways of viewing truth especially when applied to religion... yes read.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"the liberated religious continue to find meaning in religious concepts but do not look to those religious concepts for explanations about the world."