Theological Worlds

Part 1, Obsessio and Epiphania

Over the years, I've written from time to time about Paul Jones' notion of theological worlds, most recently in 2022.

Whenever I find myself speaking about the spiritual life I regularly bring up the idea of theological worlds, and pretty much no one has ever heard of the idea. So, I'm going to revisit the topic in this series and, to give it a new twist, reflect on my own spiritual life and journey. I'll share my theological world and how it has shaped my faith and thinking. I'm also going to do some creative speculation about the various types of theological worlds proposed by Jones, which I've never done before. All that to say, after two introductory posts there will be some new stuff for longtime readers to engage with.

So, to begin, what is a theological world?

According to Paul Jones, we each inhabit a distinctive "theological world." These "worlds" are characterized by a particular obsessio and epiphania. Here is how Jones describes our obsessio:

An obsessio is whatever functions deeply and pervasively in one’s life as a defining quandary, a conundrum, a boggling of the mind, a hemorrhaging of the soul, a wound that bewilders healing, a mystification than renders one’s life cryptic. Whatever inadequate words one might choose to describe it, an obsessio is that which so gets its teeth into a person that it establishes one’s life as plot. It is a memory which, as resident image, becomes so congealed as Question that all else in one’s experience is sifted in terms of its promise as Answer. Put another way, an obsessio is whatever threatens to deadlock Yeses with No. It is one horn that establishes life as dilemma…The etymology of the word says it well: obsessio means “to be besieged."

Basically, the obsessio is the Question of your existence, theologically speaking. Your obsessio names where you think the brokenness of life is located. Where you think the world is wounded or bleeding. What you experience as dislocated or wrong.

The epiphania, by contrast, is the location or direction where you find an Answer to your obsessio, what might be experienced by you as grace, salvation, answer, fixing, mending, or healing. Jones:

…epiphania, etymologically meaning “to show upon,” that which keeps the functioning obsessio fluid, hopeful, searching, restless, energized, intriguing, as a question worth pursuing for a lifetime. It keeps one’s obsessio from becoming a fatal conclusion that signals futility…Epiphania is epiphany precisely because its absurdity resides in being too good to be true.

The critical point, according to Jones, is that our obsessios are different. That is to say, you and I place the brokenness of the world in different locations. This means that we search for different epiphanias, an experience of grace or salvation that would heal the wound or answer the question. Basically, we each have different felt experiences about what is wrong with the world. And, as a result, we go looking for different sorts of answers.

Thus, your unique obsessio and epiphania creates a distinctive spiritual experience, defining the sort of faith quest you are on. Your theological world.