Abstract Vs. Relational

"It is, I grant you, a crass analogy; but crass analogies are the safest. Everybody knows that God is not three old men throwing olives at each other. Not everyone, I'm afraid, is equally clear that God is not a cosmic force or a principle of being or any other dish of celestial blancmange we might choose to call him. Accordingly, I give you the central truth that creation is the result of a trinitarian bash, and leave the details of the analogy to sort themselves out as best they can."

~Robert Farrar Capon

Source: The Romance of the Word: One Man's Love Affair With Theology : Three Books : An Offering of Uncles/the Third Peacock/Hunting the Divine Fox, Pages: 176


"Abstract principles and philosophies are much cleaner and more sterile and manageable than a personal God with personality, will and relational being. When we can reduce our theology to these abstract principles we can create a nice tidy little theology that leaves us feeling safe and in control of things. 

God becomes the giant vending machine in the sky into which we input the right currency, (our prayers, our efforts and our tithes for example) and then we can predictably wait on God to give us what we've paid for according to the divine system and transactional rules we've established.

Living in relationship with a Trinitarian God who embodies love and relationship and moving beyond the systems of what seems to me to be essentially just a form of Christianized Deism, is a very messy thing as opposed to the "safety" and "security" that we would rather find in an impersonal system that leaves us with predictable outcomes and overall control of everything in our lives."

Bart Breen https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trinitarianism/274624109277834?fref=ts