Rock Logic vs. Water Logic

A rock occupies unchanging space. A rock is absolute, stands firmly and defies opposing forces. Put a rock into a pail with lots of small holes smaller than it, and it can’t come out any other way than the way it went in i.e. through the opening. The only way a rock is coming out of the bottom of a holey pail is by crashing through it.

It’s the rock or whatever stands against it. Not both. Such is rock logic. It collides, confronts and maintains a fortress-like stance in the face of adverse or opposing views. Integration of positions is difficult, if not impossible.

But think about water. It flows and moves forward. It goes around entrenched positions. It bends itself and blends itself into its environment in order to find even the slightest opening forward. In some cases, it becomes almost a part of the entity it encounters without necessarily losing its distinctive identity.

Pour water in to a pail with even the smallest of holes and within minutes the water will come out. It’s found a way, where there seemed to be no way!

This is water logic. A disposition which does all it can to move forward, to find solutions, to integrate and ‘blend in’ as a means of progressing further or even producing a better alternative.

For centuries (and even nowadays), theology appeared to be a discipline perfecting the art of rock logic. The defenders of orthodoxy treated barricaded the core doctrines like a fortress, threatening heresy and expulsion on would-be innovators who went too far.

What might water logic look like in theology?