There is no doubt that theology has always been intrinsically interwoven with personal perspective. Three of the four major sources of theology are directly influenced and thoroughly interconnected with perspective as a whole, those being tradition, reason, the Bible and experience. Regardless of context, the nuance and ideologies that stem from perspective warp and shape the entirety of theology, where it cannot escape personal experience. Such perspective and subsequent theologies evidently contain biases, both on a macro and micro scale, where every event in living memory exerts some kind of influence on the perspective itself, in essence making every individual perfectly unique in some way, shape or form. With all of the aforementioned intricacies, it is impossible for the perspectives of two people to be identical, especially with the rapid expansion of today's society, whether it be through media, technology, or economics. Changes are happening at such a breakneck rate that it is hard to summarize and capture a singular idea, where connections and threads to separate discussions become more and more interconnected. It is precisely because of the disparities within biases in interpretation, societal advancement, and contradictions in the perception of divinity that God is paradoxical.

As one of the four main sources of theology, scripture is most often looked upon as a concrete foundation for theological interpretation, however, dissecting it reveals a wealth of conflicting, and oftentimes contradictory, narratives. Mistranslations, for example, are bound to occur in a text as old as the Bible, where Matthew Vines identifies how much of modern traditionalist homophobia stems from two words in the Bible, those being "malakoi" and "arsenokoitai." Both are Greek words that do not have direct English translations, nor were they created in a time where "homosexuality" was a coined term. There were also critical pieces of nuance that were omitted for both terms, where rather than being translated thought for thought, both were translated word for word, resulting in a shift from condemning "feminine-coded" acts in masculine individuals to condemning sexual orientation. The historical context of this shift can be traced as well, where during the social justice movements of the mid twentieth century, the civil rights and liberties of queer individuals were also being brought to light. Additionally, "homosexuality" itself was a relatively novel term, being defined in the late 1860s and only being translated into English during the 1920s. The shift in Bible translations soon followed, where during the 1940s and 50s the term was translated to attack individuals and not actions, causing verse to be warped and selectively chosen. The mistranslation itself was by no means an accident, evident through the countless previous iterations of the Bible that state very different interpretations, leaving it as a matter of eisegesis fueled by cisheteronormative patriarchal bias. This is one of the many examples where scripture turns on itself, obscuring Christianity's central messages of love and faith and instead warping it to become an advocacy for hate and discrimination. Both progressive and conservative theology are advocated for using the same source material, where evidence is cherry-picked, contorted, and completely disregarded for an infinite amount of possible arguments, inevitably resulting in paradoxical claims.

While paradoxical accounts of scripture are to be expected with how prevalent eisegesis and biases are, contemporary society and its influences on reasoning find themselves just as discrepant. The Old Testament in particular was created to provide clear delineations between the ancient Hebrew people and the surrounding pagans, resulting in the formation of multiple laws that can't be applied to modern society, especially if verse is taken literally. The constrictive binaries of cisheteronormative patriarchies cannot be applied to a much more openly diverse, progressive society, where at this point, some of the original text has become directly contrary to left-leaning ideologies. Reasoning itself has also been evolving, particularly through scientific and social advancements, such as with abortion. Kira Schlesinger speaks to how early conceptions of pregnancy without biological context believed how women were simply "soil" where children grew, which is deeply lacking in both scientific evidence and current perceptions of respect. The shifting focus between the "women" and "fetus" is another form of conflicting reasoning as to what holds value within the abortion debate. Contradictions not only appear across the ages between ancient and contemporary society, but within contemporary society itself. Discrepancies commonly arise through politicization and societal standards, where differences in ideology manipulate reasoning in favor of exacerbating conflict. Being "right" overtakes both evidence-based and theological reasoning, directly applying personal bias to the divine.

In the same vein of thought, the perception of the divine contains not only contradictory biases, but also intrinsic ones. Christena Cleveland addresses this in "In God We Can't Trust: The Problem with whitemalegod," stating how the modernized conception of a white, male god and a white Christ have roots in Indo-European patriarchies that provided significant focus on standardized notions of "masculinity." With humanity being a reflection of God, the naturalization of "white divinity" can be directly attributed to the rise of a white presence worldwide through colonization, existing in objective contrast to any identity that does not fit the mold. This isn't only deeply harmful to the vast majority of individuals who do not identify with white masculinity, it's also reductive and paradoxical in the sense that the feminine aspects of God are rejected, such as Jesus' nurturing aspects. The presence of this disconnect is also inherently problematic. This solidified image of whitemalegod exists in complete opposition to humanity being a reflection of God itself and cannot hope to represent all people, yet it still persists. Any kind of decided perception of God is contradictory to an extent. As a reflection of the divine, all of humanity must be incorporated into God in order to be a true reflection, yet the widely accepted imagery does not only vary between person to person, but is also an incomplete representation of the combined reflection. Thus God simultaneously cannot be perceived as the sum of His reflections, nor can people feel connected to Him if his imagery is different to their own. 

Regardless of the theological angle, God appears to be an amalgamation of self-contradictions, yet completely incompatible experiences, reasoning, scripture, and traditions must be taken holistically in order to create a "cohesive" representation of all aspects of God. What further drives the confusion is that there is no definitively "correct" interpretation. Morality and ethics that demarcate "good" and "bad" may share similarities between individuals, but because perspective cannot be unified, no consensus can be reached on "objectively correct" interpretations. However, that's not to say that faith is fundamentally useless and theology is a fruitless pursuit, but rather all of the illogical contradictions serve to highlight the importance of nuance within theology as a complete subject. It is through the intricacies of interpretation that faith exists in the first place, and its lack of clear cut definition and objective truth is what allows for the diversification and development of many ideas and perspectives in the first place.

Works Cited

Cleveland, Christena. "In God We Can't Trust: The Problem with whitemalegod." In God is a Black Woman, 22-51. New York, NY, HarperCollins, February 8, 2022. 

Hartke, Austen.  "And God Said, Let There be Marshes."  In Transforming: The Bible and Lives of Transgender Christians, 47-58. Louisville, KY, Westminster John Knox Press,  March 13, 2018.

Kira Schlesinger, “Faith and Fertility in  a Changing Culture.” In Pro-Choice and Christian: Reconciling Faith, Politics, and Justice, 41-53. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, October 10, 2017.

Vines, Matthew "Will Gay People Inherit the Kingdom of God?", In God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships, 117-131. New York, NY, Convergent Books, April 22, 2014.