“…let us never indulge in idle questioning. Speculation only opens the door to evil and leads us into moral and spiritual confusion. Only the Lord Jesus conversed successfully with Satan, since He alone is sinless…let us strive to live pure and godly lives, even if it requires painful struggle at times. Christ has promised to help us and save us. May we grow “in holy conduct and godliness” (1 Peter 3:11)…The renowned theologian Dumitru Staniloae equated “doing theology” with joyful existence in God, and as such the theological enterprise has more in common with a living experience than a barren exercise in theoretical speculation.” (Dynamis 1/31/2018, Father Joseph Loya)
“More is learned through living than through lectures…Stay away from religious speculation and pointless theological arguments. Such exercises may seem harmless at first, but they have a way of sidetracking us from the central message of the Good News—the person and work of Jesus Christ…Walk before God in simplicity, and not in subtleties of the mind. Simplicity brings faith; but subtle and intricate speculations bring conceit; and conceit brings withdrawal from God." (Life Application Study Bible, 1 Timothy 3: 3-4, 1-13, St. Isaac the Syrian)
“…Faith does not begin with mankind's religious speculations, nor with the so-called "proofs" for the existence of God, nor with a human quest for the Divine….Faith is the Self-disclosure of God. Each day, the Church's Morning Prayer affirms and reminds us of this by declaring, "God is the Lord and He has revealed Himself to us.” While the inner Being of God always remains unknown and unapproachable, God has manifested Himself to us; and the Church has experienced Him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which is central to the Orthodox Faith, is not a result of pious speculation, but of the overwhelming experience of God…Let us note that theology is not speculation; it is experience in and of the Body of Christ.” (Rev. Fr. Thomas Fitzgerald, Rev. Dr. George C. Papademetriou)
“The Life within the Holy Trinity conceals itself from all scrutiny and transcends any ability of human reason to fathom its mystery, but this doesn’t mean that God conceals Himself from the rational creatures He created to know, love and unite with Him. God in self-realization communicates to all that exists, but only through revelation. We are not to think or discuss anything about the nature of God except what is revealed through the incarnation of the Son and Word of God, Jesus Christ. All else is mere speculation.” (Very Rev. Vladimir Berzonsky)
“It has been said that God is like an ocean – shallow enough so that a three year old can wade in and get wet, but deep enough so that the greatest theologian can never touch bottom. God is like that, the Bible is like that, the Church is like that, our faith is like that: shallow enough so that a child can experience and enjoy, deep enough so that none of us will ever touch bottom. The fact is: what we don’t know is more than what we do know. And the moment we think we know all there is to know, the moment we stop appreciating mystery and stop seeking God, that’s the moment we become either proud or lazy…so we had better be restrained in our speculation about Him – as restrained in our speculation as the church fathers were in theirs. We might think we know exactly what God is and should be, but is that not a certainty loaded with risk?” (Fr. John Oliver)