Fractal Theology - A Simple Definition

People often ask me if I can give a simple description of what Fractal Theology is. This is the most simple version I have managed so far:

What is Fractal Theology?

• Fractal Theology recognises that, if the universe is God’s creation, and creation is better described using fractals (patterns that repeat at many scales), then God’s actions and intentions in general will be better described in a fractal way.
• Fractal Theology explores how the created world, how our actions as believers, and how our religious organisations follow patterns that are similar to descriptions of God and descriptions of God’s instructions to us.
• Fractal Theology asks if these patterns are repeated in various ways, in our lives, in our Churches, and in the way we treat each other.
• Fractal Theology challenges us to question why these patterns don’t always match up; does our image of God need correcting, does our response to that image need correcting, or is it a little of both?
• Fractal Theology sees the Kingdom of God, as spoken of in the Gospels, less like an earthly kingdom, and more as people and creation, ruled by good patterns of living that are rooted in patterns of their creator. 

What is a Fractal?

A fractal is a shape, a pattern, an idea, or a thing that has self-similarity. Self-similarity means it has parts that are similar to the whole of it. Fractals can be self-similar to many levels of scale. Fractals are a useful way of describing things in the world that don’t look like squares, triangles, circles, etc. They are a relatively simple way of describing very complicated things more accurately. A tree might be described as a green sphere on top of a brown cylinder, but that would be a very poor description. We could describe a tree far more accurately in terms of how its twigs and branches divide and sub divide at each level in a way that is similar to the whole tree. All we need to know is where the shoots come off of the branch, the angle of the divide and the relative change of size at each division. From these bits of information, we can build an image of the whole tree. In theory, a fractal can be infinitely self-similar and perfect, but in the real-world, fractals are limited to the number of levels that are possible in the situation and are affected by variables and imperfections. However, those imperfections can also be fractal in nature and so very realistic theoretical models of real world situations can be made by applying several fractal formulas to each other.

What is Theology?

Theology is the study of God. It is the exploring of ideas and the conversations that people have about God. It is often, but not always, a word used to describe conversations about God as seen by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. However, theology is not just a subject studied in schools and universities. Theology is what happens every time somebody makes a decision based on what they believe, which in some ways, is every decision that is ever made.

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