47 | Chekhov's gun and theology

Anton Chekhov developed a brilliant and simple idea that storytellers could keep in mind for when they're constructing plots, something nicknamed "Chekhov's gun" and it is this: nothing should be accidental. It's a great idea for storytelling, but maybe its application is larger than that. Maybe it even has something to say about our cognitive biases. And then there's the question of how it might apply to theological contexts. What could this idea tell us about how we understand theology, as well as how we might think of theologizing itself? The idea of the IKEA effect shows up here, along with some Pauline hermeneutics. Some ideas from Christian Smith's wonderful book "The Bible Made Impossible" also feature.