Fudge (or Fuzz) words used in Christianity

By the druid Finn

Christian theology, like physics, has its own collection of fudge words—terms that appear profound, sound authoritative, and function as doctrinal duct tape.
They glide smoothly over conceptual gaps, historical contradictions, and logical fractures.

This manual identifies the most common offenders and offers diagnostic tools for spotting when a term is being used to clarify a mystery—or to conceal an absence of explanation.

1. “Mystery”

The All-Purpose Cloaking Device

“Mystery” in theology is deployed when:

· an explanation is required,

· no explanation exists,

· and silence would reveal the gap.

Used for:

· the Trinity

· the Incarnation

· the Eucharist

· the problem of evil

· divine foreknowledge vs. free will

· resurrection

· creation from nothing

Diagnostic rule:
If invoking “mystery” ends the discussion rather than deepening it, it’s a fudge word.

Translation:
“We don’t know, but the conversation must continue.”

2. “Grace”

A Theological Swiss Army Knife

Grace can mean:

· divine favour,

· infused power,

· a created habit,

· uncreated energy,

· justification,

· sanctification,

· a supernatural push,

· or “something God does to you when He likes you.”

It is used to patch:

· ethical problems (“grace covers sin”),

· epistemic problems (“grace gives faith”),

· existential problems (“grace sustains”).

Because it is undefined, grace can always be invoked.

Warning sign:
When “grace” does all the work that definitions should be doing.

3. “Faith”

The Epistemic Escape Hatch

Faith is:

· belief without evidence,

· trust without understanding,

· assent without clarity,

· commitment without definition.

But in theological discourse it is treated as a virtue, even a form of knowledge.

Faith is the word used when doctrine conflicts with:

· reason,

· evidence,

· history,

· or experience.

Practical function:
Stops questions.
Not designed to answer them.

4. “Spirit” / “Holy Spirit”

The Invisible Agent of Everything

“Spirit” is invoked whenever:

· an action lacks a mechanism,

· a transformation lacks a process,

· or a doctrine lacks coherence.

The Holy Spirit:

· inspires,

· convicts,

· regenerates,

· illuminates,

· unites,

· sanctifies,

· reveals,

· speaks,

· guides,

· corrects,

· comforts,

· and authorises decisions.

Yet what the Spirit is remains unspecified.

Translation:
“Something divine did it.”

5. “Salvation”

A Word With a Thousand Meanings and No Anatomy

Salvation can mean:

· forgiveness,

· rescue from sin,

· rescue from death,

· rescue from wrath,

· moral transformation,

· metaphysical transformation,

· eternal life,

· liberation,

· adoption,

· union with God,

· membership in the Church.

· buying indulgences

· insured for everything you want in next life

All mutually conflicting in detail.
All held together by the single word “salvation.”

Diagnostic rule:
If a word covers many incompatible ideas, it is functioning as a fudge blanket. Therefore, caveat emptor.

6. “Sin”

The Ultimate Elastic Concept

Sin is:

· an act,

· a state,

· an inherited condition,

· a cosmic rupture,

· a moral failure,

· disobedience,

· separation,

· imperfection,

· alienation.

Because the term is infinitely stretchable, it is infinitely usable.

Sin explains:

· suffering,

· death,

· disorder,

· guilt,

· misfortune,

· and the need for the Church.

Tell-tale sign:
When one concept functions as the explanation for every human problem—fudge is involved.

7. “Redemption”

The Transaction Metaphor That Explains Nothing

Redemption imagery ranges from:

· ransom payments,

· legal acquittal,

· substitution,

· sacrifice,

· victory over evil,

· adoption,

· cosmic restoration,

· participation in divine life.

The metaphors contradict each other, but the single word “redemption” is used to hold the doctrinal soup together.

If a metaphor is required to explain the metaphor, the concept is opaque.

8. “The Word”

Logos as Linguistic Fog

In Christianity, “the Word” (Logos) is:

· Christ,

· God’s mind,

· divine speech,

· the principle of creation,

· the second person of the Trinity,

· revelation.

The term functions precisely because of its vagueness.

“Word became flesh” is treated as explanation rather than metaphor.

9. “Incarnation”

The Ontological Houdini Act

Incarnation asserts one person with two natures, fully divine and fully human, united “without confusion, change, division, or separation.”

This is a string of negations (i.e. apophatics), not a definition.

The word masks the absence of explanatory mechanism.

Fudge test:
If a doctrine ends with “somehow,” it is not an explanation.

10. “God’s Will”

The Catch-All for Uncomfortable Facts

“God’s will” explains:

· natural disasters,

· random suffering,

· death,

· unanswered prayers,

· historical atrocities,

· personal misfortune.

· winning the lottery

· not winning the lottery

It is invoked when:

· no moral justification exists,

· no causal mechanism is available,

· or the doctrine must be preserved at all costs.

It functions as a theological stop sign, not a conceptual tool.

11. “Revelation”

The Oversized Umbrella

Revelation includes:

· visions,

· scriptures,

· traditions,

· intuition,

· Church teaching,

· inner experience,

· prophetic utterance

· channeling.

When all sources are included, any contradiction can be resolved by shifting the definition.

Revelation is the theological version of “the equation says so.”

HOW TO SPOT A FUDGE WORD IN THEOLOGY

The sceptic Druid’s Three Questions:

1. Does the term describe a mechanism or replace it?
(If it replaces it → fudge.)

2. Does the term provide clarity or conceal ignorance?
(If concealment → fudge.)

3. Does the term carry more emotional weight than conceptual content?
(If emotion > definition → fudge.)

Final druidic verdict

Christianity has profound narratives, deep symbolism, and genuine moral insight.
But its conceptual vocabulary often operates as semantic camouflage—words used to bridge gaps where logic, evidence, or coherence fail.

These fudge words are not malicious.
They are survival tools for a tradition built upon:

· inherited metaphors,

· pre-scientific cosmology,

· political compromises,

· and centuries of doctrinal layering.

The druid’s conclusion:

A word that explains everything explains nothing.
And a faith that cannot define its terms cannot defend its truths.

Fudge words in Sankara’s Advaita Vedanta

Fudge Words and Fuzziness

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