When they hear the word ‘theology’, the reactions of Christians tend to vary enormously.
For some, this word
suggests something positive, an attempt to deeply understand God and His
purposes, which will benefit the person who succeeds in gaining insight.
For others, this word
suggests something negative, wasting time on discussing things that have little
value or connection to everyday life.
And, of course,
others will take a view that is somewhere between these other views.
I am firmly in the
first camp on this issue. When I hear the words ‘theology’, ‘theological’ and ‘theologian’,
I hear something positive.
What is theology
all about?
In essence, theology
is the study of God, things that are true about Him. And a large part of this
has to do with true things about Jesus Christ, including how His death and
resurrection bring forgiveness to guilty human beings.
Of course, it is
important to understand that as Christians we don’t just know true things about
God. We actually know God Himself (e.g., John 17:3; Phil 3:10). We are in
relationship with Him.
Nevertheless, it is
certainly right to say that the more true things about Him we know, the more we
will know Him. It makes no sense to think that learning more about what God is
like and what He has done won’t affect our relationship with Him.
The same is true of
human to human relationships. The better we know what someone is like and what
they have done, the more we will know that person and the more closely we will
be able to relate to him or her.
So theology is really
a positive thing. It is a form of study that should lead to us knowing God
better.
How it all fits
together
There is a vast
number of things that are true about God and His actions. However, it isn’t the
case that these are just separate items on a long list. In reality they all fit
together to make one big tapestry. And some parts of Scripture do a great job of
joining the dots.
For example, take the
book of Romans. In this book Paul doesn’t just say, ‘Jesus died for you, and
you will be saved if you believe in Him’. Instead he goes into detail
explaining how the nature of God fits with His plan to save human beings from
their sins.
Or take the book of
Hebrews. Here the author shows at length how the Old Covenant sacrificial
system foreshadowed what Christ accomplished on the cross. In other words, he
explains how much of what God did in Old Testament times fits together with what
He did in the first century.
To some extent, then,
theology has to do with figuring out how parts of the tapestry fit together.
And the more we can join things up in our minds, the more anchored our faith
should become.
Difficult to
understand
I think one reason
why so many Christians dislike theology is because they find it difficult to
understand.
Of course, Christians
have different levels of ability to engage in academic-style learning. Some are
more academically inclined than others.
But here’s the thing.
We all find theology difficult to understand. No matter where we are on
the spectrum of ability to understand this subject matter, there will be things
that we struggle with and that, in some cases, are too difficult for us.
We even find the
apostle Peter, in 2 Peter 3:15-16, saying explicitly that his fellow-apostle
Paul’s letters contain things that are hard to understand!
It simply isn’t the
case that any Christian just sits down and reads the Bible and everything falls
easily into place. We have to fight to understand, and we will have some
successes and some failures as we do this.
But we have to try.
It’s not OK for Christians just to skip parts of the Bible because they think
these parts are too difficult for them. There are sections of Scripture that
are too difficult for each of us at our present level of understanding. But if
we fight, we can expect to make progress.
If we want to grow in
our knowledge of God, then, we each need to be a theologian, striving to grow
in our understanding of what He is like and what He has done. This is for every
Christian.
Not the most
important thing, but still important
I am not saying that
growing in theological understanding is the most important thing in the
Christian life. Nor am I saying that the best theologians are always the
strongest Christians.
In my years as a
Christian I have met many believers who are fairly weak theologically but who
are full of love. And if there was a choice to be made between strong theological
understanding and strong love, I would choose love every time.
But this isn’t a real
choice. Obviously, it is possible to be full of love and strong in
theology.
How to grow in
theological understanding
So how do we go about
growing in theological understanding?
Well, the most
important thing is to spend lots of quality time reading the Bible. And it is
often helpful to read at a very slow pace. If we read something we don’t
understand, it is usually worth pausing to think deeply about the point in
question to see if we can resolve things.
Something else that
will be a great help is to read commentaries by Christians on parts of the
Bible. There are many of these to choose from. Some are very detailed books
that will be not be suitable for beginners, but others are much easier to
follow.
There are even English
translations of the Bible that come with helpful explanatory notes on the same
page as the text itself. For an absolute beginner, this may be the place to
start.
When all is said and
done, I am sure that many Christians will continue to dislike the word
‘theology’ and similar words, but that is really a minor point. Regardless of
whether we use this word or not, we must all strive to grow in our
understanding of what God is like and what He has done. This is not optional
for a follower of Jesus Christ.
See also:
Charismatic Churches and Their Attitude to the Mind
The Radical Nature of the Normal Christian Life
