Thoughts on Theology: Why it Matters.

Theology is the study of God. It gives its students words, images, and analogies to draw upon for understanding of and communion with God. Theology is inevitable, beautiful, and ultimately a matter of obedience. But, if all that is true, why do so many in the church today leave theology to the pastor, the scholar, and the author?

In a seminary class I recently took the professor (Dr. John Drury) gave us 10 reasons to study theology. I’d like to highlight 3:

1. Theology is faith seeking understanding.

This terminology, “faith seeking understanding” comes from Daniel Migliore’s book by the same title. In it he argues that faith and inquiry are inseparable, and that theology is a continuous search; it is faith asking questions.

“When faith no longer frees people to ask hard questions, it becomes inhuman and dangerous.”

I agree. There is a short little verse tucked into the book of Acts about the task of theology. Acts 17:11 says,

11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Faith seeking understanding. The Bereans received Paul’s message eagerly and their eagerness led them to study it for themselves. That’s theology! And if the Berean Jews were commended for following up on what the Apostle Paul – the man whose life-altering encounter with the risen Jesus led him to stop killing Christians and become one – if they questioned what he had to say then we better be examining for ourselves the messages we hear in church, on the radio and in books today!

2. Theology enriches our prayer life.

At its core, theology is about language. It gives us words and images which expand our understanding and love of God. Over time, as we study God – His character, His work, His will – we naturally become better at talking to Him. It is like any relationship. The more you know someone the more you can talk freely with them.

Here’s a quick example from my own prayer life. As a child I learned that God sent his Son, Jesus to “save the world.” As I grew, I asked more and more questions about what that really means. Now, when I pray and thank God for saving me, I can say things like, “thank you for your atoning sacrifice, for dying the death I deserved.” Knowing a little more theology makes sin and Savior more real and more personal.

3. The enemy does theology.

A scary thought no doubt, but no less true. The enemy, the devil, is the father of lies. Jesus says when Satan lies, he speaks his native tongue. But the enemy’s lies are not random, disconnected nonsense they are subtle twists of the truth.

Perhaps the most obvious example of this is found in the gospel stories of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. After his baptism Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness (there is a whole other blog post hidden in that sentence!). Jesus is met there by Satan.

Their conversation is as much a Scriptural spar as it is a theological tussle. And the stuff the enemy throws at Jesus isn’t totally wrong, it is out of context, or it misses the essence of a truth about Jesus. And Satan fights the same way with us. So, if the enemy does theology, we better do it to!

Theology is the study of God. It is the process of asking questions and searching for understanding. But because it is the study of the indescribable and the uncontainable, it is also an inexhaustible study. The job of the theologian is never over, but it is worth it – let’s get to studying!