Theology

Theology. What the heck is it? Why bother studying it?

First I'll admit this blog topic is probably not interesting to half of you and that it is more for my own benefit, to get things clear in my head.

Theology is the study of God for our enjoyment and holiness. We are called to serve God in many ways. One of those ways is to learn about God.

It always amazes me how many Christians give so little time to contemplating God and his works. I will be the first to admit my own deficiences in that area. But there are some Christians who actually believe it is a waste of time to think about God! WHAT IN THE WORLD DO YOU THIINK HEAVEN WILL BE????? Heaven is seeing God face to face, KNOWING Him! If you think heaven is about social programs or nice songs, or little rituals, get off this website right now (just kidding). It is about knowing the living God and being in relationship with him.

Theology is just a chance to get a head start on heaven. Now, I know that many people are put off by theology because it is too dry and complicated. Yes theology is too dry. Theology is a human undertaking and sometimes it sucks. Theology is first and foremost a faithfulness to divine revelation. The theologians goal should be to display revelation in all it's clarity and beauty for the church and the world.

The next objection that I get a little angry about is the "simple faith" theory. Okay, I understand that not everyone needs to be interested in Schleiermacher's reaction to Kant's Categorial Imperative and the influence of the Englightenment on Christian Protestantism. But give me a break here! If your Christian faith doesn't involve difficult thinking, you aren't thinking Chrisitanly! Think about how many times the disciples were confused. Think about what they called Jesus....TEACHER. Learning is at the heart of the Christian faith and if you think that having "simple faith" means never learning more about the God you adore, then you don't adore him at all. You want him for a security blanket and you don't want to bother yourself with the extra effort it takes to learn about him. "Simple faith" is often just a smokescreen for apathy and laziness.

The third excuse I often hear is that "we can't know everything about God anyway. He's mysterious and we will never be able to find out answers on a lot of the topics discussed in theology". This objection is embedded deely in the pragmatic and scientific view we have in society. First off, the pragmatic object is that, "you can't get any useful answers out of theology. It's all too brainy and not enough of real life. Just live a good life and that's all it takes." Theology is not about solving problems and coming to definitive consesus on every issue. Theology is about realizing how big God is. Think of each unanswered question as a pointer to how God evades our little minds. You want results? Think about God's attributes for an hour each day and see how humble you become. Theology is a way of life. It is not just figuring things out. It cultivates an attitude and it gives us REASONS to act holy. You think you can just be a good person without reasons behind it? You are wrong. The Bible says that everything that is done without faith is sin. Faith is your reasons for acting the way you do.

Sorry, this is a really long rant. But I just get a little fired up when people think that they can be Christian without being theologians.