Theology: What it is and Why it Matters
What is theology?
Why are there different types of theologies? And what are they?
As you, the reader, are acutely aware by now, the title of this site is “Your Friendly Neighborhood Theologian.” Three out of four of those words are familiar and common speak in modern English, but that final word is not. It is about time I provide a little context for the word, “Theologian.” Both of my degrees are in the discipline of “theology.” On a basic level, theology is the study or science of God. The term comes from two Greek words: theos meaning God, and logos meaning word or idea. “-ology” is of course a common suffix in English denoting a science, such as biology, anthropology, zoology, etc.
Nowadays, to find an institution with a school, college, or department of theology, is a rarity. In the medieval times, theology was called the queen of the sciences, for all the sciences were passionate pursuits to learn about and discover the world God created and in doing so, discovering more about God. Some say, “Oh so it’s the study of religion.” But to say so would be incorrect. Religion technically falls under sociology (or anthropology, depending on the institution), which studies the phenomena of human society, practices, structures, etc.
That’s the catch – do you see the difference? “Religious studies” as a discipline is more about human behavior than it is God. C.S. Lewis, author of the ever-popular Chronicles of Narnia book series, in his piece, “Meditations in a Toolshed” described this difference quite well. Lewis describes walking into an old shed one day and noticing a beam of light shining through a hold in the ceiling. He admired the beam for its radiance, the way it lit the shed, how it allowed him to see particulates floating around. Simply put, it was nice to contemplate. He called this looking upon the light. But then, he stepped into the beam of light and looked along it. In doing so the green leaves of the tree growing over the shed were revealed, along with the blue of the sky, and the feeling of the warmth of the beam that now surrounded him. He discovered, that looking upon the light was much different than looking along the light. In other words, theology is best understood from within. When merely looked upon, it become merely the observation of homo sapiens talking to themselves, placebos, and so on. The task of theology (“theologizing”), on the other hand, is about knowing God. The pursuit of this task is not simply for the sake of pure knowledge, but rather, it is to love God.
Proper theology, then, is done with this goal in mind. I love what the late J. I. Packer used to tell his students about the purpose of theology. It is, “for doxology and devotion – that is, the praise of God and the practice of godliness… Theology is at its healthiest when it is consciously under the eye of the God of whom it speaks, and when it is singing his glory.” Along these lines, our theology goes bad when we approach it to only prop ourselves up. Theological knowledge itself is not the ends of our studies, contemplation, and meditation on Scripture from which all theological truth is derived. Theology allows us to not just observe what Scripture says but understand what Scripture means. In Packer’s other titular work, Knowing God, he says, “to approach Bible study, with no higher a motive than a desire to know all the answers, is the direct route to a state of self-satisfied self-deception. We need to guard our hearts against such an attitude, and pray to be kept from it.”
So we approach theology with humility – this is good! The more I have studied theology, the more I realize how little I know. One theologian described theology as a pool with depth enough for an elephant to swim in, but also appropriate for an infant to play in. It is appropriate to study theology in all ages of life. You’ll never arrive when you study theology – some depths, you simply will not be able to mine. That is where we must abound with humility and trust. Our God is as great as he is good. That in itself is a discipline to maintain.
This has been a short orientation on theology. There would be so much more to say, and I plan to say more as we go and plumb the depths of theology on this blog. For now, I leave you with some words from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, from his January 7, 1855, sermon, “The Immutability of God” (fun fact, he was only 20 years old when he delivered this sermon!). Let these words inspire you:
It has been said that “the proper study of mankind is man.” I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.
There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am wise.” But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumbline cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass’s colt; and with solemn exclamation, “I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.” No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God....
But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe.... The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.
And, while humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore.
Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.
It is to that subject that I invite you this morning.
Go in grace and peace!
YFNT - Ethan
