What is Theology?

Greetings all! For the first true post I have decided to cover what will be one of the defining aspects of this blog; theology. I know that when I was growing up theology wasn't a word that was used in the churches I attended. In fact I don't recall ever hearing the word until I was in high school, and even then it was used negatively like theology was a bad thing.

Theology is inseparable from Bible study, Christian living, and being a disciple of Jesus in general. It is an indispensable part of being a Christian. The thing is we haven't always treated it that way. We have allowed our theology to fall by the wayside, believing it to be useless or not appropriate. So what is theology exactly, and why is it so important?

What is Theology?

The word theology simply means "the study of God." The goal of theology is to reveal who God is, and when we know God we also come to know ourselves, sin, the world, and so on. What we've done in the past (and this may just be what I have experienced) is ignored theology because "that's not Biblical." The truth is that theology is very Biblical. In fact theology is what the Bible is all about.

If I were to ask you what the main point of the Bible is, what would your answer be? What is the goal of Scripture? Some would say that the Bible is here to tell us how to live. That it's a rule book to provide moral clarity. This is the mistake the Pharisees made; turning the Scriptures into a legalistic document. Others would say that the Bible is primarily a historical document that details what has happened in the past, but has no real bearing today. This is the mistake of the Sadducees; using the Scriptures to look at the past while ignoring the implications in the present. I'm sure there are plenty of other responses, but most fall under these two broad categories some way or another.

Now does the Bible provide moral clarity? Absolutely it does. Does the Bible have commands from God to His people? Yes. Is the Bible a historical document that tells the history of God's people? Yes it is. The question is this; are any of these the main goal of Scripture? NO. The Bible's primary goal is revelation; revealing God to man.

Why do the moral judgments found in the Bible matter? Because they reflect, embody, and teach us the character of God. Why should we follow the commandments in Scripture? Because God is trying to shape us to be like Him. Why does the Bible contain a detailed history of Israel? Because it shows us God's nature as He shaped a nation. The Bible is trying to reveal to us the nature, character, and will of God; which is what theology is all about.

Theology isn't about what other people have thought up about God. It's about taking what the Bible has revealed about God and applying it in our churches, homes, and lives. Theology attempts to answer one of the most important questions we have; why?

Let's look at an example. God through the Bible commands us, as Christians, to live in the community of the church. So let's ask the six basic questions (who, what, when, where, why, and how) to help us understand this command. The who is easy; that's us. What? Live in community. When? All the time. Where? Wherever you are. How? There are numerous passages that detail how we are called to live together as Christians, how we treat one another and so on. So here is the big question, why? Think about it. Why does God command us to live in community?

The stock answer I think we have always given and received is "because the Bible says so." The real answer is so much deeper and impactful. Why does God command us to live in community? Because God Himself is a community; the Trinity. God is Father, Son, and Spirit living as three-in-one eternally. By living in the community of the church we show the world who God is by living as many-in-one.

A lot of the problems that arise within the community of the church I think come from the fact that we don't recognize this reality. We don't recognize that the reason for this command is so that we can show the world who God is. Imagine what would happen if we as Christians lived in our church communities with that goal in mind. This is what theology is all about.

Two Methods of Theology

Now that we've established what theology is and the goal it tries to accomplish, I'd like to take a little bit of time to introduce the two primary methods of using theology. To emphasize, these are the METHODS that we use in theology. As I explain them I think you will realize just how much you use these methods without realizing you are doing it. The theological methods are Biblical theology and systematic theology.

Biblical Theology

Biblical theology is looking at the theology of the original authors of the Bible. This method is looking at the book of Romans and asking "What is Paul trying to teach the Romans about God?" This method seeks to establish the original intent of the book and the author's original goal. This is very important thing because we always need to keep in mind why the various books were written.

A prime example would be the book of Revelation. Poor Revelation gets a lot of abuse nowadays because people have forgotten or simply don't know the original purpose of the book. We often study this book thinking only about the end times and allegories. Many think that the book's purpose is to describe how the world will end. The original goal of Revelation was to encourage Christians undergoing persecution by showing them that God is victorious.

Doesn't that change the way you might look at Revelation? By establishing the primary goals of the book and what the author is trying to teach his original audience about God we can study the Bible more deeply and learn more about God ourselves. We wouldn't read the Emancipation Proclamation without establishing the context and goals of Abraham Lincoln. Biblical theology seeks to do the same thing for Bible study.

Systematic Theology

I think our first reaction is to declare Biblical theology as the superior method of theology. I know that when I first learned about this that was my reaction, simply because it had the word Biblical in it. Like I've said Biblical theology is very important to doing theology properly, but there are some things it doesn't do. Biblical theology does NOT attempt to answer the questions we ask today. It does NOT look at what the Bible says about certain things as a whole. The goal of Biblical theology is to look at the individual pieces and explain what each piece says.

The other method of theology is systematic theology. This method looks at what the Bible as a whole says about certain topics. For example, let's say I were to ask a question about the crucifixion. Using Biblical theology you could go through each book and say "Well in Matthew it's about Jesus becoming king. In Mark it's about Jesus as servant," and so on. Each book of the Bible emphasizes something different. Systematic theology looks at all those pieces to come up with a single answer.

The biggest difference between the two methods is where they start. Biblical theology starts in the Bible, looking at the original intent. Systematic theology starts here with us. It starts with the questions we ask about God, Jesus, etc. It then goes to the Bible looking for a complete answer, utilizing everything from Genesis to Revelation. Systematic theology looks at the big picture rather than the pieces. It seeks to address the questions and concerns of our culture, rather than the questions and concerns of the original culture.

Both methods of theology inform and support the other. You cannot do proper Biblical theology without systematic theology asking for answers and application in the world we live in. Likewise you can't do proper systematic theology without Biblical theology reminding us what the original purpose is all about. Both of these together help inform us as Christians about who God is.

Conclusion

Well that sure was a lot of information. I felt it was important that before the blog started in earnest to establish what theology is and the methods used in it. Let's do a quick recap.

Theology is the study of God. The goal is to reveal who God is to man.

The Bible is a theology book, meaning its primary goal is to reveal who God is to man. 

Theology seeks to answer the important question, "why?" 

The two methods of theology are Biblical and systematic.

Biblical theology seeks the original point about God the authors of Scripture were trying to make.

Systematic theology seeks to answer the questions we have now by looking at the Bible as a whole.

I hope you have learned something from this blog post. I know that it is long and has a lot of information, but the point of this whole thing is to love God with all of our minds. Theology is a very important piece of what we do as Christians, and I hope that this post has helped convince you of that. As this blog continues on I pray that you will see good theology in action and that you will apply that to your own Bible study.