Not a Tame Lion
The Lord God cannot be studied in theology. Nor does He desire to be studied. A god–any “god”–is defined by sovereignty, and attempting to study God in isolation is contrary to His very nature. In vain would I try to understand Him while separating Him from the means He deemed worthy of His revelation, namely His Own Word, creation and conscience. These three cooperate as schoolmasters and their lessons are tailored perfectly to the needs of each man, woman and child on the earth. Aside from them God supplies no hopeful means of education. He will be studied only in the reality of Christ in day-to-day living and ought not to be contemplated in isolation from His works. He desires relationship.
And it may be by this strain of logic that we arrive with fresh appreciation at the more-frequently-stated belief that academics ought not to be studied in isolation from God either.
The Lord God cannot be studied in theology? What is that supposed to mean?
I see what you mean! Theo means God, and ology means study of, but you cannot accurately study God by Himself. He has given us creation, His Word, and our own consciences to reveal to us His ways, principles, and personal character. I never really thought of it that way before!
In light of John 1:1 (the Word was God) I would put studying the Word far above creation and conscience. I agree with you that all three of these things teach us of God. It is very dangerous when people start to belittle theology. I have in the past and can attest to the greatness of my error. When someone puts experience, or results above the Bible we get problems. When people start using testimonies of man for support rather than scripture there is great danger. Someone may be living a moral life etc., have “blessings” and happiness, “freedom”, etc. They may attest to some principle of scripture as their key to success, but it is really just pragmatism. If it gets the desired results it’s ok. We’re quick to recognize this in a bad way. For example, using sin to “win people to Christ”. Yet the same is so often done on the other extreme. With twistings of scripture to justify some means to holiness, or ways to get people saved. The Word of God is neglected. Oh people use plenty of Bible verses, it’s just that they are robbed of their context. People start with a presupposition then find verses to justify it. Two examples of this are various teachings on courtship/betrothal and “the sinners prayer”. Both are so supported by scripture out of context. One more very important one I would add (you can think of others) is assurance of salvation based on some date or time you “prayed that prayer”. This may seem like a rant, but here is my concluding points: 1: Conscience and creation can easily be twisted with out strong theology of God through His Word. (not to remove this from evangelicalism, but Mormons think they are saved because they’ve had a “burning in the bosom” a twisting of conscience.
2. Theology is very very important. We must study the Bible to learn how God is, not how we want Him, have been taught, or imagine Him to be.
3. Be sure to major on the major doctrines of the Bible (ex. What the Bible teaches as important) rather than the minor things that the Bible may be unclear on. I believe God was clear on the things that are most important, and less clear on things where there is room for cultural differences, personal preferences, and other areas of flexibility.
In short: Theology is important.
Very well put Jonathan. I agree with your three points and about everything you said.
I hope I didn’t belittle any theology that is Bible-based. (I could have made the first sentence read “The Lord God cannot be studied in theology merely” but my point was to make a point so I decided to leave it the way I first wrote it.) Bear with me here. It’s unfortunate but a lot of theology pretends to study God by putting the mind and human reasoning above Him as if He could be studied as any other subject or in mere isolation. This is a warning and therefore I do hope that any theology outside of what is clearly stated in Scripture will be belittled before God. His Word, His Spirit’s promptings in our spirit (conscience), and our individual situations were never meant to be separated from one another. The post isn’t making an either-or statement, it’s pointing out that we will never escape the many schoolmasters God uses to draw men to Himself.
Also, from an educator’s perspective, I appreciated you mentioning how the Bible will make itself clear on the things that are important–I’ve heard the Mormon spiel too.
Thanks for your comment. I hope it will continue to make things clear for anyone reading.
So in short theology is useful IF it comes to God on His terms, studying by the revelation of His Word and the assistance of His Spirit.
Thanks for your reply.
Yes you’re welcome. Thank you for your comments too, Jonathan and Daniel.
Great point. Often we try to encompass God with our reasoning. We can not study God by reasoning only; to learn more about Him, we must use His word, creation, conscience, and prayer.