In my last post in this "doing theology" series, I explained 5 ways that we must not do theology. Today I want to think through the source of our "doing theology".
Before we do, keep in mind these four important points that are critical for understanding this series on "doing theology". First, theology is the knowledge of God, the Bible, Jesus, sin, salvation, the Holy Spirit, and all the other topics the Bible brings to light. Second, every single person is a theologian. Third, theology is the center and heart of a Christian, in that, what a person knows and thinks always drives what they do (more on this in a later post). Fourth, to do theology refers to both studying theology and living theology.
As Christians, where must our theology begin? This is the most important question for the Christian faith. As Christians, we are theologians. We know God exists. We know Jesus was a real human being. We know God gave us His Word. We know we are saved from something for something. We know there is a future. We know there is still a serious problem in the world. We know God is the Creator. We know humans are unique, in Creation. We know there is a spiritual world. We know God is the Holy Spirit. And we know God's people together are the church. We know many important truths, which means we are all theologians, whether we will admit it or not. (To reject being a theologian or to deny a need for theological understanding is to simply be a poor/wrong theologian; it doesn't change the fact we are theologians).
The questions with the truths/doctrines we know, are now numerous. Where do we get the knowledge of what we know? Is what we know actually true and right? Where can we turn to grow in our knowledge of what we know? Can we actually know more than we know now? Is knowing more and growing in knowledge, important? And the list of questions with what we actually know, as Christians (our theology), goes on.
To do theology, to get theology correct, and to live obedient lives to God (sound faithful lives), we all must begin as Christians realizing we are all theologians. No, we do not have to be paid or preach to be theologians. No, we do not have to be great writers or readers to be theologians. But every single person (who calls themselves a Christian) has thoughts and knowledge about the doctrines listed in the above paragraph. To know God (in anyway), to have a working knowledge of God and His actions, and to understand even the most basic element of God (i.e. He is good) is to be a theologian. As Christians we know we are saved. That makes us theologians, even in the most basic sense.
The point is, we have to get our theological question, our theological growth, and our theological knowledge from a source. The question for the rest of this post, is what is the source for our theology? Where is the first place we must turn, to be "doing theology" correctly.
The answer is the Bible. The Bible is the full revelation of all doctrine/theological fields. The Bible tells us all we need to know about; God, itself, Jesus, salvation, sin, the Holy Spirit, humanity, the beginning, the end, whats next, and every other field of knowledge that brings theological understanding. If the Bible is the full and total revelation from God, revealing all that He wants us to know and understand about all areas of theology, the Bible is the place that begins and is the source of true theological knowledge or "doing theology".
This means, to do theology correctly the Bible is central. Building sound and right theology comes from the Bible. Studying and understanding the Bible, is not only possible, it is every Christian's calling and privilege. If the Bible is God's full revelation of all theology, the Bible will be clear and plain in most aspects of theology, so God's children can grow.
Consequently, to do theology correctly, a person must realize it begins at doing Scripture. Reading and growing from the Bible, is growing theologically. Take our theological knowledge back to the Bible is doing Scripture and growing in God. Taking our theology and comparing it to what the Bible says, functions like a theological spiral in that our theology is continually examined and evaluated, yet also growing and transformed, which leads to more examination and evaluation, which in turn leads to more growth and theological understanding. Doing Scripture is the source of doing theology. So we must realize and know, "doing theology" begins at and in the Bible.
The Bible is the source for all right, true, and practical theology. The Bible does not just give information. God did not reveal truth, just to fill the mind. The Bible is clear, knowledge produces being and being is what drives doing. The Bible as the source of all true theology, gives theological points, so theology can be done correctly. The Bible is both the beginning of "doing theology" and the source of "doing theology" correctly.
Someone once wrote, "by divine grace, the serious inquirer of Scripture, earnest for the Spirit's leading, taking full advantage of all the ways God blesses His church-including weekly hearing of the preached Word, Christian fellowship, and prayer-will come to understand God's Word, God's ways, and God's truth and will bear much fruit". This means, to do theology correctly, one must be a student of God's Word. To do theology in the first place, one must turn to God's Word. To be a theologian that brings glory and praise to God, one must be a lover of God's Word.
The real question is, does our theology come from God's Word or does it come from another place like the world, the culture, human experience, or Satan???
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