As an introduction, various posts and responses about the virtues or evils of theology have been circulating as of late between Jessica and Randy, over here as well as over here. I figured it was about time I wade into the middle of it.
'Theology' has for many people a forbidding sound. For some it suggests 'theory', and the very last person to deal with the down-to-earth practicalities of life is surely a theorist. The self-help type books that abound these days stress practicalities and go easy on theology. In so doing they make a serious mistake. True theology has the most practical implications.
There is a theology/doctrine for everything from evangelism and worship to marriage and friendships. Do not such theologies involve an exposition of the biblical materials on the subject? Indeed they do, for theology has to build with the blocks of revelation which God has given and gives us in and through holy scripture.
A distinction exists between God and the Bible. We call the Bible God-inspired. In that sense we can even describe it as "divine." We can equate it with God's word or relate it to God's revelation. Yet the Bible is not God. We can learn about God in it. We have to do so. God reveals himself in and through the Bible. He speaks in and through it. Yet the Bible does not replace God. He has not just given us the Bible and left us to it. He Himself is still the one with whom we have to deal. And this, after all, is what theology is all about. As the term itself tells us, God stands at the center. Even as we consult holy scripture, we are really consulting God Himself in his self-revelation as he came and comes to us through holy scripture. God indeed says what scripture says, but this does not imply a direct equation of God and scripture.
Theology at its core must not be abstracted from God Himself, and God must be at the heart and center in his own relation to His creation.
We are to be understanders of the word, not readers only, deceiving ourselves. For if anyone reads the word and doesn't gain understanding, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. God tells us that His written Word is profitable for doctrine (2 Tim 3:16), and his Word functions as the ultimate standard of truth, the reference point by which every other claim to truthfulness is to be measured. To claim the study of theology is anti-biblical is to claim the study of the bible, the study of God as He has revealed Himself, is anti-biblical.
I love Jesus Christ because He first loves me, and I love to dive into His word and understand what He has revealed. Thats why He revealed it, so we can understand it and be transformed by it.
You may not agree with what I believe about the Bible, about what I have come to understand about God's nature, God's purposes, what He has revealed. As Luther said best, "My conscience is captive to the word of God, To go against conscience is neither right nor safe." You may disagree with me. But please do not insinuate that I have jettisoned the Bible in favor of theory, or relationship with God for religion of God.
If my arguments thus far have been self evident, and has thoroughly convinced you of the necessity of theology, then feel free to stop: go read your Bible and study theology. If not, read on: Bible Verses. But I warn you: by trying to understand what these scriptures mean, you will venture into the 'dark-void' of theology.
As a side challenge, try and count how many commands in scripture are impossible to follow without a study of theology/doctine. You will lose count.
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