Why Study Theology

A common declaration of many Christians is "no creed but Christ." On the surface, it sounds pious and spiritual. At its core, it's vacuous and myopic. 

It is vacuous because it ignores Scripture's commands to study and the faithful work of the giants on whose shoulders we stand. It also is self-contradictory as it is itself a creed, just a woefully insufficient one. 

It is myopic because it fails to unpack the riches and glory of who Christ is and reduces him to a mere slogan and a means to an end (whether that is salvation or personal fulfillment). 

People ignore or outright avoid theology mainly for three reasons: 

(1) they do not know the benefit and necessity to the Christian life (as described above), 

(2) they think it is too difficult, or worse, 

(3) they think it is boring. 

These excuses fall flat under scrutiny because they betray the person's predisposition to the Bible, and these people need theological training the most. They are passionate about Jesus but know very little about Jesus. 

Does this mean that they need to go to seminary or fill their home library with tomes of books? No. But they do instruction. One great blessing of our modern world is that everything one would need to study the Bible and theology well is available for free or is inexpensive. We have resources that our brothers and sisters in antiquity could not even imagine.

Here are three ways to make theological study a habit:

(1) multi-task — listen to Christian/Theological podcasts while driving, working, or doing chores;

(2) incorporate systematic studies into your devotional times (begin with the Creeds and Confessions, move on to specific books of the Bible);

(3) and incorporate theological books (subject- or book-specific, or biographies) and articles (from theological blogs or ministries) into your reading schedule.

A Christian can get a seminary-level education with minimal effort if he or she will just set aside a weekly time slot and is equipped with the tools to study well. 

Here are three reasons to study theology:

(1) to worship God;

(2) deepen your knowledge of God, share it with others, and defend the Christian faith in the public square (Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Peter 3:15); and

(3) to make sure you have a sound theology (because we all have one, Colossian 2:8).

As time marches forward, the people of God will experience blessings and hardships, but in both, we must look to the Word of God for balance and encouragement. To quote J. Gresham Machen, "… our hopefulness should not be founded on the sand. It should be founded, not upon a blind ignorance of the danger, but solely upon the precious promises of God. Laymen, as well as ministers, should return, in these trying days, with new earnestness, to the study of the Word of God."

Take, for example, this challenge from Michael Allen:

Herman Bavinck well summarizes the nature of systematic theology in this regard. According to Bavinck, systematic theology “describes for us God, always God, from beginning to end—God in his being, God in his creation, God against sin, God in Christ, God breaking down all resistance through the Holy Spirit and guiding the whole of creation back to the objective he decreed for it: the glory of his name.” Given its focus on God and all things relative to him, Bavinck continues, systematic theology “is not a dull and arid science. It is a theodicy, a doxology to all God’s virtues and perfections, a hymn of adoration and thanksgiving, a ‘glory to God in the highest’ (Luke 2:14).” Systematic theology, we might say, is for singing. Dogmatics (another name of systematic theology) serves doxology. In sum, systematic theology is biblical wisdom that promotes God-centered wonder.

Theology centers us. It guides our understanding of God and his work in history. It also helps us define and live-out a Christ-centered life.

Allen concludes with:

To sum up, then, the Christian life is a life of “reasonable worship” (Rom. 12:1; translation ours). As one called to a life of “worship,” the Christian is called to be a “living sacrifice” (12:1), to dedicate his life to the glory of God and the good of his neighbor. As one called to a life of “reasonable worship,” the Christian learns what it means to dedicate his life to God and neighbor through the “renewal” of his “mind” (12:2). Systematic theology is especially suited to assist us in the call to “reasonable worship.” Systematic theology shapes a mind of wisdom and wonder by helping us view reality from a God-centered perspective. Systematic theology also directs a life of worship and witness by helping us consider how all things (not least our own redeemed selves) relate to God as their author and end: “to him be glory forever” (Rom. 11:36).

To study the Word of God is to engage in the most important endeavor in the Christian life on this side of Glory.

Do it well. Do it often.