27 February 2009
Theological study, the study of God, is a wonderful thing. But it's a signpost pointing to Jesus, and not following that signpost to its final, wonderful destination is the fatal mistake that Pharisees made.Our Lord is and must be the leading theme of our ministry. We must continue to exalt him rather than Calvinism or any other system of theology... Much as we love the masters throne, we still love the master better. And dearly as we love battling for the walls of his vineyard, yet the clusters of his Eshcol [valley with delicious grapes - see Numbers 13:23,24] are sweeter to our taste. We love Christ better than creed, and we think we would rather magnify our master than any set of truths, however important they may be... Let us preach the doctrines with Christ as their sum and substance - a full Christ for empty sinners.C H Spurgeon
Is theology not, however, a study of Christ's position in the Universe, which is ultimately a discipline to understand Christianity as a whole? I would be interested to know what your view of study of the Bible is, that is studying the language and the context of the Bible, compared with the acting on the Bible? This sounds like a trivial point, but is the study of theology and the, for want of a less crude word, "logic" of God, almost detrimental, in your opinion?
Thank you for this blog
Hi there,
Thanks for your question - good question too!
I think studying the Bible is very important - and that language and context can often help get closer to the original intended meaning of part of the text.
I'd want to be careful with the idea of 'a discipline to understand Christianity as a whole' as divorced from knowing Christ personally. Any study which depends on your 'natural' academic abilities will only take you so far.
Jesus said: 'Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.' (John 14:21)
You'll only be able to know/understand/see Jesus when you love him.
The study of theology is dangerous when it holds one back from first believing in and trusting Jesus. You could spend your life pursuing greater knowledge about God, and yet die and discover you don't actually know him.
After sending out seventy-two uneducated disciples to preach about his kingdom, Jesus said: 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.' (Luke 10:21)
The truth of Jesus as he reveals it is simple enough to be understood and believed by uneducated fisherman, and by little children. We must never forget that as we study the Bible, in case pride swells our heads and blocks us from a deeper view of who Jesus really is.
Hope this helps, please let me know what you think!
Andrew