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I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

We Are All Theologians

"You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine" (Titus 2:1).
"Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept doctrine"  (Isaiah 29:24).
"They were astonished at His doctrine: for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes [who footnoted and quoted the authorities]"  (Matt. 7:28,29).
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrine, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer"  (Acts 2:42).
"Watch your life and doctrine closely..."  (1 Tim. 4:16).  BOLDFACE MINE.

Bear in mind that teaching is the same as doctrine, and theology or systematic theology is an organization of doctrines.  You cannot escape doctrine or you commit spiritual suicide.  Read on to see why.

Theology is not an abstract science, but the queen of sciences!   Theology is literally the study of God, while Christology is literally the study of Christ.  If you don't abide in the doctrine of Christ you don't have God (cf. 2 John 9).  If you believe in false doctrine you are a heretic if it is a major  (affirming the deity of Christ is a prerequisite for salvation,) it is a  necessary doctrine--we need to learn discernment and be orderly in our study and benefit from the scholarship of our church fathers--we don't have to start from scratch every generation---the church is Semper reformanda, or always reforming or improving; likewise our doctrine is Semper reformanda.   People sometimes refer to theologians in a derogatory manner, but I want to present them in a new light:

Where would our church be without the church fathers Athanasius, the Father of Orthodoxy, (or right doctrine), and Augustine the greatest theologian, arguably, that lived in the first millennium of church history?  We owe a debt of gratitude to giants such as John Calvin, who wrote Institutes of the Christian Religion, and Jonathan Edwards who began the Great Awakening.  To put things in perspective:  the well-known theologian Karl Barth was asked what was the deepest truth he had come across and he replied, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."  Now, I know theologians get a bad rap, but here's a case on their behalf, since I have been called a theologian myself too:

To quote my favorite theologian, R. C. Sproul:  "To reject theology is to reject knowledge, this is not an option for the Christian."  Also, we cannot reject theology per se, just because there exists bad theology.  "To reject all theology just because there exists bad theology is to commit spiritual suicide," says Sproul.  Theologian is not known to be a spiritual gift because, I believe, we are all potential theologians clerically and actual practical theologians by definition.  We don't avoid theology because we have a distaste for controversy either--we are to avoid godless controversy, not necessary ones.  What if Martin Luther had never nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the Wittenberg Castle church (All Souls Church) in 1517 to initiate the Reformation?  The spirit of the Protestant is this:  I dissent, I disagree, I protest. Sproul goes on to say that you can have sound doctrine without a sound life, but not a sound life without sound doctrine--think about that!

In other words, you can excel in the study of doctrine and not know the Lord--it can all be in your head!  The presence of doctrine is necessary, but not sufficient--you must add the Holy Spirit.  Asserting that theology is not important is tantamount to saying:  "It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you are sincere."  However, I want to stress, that as Protestants, we are not at the mercy of church doctrine and have the right to interpret Scripture for ourselves, but with the right comes the responsibility to interpret it right and that means eliminating subjectivism.  We cannot fabricate our own truths because no "Scripture is of any private interpretation" (2 Pet. 1:20).

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:3).  I have just experienced this first hand at a Bible study tonight when the host said it was doctrine itself that turned him off to Christianity and he will have nothing to do with it.  What is doctrine, but teaching:  "All Scripture is profitable for doctrine..." (2 Tim. 3:16).  We all have our viewpoints and way of interpreting the Bible.  Doctrine in itself is a good thing but not an end in itself, but a means to an end and we are warned not to call good evil in Isaiah 5:20.  Knowledge of the Bible is necessary to spiritual health:  "You know not the Scriptures, nor the power of God"  (Matt. 22:29).

No one is perfectly objective except God, but have a school of thought or doctrine that we adhere to.  Examples are Arminian, charismatic, evangelical, Wesleyan, Reformed or Calvinistic, Catholic, ecumenical, and semi-Pelagian, among others.  There are the "freewillers" and the people who believe in predestination and election--that our destiny is ultimately in God's hands.  We all develop a system of doctrine and it grows as we mature in Christ.  One of the most basic doctrines we accept as Christians is the doctrine of the Trinity--so we are Trinitarians!   2 Tim. 4:3 can be translated:  "...Men will bail out theologically."

You are committing spiritual suicide and will never grow up if you ignore doctrine per se.  I'm not saying it is our goal to argue or debate doctrine, but we are to "study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needs not be ashamed."  We are trying to catch people ultimately and win them over, not win an argument. Why do we want to know God?  To know Him is to love Him!   There is a direct correlation between our knowledge of God and our love for Him.  Be not deceived: there is a difference between knowledge of God and knowledge about God.

Systematic theology is an orderly view or presentation of the doctrines of the Bible.  Do you believe Jesus is God--that is basic doctrine and fundamental theology or "study of God" literally.  The childish believer or immature one balks at learning the deep things of God.  The man of God must hold the deep things of the word with a clear conscience (cf. 1 Tim. 3:9).  The milk of the Word is for the baby believer, but solid food or meat is for the mature or the one who discerns good and evil (cf. Heb. 5:14).

The point I'm trying to make is that we are all theologians, it's just what kind of theologian we are! You cannot escape theology or a system of theology--we all understand the Bible in a different light and one part of the body cannot say to the other that he isn't needed.  We need theologians and we are all theologians and this is no contradiction because the word has different nuances of meaning.   Theology is necessary to maturity, but not sufficient.  We can just study theology and not apply it and it will leave us cold.  We need theology but we also need to go beyond it so that we don't put God in a box and say, "I like to think of God as a ...."   We need to apply it and use it to interpret the Word.  If you believe you are saved and cannot lose your salvation you will interpret the Bible in a completely different light than if you aren't sure of your salvation or if you think you can lose it.          Soli Deo Gloria! 

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