Why Study Theology

Definition

Theology is comprised of two words: theos, meaning God and logos, meaning word or study. At its most basic level, theology is the study of God.

Systematic Theology: a systematic study of the principle doctrines of the Christian faith.

Out of love

Matthew 22:36–37 ESV

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

There is a connection between loving God and knowledge.

Loving God with all of our minds means more than theological study, but it does not mean less.

“What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” (A.W. Tozer - The Knowledge of the Holy)

For Stability

Colossians 1:22–23 ESV

he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Continuing in the faith is described as being stable and steadfast. In other words, continuing in the faith means we will have a firm foundation upon which we stand, and this foundation is the gospel.

The more deeply we understand and know the gospel, the more stable we will be.

Thomas Watson, in his A Body of Divinity, refers to the need for stability as the Christian’s duty.

“It is the duty of Christians to be settled in the doctrine of the faith….. that they might not be meteors in the air but fixed stars.”

Watson goes on the suggest that in order for Christians to be settled is to be well grounded. He suggests knowing the fundamentals is required for God’s people to be grounded:

Hebrews 5:12 ESV

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,

A rebuke from the author of Hebrews, but not against knowing the basic principles of the oracles of God. It is a rebuke for not knowing the fundamentals as well as they should.

If we do not know the fundamentals, we are vulnerable and unstable. Not knowing the fundamentals is a sign of deficiency.

The connection between lack of knowledge and instability is also seen in:

2 Peter 3:15–16 ESV

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

the ignorant and unstable are vulnerable and possess a greater likelihood of leading others into error.

To Contend for the Faith

Jude 3 ESV

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

The letter of Jude was written to urge the church to defend the true faith in the face of certain people who have slipped in among them.

contend is contest term or one of debate. There is a sense of readiness that is needed for us to contend for the faith

Theological knowledge readies us and arms us to engage in defending the faith.

The faith is the prize. Our ability to protect the purity of the faith depends, in part, on our theological knowledge.

For the “everyday”

A practical system is that which does not consist in the knowledge of a thing alone, but in its very nature and by itself goes forth into practice and has operation for its object. (Turretin)

Turretin’s argument makes the point that right doctrine (theology) counts for nothing if it does not sink into our hearts and find expression in our lives.

“But he does not argue that theology is exclusively practical and not theoretical. Theology is theoretical in so far as it points us to God as the chief end in all our knowing and delighting, even as we must insist that this beholding produce a becoming more and more into the image of Christ.” (Kevin DeYoung)

Philippians 1:9–11 ESV

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Paul’s prayer: that their love for God would increase

Love for God increases with a clearer and deeper knowledge of God

Increasing in a love for God provides insight for everyday life (the ability to approve what is excellent)