Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Theology and the Bible

First, let’s give a general definition of theology: “Theology is the application of God’s Word by persons in every area of life.”

Now, let’s talk about theology and the Bible.

The question is, then, why do we need theology when we already have the Bible?

Sometimes we give the impression that we need a further science of theology because the Bible in the form that it came to us is—there’s something defective about it, or something.

Not that the Bible is defective, but the form is defective.

Well, I would say this: that we need theology for our own sakes, because the defects are in us, not in the Bible.

Methods of Doing Theology

So let’s talk about some methods of doing theology.

Now, the following methods are only examples.

This is not an exhaustive list.

So there’s many other approaches to theology, I’m sure, that haven’t even been discovered, out there.

Exegetical Theology

But let’s start off by talking about exegetical theology.

Exegetical theology is the application of a particular passage of Scripture.

Now, this is always contextual, because all verses must be understood in their context.

Systematic Theology

Another way of doing theology is what we call systematic theology—that is, the application of the logical relationships of biblical knowledge.

A lot of times we think of systematic theology as theology in an outline form.

Sometimes, we wish that God had given it to us that way—it would make it easier for teaching—but actually, God gave us the Bible in the form because He wanted to give it to us that way.

That’s the best form it could be in.

Biblical Theology

There’s biblical theology.

This is the application of the historical and narrative features of Scripture.

Some people consider this studying the Bible on its own terms.

Now, this can be really thrilling, but we have to understand this: there are limitations to all of our theology.

First of all, even biblical theology must not be made absolute.

Biblical theology is still theology.

It is not the Bible.

It cannot reproduce the structure of the Bible without being the Bible itself.

Biblical theology must be aware of its distinct nature apart from the Bible itself.

It is theology.

It is not Bible.

Biblical theology, then, is no better than systematic theology because it is closer to the historical and narrative structure of Scripture.

See?

It is a way of organizing biblical knowledge.

Precedential Theology

Now, here’s one that’s kind of based on John Frame’s definition, but it’s one that I’ve developed in terms of as we talk about doing theology in the urban context, and that is precedential theology.

I would define precedential theology as the application of the basic patterns of the biblical life situations.

Now, this is especially useful when we deal with the subdominant cultures, or the urban cultures, or the minority cultures, because oftentimes the narratives of Scripture give us a handle on understanding the nature of how the sovereignty of God works out in our lives.

Accessibility of Scripture

Now, so talking about the way the Scripture comes, God gives us the Scripture, containing two things: didactic concepts—that is, things you know; “ABC, one, two, three” kind of a thing—and He also gives us historical narratives.

Now, people today tend to be oriented one way or the other.

They tend to be oriented more cognitively than intuitively, and then others tend to be more oriented intuitively more than cognitively.

Well, the didactic concepts embedded in the Bible make Scripture more accessible to those who are more cognitive than intuitive.

But on the other hand, the historical narratives embedded in the Bible make Scripture more accessible to those who are more intuitive than cognitive.

So when God gave us the Bible, He gave the Bible to us in such a way that we can all relate to it.

If the Bible all came in the form of systematic theology, then maybe I wouldn’t understand how I should behave in a situation where I’m under persecution.

Even though the concepts are there, I need to see these concepts embedded in the lives of real people like myself.

Modes of Theology

Now, having said that, there are basically two modes of theology—or at least two modes of theology.

“Classical”

There’s the classical mode of theology.

This is a formal way of doing theology.

It tends to be preformulated, and it is usually written.

Now, this is what we’re most familiar with.

“Jazz”

But there’s another mode of theology that we haven’t really explored a whole lot, and I call that the jazz mode.

As opposed to being formal, it’s dynamic.

As opposed to being preformulated, it is improvisational, and it is usually oral.

Now, you think about Jesus as a teacher.

You think about Jesus as He applied Scripture.

What did He do a whole lot of when He spoke to regular people?

He told parables, stories.

He would say, “The kingdom of God is like this,” or “The kingdom of God is like that.”

He was being very improvisational.

And so when we talk about doing theology, especially in an urban context, we ought to be aware of both of those modes—classical and jazz.

I think of musicians.

Every good jazz musician that I know knows classical music pretty well—and actually the classical musicians need to know jazz pretty well, as far as I’m concerned.

But if we’re going to be able to do theology, we cannot go into a situation with preformulated thinking that we have a magic bullet.

We need to go into a situation with the skill of being able to do theology on our feet.

Conclusion

Now, next time we’re going to talk about apologetics, but suffice it to say that we need to think about the nature of theology, and how we need to do it, in such a way that people can really perceive what God is really saying to them.

Apologetics

In the last section we talked about the nature of theology, and we gave some new definitions of theology and its various disciplines.

Now we want to talk about apologetics.

Now, this is of central importance in the contemporary context for ministry.

Defining Apologetics

Now, apologetics has some classic definitions.

A general definition would be “getting oneself acquitted from a charge.”

This is a courtroom kind of a concept—or it kind of pictures being cross-examined by lawyers, and that kind of thing.

The traditional definition of Christian apologetics is the defense of the faith, or a positive presentation of the gospel.

Now I want to give you a new definition of apologetics, based on Dr. Frame’s concepts, and it is “the application of God’s Word to controversy.”

Or another definition would be, “the application of God’s Word to unbelief.”

Doing Apologetics

Now, the practice of apologetics involves both the use of presuppositions and evidence.

Now, sometimes people present evidence before the unbeliever, thinking that that will convince them.

Presuppositions

I remember one time I was engaged in a conversation with an unbeliever, and he didn’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And I put a whole lot of evidence in front of him and all that, and he finally came around to saying, “Okay, I now believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

I said, “Okay, are you willing, then, to consider Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?”

He said, “Oh, no.”

He said, “A lot of strange things happen in our world.

I was reading in Ripley’s Believe It or Not that such-and-such a thing happened.”

And so I presented all the evidence, but he put that evidence into a framework that denied the truth of what I was saying.

So it’s not enough to present evidence only, but you have to challenge the person in the way they think at the most fundamental level, and that’s the presuppositional level.

Evidence

Now, the role of evidence in apologetics is very important, though.

We don’t want to discount it.