The Purpose and Practice of Theology

2.1 Why do we do theology?^[1]

The reason we can and must do theology is because God has spoken, and we have His Word (Heb 1:1–2). God has revealed himself in words suited for our learning and comfort (Rom 15:4).

• God has spoken, so we must hear Him. (Deut 4:1; 5:1; 6:3–4; 9:1)
• God has spoken, so we must obey Him. (Deut 8:11; 16:12)
• God has spoken, so we must teach others of Him. (Deut 4:9–10; 5:31)
• God has spoken, so we must glorify Him. (Deut 6:4–5; 10:12; Jn 4:22)

"It is important to study and learn because God has taken great pains to reveal Himself to His people. He gave us a book, one that is not meant to sit on a shelf pressing dried flowers, but to be read, searched, digested, studied, and chiefly to be understood" (Sproul, 12).

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16–17)

2.2 What are common objections to theology?^[2]

• Empiricism: the belief that only those things that can be measured by the physical sciences can contribute to our knowledge of reality.
• Pragmatism: the belief that the only thing that matters is success in building the church, especially through evangelism.
• Ecumenism: the belief that doctrine divides and theology damges the unity of the body of Christ.
• Anti-intellectual biblicism: the belief that because academic seminaries have betrayed Christianity, and theology is the road to heresy.
• Romanticism: the belief that real godliness is not a matter of truths in the mind, but of feelings in the heart. The only thing that matters is bringing people into a personal encounter with God so that they may be moved to love Him.
• Agnosticism: the belief that how much we can know for certain about God is minimal, since God is so great. In its extreme form, agnosticism results in skepticism.
• Progressivism: the belief that systematic theology is too dogmatic and rigid. Theology is a never-ending journey into truth, so we never arrive at any definite conclusions.
• Rationalism: the belief that all truth is deduced from the logical principles and self-evident truths in our minds.
• Relativism: the belief that there is no absolute truth.

2.3 Who does theology?^[3]

John Calvin wrote, "Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God. Without knowledge of God, there is no knowledge of self." (Calvin, ICR 1960, p.35–38).

• We are creatures of God. There is a God, and we are not Him (Gen 1:1, 27).
  • We do theology while acknowledging God's ultimate incomprehensibility (Ps 145:3).
  • We do theology under God's sovereignty as Lord (Ps 33:6, 8–9).
• We are images of God. Part of being created in God's image is the capacity to know God and acknowledge him as God (Col 3:10; Rom 1:21).
• We are sinners against God. Our first and fundamental response to true theology is resistance (Gen 3:1–5, Jn 3:19, Rm 3:11)
  • If we would do theology in a manner faithful to God, we must acknowledge and repent of our resistance to God's Word.
• We are regenerated children of God. We enter into the work of theology with God the Holy Spirit as our inner teacher (Jn 6:63).
• Pastors and teachers have a special calling to study theology. They are sent by Christ to build up the church in "the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God" (Eph 4:11–13; cf. 1 Tim 3:2).

2.4 What are Christian, Catholic, and Evangelical theology?^[4]

2.4.1 What is Christian theology?

The most fundamental characteristic of Christian theology is that Christians do theology as disciples of Jesus Christ (Acts 11:26). Christ is the foundation of all spiritual knowledge and life (1 Cor 3:11). Christian theology is theology done with faith in Christ, in submission to Christ, and in the light of the Word of Christ.

2.4.2 What is Catholic theology?

The word catholic does not necessarily refer to the church ruled by the bishop of Rome, but it comes from a Greek term (katholikos) meaning “general, universal,” and so “catholic church” means the church in all places and times as opposed to a single congregation. Catholic came to stand alongside orthodox, denoting fidelity to the teaching of Christ's apostles. The orthodox, catholic church defines its doctrine with fundamental creedal statements.

• The Apostles' Creed
• The Nicene Creed
• The Definition of Chalcedon
• The Athanasian Creed

2.4.3 What is Evangelical theology?

In its earlier usage, evangelical was synonymous with Protestant, and could refer to the Reformation theology of any tradition. Today, there is a tendency to isolate evangelical to a form of Christianity that arose in eighteenth-century Britain and its American colonies during the Great Awakening.

Evangelical theology may be defined in reference to the biblical gospel and historically in reference to the teachings of the Reformation churches, declared in their confessions and summarized in the **five solas **. Evangelical theology conforms to the Reformation confessional heritage of doctrine. Evangelical theology is confessional theology.

The biblical gospel

• The gospel is an authoritative message from God (1 Cor 11:23).
• The gospel presents the unique person of Jesus Christ.
• The gospel proclaims the atoning death of Christ.
• The gospel proclaims the bodily resurrection of Christ (Jn 2:18–22; Rom 4:25).
• The gospel asserts the historical reality of these events (1 Cor 15:14).
• The gospel teaches the paln of God for human history (Acts 2:22–32).
• The gospel teaches the necessity of faith in the biblical gospel (Acts 16:31).

Historical Reformation confessions

• Lutherans: Augsburg Confession (1530) and its Apology (1531), the Smalcald Articles (1537), Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms (1529), and the Formula of Concord (1577).
• Church of England: Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (1571).
• Dutch Reformed: Three Forms of Unity: the Belgic Confession of Faith (1561), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), and the Canons of Dort (1619).
• Swiss Reformed: The Second Helvetic Confession (1566)
• Presbyterians: The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), Westminster Larger Catechism (1647), and Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647).
• Congregationalists: Savoy Declaration (1658).
• Particular or Reformed Baptists: First London Confession (1644/1646) or the Second London Confession (1677/1689).

The Five Solas

1. Sola Scriptura ("By Scripture Alone"): The Holy Scriptures are our supreme and only rule of faith and life; they, not human tradition and reasoning, determine our faith and command our obedience (1 Thess 2:13).
2. Sola gratia ("By Grace Alone"): God's grace alone, not human goodness and effort, saves sinners (Jn 3:7).
3. Sola Christus ("By Christ Alone"): Christ alone, not the saints, the angels, the ministry and rites of the church, or our good works, acts as our Mediator, Redeemer, and Savior (1 Tim 2:5).
4. Sola fide ("By Faith Alone"): Faith alone, not our works or faith combined with works, is the instrument by which the sinner is justified from the guilt of all sin and counted righteous by God (Gal 2:16).
5. Sola Deo gloria ("To God Alone Be the Glory"): Glory is to be given to God alone for our creation and salvation (Eph 1:6).

2.5 What is Reformed theology?^[5]

2.5.1 What is Reformed theology from a historical, confessional, theological, and hermeneutical perspective?

• From a historical perspective, Reformed theology is a movement of Christian churches away from the errors of medieval Roman Catholicism toward a consistently evangelical direction. To be Reformed is to be part of a historical, international, gospel-driven movement.
• From a confessional perspective, Reformed theology is a system of truths summarized in the doctrinal standards of various Reformed churches. To be Reformed is to be committed to "hold fast the form of sound words" of apostolic truth (2 Tim 1:13).
• From a theological perspective, Reformed theology is a view of life dominated by the glory of the sovereign, loving, triune God. To be Reformed is to fear the Lord and live a God-centered life in order to glorify and enjoy Him forever.
• From a hermeneutical perspective, Reformed theology is an approach to the Bible that recognizes the unfolding covenant of grace that structures God's revelation through history. To be Reformed is to rest one's faith in the promises of the faithful covenant Lord.

2.5.2 What is Reformed theology from a polemical perspective? (Doctrines of Grace)

We specifically address the polemical stance of Reformed theology regarding the assertion and defense of the sovereignty of God's saving grace (articulated in the Canon of Dort), or what is sometimes called "the doctrines of grace" and often considered under the rubric of the "five points of Calvinism."

Recent literature summarizes the five points using the acronym TULIP: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.

1. Eternal Election: Sovereign Grace Decreed

• The Arminians asserted an election conditioned or determined by God's foresight regarding who would trust in Christ and persevere in faith and obedience.
• The Reformed divines at Dort answered that God's election is unconditional.

2. Definite Redemption: Sovereign Grace Merited

• The Arminians Remonstance said that "Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, has died for each and every man, and through His death on the cross as merited reconciliation and forgiveness of sins for all." This is a universal and conditional redemption, an offer of salvation but no real accomplishment of salvation, just the potential for sinners to be saved if they come to Christ.
• Reformed theologians responded by asserting that Christ's sacrifice satisfies God's justice for the people whom God elected or chose for salvation, and so accomplishes their salvation.

3. Total Depravity: Sovereign Grace Needed

• Classic Arminians teach that God gives prevenient grace to all mankind so that every human being is sufficiently restored to spiritual freedom to seek more grace. In this view, the depravity of fallen man is mitigated and no longer total.
• Reformed theologians at Dort answered that fallen man is so corrupted that he is unable to do spiritual good until God saves him.

4. Effectual Calling: Sovereign Grace Applied

• Arminians insisted that God's grace at any stage of a person's spiritual life "is not irresistible." A person's conversion and continuance to glory is whether he willfully resists God's grace.
• The Canons of Dort asserts both a general or outward gospel call that sinners resist AND special regenerating grace from God that changes sinners inwardly so that they willingly repent and belief.

5. Perseverance of the Saints: Sovereign Grace Preserved

• In 1621, Arminians affirmed that a believer can lose his salvation (Arminian Confession of 1621).
• Reformed theologians at Dort reaffirmed the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.

2.5.3 What is Reformed theology from an experiential perspective?

The Heidelberg Catechism queries, “How many things are necessary for thee to know, that thou, enjoying this comfort, mayest live and die happily?” and answers, “Three; the first, how great my sins and miseries are; the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries; the third, how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.

1. Experiential knowledge of our sin and misery
   • The doctrines of grace cleanse away the corrupting infection of self-righteousness. This is necessary to awaken sinners to their terrible need of Christ, to cause believers to grow in humility, and, above all, to open our minds to the knowledge of God.
2. Experiential knowledge of our deliverance in Christ
   • Reformed theology, though lowering the sinner, also lifts him up with joy and hope through Christ. Its doctrines of salvation by grace alone and justification by faith alone through the mediation of Christ alone put a song into our hearts and strength into our hands.
3. Experiential knowledge of how we express our gratitude
   • We do not do good works in order to be saved; rather, we do good works because we are saved. The love of Christ causes the redeemed to live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and rose for them (2 Cor. 5:15).

2.6 What does the discipline of theology require of you spiritually?^[6]

John Calvin wrote, "Piety is requisite for the knowledge of God. Knowledge of God involves trust and reverence" (ICR 1960, p.39–43)

• Be a disciple of Jesus Christ (Matt 4:19)
  • Though not all disciples of Christ are called to the study and teaching of theology, all theologians and teachers in the church must be disciples of Christ.
  • The term disciple "always implies the existence of a personal attachment which shapes the whole life," that is, a commitment to a life formed under the influence of a master.
• Depend on Christ's mediatorial work (Col 2:6–8)
  • The labor of a theologian is an exercise of faith in Christ.
  • Theology is a work of spiritual warfare, but theologians have no power in themselves.
  • They must draw strength from their King in order to powerfully proclaim His Word.
• Seek divine illumination by prayer (Eph 1:17–18)
  • Our intellectual pride and self-sufficiency continually threaten to distort our theology.
  • We combat this tendency by humbly praying for the Spirit's illumination, without which we can see nothing.
• Study God's Word with trembling (1 Thess 2:13)
  • We do theology with profound reverence for the God who has spoken.
  • Cultivate the fear of God by remembering that GOd is always present with us in our theological studies.
  • When we study the Bible, God is not only watching and listening, but speaking.
• Submit Your Mind to God's authoritative Word (Rom 6:17)
  • Godly fear will lead a theologian to hold as truth all that God has spoken, even when it is difficult to believe or contrary to prevailing assumptions.
  • We must do theology as believers in the truth of the Bible.
• Endure suffering for the sake of God's Word (2 Tim 2:2–3)
  • The vocation of the theologian is a calling to suffer.
  • You may face the slander of intellectual elites and the loss of friends.
• Cultivate an appetite for God's Word (Ps 119:131)
  • Love the Word.
  • You cannot plant a love for the Word in your heart; only God can do that.
  • Beware of theological professionalism. Never view the Bible as a mere tool of your trade.
• Pursue sound theology through obedience and love (1 Cor 8:1)
  • No theology can be pleasing to God, which does not breathe a spirit of holiness and love.
  • Theologians must guard themselves from being hearers and not doers of the Word (James 1:22–25).
  • The greatest obstacle to sound doctrine is not intellectual dullness, but rebellion of the heart.
  • Theology cannot be actually separated from practical godliness without destroying both.
• Be a faithful member of a faithful church (2 Tim 2:22)
  • Theology needs the church.
  • Faithfulness to God's Word is a community project.
• Use theology as fuel for praise (Ps 119:171)
  • The ultimate reason for doing theology is to glorify God.
  • Our theology should be a kind of theology as we elucidate the glories of our Lord and Savior.

2.7 What are some intellectual principles that guide our work of theology? (Practical Methods)^[7]

1. Gather a Treasury of Truths

• Read the Bible systematically, completely, meditatively, and repeatedly.
  • The primary source of Christian theology is the Bible.
  • Meditate on the Word day and night (Ps 1:2; 1 Tim 4:15).
• Study particular books of the Bible.
  • William Perkins especially recommends Romans, the Gospel of John, Genesis, the Psalms, and Isaiah.
• Familiarize yourself with the ecumenical creeds and other confessions of the faith.
  • Familiarize yourself with catechisms and confessions that are faithful to the Bible.
  • Body of Divinity (Thomas Watson)
  • Institute of the Christian Religion (John Calvin)
  • The Christian's Reasonable Service (Wilhelmus à Brakel)
• Keep your own "commonplace books."
  • Take and organize notes on what you have read.
• Be aware of yourself in your personal context.
  • Do not fall into the trap of thinking you are an objective interpreter of the Bible with no biases of your own.
  • No theologian exists in a vacuum.
• Interact with thoughtful Christians of other cultures.
  • While truth is not merely a social construct, our social backgrounds do affect our views of truth.
  • Seek to develop friendships that bridge cultural gaps, discuss theology together, and be open to learning from the cultural viewpoints of other Christian theologians.

2. Research a Particular Doctrine

• Focus on one strand of biblical teaching.
• Collect biblical material relevant to that strand.
  • You should strive to gather as many Scripture passages as pertain to your study.
• Exegete particular texts linguistically, literally, and theologically.
  • Begin with the best translation of the words themselves, taken in their ordinary or “literal” sense.
  • Theologians greatly benefit from linguistic skills in ancient languages.
  • Make good use of Hebrew and Greek lexicons, grammars, and dictionaries, but do not view them as neutral collections of facts.
  • Use commentaries on a specific biblical text to understand it and its context better.
• Interpret Scripture with Scripture.
  • Use the analogy of Scripture, that is, Scripture taken as a whole and used as a standard of comparison for any and all of its parts.
• Ask questions about meaning, intent, logic, and application.
• Locate texts in their covenantal and typological contexts.
  • Use biblical theology to place a text in its larger biblical framework.
• Consult confessional statements.
  • When studying a doctrine, go back to the creeds and confessions of the church and read the relevant portions carefully.
  • While confessional statements are not the primary sources or supreme authorities for systematic theology, they do represent the church’s accounting of the system of doctrine found in the Bible.
• Learn from great books of the past.
  • Employ historical theology to inform systematic theology. Use modern works of theology, but do not be so arrogant as to assume that you and your generation were the first to seriously listen to the Bible on any given point.
  • Sit at the feet of the great theologians, such as Athanasius, Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Perkins, Owen, Turretin, Brakel, van Mastricht, Edwards, Hodge, Bavinck, and others.

3. Write Systematic Theology

• Crystallize doctrine into clear, concise, and contemporary statements.
• Find illustrations in biblical narrative and metaphor.
• Incorporate insights from extrabiblical sources.
• Organize topics in an outline.
• Develop a full, systematic, academic presentation.
• Explore the relationships between doctrines.
• Address current theological and ethical concerns.
• Answer objections and refute errors.
• Apply doctrine to experience and practice.
• Simplify theology for use in the church and home.
• Preach, teach, and publish widely.
• Receive helpful criticism as God's gift.