Why should we talk about theology?

There is little difference between what we call theology, philosophy, or worldview—each of us has our own perspective, and even if we don’t have a systematic, multivolume, detailed position, the way we live can indicate how we think God and the world operate. Of course, there are many different theologies: Jewish, Muslim, a-theology, etc. So what is Christian theology?

There are some obvious topics that Christian theology must address. Who is Jesus? The Holy Spirit? What is the purpose of the Church? Many people see the Gospel of John as the first writing of Christian theology for its abstract way of talking about the life of Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Even in that sentence, there are some deep thoughts—time, nature of God, Jesus as Word of God.

Theology is important because we cannot separate it from life—theology shapes how we live and talk, but at the same time our experiences shape our theology. If I read from the Bible that Jesus cared about social justice (which clearly he did), that will influence my actions. If I suffer from traumatic experiences, that could influence how I view the nature of God.

While the questions asked in theology might stay the same (St. Augustine asked well over a thousand years ago, “What do I love when I love my God?”), the answers are always developing. The Bible exhorts on one hand to work out our faith in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) and yet to be able to answer for our faith (1 Peter 3:15). I think our everyday faith is somewhere in between—some things we know, and some things we’re just not sure of. Talking about theology helps us to learn more about God, our relation to God, and helps us to create and see meaning in the world around us.

-- rob