THEOLOGY-GENERAL

Theology is a serious quest for the true knowledge of God, undertaken in response to His self-revelation, illumined by Christian tradition, manifesting a rational inner coherence, issuing in ethical conduct, resonating with the contemporary world and concerned for the greater glory of God.

John Stott

Taken from " Doing Theology for the People of God: Studies in Honor of J. I. Packer " ed. Donald Lewis and Alister McGrath, p. 17-18. © 1996 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of the USA, Revised edition. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515. www.ivpress.com http://www.gospelcom.net/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=991.

Nothing can be rightly known, if God be not known; nor is any study well managed, nor to any great purpose, if God is not studied. We know little of the creature, till we know it as it stands related to the Creator: single letters, and syllables uncomposed, are no better than nonsense. He who overlooks Him who is the “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,” and sees not Him in all who is the All of all, doth see nothing at all.

Richard Baxter

The Reformed Pastor, Chapter 1, Section 1.

No man that has not the vitals of theology is capable of going beyond a fool in philosophy.

Richard Baxter

The Reformed Pastor, Chapter 1, Section 1.

All my theology is reduced to this narrow compass – “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.”

Archibald Alexander

My plea is simply this: every theological idea which makes an impression upon you must be regarded as a challenge to your faith. Do not assume as a matter of course that you believe whatever impresses you theologically and enlightens you intellectually. Otherwise suddenly you are believing no longer in Jesus Christ, but in Luther, or in one of your other theological teachers.

Helmut Thielicke

A Little Exercise for Young Theologians, Eerdmans, 1962, p. 31.

The man who studies theology, and especially he who studies dogmatics, might watch carefully whether he increasingly does not think in the third rather than the second person. You know what I mean by that. This transition from one to the other level of thought, from a personal relationship with God to a merely technical reference, usually is exactly synchronized with the moment that I no longer can read the word of Holy Scripture as a word to me, but only as the object of exegetical endeavors. This is the first step toward the worst and most widespread ministers’ disease. For the minister frequently can hardly expound a text as a letter which has been written to him, but he reads the text under the impulse of the question, How would it be used in a sermon?

Helmut Thielicke

A Little Exercise for Young Theologians, Eerdmans, 1962, p. 33.

We are called by God to do theology, that is, to live our lives with a moment-by-moment consciousness of God.

Paul David Tripp

Age of Opportunity, P&R Publishing, 1997, p. 54-55, Used by Permission.

[Theology] is the study of God. It is the inquiry of God. It is the searching and understanding of God and the meaning of His word, His truth and His revelation. It is the activity of thinking: thinking about God and asking ultimate questions. It is the activity that thought produces speech, and speech produces a reflection…

John Armstrong

Feed My Sheep, ed. Don Kistler, Soli Deo Gloria Ministries, 2002, p. 170.

To reject theology is to reject the knowledge of God, which is never an option for believers.

John Armstrong

Feed My Sheep, ed. Don Kistler, Soli Deo Gloria Ministries, 2002, p. 171.

In space, astronauts experience the misery of having no reference point, no force that draws them to the center. Where there is no "moral gravity" – that is, no force that draws us to the center – there is spiritual weightlessness. We float on feelings that will carry us where we were never meant to go; we bubble with emotional experiences that we often take for spiritual ones; and we are puffed up with pride. Instead of seriousness, there is foolishness. Instead of gravity, flippancy. Sentimentality takes the place of theology. Our reference point will never serve to keep our feet on solid rock. Our reference point, until we answer God's call, is merely ourselves. We cannot possibly tell which end is up.

Elizabeth Elliot

There is a direct line that runs from our doctrine to our actions, from what is in our minds to what is in our words and ways… The heart spills over into life. Thoughts of God, and of all else, erupt into acts. The filling of the heart with wise thoughts of God becomes the most important, the most practical, business in the world.

Tom Wells

A Vision for Missions, Permission by The Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA. p. 108-109.

First level theological issues would include those doctrines most central and essential to the Christian faith… Denial of these doctrines represents nothing less than an eventual denial of Christianity itself… The set of second-order doctrines is distinguished from the first-order set by the fact that believing Christians may disagree on the second-order issues, though this disagreement will create significant boundaries between believers… Third-order issues are doctrines over which Christians may disagree and remain in close fellowship, even within local congregations. I would put most debates over eschatology, for example, in this category… Christians should never separate from a church over third-order issues.

Albert Mohler

Should I Stay or Should I Go? September 2009, Tabletalk, p. 20-21. Used by Permission.

If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean you have no ideas about God, rather it will mean you have a lot of wrong ones.

C.S. Lewis

Theology is practical, especially now... If you do not listen to Theology that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones – bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas.

C.S. Lewis

Mere Christianity.

There will be no new God, nor a new devil, and we shall never have a new Savior, nor a new atonement: Why should we then be either attracted or alarmed by the error and nonsense which everywhere plead for a hearing because they are new? What is their newness to us; we are not children, nor frequenters of playhouses? Truly, to such a new toy or a new play has immense attractions; but men care less about the age of a thing than about its intrinsic value. To suppose that theology can be new is to imagine that the Lord himself is of yesterday. A doctrine which is said to have lately become true must of necessity be a lie. Falsehood has no beard, but truth is hoary with an age immeasurable. The old gospel is the only gospel. Pity is our only feeling towards those young preachers who cry, "See my new theology," in just the same spirit as little Mary says, "See my pretty new frock."

C.H. Spurgeon

When a Calvinist says that all things happen according to the predestination of God, he speaks the truth, and I am willing to be called a Calvinist. But when an Arminian says that when a man sins, the sin is his own, and that if he continues in sin, and perishes, his eternal damnation will lie entirely at his own door, I believe that he speaks the truth, though I am not willing to be called an Arminian. The fact is, there is some truth in both these systems of theology.

C.H. Spurgeon

You will find all true theology summed up in these two short sentences: Salvation is all of the grace of God. Damnation is all of the will of man.

C.H. Spurgeon

There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a study of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity,

C.H. Spurgeon

Laymen sometimes think they need not be theologians. That, however, is a very great mistake. They do need to be theologians; at least, they should be amateur theologians. In fact, that is the one vocation every man is obliged to follow. A layman does not need to be a plumber, a carpenter, a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, a laborer, a housewife. These are all possibilities, not necessities. A layman may be one of these or the other as he chooses. But he must be a theologian. This is not an option with him but a requirement… A lay theologian is a person who has a true knowledge of God which he understands in nontechnical, nonprofessional, nonacademic terms… Is it not clear why a layman must necessarily be a theologian? Is there anyone, layman or otherwise, who does not need to know God? Does the Scripture not say, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent” (John 17:3)? It is, then, no mere option with a layman whether he will be a theologian or not, whether he will have eternal life or not; it is no option with him whether he will know God or not. The knowledge of God is necessary to eternal life. And if eternal life is necessary for every man, then theology is also necessary for every man.

John H. Gerstner
Theology for Everyman, Moody, 1965, Chapter 1.

[We] may have knowledge of God and not be saved, but he can never be saved without knowledge of God.

John H. Gerstner
Theology for Everyman, Moody, 1965, Chapter 1.

Questions of who God is and of what He is like can never be considered irrelevant to the practical matters of church life. Different understandings of God will lead you to worship Him in different ways, and if some of those understandings are wrong, some of those ways in which you approach Him could be wrong as well.

Mark Dever

Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Crossway, 2000, p. 15.

It is a good thing to possess an accurate theology, but it is unsatisfactory unless that good theology also possesses us.

C.L. Mitton

Richard Baxter

We must ask, Do I fight merely from doctrinal faithfulness? This is like the wife who never sleeps with anybody else but never shows love to her own husband. Is that a sufficient relationship in marriage? No, ten thousand times no. Yet if I am a Christian who speaks and acts for doctrinal faithfulness but do not show love to my divine bridegroom, I am in the same place as such a wife. What God wants from us is not only doctrinal faithfulness, but our love day by day. Not in theory, mind you, but in practice.

Frances Schaeffer

Taken from “The Church Before the Watching World” by Frances Schaeffer. Copyright (c) 1971, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. Used with permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515, p. 60. www.ivpress.com.

The devil is a better theologian than any of us and is a devil still.

A.W. Tozer

Man: The Dwelling Place of God. Christianity Today, v. 41, n. 5.

[Mothers], our daughters will be products of their theology. Their knowledge – or lack of knowledge – of who God is and what He has done for them will show up in every attitude, action, and relationship. Their worldview will be determined by their belief system. We must teach our daughters that their value and identity lie in the fact that they are image-bearers of the God of glory. This will protect them from seeking significance in the inconsequential shallowness of self-fulfillment, personal happiness, materialism, or others’ approval. Our daughters must know the wondrous truth that their overarching purpose in life is God’s glory.

Susan Hunt

Biblical Womanhood in the Home, Nancy Leigh DeMoss ed, Crossway, 2002, p. 150.

Theology is not a philosophical pursuit of abstract speculations about God. It is in fact the examination of that which God has revealed to us. As faithful students of the Word of God, we are, by necessity, students of theology. The two are not at odds with each other; rather they serve to complement one another. Whereas the Word of God is the foundation of our knowledge, theology is the expression of our knowledge. Thus, the study of God cannot be separated from the Word of God.

Burk Parsons

Theology in Perspective, Tabletalk, Oct. 2004, p. 2, Used by Permission.

Fuzzy theology is not dogmatic, and it is not established by the unchanging Word of God; rather, it consists of theology formulated by compromise. Fuzzy theology has a fundamental principle: we can believe whatever we want to believe as long as what we believe does not offend anyone, as long as it affirms nice things about Jesus, and as long as it doesn’t divide.

Burk Parsons

Justification by Association, Tabletalk, Oct. 2004, p. 22, Used by Permission.

I really think that you are what you sing. Shallow theology will produce shallow music, and shallow music will produce shallow theology. It's a cyclical thing. What we are challenged to do in our day is to reinsert the theological element both into our lives and into our music.

Daniel Block

Doctrine is useless if it is not accompanied by a holy life. It is worse than useless; it does positive harm. Something of 'the image of Christ' must be seen and observed by others in our private life, and habits, and character, and doings.

J.C. Ryle

The ultimate test of my understanding of the scriptural teaching is the amount of time I spend in prayer. As theology is ultimately the knowledge of God, the more theology I know, the more it should drive me to seek to know God. Not to know "about" Him but to know Him! The whole object of salvation is to bring me to knowledge of God... If all my knowledge does not lead me to prayer there is something wrong somewhere.

D. Martin Lloyd-Jones

We can become proud of our right theology but contradict the very theology that we hold dear by lack of love.

Thomas Schreiner

That They May Be One, September 2009, Tabletalk, p. 13. Used by Permission.

Wherefore all theology, when separated from Christ, is not only vain and confused, but is also mad, deceitful, and spurious; for, though the philosophers sometimes utter excellent sayings, yet they have nothing but what is short-lived, and even mixed up with wicked and erroneous sentiments.

John Calvin

It is possible to have a sound theology without having a sound life. But we cannot have a sound life without having a sound theology.

R.C. Sproul

For the soul of a person to be inflamed with passion for the living God, that person's mind must first be informed about the character and will of God. There can be nothing in the heart that is not first in the mind. Though it is possible to have theology on the head without its piercing the soul, it cannot pierce the soul without first being grasped by the mind.

R.C. Sproul

The cross is not an isolated individual aspect of theology, but is itself the foundation of that theology. The cross both dominates and permeates all true Christian theology, with its thread being woven throughout the entirety of its fabric.

Gerald Hawthorne

The theology of the cross simplifies the spiritual life by standing as its primary reference point. Everything in Christian spirituality relates to it. Through the cross we begin our spirituality and by the power and example of the cross we live it.

Don Whitney

Take Up Your Cross Daily, www.BiblicalSpirituality.org. Used by Permission.

Theological ignorance won’t take us very far, at least not in the right direction. Excitement uninformed by truth invariably leads either to idolatry or fanaticism. If we don’t know the God we enjoy, we may end up enjoying the wrong god!

Sam Storms
One Thing, Christian Focus, © Enjoying God Ministries, 2004, p.12-13. www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.

If we don’t know who God is and how He thinks and what He feels and why He does what He does, we have no grounds for joy, no reason to celebrate, no basis for finding satisfaction in Him.

Sam Storms
One Thing, Christian Focus, © Enjoying God Ministries, 2004, p.81. www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.

The best theology is rather a divine life than a divine knowledge.

Jeremy Taylor

Thousands today change what they believe to accommodate their moral behavior. On the other hand, thousands more take up false doctrine, then apostatize in their actions.

Kent Hughes

We ought not speak too long about God with our minds before we turn and speak to God from our heart. We must stir a lot of prayer into the stew of our theology.

John Piper

Restful Words for Labor Day, Sermon on Psalm 23, August 31, 1980. Used by Permission, www.DesiringGod.org.

Teaching theology to a heathen will not bring him to faith in Christ. He may learn the evangelical vocabulary and verbally affirm the truth. He may accept the truth of a list of gospel facts. But without a divine miracle to open his blind eyes and give him a new heart, he will only be a theologically informed pagan, not a Christian.

John MacArthur