Basis of Theology

            Before we dig deeper into the various areas of theology, it would be beneficial to first show how we come to conclusions within theology and what we base our conclusions on. The technical term is “systematic theology.” This merely means that we have a system by which we have studied all of the passages regarding each point of theology, and we have looked at the external evidence of our findings. The process that we will follow is to first look at the key passages of scripture. We will then work to form a biblical theology based on our study. We will then briefly look at how the issue was viewed throughout history. We will finally develop a systemized theology using reason and logic based on all of our findings, giving preference to what scripture says. My hope is that by the time we’re done going through each area of theology, you will have developed the skills and have the tools to study theology for yourself.

            This pursuit of theology can easily turn into an academic pursuit instead of a pursuit to know our Savior better and more personally. This is something that I have struggled with studying theology in college. We must guard ourselves against just gaining head knowledge. As we grow in deeper understanding of who God is and how he works our awe of who God is will grow.

            The basis of our theology will be the bible. So, we must first show that the bible is truly breathed out by God and is trustworthy for us to base our conclusions on. This exercise is a whole area of theology (bibliology). We will go more in-depth about the bible and how we got our bible at a later time. However, we must first briefly make sure that we can trust the bible before we continue on our pursuit together.

            Very briefly, we see that all scripture is breathed out by God; it is inerrant, and it has been preserved throughout time. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The writers of scripture were under the direction of the Spirit as they wrote scripture. They maintained their style and personality, but everything that was written because God wanted it there. There is nothing in scripture that is not helpful or useful for the believer. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35). We then see that all of scripture has been preserved throughout time for us. “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89). “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law” (Luke 16:17). Hopefully, this has demonstrated that we can fully trust scripture. We will flesh out each of these points later, but we should first see that we can trust scripture before we use it to base our theology on.

In the next several weeks, we will start digging into who each Person of the Trinity is, how he relates to us, and how we relate to him. This week, I wanted to explain how we will go about our pursuit and what our pursuit is. I hope these blogs will encourage you in your walk as you grow deeper in your relationship with Christ.