So why should you even consider studying theology? Is opening the Bible and studying what it has to say just for pastors or eccentric people, who have no social awareness and tell everyone not to drink or watch Harry Potter movies? I would like to argue that studying theology is not only a wise use of your time but has benefits that you wouldn’t even think about.
So what does theology even mean? Theology is simply the study of God. A recent Gallop Poll stated that more than 9 out of 10 people in the United States believe in the existence of God. A passage in the Bible, 2 Timothy 3.16, says that the Scripture is God breathed, or are the very words of God, so naturally this would be the place to go if you wish to find anything out about that God. The fact is, every person is a theologian it just comes down to where you are on the spectrum, from an uninformed theologian to a brilliant one.
Now I’m going to speak to people who would say that they are Christians and to those who say that they would have nothing to do with Jesus.
For the Christian
For the Christians, if you say that you believe in Jesus, why wouldn’t you want to invest knowing more about the God that you believe in? If you say you have a personal relationship with God and don’t want to know any facts about that God, then you should probably question your faith in Christ to begin with. That would be like saying to your wife or husband, “I want to have a relationship with you but I don’t really want to know anything about you.” That conversation probably wouldn’t go well. You should also know your theological view points, and not just listen to what is being preached from behind the pulpit. Your pastor could be preaching heresy or just not interpreting the passage correctly, and you would have no clue.
For the Agnostic
For the person who doubts the existence of God, or would say that Jesus and religion in general is completely unnecessary, wouldn’t you like to at least take the time to invest in what people claim that Christianity says about certain questions such as: What is the purpose to life? Why is there evil in the world? What does Christianity claim happens after you die?
So I encourage you to find out for yourself or with others exactly what this God thing is all about and join me for my future blogs on this site.