Christian Belief and Christian Living
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5
“Don’t let that theology professor destroy your faith!”
I had worked at the Northwest Church for three years as youth director during my seminary days. Now I was preparing to leave for graduate studies in Germany. A dear saint in the congregation was concerned that further academic training would undermine the firmness of my Christian convictions and deaden my zeal for serving the Lord. His concern led him to caution me with this well-meaning warning about what he feared might be the result of my desire to pursue further theological education.
Rather than unfounded and misguided, my church friend’s caution reflects many tragic experiences. Theological studies are sometimes the enemy of faith. Yet his warning strikes at the wrong target. The problem is not theology itself but the incorrect conclusions some practitioners of the discipline draw from their studies.
Contrary to what certain Christians suggest, there are no simple believers who can remain untainted by theological reflection. Whether consciously or unconsciously, each of us has a set of convictions about ultimate reality. We believe something about God, ourselves, and the purpose of life. And these foundational beliefs surface in what we say and how we live. Every person is in this sense a theologian.
Although all persons have beliefs, many people give little thought to how they form their fundamental convictions. And they rarely reflect on how these convictions are affecting the way they live. Christians, in contrast, take convictions seriously. We know that all beliefs are not equal; some are better than others. And certain convictions are true, whereas others are false.
The Bible confirms the importance of convictions. It emphasizes the role of the mind in discipleship. Jesus, for example, reiterated the Old Testament command to love God with all our being, including our minds (Matt. 22:37). Similarly Paul admonished his readers to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). The attempt to give serious place to this dimension of discipleship—to ask, “What do I believe?”—brings us into the realm of theology.
What Is Theology?
Our English word “theology” arises from two Greek terms, theos (“God”) and logos (“word,” “teaching,” “study”).1 Hence, “theology” means “the teaching concerning God” or “the study of God.” The authors of Scripture constantly engage in this activity. All of their writings speak about God and his dealings with creation.
“Theology” can also carry an expanded meaning. In academic circles, it is a generic term referring to the various aspects of the study of the Bible and the church. Scholars often organize these studies into three major divisions:2
Today, however, Christians often use “theology” in a more specific sense. The word denotes the set of beliefs about God and the world that are uniquely ours. Thus, we may offer this definition:
Theology is the systematic reflection on, and articulation of, the fundamental beliefs we share as followers of Jesus Christ.
Theologians generally organize our foundational beliefs into several major categories. This organization of theology by category is often referred to as systematic theology in that theologians organize these categories or topics in systemic relationships. Following their lead, we will arrange the twelve chapters of this book according to a sixfold division of theology:
| God | theology proper |
| humankind and the created universe | anthropology |
| Jesus and the salvation he brought | Christology |
| the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s work in us and in the world | pneumatology |
| the church as the fellowship of Christ’s disciples | ecclesiology |
| the consummation or completion of God’s program for creation | eschatology |
Why Theology?
Theology arises out of an attempt to describe what we believe as Christians and to connect our beliefs with Christian living. But why is this important? Why be concerned to know what we believe?
Since the first century, the church has continually affirmed the importance of theology to its mission. Theology assists the church in at least three ways.3
As in every era, we are bombarded with the teachings of people who claim to offer a fuller understanding of Christianity. Contemporary claimants carry a variety of labels. These range from the more familiar (e.g., Jehovah’s Witnesses) to the more esoteric (e.g., Scientology).
In addition, we find ourselves bombarded with an unprecedented number of competing religious systems and views of the world. These include not only the older world religions (e.g., Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism) but also a host of newer proposals. Beginning in the early twentieth century and extending to our contemporary context, many new religious and metaphysical movements4 have challenged the faith of Christians. Each of them appeals to a purported fuller revelation from God and promises a fuller life to its adherents.
In the midst of this situation, the study of Christian belief can help us differentiate true belief (orthodoxy) from false teachings (heresy). Thereby, theology grounds us in the truth so that we are not “blown here and there by every wind of teaching” (Eph. 4:14).
New converts are especially dependent on sound teaching. They may have only a minimal understanding of Christianity. Or their previous conception of the faith may have been ill-informed. For them to become stalwart believers requires that they be instructed in the fundamental beliefs that lie at the heart of the Christian faith. In instructing new believers we are following Jesus’s example. Indeed, our Lord commands us not only to evangelize the world but also to “make disciples of all nations.” And this task includes “teaching them” (Matt. 28:19–20).
God desires that we all become mature, stable disciples of our Lord (Eph. 4:11–14). Therefore, we never outgrow the need for instruction. Theological study can deepen our understanding of the distinctively Christian teaching about God and the world.
As Christ’s disciples we naturally desire to be biblical Christians. We want our conception of God and our understanding about what God has done for us to reflect that of the prophets and apostles. Theological reflection assists us in this task.
The desire to summarize our faith is not unique to contemporary Christians. Even the biblical peoples capsulized their beliefs. At the heart of the faith of the Hebrews was their belief in the God who had called their forefather Abraham and had rescued their ancestors from Egypt (Deut. 26:5–9). This God was the sole God and the only one worthy of love (Deut. 6:4–5). In a similar manner, the New Testament church summarized what they had come to believe about Christ and the salvation he brought (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:3–8; Phil. 2:6–11; 1 Tim. 3:16).
Theology, then, helps us to
Because it aids us in this manner, the study of theology is vital to every Christian. Rather than undermining the firmness of our convictions, such study should enhance our faith.
Our study of Christian belief ought to enhance our faith.
Of course, theology exercises a critical function. It leads us to jettison certain beliefs that we thought were true but that in fact do not square with sound teaching. But even this critical aspect serves to strengthen faith, not destroy it. The study of theology should cause us to become more steadfast in faith and more sure of what we believe.
Theology and Christian Living
Because of this connection to the what and why of our beliefs, Christians generally view theology as a purely intellectual discipline. This perception is, of course, partially correct. Theology can be heady stuff. And theologians often appear to split hairs about seemingly inconsequential matters. But the study of theology includes more than an academic debate about intellectual questions.
While it is an intellectual activity, theology is immensely practical. In fact, theology is among the most practical endeavors of the Christian life!
The Bible narrates God’s saving activity on behalf of sinful humankind. For us to receive God’s salvation, however, we must not only hear the gospel story but also be told the meaning of God’s saving acts. Specifically, we must hear not only that Christ died and rose again but also why he sacrificed his life and how in him God acted for us.
Theology seeks to understand the significance of the gospel we proclaim. In so doing, it assists the church in declaring the good news in ways that people from varied backgrounds can understand so that they too may encounter God in Christ.
Once we have committed our lives to Christ, we naturally desire to know more about the God who has acted to save us. In this quest, theology also serves the people of God. Through theological reflection we wrestle with how we can best conceive of and speak about the God who is the Author and object of our faith. Hence, faith—conversion—naturally leads to theology.
Regardless of religious orientation, a person’s basic beliefs (or worldview) affect his or her way of life. And the way people live is the best indication of what they really believe about reality—in contrast to what they may profess to believe.
The Christian life flows out of a set of beliefs shaped by the Bible. Theology sets forth the uniquely Christian understanding of the world, at the heart of which is the story about Jesus of Nazareth. It explores Christ’s significance for all of life. In this way, theology provides the needed intellectual resources for facing the challenges of the historical and social context in which God calls us to live. Our theological orientation—our fundamental beliefs about who God is, who we are as God’s people, and what God is seeking to accomplish in the world—offers needed direction as we seek to live as Christ’s disciples.
Our study of Christian belief ought to enhance our lives as disciples.
The practical goal of theology stands as a warning against the persistent danger of intellectualism. We pursue theology with the goal of understanding our faith in a systematic manner, of course. But constructing a theological system cannot be our ultimate purpose. Instead, we engage in theological reflection so that our lives might be changed. We desire to become stronger and more effective disciples—to connect Christian belief with Christian living.
Sound theological reflection will make a difference in how we live. Doctrinal conviction provides the foundation for our attempts to determine the best way to live out our Christian commitment in the midst of the varied situations that confront us. And it motivates us to act continually in accordance with our commitment to Christ. Whenever our theological work stops short of this, we have failed to be obedient to our calling as thinking Christians. Indeed, our goal must always be to link Christian belief with Christian living.
What we have said so far suggests that theology is closely connected with faith. Yet we must never confuse the two.
We may characterize the difference by suggesting that biblical faith is immediate. Indeed, faith comprises our personal response to the God who encounters us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this response involves all aspects of our personhood—specifically, our intellect, volition, and emotions.
If faith touches on all three aspects, what about theology?
Immediately we must note that theology is closely related to faith, because it studies the response that God desires of us to the good news. But theology approaches faith from a unique vantage point. As Christian theologians, we seek to understand faith and to articulate the content of the Christian faith. In this endeavor, we raise certain specifically intellectual questions:
But above all, our theological reflection focuses on the significance of Jesus of Nazareth for our understanding of God, creation, and history. By engaging in theology, we seek to assist the Christian community in understanding the importance of Jesus Christ to the divine program. And we seek to understand the significance of our commitment to Jesus for all human life.
In short, therefore, theology probes the intellectual dimension of Christian faith. Consequently, theology is called forth by faith. We engage in theology because we naturally want to articulate the intellectual content of our faith.
We must note as well, however, that theology is likewise subservient to faith. That is, it seeks to serve faith. We engage in theology so that we may better understand our faith. A deepened understanding of faith, in turn, is one means whereby our faith is strengthened.
Because theology is the servant of faith, we must be vigilant against another danger—substitution. People who study theology sometimes allow theologizing to become a substitute for genuine, personal faith. But we cannot fall into this trap. We dare never replace commitment to the Triune God with our doctrines about God. We dare never allow our enthusiasm for our ability to formulate statements about Christ to diminish our love for him. And we must resolutely avoid placing confidence in our abilities to develop a theological system. Our hope for salvation can rest only in the God in whose service we stand.
The danger of substitution is real. Yet when theology truly does its work, the result is the opposite. Our theological reflections will lead to a deeper love for Christ and a deepened trust in the one true God.
Our Resources as Theologians
Because theology’s wider goal is practical—to connect Christian belief with Christian living—theological reflection ought to foster in us a truly godly spirituality and obedient discipleship. What resources or tools are available to us as we engage in this?5
Central to the theological task are three resources (which theologians often refer to as “sources” or “norms”):6
By properly using these tools—which includes valuing them in this order—we can construct a helpful theology for our day, a theology that is biblical, Christian, and contemporary.
Faith is our response to the God who encounters us in the gospel. Therefore, our articulation of the Christian faith naturally looks to the good news that we find in the Bible. For this reason, our theology must arise from the story of God’s saving activity. God has disclosed this saving activity in the history of Old Testament Israel, in Jesus Christ, and in the New Testament church.
Through the pages of Scripture, the Spirit speaks to us about what it means to be the community of those who confess faith in the God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. And the Bible guides us in our task of verbalizing and embodying our devotion to Christ in the context in which we live.
Some Christians strive to establish the authority of Scripture by elaborate proofs. While these attempts are sometimes helpful, we do not need to prove the Bible in order to begin the theological task. Instead, we may simply assume the Bible’s authority.
As we will elaborate in chapter 7, the Bible is the Spirit-produced document through which the Spirit has always spoken to God’s people. For this reason, it is the foundational document of the Christian church. Therefore, its message remains the central resource for Christian theology in every age.
Throughout their history Christians have joined together to express their faith in the God revealed through Jesus. This has resulted in a rich deposit of theological reflection within the church. The creeds and confessions of the past offer guidance for us as we engage in the same task today.
Past theological statements are instructive in our attempt to set forth a statement of Christian doctrine that is relevant to our contemporary context. They remind us of previous attempts to fulfill the theological mandate. In so doing they alert us to some of the pitfalls to avoid. And they point us in directions that may hold promise for our attempts to engage in the theological calling in our own situation.
Certain past formulations—often called “creeds” or “confessions of faith”—carry special significance. These classic statements express what has been the doctrine of the church throughout the ages. Because we are the contemporary expression of the one church, we should take seriously those doctrinal formulations that have engendered broad acknowledgment among Christians of many generations.
Of course, creeds and confessions of faith are not binding in and of themselves.7 They must be tested by the Scriptures and by their applicability to our situation.
We are called to express the Christian faith within the context of the world in which we live. One aspect of this calling is the task of articulating Christian doctrine in a manner that speaks to people today.
Engaging in this task requires that we understand our culture.8 We must become aware of the longings of people today. And we must be thoroughly acquainted with the ways people around us view their world and speak about life. Only then are we equipped to express Christian belief in a way that connects with life—in a way that can address the problems, felt needs, and valid aspirations of people today.
In exploring Christian belief, we use the tools of the Bible, Christian heritage, and contemporary culture.
We can discuss the resources for theology in isolation from each other. However, when we engage in the theological enterprise, we discover that they are inseparable. In seeking to express the faith of the people of God we must look simultaneously to the biblical message, the theological heritage of the church, and our contemporary cultural context. At the same time, we keep our focus on the Bible as our “norming norm,” as the one authoritative standard for Christian belief and Christian living.
Theology and the Concept of Community
The pages of this volume seek to build from these three resources. Our goal is to offer a systematic statement of the faith of the church in a manner that can speak to contemporary culture. To this end, we will order our theological reflections around the concept of community, understood as the goal of God’s program for creation. God is at work in our world, we declare. And God’s purpose in this activity is the establishment of community—a reconciled people who enjoy fellowship with him, with one another, and ultimately with all creation.
Why community? Because the focus on community encapsules the biblical message, it stands at the heart of the theological heritage of the church, and it speaks to the aspirations and the sensed needs of people in our world today.9 In short, as we realize that we are created for community, we are in a position to connect Christian belief with Christian living.
The following chapters describe the Christian faith by speaking about community. Our discussion opens with the central doctrine of the Christian faith—God (theology proper). In chapters 1 and 2 we explore the nature of the Triune God who is at work in establishing community in the highest sense.
Standing in relationship with the sovereign, community-building God are God’s moral creatures. The discussion of who we are—as those God has designed for community—forms the subject of chapters 3 and 4 (anthropology).
God’s goal for creation is community—a redeemed people dwelling in a renewed creation, enjoying the presence of the Triune God.
Chapters 5 and 6 focus on the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus the Christ (Christology). In this section we reflect on what it means to confess that the man Jesus is the eternal Son whose earthly vocation was to initiate community between God and sinful humans.
In chapters 7 and 8 (pneumatology) the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, comes into our purview. We explore the Spirit’s role in Scripture and in effecting personal salvation, which we will view as community with God and others.
Chapters 9 and 10 (ecclesiology) and 11 and 12 (eschatology) view the Spirit’s corporate and consummative work. In these chapters, we explore the activity of the Holy Spirit as God at work establishing community in history and ultimately in eternity. The bringing about of the eternal community brings to completion the divine goal for creation.
A Closing Connection
Each of us is a theologian, just as God intended. Consequently, our question is not, Will we be theologians? but, Will we be good theologians? Will we develop a worldview that is biblically sound and theologically correct? And will we translate theology into life, thereby showing ourselves to be disciples of the one we acknowledge as Lord? The following pages are intended to sharpen our theological knowledge so that we may connect Christian belief with Christian living—that is, so that we may love God more completely and serve Christ more effectively.
Songwriter Mark Pendergrass got the order correct. In his poignant musical prayer, “The Greatest Thing,” he articulates the earnest desires of his heart.10 The three verses of his prayer express the yearning first to know, then to love, and finally to serve God more. Indeed, as we come to know God more—which is the direct task of theology—our love for God ought to deepen. And a deeper love for God ought to flow into greater service. Only then have we truly connected Christian belief with Christian living.
Mastering the Material
Having Read This Chapter, You Should Know:
For Connection and Application