The Bible and...: Part 5j: Theology

The Bible and...: Part 5j: Theology
Friday, May 17, 2024 by Dr. James W. Walraven

What are we to make of theology, theological discussions and debates?

As mentioned at the start of the theology section of “the Bible and…”, theology is important. Theology done well helps us to wrap our heads around numerous biblical concepts. Theology also assists us in understanding what Christians have through about key biblical concepts during different periods of church history. The outright dismissal of theology sometimes betrays a type of unwise deliberately chosen ignorance.

But, theology is not the Bible. Let that sink in: theology is not the Bible. Every theological system we’ve ever created, no matter how complete and detailed, no matter how biblically accurate we’ve sought to be, is flawed. At best it is incomplete. None of us understand the infinite God perfectly. None of us grasp the Bible perfectly. That includes, me, you, Calvin, Luther, Augustine, Irenaeus, etc. If someone does claim to have perfect understanding of it, run as far away from that person as you can, as quickly as possible.

Even those of us who’ve read and studied the Bible for decades, are still growing in our understanding of it and in our faith. As we grow, at least some of our beliefs and practices will evolve and change (the Christian faith itself, does not change: see Jude 3).

To elevate any theology, or any one theologian for that matter, over Scripture leads to trouble. We’ve looked at the ongoing debates between Calvinists and Arminians, as well as discussions over end-times prophecy. We’ve also examined difficulties with the theology of Christian Hedonism.

It must be reiterated that those creating such theological systems are in most cases doing so with the best of intentions, seeking to be faithful to Scripture (those who reject the core tenets of the faith, for example that Jesus is both fully God and fully man, would be considered otherwise). That is one of the reasons these past few posts do not include words such as “Calvinist, or Arminian, theologian ‘X’ is a heretic,” or “Dispensationalist ‘Y’ is destined to spend eternity in Hell.”

Sometimes, as with the Calvinist/Arminian debates, we are left with unresolved tension; the Bible doesn’t provide a precise clear answer one way or the other. However badly we may want to resolve a particular issue, biblically, that isn’t always possible. There are times that we must be willing to accept that at least while we are alive on this earth, we won’t have precise answers. God doesn’t promise to tell us everything, but he does tell us enough (for example, see John 20:31; 21:25).

We’d be far better off if we held to the Bible tightly, and our theologies loosely, as opposed to holding our theologies tightly and the Bible loosely. It is far better to make our theologies conform to the Bible, rather than the Bible conform to our human theologies.

Sola Scriptura!

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