“Don’t Let Them Theologians Ruin Your Faith”
Grenz, Stanley J., and Roger E. Olson. Who Needs Theology?: An Invitation to the Study of God. Downers Grove, IL, USA: InterVarsity Press, 1996.
When I was 22 years old, I remember meeting with the pastor of my home church, First Baptist Church of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Rev. Billie Friel, or “Brother Billie” as I knew him, was a significant figure in my life. He was my pastor growing up. He saw my family through two tragedies: the death of my brother and the death of my father. He was an excellent preacher. His love for his people was apparent to everyone. I had gone on mission trips with this man and was impressed that he was the same person “on and off stage.” As I was preparing to move away to attend Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, he gave me this challenge. “Be careful. Don’t believe everything that your professors tell you. You don’t want to be one of those guys who graduates with a degree but loses their faith.”
I thought of that encounter a lot as I read Who Needs Theology? For me, this book seemed to be a valuable introduction to Theology, which is explained in the book this way:
“Theology is any reflection on the ultimate questions of life that point toward God…No one who reflects on life’s ultimate questions can escape theology. And anyone who reflects on life’s ultimate questions-including questions about God and our relationship with God-is a theologian” (Kindle Loc 54).
This book spends a lot of time defending the term “theology.” The clear context is that the writers have encountered many who have misunderstood the term as elitist or even anti-Christian. Coming from a conservative background, I can relate to that. When I encountered liberal theologians, like those who were a part of “The Jesus Seminar,” I can see what faithless Christianity looks like.
This book challenged the reader to view theology as something that reinforces faith, not shatters it. It tells us that “good theology will make believers stronger, better informed, and consequently, more effective disciples.” (Kindle Loc 423).
One illustration that the book utilized is that of food. There are scientists who take food into a laboratory, analyze the nutritional value, calorie count, ingredients, etc. Yet, they never actually eat the food. They neither enjoy the food nor benefit from it. The book states that “the theologian-like the food expert-should be a connoisseur and not merely a critic” (Kindle Loc 550).
This notion is taken further as the role of the Holy Spirit in the role of theological learning was highlighted. The authors make this clear when they state that “only when you have truly encountered God and allowed God’s Spirit to transform you-including renewing your mind-will the deeper and higher dimensions of theology open up to you.”
Another hallmark of this book is the notion that theology should be practical. It should lead to action. The caricature is the isolated monk or the aloof theological professor who spends hours upon hours studying scripture, with no practical application. In contrast, the book states that “the final goal of theological reflection is that God might be glorified through believers’ lives, through how they live and what they do” (Kindle Loc 442).
I personally enjoyed the explanation of the different ways that Catholic theology differs from Protestant theology. Mainly in the way that Catholic theology “emphasizes what is known as ‘natural theology’-the rational discovery and explication of God’s existence and being through investigation of the natural world.” In contrast, protestant theology affirms “the ongoing nature of theological reflection as a collaborative effort of God’s people” (Kindle Loc 826). I had never heard this distinctive contrast put this way.
As someone who leads the “missions” area of our church, I appreciated how the book addressed the relationship between theology and culture. From apologetics to social action, “a relevant theology speaks to the problems, longings and ethos of contemporary culture” (Kindle Loc 1003).
Another discussion that I appreciated was the relationship between theology and discipleship. In most Christian bookstores, the “Theology” books are kept far away from the “Christian Living” section of the store. In contrast, Grenz and Olson effectively make that case that “Theology is crucial to the entire task of living Christianly in both church and world. Living involves questioning. Living Christianly involves asking and attempting to answer questions about God and the world. Thus, living Christianly involves theology” (Kindle Loc 1519).
As I reflect on my conversation with “Brother Billie” over 25 years ago, I appreciate his sentiment. I wonder, though, if he could have given me a gift along with his challenge? What kind of gift? A copy of Who Needs Theology by Grenz and Olson.
About the Author
Stu Cocanougher
10 responses to ““Don’t Let Them Theologians Ruin Your Faith””
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Thanks for sharing your story. I love it when we read a book and we can relate it to our lives.
I really resonated with that point too that theology should be practical and provoke action. My image, although I’m sure inaccurate, of theologians is that they are sitting around writing, contemplating, and researching the great mysteries of God. In my image, I have never seen them as active and applying their knowledge to those they come in contact with. Thank you, Stu for this thoughtful post.
The book states that “the theologian-like the food expert-should be a connoisseur and not merely a critic”
I think it’s good that you picked up on this point. The danger for all of us, at whatever level of theology, is that we get in the lab and dissect and analyse the food, but lose our ability to be “foodies” – people who love and enjoy and encounter the God whom we are studying!
Thank you, Stu. As a former Roman Catholic I can relate to the discussion of the differences in how we do theology. Our RC brothers and sisters are still defending the faith and many are involved in social justice issues.
We have some differences, but I think a good point was made by Grenz and Olson though, wasn’t it? – It matters that we take our theology from our heads through our hearts and out of our hands and feet.
I am thankful for the theologians who are “counting the number of angels on the head of a pin”. They have their place, but as Kristin pointed out, our neighbors need to see people who are LIVING their theology. People like Brother Billie.
Stu, appreciate the post and the personal background. I can relate on a couple of points:
– I felt a call into ministry in high school, but resisted the move to seminary training (although I was in full-time ministry) for almost a decade for reasons similar to what your pastor warned you of. Mine was summed up by my question: ‘why should I stop doing ministry for 3 years, so I can learn how to do ministry?
– And of course you key into the most important aspect of ‘good theology’ from my perspective, that it be practical. Our thoughts about God have to be able to be applied to our lives or they don’t really matter. One of the things I really appreciated about the seminary I attended – and this program – is that almost all of my professors had been parish pastors at one point. They all knew that if our work in the classroom couldn’t connect to the realities in the church it’s value was limited.
– finally, I am also no fan of the Jesus Seminar…. I took a class on the ‘Historical Jesus’ from Dale Allison (maybe the leading Matthew scholar in the world, but such an unassuming and approachable guy) and his insight into that whole thing was very interesting – they always wanted him to be a part of it and he wanted no part. My favorite line – ‘The funny thing about Marcus Borg’s Jesus is that it looks a whole lot like Marcus Borg!’
Having said that – I think my criticisms of the Jesus seminar and other things like it are that they seem to be almost solely ‘academic’, not that they are ‘liberal’…. I too come from a conservative background (my home church left the PC(USA) over theological issues recently) and remember initially being resistant to liberation theology and the work of James Cone because it was ‘liberal’. But it is also deeply connected to faith and people’s real experiences and my engagement with it has been to my benefit. Just a thought.
Thanks again
Stu, enjoyed your post. I too can relate to the story of the warning about going to seminary. Be careful of knowledge they said, it might puff you up!
Great point about theology and culture.
“I appreciated how the book addressed the relationship between theology and culture.”
The relationship between theology and culture is an import part of contextualizing the gospel message. Enjoyed your post Stu.
Nice picture!
Like your background, my church movement has shied away from anything resembling “theology”, to the point that my master’s degree is in “Christian doctrine” rather than theology!
I love your food metaphor of the food scientist studying but never eating the food. May I explore that more? We might not personally be the food scientists, but we still need people like them to make sure our food isn’t dangerous. Likewise, I believe we still need cloistered monks who pray through their work days (I spent a brief time at Merton’s Abbey of Gethsemene in KY, and found their spiritual practices invaluable). Perhaps we need food scientists, foodies, and parents making homecooked meals (just please, can we toss out the fast food/folk theology?), and maybe we need the lay, professional and academic theologians.
Switching metaphors, perhaps they are all valuable parts of the Body of Christ.
You’re making me hungry
🙂
Great post, Stu. I actually DID receive a copy of this book as a gift when I started my undergrad theology degree. I was telling a pastor that certain family members had given me the same warning Brother Billie gave you and her response was to give me this book and tell me that warning was based in their own theology.
Fast forward 13 year and I am beginning to understand what Pastor Jeanne meant. There is a real fear for many folks that, if the plain text reading of the Bible isn’t the “right” way, their faith has been built on illusion.
This is why I am with you on the connoisseur vs. critic idea. When scripture says, “taste and see that the Lord is good,” we are being reminded to revel in all the flavors the Holy Spirit brings us. We don’t just taste it to see if we like it, we study to understand WHY it is good and then we taste our theology over and over again to see if it aligns with that goodness of Christ.