{"id":6055,"date":"2015-10-15T23:37:13","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T06:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=6055"},"modified":"2015-10-15T23:48:11","modified_gmt":"2015-10-16T06:48:11","slug":"matter-of-fact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/matter-of-fact\/","title":{"rendered":"Matter of Fact!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"a<\/a><\/p>\n

Introduction
\nWho needs theology? I do! I accept the invitation to the study of God.<\/p>\n

The only problem I have with accepting this invitation is that I am not so sure about the foundation. What is theology? \u201cA revival of sound theological interest and reflection among God\u2019s people.\u201d What is the fear? Christianity may be in danger of becoming a mere \u201c folk religion\u201d relegated to realms of sheer objectivity and emptied of public credibility, unless lay Christians and ministers catch the vision for an intellectually satisfying Christian belief system<\/em>.\u201d(10)<\/p>\n

What is theology? \u201cAuthentic Christianity<\/em> will always incline a person toward those commitments and attitudes necessary to becoming a theologian. It is unlikely that these could be totally absent in any person who truly has a heart for God.\u201d (135)<\/p>\n

Intellectually satisfying Christian belief system? Authentic Christianity? So that is what theology is?<\/p>\n

What is theology? Theology is any reflection on the ultimate questions of life that point toward God. (13)<\/p>\n

So theology is a knowledge that satisfies more than Jesus? The constant theme that I had running through my head while reading this book was this: \u00a0\u00a0And he said: \u201cTruly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children<\/strong>, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3<\/p>\n

The straightforward attack on \u201cfolk theology \u201d and the elevation of \u201cacademic theology\u201d was very disturbing but it did help me to discern who needs theology.
\nSo what is theology? So many different definitions were given throughout the book that I am not sure if I know what a theologian is or not. Everyone is a theologian though so I must be one!\u00a0\u00a0 So who needs theology?<\/p>\n

I need theology. Everyone needs theology. Everyone is a theologian. On these simple points I agree.<\/p>\n

So what is theology: The study of God.
\nSummary<\/p>\n

The book takes any individual on a journey, to becoming a deeper person of faith. The content of the book lines up with both of the systematic theology books that I have read extensively. It is very simplistic in view point and makes a great case for becoming a student of the Bible. There is a bit of a jaded viewpoint and I could be attached to that same view because of the denomination that I grew up in but I won\u2019t let that become a liability and I won\u2019t let it be a permissions slips to dismiss myself from it as well. Becoming a theologian means to me that you will stay in the structure and continue to educated and elevate the thinking of those around you.\u00a0\u00a0 Pointing a finger of blame as you head out the exit is not the best way to attack this problem but I do see theology as a foundation for change.<\/p>\n

Analysis<\/p>\n

Here is what I have gained from our time in Hong Kong and from our reading for this week.\u00a0\u00a0 I believe that a theologian needs to be singularly on focus and have a keen understanding of what God is calling them to do and be. With those two things figured out, your theology serves a much better purpose. Being matter of fact. You are not tossed between all the different things. You have stability.<\/p>\n

Jesus was matter of fact. ECC church was matter of fact. Jackie Pullinger was matter of fact. Theology or being a theologian leads to stability and a theologian who is matter of fact about, number one, who they are in Christ and, number two, what they believe, are able to lead no matter what is swirling around them. That is what I sense these authors are trying to communicate.\u00a0\u00a0 I believe it is what God is trying to communicate to me. Be so founded in your beliefs and in relationship with me that you can lead without hesitation or insecurity. What is theology? a matter of fact.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n

Some things of theology will never be settled or solved.\u00a0\u00a0 It they still matter when we get to heaven I am positive there will be explanation. One of the things that I saw as a sub theme though was this thought that theology will cause you to lose your faith. If your faith is established up faith in Jesus then I agree it will do nothing but strengthen it. If it is based upon other men\u2019s understanding and teaching then I believe your faith can be lost or so diluted that it becomes pointless. So let your theology be matter of fact, because everyone is a theologian.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tag\u00a0\u00a0 Olson<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kevin Norwood<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction Who needs theology? I do! I accept the invitation to the study of God. The only problem I have with accepting this invitation is that I am not so sure about the foundation. What is theology? \u201cA revival of sound theological interest and reflection among God\u2019s people.\u201d What is the fear? Christianity may be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,198,532],"class_list":["post-6055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-grenz","tag-olson","cohort-lgp6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6055"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6060,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6055\/revisions\/6060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}