People often hear pastors and Bible teachers talk about theology, but they want to know, “What is theology?”
Well, here is one definition of theology:
Did that definition of theology help any?
I didn’t think so.
If you are like me, you are probably more confused (and bored) now than you were before you read that definition of theology. If you are asking, “What is theology?” the only thing you really learned from that definition of theology above is that theology is confusing and boring. But take heart, theology doesn’t have have to be this way.
When properly taught, theology is not confusing and is never be boring. When properly studied, theology sets the heart on fire and opens up the mind to imagination and wonder. Let me show you how.
What is Theology?
Here at Till He Comes, my goal is to Bring Scripture and Theology to Life. I not only desire to write about these subjects in ways that are interesting and engaging, but also write about them in a way which shows how they affect your life right now.
So when people ask, “What is theology?” I not only seek to answer the question and provide a definition of theology that makes sense, but also to show how theology matters and how it makes a difference in your life today.
What is theology? Here is the basic definition of theology: Theology literally means “the study of God.”
But theology is so much more than that. When theology is truly studied, it ushers you into a deep relationship with God. Theology is not simply the study of God, but an interaction with God, a conversation with Him and with others about the deep mysteries of divinity. Theology is thinking God’s thoughts after Him. It is tracing the mind and heart of God, and learning to see the world through the eyes of God.
What is theology? Theology is entering into a lifelong conversation with God about Himself, ourselves, and how He wants to live life with us.
What is theology? Theology is learning to make God your best friend.
That sounds more exciting than the boring definition of theology provided in the image above, right?
Learning Theology
I suppose my answer to the question, “What is theology?” needs some examples. If theology is ultimately an adventure with God, then theology cannot really be taught, but must be experienced. However, learning theology is the first step in experiencing theology. So below I provide some basic instruction about theology, the various categories of theology, and some of my own thoughts about theology.
You may notice by looking through the posts below that this is a work in progress. But that again is a truth about theology. When we ask, “What is theology?” we cannot expect to learn theology in an afternoon. Learning theology is a life-long process, which I believe will be continued in eternity. Just as God is infinite, so learning about God requires infinity.
In the post below, I seek to answer the question “What is theology?” by sharing with you some of what I have learned about theology over the years, and by asking some of the questions I still have.
There are two types of posts below. Some contain summaries of my seminary class notes. I know this might sound boring, but I do my best to summarize them in an interesting way.
However, after I summarize my notes, it is then that things really get lively. I take the theology I was taught, and then challenge, question, and critique it in a way I was not able to do in seminary (at least, not if I wanted to graduate).
Eventually, there will be hundreds of posts on this page, so you may want to Subscribe to the Blog so that you get new posts as they are published.
The posts are divided into the traditional categories of Systematic Theology:
What is theology? Click on a link to jump to that section of the page
| Introduction | Bibliology | Theology Proper | Anthropology | Hamartiology | Christology | Soteriology | Pneumatology | Ecclesiology | Eschatology | Angelology |
Introduction to Theology
- Theology Introduction Category Posts
- Recovering from Seminary
- Theological Prolegomena
- Is Interest in Theology Waning?
- Theology Quotes for your Critique
- Theology God
- What’s More Important: Truth or Love?
- Knowing Your Theology
- Questions about Theology
Bibliology
- Theology of the Bible Category Posts
- Introduction: Bibliology is Dangerous
- Divine Revelation
- Hearing from God
- Dueling Revelations
- Scripture vs. Science: Who Wins?
- Revelation is Like a Bouquet of Roses
- Seminary Class Notes on General Revelation
- Seminary Class Notes on Special Revelation
- Is God Red in Tooth and Claw?
- How you can know the Bible is Divine Revelation
- Get Rich Quick: Start Your Own Religion
- Inspiration of Scripture
- Views of the Inspiration of Scripture
- I Don’t Believe in the Inspiration of Scripture
- One Verse Doctrines
- The Uninspired History of Inspiration
- Is All Scripture God-Breathed?
- A New Take on 2 Timothy 3:16
- Is the Doctrine of Inspiration Biblical?
- The Bible is not a Magic Book
- Jesus Condemns Bible Study
- Debating Inspiration with Myself
- Why the KJV is an Inspired Translation
- Which Bible Translation is Best?
- The Best Bible Translation
- The Inspiration of Nature
- Most Inspired Comments
- Inerrancy of Scripture
- I am Always Right
- Inerrancy of Scripture (Seminary Notes)
- How to Solve Biblical Difficulties
- Arguments Against Inerrancy
- The Bible Contains Errors
- Why Inerrancy Doesn’t Matter (…too much)
- Is the Bible a Fable?
- What if the Bible is Myth?
- The Problem with the Bible
- Why was the Bible Written?
- How is the Bible True?
- The Bible Was Not Written to You
- Stop Living Like Jesus
- Stop Obeying the Bible
- The Canonization of Scripture (Seminary Notes)
- Miscellaneous Posts
- Questions about Bibliology
Theology Proper
- Theology of God Category Posts
- More posts on this topic coming soon. Subscribe now to get notified of updates!
Anthropology
- Theology of Man Category Posts
- More posts on this topic coming soon. Subscribe now to get notified of updates!
Hamartiology
- Theology of Sin Category Posts
- More posts on this topic coming soon. Subscribe now to get notified of updates!
Christology
- Theology of Christ Category Posts
- More posts on this topic coming soon. Subscribe now to get notified of updates!
Soteriology
- Theology of Salvation Category Posts
- More posts on this topic coming soon. Subscribe now to get notified of updates!
Pneumatology
- Theology of the Holy Spirit Category Posts
- More posts on this topic coming soon. Subscribe now to get notified of updates!
Ecclesiology
- Theology of the Church Category Posts
- More posts on this topic coming soon. Subscribe now to get notified of updates!
Eschatology
- Theology of the End Times Category Posts
- More posts on this topic coming soon. Subscribe now to get notified of updates!
Angelology
- Theology of Angels Category Posts
- More posts on this topic coming soon. Subscribe now to get notified of updates!
Books that Help with the “What is Theology?” Question
If you are eager to learn more about theology and cannot wait for me to finish the posts above, here are a few theology books that I recommend which will help answer your questions about theology. If you still want to know “What is theology?” the books below will help.
- Norman Geisler’s Systematic Theology
- Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology
- Lewis Sperry Chafer’s Systematic Theology
If you have any questions about theology you want me to answer, please out the form below, and I will try to answer it in a future blog post.
what are you thoughts on hebrew 6:4-6
Eventually I will write more about this passage, for for now, here is an old study:
Hebrews 6:1-6
Here is part of the answer–with a link to the entire commentary
http://www.revisedenglishversion.com/Hebrews/chapter6/6
Heb 6:6 If this verse does not mean that it is “impossible” for someone who left the faith to be forgiven and return to God, then what does it mean? It means that it is “impossible” to renew a sinner to repentance because once a Christian repents and gets saved that salvation is permanent. It is “impossible” for the Christian to lose his salvation, so it is “impossible” for him to repent and get saved again. Every Christian can and does sin, but the sin, even egregious sin, does not cause a person to lose his salvation. Since the person’s salvation was never lost, the person cannot “renew” himself to “repentance.” Everyone can only repent and be saved one time. After that, when we sin, we can repent of our sin and be forgiven, but we do not get saved again because we never lost our salvation. Salvation is by the New Birth, and it is permanent.
I am not convinced with that the arguement is as clear cut as you explain because it is the excuse that people use to continue to sin. Paul argues that we do not have a licence to sin.because of grace If christians continue to sin and grieve the holy spirit they clearly arent walking by faith or abiding in Christ.There has to be an ongoing repentence in the christians walk that leads that person to become more like Christ.It is true that salvation is a gift of grace received by faith however the word also says that we called to walk by faith otherwise it is impossible to please God and if we love him we follow his commands not willfully disobey.If we dont continue to abide in Christ and turn from sin then i think we can risk Christ saying to us that he never knew us.Like everything that God offers us we must meet his conditions that are only possible in Christ.. brentnz
You are confused in regards to Jesus’ earthly ministry which was primarily to the Jews versus His current heavenly ministry to the church. His instructions about abiding were given before the cross and were primarily aimed at the Jews who were turning from their religion to Him. After the cross when a person believes they are baptized into the body of Christ and indwelt and sealed with the Holy Spirit. If a believer persists in their sin they don’t lose their salvation or risk Christ saying to them that he never knew them, but they do risk chastisement from God and even that is designed to get them back on the right track.
Thanks Chris appreciate your thoughts on salvation.I will tell you a story that happened to me when i was a teenager i accepted the Lord.I believed that he was real and accepted Jesus was i saved because of this ?Ii soon went my own way a friend asked me to see her she was a christian and i had been refusing to follow the holy spirits promptings.This particular night the Lord spoke clearly to me and he gave me a choice to either follow him or he would forever leave me alone.At the time i felt really sick but knew that i had to go to see my friend it was a choice between life or death. it was scary at the time. I visited my friend and because of that experience recommitted my life back to him.It didnt finish there though i was worried about my family and hers for making that choice the enemy wasnt happy that same nite around the same time i recommitted my life her brother was in a serious car crash he was okay i believe thanks to the prayers we prayed but his best friend died he was a close friend of the family.I am not convinced that salvation is automatic there has to be a genuine repentence for sin in our lives rather than just accepting Jesus as savior and not Lord.I guess that is the work of the holy spirit to bring us to repentence but in my case it was a real fine line.I am thankful i made the right choice brentnz
Linguistically, “theology” is the “study of God” and only a real relationship with God can produce a profound theology.
Yep. That is exactly what I say above…
OK – I have a couple of questions. (Your comments on Hebrews 6:8 coincide with my reading of the psalms and the way in which I have received the teaching of the Most High – in joy even when corrected). So: from a theological point of view.
1. Is Jesus who is the Christ also in Christ?
2. Does the lamb of God also have Yhwh as shepherd?
Whew! Tough questions and I am not sure I can answer them. I don’t think Jesus is “in Christ” since He Himself is Christ.
Regarding the second, I guess I would say Yes. I believe Jesus prayed Psalm 23.
There is no inherent contradiction to Christ being a member of Christ. He is the head in Paul’s image of the body. (For contradictions in members of a set, see Russel’s paradox. The paradox is presented with negatives rather than positives.)
Nonetheless, both these questions raise the issue of the incarnation and the question of our obedience in faith and of faith to our calling in Christ (or in God to cite Psalm 3). Theologically what do you make of the comment in John 14:28 that the Father is greater than I?
I always took that to mean that the Father was kind of the “commanding officer” of the Trinity, though all are completely equal in power and divinity, one member is the “Head” of the Trinity, which is God the Father. So God the Father is not greater than Jesus in His being, but greater in position or authority. It is kind of like Paul’s husband-wife analogy of the husband being the head of the wife. The husband is not better, wiser, smarter, or more powerful than the woman, but is placed in a position of authority.
That is sort of what I was taught in Bible College and Seminary, anyway.
I think that answers often make us stop asking the right questions. What if the commanding officer image is false – an imposition of our way of thinking. What if instead that the son is less than the father in his humanity – Jesus as the vine – Israel as the vine – and us in him. Yes – we are less than God as Father. Yet we must – as Jesus did, as Israel did, find the means of obedience. Israel of the flesh through love taught by God (Psalm 119), us all through the offering of Jesus, through his ascension, through the yes of God to his obedience. See Marcus Borg’s latest post – a way of seeing salvation that has I think some consequence – political and personal transformation.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/marcusborg/2013/10/the-real-meanings-of-the-cross/
Will go check it out. Thanks!
Hello Jeremy,
Love your blog.
As one Christian to another, I’d love to know what you think about this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf0BNYVb6t8
I stumbled across it yesterday and although the band is
Christian and the video is about Heaven, I’m not sure what to make of
it.
Thoughts?
Addy
Not exactly my style of music but I got a big kick out of that video – Heaven is a ghost town – a Holy Ghost town? The City of God. I think heaven like hell is over-determined by the current Christian theories. There’s more to the canon than the three tiered universe. Good song though…
I thought it was an interesting video. He is right… if only saints get in, heaven is a ghost town. Thankfully, not only “saints” get in. Sinners “get in” all the time. And as for “down below” well…. that place might be a different kind of ghost town.
If one is to relate to God, then connecting to truth obviously becomes a major component. However, I have yet to meet a religious person who does not place their religious beliefs at the top of the ladder instead. In doing so, the truth is thrown out the window since truth is not placed as top priority.
One is only dependent upon a belief if one is located at a distance from the truth in the first place. If you are located at a distance from the truth, you are certainly not directly connected to the truth, thus you are located within the zone of less than truth. If you stick to your beliefs, then you stick to being located at a distance from the truth.
Thus the believers will only accept a certain measure of the truth, meaning the percentage of the truth that can still be seen when being located at a distance from it. Thus if truth is presented directly to a believer in the here and now, hence the absence of distance, the truth will be spat at, flogged, scourged, and crucified, as was demonstrated approximately 2,000 years ago.
In turn, one can obviously not speak truths directly to believers. One must therefore speak to them indirectly. One must speak to them via parables.
Thus if true proof of the existence of God is presented in the here and now to believers, they will flog it, scourge it, and crucify it in an instant by whatever means.
As an example, recall the “Bible Code” concept and its eventual rejection.
How many code languages are there that can exist? Is it just one? Were all countries limited to only one common top secret spy code language during World War II?
Obviously, the number of possible code languages is greater than one. In fact, the number is virtually infinite. Therefore the number of possible ways to encode information within the Bible, is virtually infinite.
Thus if one specific code language was actually applied to the Bible, then the remaining massive number of possible code languages would immediately be identified as false Bible Code languages.
Thus if a false Bible Code language was studied and later identified as rubbish, one would obviously not say that “Bible Codes” are rubbish, unless one was incredibly intellectually impaired. But this is what took place despite the fact that Infinity minus one, clearly does not equal zero.
See http://www.outersecrets.com/real/biblecode2a.htm , and click on “Watch/Listen” and sit back and listen to the True Bible Code basic introduction.
Do you keep the 10 commandments?
Do you?
Jesus said if love the Lord with all our heart and all our mind and strength and love our neighbour as ourselves we fulfill the Law.The truth is none of us can live it without the holy spirit and abiding in Christ only in him can we do that.We are no longer bound by the Law which brought condemnation and death but have been set free through Christ righteousness which we receive by faith .
Opinion:
“Theology”…the study of God through His word by men who rarely end up truly understanding it without help from other men. “Theologians” may study different aspects of God’s word, delve into “systematized theologies” and come to conclusions with the natural mind…but at the and of it all, in most cases, they really don’t come to a genuine knowledge of the living God. Those that do, were believers before they started the journey and end up realizing that they didn’t need all the coursework they went through. Which brings us to…
” Knowledge”…Knowing God by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit through His word. Nothing needed other than to actually be saved and to dig into the Bible regularly. God does the rest. All other methods He is pleased to defy.
My heartfelt opinion, such as it is…arrived at somewhat the hard way. )
Hilarious…. and probably true. Thanks for bringing some wit to an otherwise serious post!
In the definition is the word “rational”. I find there are far too many irrational discussions about theology. I appreciate what you’re saying about theology being a deepened relationship with the Living God. I feel that means each person is discovering their own theology (relationship with God) and each experience is bound to be unique.
There are two kinds of theology – theology which is about a God who you do not know intimately, and theology which is a result of knowing Him intimately.
I am a Jew that was raised in a religious Jewish family. My family is extremely orthodox and would be shocked to learn that I listen to your podcast. A friend of mine recommended your podcast and I just started listening to your commentary on Genesis. I really enjoy your podcast and your insights of the scripture. I have a question that I can’t seem to get a good answer for from my Rabbi or anyone else and I was wondering what your view on the question is.
I have always been taught that G-d know the past present and future. However when I read the Torah, it seems that G-d is surprised by the actions people take. If G-d is all knowing and knows the future why does G-d seem surprised when Eve sins, when Cain kills Able, why destroy humanity in the flood with Noah and start over again if he already knew this would happen? Why allow Hagar and Ishmael to live when he should have known what a scourge on humanity their movement would inspire? When Moses comes down from Mt Sinai and sees the golden calf and G-d wants to destroy the Israelites as if he didn’t know that would happen, and then Moses talks him out of it. It seems to me that G-d is surprised or doesn’t know the future. Did he create everything and then intervenes when he wants but does not know what will happen?
Thank you for your time and our show. It is really interesting and thought provoking.
Sabi God is not surprised by our actions disappointed maybe just like in a family when the fathers children do the wrong thing.The amazing thing with God is that is sovereign and all the mistakes we make he uses them to build up our faith or if we refuse to listen he will discipline us for our good.
Do you have any studies on I Cor. 11:1-16– men and women’s hair?
If I can be permitted to be direct theology is sophistry. It is the perversion of the theology of Truth delivered by Jesus Christ. I cite as proof of this the fact that a faith united in Truth would have only one denomination. I cite also the fact that practice in contradiction of the words of Christ is a contradiction of the definition to the word faith, and so this makes the practice hypocrisy. I cite a clear recognition of the fact that false claims to faith in practice was acknowledged as hypocrisy by Christ himself consistently in the gospels and denounced as such, and so to claim Christ as a supporter of it is itself claiming that Christ himself is an approving hypocrite of it. Acknowledged, it is all the result of ignorance and a faith that is socially conditioned to hold an unwavering faith in the corruption of his actual teaching from a position of ignorance in the Truth of what he was actually teaching and why he was teaching it. So how are we to know what he was teaching? By having a literal unwavering faith in his words, of course. Why is this logical what he is teaching? That is the question that needs to be asked. As it currently stand Church practice and theology is a contradiction of the entire core of Christ’s teaching, and so we know this cannot be correct, as it is the opposite of Truth standing as contradiction in hypocrisy. Therefore all that can be discarded, as Christ taught humility and against ecclesiastical exaltation. However, the exalted faith refuses to admit it. Thus why Christ preached against it. A faith that cannot correct its errors can only result in the corruption of Truth and faith, and so Christianity became precisely what Christ taught against in the gospels at the origin of the Catholic Church as his message was discarded to in the interests of wealth and power to defend it. That philosophical position is itself a hypocrisy. So it is the case that only after Christianity is recognized as a hypocrisy can you then begin to knock, seek and find what the Truth actually is. I will make it easy for you because I am obligated, however. The consequences of exaltation are that men find themselves in the service of money and power, and as this is their priority the discard the moral priority as a consequence. To the morally committed this is also a hypocrisy, as the moral priority is above all. (God) You cannot serve both God and money. One must face a loss when the other is prioritized above it. The loss of life that results by the prioritization of the monetary is such an extreme that only the extreme moral response in opposition to it is capable of resolving it. Only Truth can convert men away from it. This makes Truth appear extreme, but it is in fact the barbarity that results from the prioritization of the monetary that is extreme. (This should be agreed upon) Yet Truth is perceived extreme instead as the corrupt world is what all have accepted as a given only because that is the world they have been socialized into and socially conditioned to. What Christ was preaching was a cultural nonviolent revolution through conversion to Truth to combat it and change it. (This is much different that the violent revolution that only seeks to alter the exalted political structure, as politics is, and can only be, the profession of mendacity in opposition to Truth). If it was not we would see ourselves living as parasites that would consume the entire earth. And so we see this is what we have precisely done by reading the news; now facing the 6th mass extinction event in the planets history and accelerating climate change which we severely underestimated. We overestimated our technological capacity and our exalted “leadership,” and the consequence is that we underestimated the threats of all this. This is the natural consequence of exaltation. It is the placing of faith in an exalted power that resists change and correcting the errors of its ways. It is always the coupling of two natural outcomes it produces in human nature; that of vanity and ignorance. these two things can only advance destruction and ignorance. It is fatal. You might excuse my my typographical or other errors as I typed this all through without reviewing it after. It has become a repetitive process for me and this should suffice, as it is never acknowledged or listened to by anyone there is no need for me to concern myself with it beyond this.
The funny thing about your comment is that it is all theology. Your views present a theological opinion about the church, Scripture, and how both interact with each other. That IS theology.
I would say that the definition of the word faith is “complete trust or confidence in someone or something,” and its use in regards to Jesus Christ is not compatible with church practice that is clearly antithetical to what Christ taught in the gospels. Church practice is the opposite of what Christ taught in the gospels. The definition of the word faith doesn’t change just because a church wants to do things differently. I wouldn’t call that theology, I would call that recognizing a clear fact and being truthful that it is a fact. Now if you want to come up with some reason why it is not, that would be theology. You cannot have faith in something while teaching the opposite of it, as that is not what the term faith means. This is a fact, not theology. Nowhere did Christ say discard the entire core of my teaching. To claim he would approve is to claim Christ is a hypocrite, that he delivered one message and supports an antithetical practice to what he preached. Christ approves people do not practice what he preached, while he denounces others for not practicing what they preach. I think I might be the only person who knows what and why he was teaching those things and who actually has faith in all of it, if I am to be entirely honest. I have yet to meet anyone who is not aware of the implications of taking everything he says literally and what it all collectively means. It is fascinating, because it could actually save the earth if billions of Christians actually practiced it; considering the sate of climate change and our western lives of excess. Look at how upset we get over the smashing of antiquities. This is the message of Jesus Christ and nobody seems to care it has been destroyed, that our inability to live humbly has led to the excesses that have now destroyed the earth. It is all very sad to me, and especially that nobody cares to acknowledge simple facts such as the ones I’ve mentioned.
What about what Christ taught in the epistles? After all they, particularly the Pauline epistles, are Jesus’ doctrinal teachings to the church.
You can find one or two passages to invalidate this mountain of words spoken by Christ. Nothing God spoke is unworthy of being discarded or over ridden by man. “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Mat 28:18). “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). “Truly, truly, I tell you, one who does not enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep” (John 10:1-2). “Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). “Beware of false [teachers] who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?” (Mat 7:15-16). “…everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand. And the rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell, and great was its fall” (Mat 7:26-27). “…neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him” (Mat 11:27). “[…] No one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son desires to reveal him” (Luke 10:22). “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:23). “For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). “Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master” […] (John 15:20). “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord” (Mat 10:24). “Whoever receives me receives him who sent me” […] (Luke 9:48). “[…] Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16). “[…] You are from beneath. I am from above…” (John 8:23). “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). “But you are not to be called Rabbi, for one is your Teacher, and all of you are brothers. Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Messiah. But he who is greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mat 23:8-12). “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: “God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.” But the tax collector, standing far away, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:10-14). “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, “make room for this person.” Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place so that when he who invited you comes he may tell you, “Friend, move up higher.” Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:8-11). “Truly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mat 18:3-4). “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It will not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you must be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you must be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mat 20:25-28). “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, “Go,” and he goes; and tell another, “Come,” and he comes; and tell my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.” And when Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, “Truly I tell you, I have not found so great a faith with anyone in Israel” (Mat 8:8-10). Jesus and his disciples “…came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them “What were you arguing on the way?” But they were silent, for they had disputed one with another on the way about who was the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any man wants to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:33-35). “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. To them he said, “You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.” So they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing. He said to them, “Why do you stand here all day idle?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.” When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, saying, “These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he answered one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?” So the last will be first, and the first last” (Mat 20:1-16). “For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). “[…] For whoever is least among you all, this one is great” (Luke 9:48). “[…] Look, those who are gorgeously dressed, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet” (Luke 7:25-26).
John Micah Bakies says
November 7, 2016 at 2:18 pm
You can find one or two passages to invalidate this mountain of words spoken by Christ. Nothing God spoke is unworthy of being discarded or over ridden by man………
Craig – I’m not sure what your point is?