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Theology is Dead

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Theopoetic TheologyTim Nichols wrote a fantastic article today about Theopoetics.

What are Theopoetics?  Well, it is where I hope “theology” goes.

We must get away from studying God and the Bible as if they were science projects. They are not. But that is what theology does. Instead, Theopoetics invite us to relate to Scripture and God in ways that involve all the senses, using the full range of our creative abilities, rather than just spoken or written words.

Here is some of what Tim Nichols wrote:

Theopoetics is the appreciation of — no, the embodied luxuriating in — God’s words and works as art.  The same God wrote the Bible as spoke the world, so theopoetics extends from the exegesis of Paul’s use  of kosmos to the dancing of taste buds at breakfast this morning.
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The Creeds of Christendom

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Long Doctrinal Statements

From the simplicity of the Apostles’ Creed spawned an ever-increasing number of doctrinal statements, with ever-increasing length and complexity. Some of the more well-known and famous doctrinal statements of church history include the following: Doctrinal Statements

  • The Nicene Creed (325 AD)
  • The Second Nicene Creed (381 AD)
  • The Definition of Chalcedon (451 AD)
  • The Canons of Constantinople (869 AD)
  • The Augsburg Confession (1530 AD)
  • The First Helvitic Confession (1536 AD)
  • The Council of Trent (1542-1563 AD)
  • The Belgic Confession (1561 AD)
  • The Thirty-Nine Article (1571 AD)
  • The Canons of Dordt (1618 AD)
  • The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646 AD)
  • Vatican II (1962-1965 AD)
  • The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978 AD)

These statements and creeds are only some of the more well-known and widely accepted by large segments of Christianity. We are at the point today where there are thousands of different doctrinal statements for the thousands of different denominations, churches, and ministries. While the vast majority of these doctrinal statements were created primarily for the purpose of defining one group’s distinctive beliefs without condemning those who believe differently, nearly every statement contains points that are considered “non-negotiable” and which will cause churches to separate from others who believe differently, and even condemn these other groups as “unsaved.”

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History of Doctrinal Statements

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Scriptural Doctrinal Statements

It is historically uncertain when, where, and how the first doctrinal statements were developed. But we do have some clues.

Scriptural Doctrinal Statements

It is likely that some of the first creeds are found in Scripture, in passages like Philippians 2:5-11, 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, and 1 Timothy 3:16. However, some believe that these were not exactly creeds, but were hymns. Furthermore, and I will return to this point later, these Scriptural statements are not exactly creedal confession of doctrine, but are summaries of stories about Jesus. They are narrative summaries; not doctrinal summaries.

Also, some like to point to the statement that came out of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15:23-29 as an early statement of belief. And while this statement from the church leaders is not a summary of the life of Jesus, it is not a doctrinal statement either. It is not a statement of beliefs, but a statement of behaviors. It is not telling Gentile Christians what they must believe, but rather, telling them what they must do.

Both of these points, that early statements were based primarily on the narrative of Scripture and the behavior of believers, will become critical later in this chapter for understanding how we as twenty-first century followers of Jesus can stand up for the truth without the damaging and destructive statements of doctrine that have divided Christianity for so long.

Church Doctrinal Statements

Once we get outside of Scripture, we see other doctrinal statements develop rather quickly as well. There are two statements that developed quite early, the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed. Some believe that the Nicene Creed was first, but I tend to believe that it was preceded by the Apostles’ Creed, even though the Apostles were probably not the ones who wrote it.

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War of the Words

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In a previous series on preaching, we have seen one way that Christianity has become a religion of words.

Christianity should, however, be a life of loving action and service of others. As followers of Jesus, we are to live like Jesus and love others like Jesus, but far too often, Christianity degenerates into arguing about words related to Jesus, rather than living like Jesus.

Saddest of all is when as a result of our war of words, Christians not only fail to love others, but actually go and kill others instead. Even as early as the 4th century AD, continuing all the way through the Middle Ages and the Reformation up until even modern days, it is not uncommon to hear about one group of Christians seeking to slander, destroy, imprison, and even kill other Christians with whom they disagree theologically.

Killing Tyndale for his faith

Murder in Church

Though for the first 350 years of church history, Christians were persecuted by others, after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire and gained all the power inherent within that position, the persecuted quickly became the persecutors, hunting down and killing not only those who refused to convert to Christianity, but also those Christians who held to different theological beliefs than those of the church leaders in power.

For example, one of the major theological debates in the Fourth and Fifth century AD concerned the nature of Jesus Christ. Was He fully God? Was He fully man? If He was God and man, did He have one nature, or two? Was He one person, or two? And in regard to both, how did His divinity and humanity interact? Though the theological scuffle waged for many years, the church eventually decided in 451 AD that Jesus had two natures in one person.

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What is Theology?

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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:

What is 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  |


What is Theology

Introduction to Theology


Bibliology

Bibliology

Theology Proper

Anthropology

Hamartiology

Christology

Soteriology

Pneumatology

Ecclesiology

Eschatology

Angelology

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.

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.

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