Studying Scripture and Doing Theology

It’s been said that everyone is a theologian. But can every Christian be a good theologian? The biblical answer is a resounding yes.

Building a sound theology from Scripture is not only possible—it is every Christian’s calling and privilege, because the God whom we would know has first spoken of Himself to us. In addition to revealing Himself through creation (Ps. 19:1–6; Rom. 1:20), God spoke “at many times and in many ways . . . by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb. 1:1–2). This self-disclosure by God is recorded for us in Holy Scripture. With Bible in hand, then, we know that God’s words through Isaiah apply today: “Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret” (Isa. 48:16). As the creator of language and the very first speaker (Gen. 1:3), God is quintessentially able to make Himself known to those He has made in His image (vv. 26–27). Nothing can thwart His communicative purposes.

Rightly considered, the very word theology (joining the Greek logos, or “word,” with theos, or “God”) reminds us that if we “do theology” at all, it is because theology—literally, a word or knowledge concerning God—has been delivered by God to us first. Even when considering how to build a theology from Scripture, then, we must believe what God says in the Bible, because all true theology is done before the face of God (coram Deo), in whom we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Read More