What Good is Theology?
Photo by jesse orrico on Unsplash
Honestly, theology is pretty useless.
There, I said it.
I have wanted to say it since seminary.
Now I’ve said it.
Theology is pretty useless.
Well, let me clarify. Theology that isn’t applied is useless. Doctrine that is aloof and disconnected from the everyday life of the believer is pointless. It is nothing more than a noisy gong.
Paul writes,
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1–3)
I think we can rightly understand “love” here as living out the gospel in...