Theology: More than an Academic Subject

This is the slightly edited text of a talk I gave at the launch of the Nottingham Theology Network Group. This is a new group as part of Nottingham University Christian Union (NUCU), supported by Theology Network, and run by students. I was excited to be speaking at it as the group has been something I have felt is sorely needed, and am privileged to be involved in supporting it.

Enjoy...

Theology: More than just an academic Subject?

I want to explore today the idea that Theology is more than just an academic subject. I completely agree with that title, and I still read and write a good deal of what I call ‘theology’, even as I prepare to re-enter study in October. If we are going to be intellectually honest, spiritually aware, and have the integrity to be open, then studying theology should change us. If we are Christians, it should inform, challenge, encourage, and stimulate our faith. If we hold another or no faith position, then it should lead us to consider the claims of the faiths we study, the rationale behind many of our peers, and allow us to understand the ‘why’ of many conflicts, positions, histories and ideas in our culture. Theology, then, is an academic subject that, as the great philosopher once said, “opens a whole can of worms”. To study theology is to think well, I hope. 

I want to first look at three famous figures in the field of theology, all historical, and examine how they involved their love of Jesus, in a personal, relational, evangelical way, with their position as theological giants. I then, drawing on examples from these three giants, would like to look at how Doctrine, that dry and rigid word, can inform our spiritual lives with power. Finally I want to look briefly at the idea of truth claims in relation to studying theology, particularly the truth claim at the core of orthodox Christianity, the Gospel itself.

1) The Greats all loved Jesus

Augustine - hopefully you are all aware of who he is, some of what he said, and the impact that he has had on the Church. But one of the greatest things about Augustine is his personal story. You hopefully have read it, as a part of your ‘Great Religious Texts’ or Early Church History modules. Its his famous ‘Confessions’. In that little book, we see the fervent devotion of one of the greatest minds of Christian history. Mike Reeves points out that;

 “it is not quite an autobiography... unlike autobiographies, it is written as a prayer. It is a confession to God, both of his own sin, and of God’s grace to him. It is his testimony”

He was no cold, calculating academic. Like many others, Augustine was a man who loved Jesus and all of his work was an example and outworking of that love. Indeed, Augustine opens his Confessions with the following beautiful quote;

“Great are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and of your wisdom there is no end. Man, being a part of your creation, longs to praise you. He carries his mortality with him, the sign of his sin, the proof that you thwart the proud. Yet man, as part of your creation, still longs to praise you. You arouse us to delight in praising you, for you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you” 

(Confessions 1.1.1)

This, I hope, this praiseworthy, powerful, wise creator God, is the God we worship and known. Its the God Augustine knew, and spent his life serving and talking about. Yet this great servant of the Church stated emphatically that “our hearts are restless until they find rest in you”.

Calvin - those of you that know me may know that I am, despite the usual acid, a big fan of John Calvin. In fact, I did my BA Dissertation on his view of the sovereignty of God. John Calvin has been integral to my spiritual life, both personally and theologically. His commentaries take up almost 4 feet of my shelves, and I have several well-read copies of his Institutes. And this is the thing about Calvin. His great ‘systematic theology’, the summary of all his theology, was in fact intended as a handbook of instruction for Christians. His genius flows from his work as a biblical theologian, simply seeking to bring the truths alive from the text.

John Calvin was immensely busy when he was alive. Preaching almost every day, training pastors, and trying to persuade Geneva to become like his vision of a godly city. He never quite succeeded, but his life serves as an inspiration to modern day Christians, even as he is a source text for theology students the world over. He was a man of knowledge, great learning, and an ability to understand and apply the Word of God that makes his commentaries relevant to student, pastor and professor alike even 500 years later. I love this quote from early on in the Institutes, 

“Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts, the knowledge of God and of ourselves"

Mike Reeves helpfully observes on this that;

“The knowledge of God and ourselves are intertwined.. a man cannot know God until he knows himself as a sinner against God, his Creator”

It is from that realization of revelation that biblical faith can come, and it is from that origin that Calvin was the prodigious and accomplished theologian who takes such a place among the giants of the faith. 

Bonnhoeffer - my final giant who loved Jesus is the famous German pastor, academic and person-who-plotted-against-Hitler - Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I’ve been reading recently a brilliant new biography of him, by an American writer called Eric Metaxas. If you want something to read, read it, its brilliant. Bonnhoeffer is best known for his part in a plot to kill Hitler, but he also was a pastor, ran an underground seminary (a training college for pastors separate from the Nazi-controlled state church), and authored some important books, as well as keeping a vibrant and comprehensive correspondance. Several volumes of his ‘Works’ are just books of letters.

Bonnhoeffer loved Jesus. And he was seriously clever. His death at the relatively young age of 39 - think of the average age of our/your lecturers and the fact that at over 70, Anthony Thiselton has released some major works - deprived the world of some great theology. He wrote his Phd Dissertation - which takes three years in modern understanding - in just 18 months! And it was no lightweight - Bonnhoeffer asked the question “What is the Church”, and concluded ultimately that it was, as Metaxas summarizes in his biography, 

“neither a historical entity nor an institution, but as “Christ existing as church-community””

Bonnhoeffer was a serious man of faith, a serious man of faith made action, and a serious theologian. But he understood what it was to follow Jesus. He viewed prayer as something powerful;

“offering intercessory prayer means nothing other than Christians bringing one another into the presence of God, seeing each other under the cross of Jesus as poor human beings and sinners in need of grace. Then, everything about other people that repels me falls away”

This is simple gospel stuff, demonstrating that to hold orthodox, powerful Christian beliefs is no bar to doing real and valid theology.

2) The power of Doctrine for Christian Living

Emulating some of the theological greats whose voices can’t be ignored millennia, centuries and decades after their passing, is a demonstration of the extra dimension of theology, what makes it more than an academic subject. 

Augustine grew up a pagan, in both the spiritual and classical senses. His grasp of Christian doctrine was non-existant. But coming into contact with Orthodox Christian teaching on Sin led him to consder the claims of Christianity, and the rest, as they say, is history. We live in a pagan culture, we need the power of things that have been true for millennia, and will be true for eternity, in order to effectively study and articulate theology. Without a genuine understanding of what we are doing and believing, then our theological study is going to choke our spiritual life, and damage the churches we are part of. Theology is dangerous, but it is also the way to life. Augustine grasped that. The power of good, true Doctrine propelled him into being the giant of Christian intellectual history that we know him as being.

Calvin had a similarly non-specifically-Christian upbringing. In fact, he originally trained as a Lawyer. A noble profession. He first came to know Jesus as he studied the controversy stirred up by the early reformers, such as Luther. Some of the most controversial doctrines of the day were being discussed and debated - and this ignited something in Calvin’s young mind. The result, by way of different thinkers, universities and cities, was the amazing kingdom ministry of word and sacrament that Calvin ultimately had in Geneva. Calvin was a man who loved the whole counsel of God, and had a genuine desire for good doctrine. This was no cold intellectual excercise, not doctrinaire for the sake of it. Calvin loved good doctrine because good doctrine could bring you out of the cold wastes of religion into the warmth of the Father heart of GOd. The power of good, true doctrine empowered him to write some amazing commentaries, and begin a revolution of thought and faith that still has effects today.

Bonhoeffer is perhaps the most interesting one. From a nominally Christian home, it was in contact with naturalistic lecturers who denied the reality of the Christian faith that the young Dietrich really came to know Jesus. In the ferment and occasional torment of being academically untenable as a simple evangelical, for want of a more nuanced description, Bonhoeffer wrote his amazing ‘Sanctorum Communion’, challenging the Church about the real presence of Christ among them. He survived the onslaught of German theology to end up being a spirit-filled servant of a suffering church. His theology inspired and informed his action in the underground ‘confessing church’ that defied the Nazis theologically and socially. The power of good, true doctrine enabled him to stand up to one of the greatest social secular evils this world has ever known.

From our three giants, we can see that Doctrine can directly impact our lives. As it should. Devotionally, evangelistically, apologetically Doctrine should impact us. When we worship, our Doctrine can deepen our understanding of God’s loving embrace of us. When we come into contact with uncomfortable ideas, sound doctrine can keep us steady, and give us a framework with which to engage with anything. 

3) The Joy and Privilege of Studying the Truth

I can honestly say its been a privilege to prepare this talk. To have easy access to Bonhoeffer’s work, scribbled during the Second World War and often in impenetrable German, the English translation is wonderful. To be able to read accurate translations, too, of Augustines precise latin and personal prose is a wonderful thing. The deposit of the past should not be underestimated. And it is a privilege to study theology. A privilege that points to something greater.

Theology used to be called ‘The Queen of the sciences’. It was one of, if not the, founding subject of many of the great universities. It was called the queen because it allows the educated person to understand everything, through the lens of of God’s word, regardless of their academic training. Studying theology does not make someone a genius, but it does give anyone the ability to engage critically, carefully and gracefully with ideas. There is something greater behind the beauty and versatility of theology.

Church history is as much the study of theology as it is a part of theology. To engage with Church history - even if that means talking about past festivals or recent publications - is to be doing theology. The conversations we all have with our friends of all sorts of persuasions are doing theology. Bringing the perspective of history to bear on contemporary squabbles - over women leaders, the innerrancy of the bible, the centrality of the atonement, etc - is a very helpful way to avoid the idiocy of chronological snobbery. None of us here has done as much work on anything as most of the big voices of the past. It all points to something greater.

Behind all good theology is a radical idea. That God exists, has spoken, and can be known. That the God the Heavenly Father exists and created the world, that he sent his son Jesus Christ who came to earth and spoke and lived as a man, and that the Holy Spirit roams around the earth to make this all known. The Gospel is still, after thousands of years of theological reflection, true. The Gospel is still, after thousands of years of theological over-complication, simple. The consensus of Church teaching is simple. Jesus, the son of God, was born of a virgin and taught amazing things, accompanied by miracles that by definition defy any other form of science. He died for our sins, the same sin that every person carries in their nature, and was raised again. He will come again, beause he is alive. In the meantime, there is the Church, holy and catholic and universal, empowered by the Holy Spirit as Christ’s represenatives and body on earth. The Gospel is simple, the Gospel is true, it is the power of God to save his created and loved children. God exists, has spoken, and can be known. And what he has said and done is worth studying. Worth arguing about. Worth spending time cogitating over.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that;

“the grace of the gospel, which is hard for the pious to comprehend, confronts us with the truth/ It says to us, you are a sinner, a great unholy sinner. Now come, as the sinner that you are, to our God who loves you. For God wants you as you are, not desiring anything from you - a sacrifice, a good deed - but rather desiring you alone. “my child, give me your heart” (Prov 23:26)”

Amen. That is God’s invitation to the theologian, to the student of truth; give him your heart.

Theology is more than an academic subject. Good doctrine changes everything, because God changes everything when we realise who he is and how good he is. I’m excited about exploring that with you guys next term and next year, and hopefully for longer than that. I’d love to field a few questions, otherwise eat cake, enjoy, and lets talk about Theology!

____________________

If you've enjoyed this and/or other posts, then do like my Facebook Page or connect with me on Twitter! I'd also recommend - if some of the ideas here have piqued your interest - reading my review of the mentioned Mike Reeves' superb 'The Unquenchable Flame'.