CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

2 PETER 1:19–2:3

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves

(2 Peter 2:1).

Theology is concerned with the study of God. Satan has always devoted a tremendous amount of attention to perverting theology, because a distorted understanding of God warps human life and prevents the manifestation of the kingdom of God. With few exceptions, theological seminaries in the United States and around the world, are staffed largely by men who deny the God of the Bible. It is commonly taught that “faith” is an irrational leap in the dark, an encounter with a “god” about which nothing rational can be said. Theology, such teachers say, is concerned with the stories people made up to give expression to such irrational “encounters.”

Christian theology teaches something completely different. Christianity teaches that God created man, and therefore human beings were designed to understand God. We will never understand God exhaustively, but what we do understand about Him is real, not myth. Moreover, since God designed us to understand Him, it is no surprise that God speaks in words we can understand; indeed, it is no surprise that God would be a Writer.

Theology, then, is the study of the revelation of God. God reveals Himself in His Word, in nature, and through His images (human beings). Nothing in the world can be properly understood unless it is understood in terms of God’s design and plan. The Bible is given to help us see the world properly. Christians should be excited about our God-given project of learning about the world, for the world tells us more about God.

The God who created all things is a holy and moral God. Immorality consists of being estranged and alienated from God. Because of this alienation men dream up false theologies such as liberalism and modernism. But the Christian view says that we are persons—we have individual personalities—because we are made by a personal, self-conscious God. Thus, the only kind of relationship we can have with such a God is personal.

As Christians, we see that God talks to us personally in language through the Bible, and that we converse with Him just as we do with any other person. Thus, we have a personal relationship with God as He speaks in the Bible and we respond in prayer.

CORAM DEO

Matthew 5–7

The modern false prophets of liberalism and modernism deny that our relationship with God is personal and they deny that it is linguistic. Nothing could be more destructive to our relationship with God. When you read the Bible, engage your mind theologically, and when you pray, do the same.

For further study: Psalm 19 • Rom. 1:18–25

thursday

october