To Know God: The Evangelical Theological Method

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TO KNOW GOD: THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL METHOD

 

Approximately twenty years ago, pastors, speakers, and writers introduced me to the Calvinism versus Arminianism debate. I had no familiarity with the terms, so I conducted a minimal amount of research and determined the topic unanswerable. Why bother? Why pursue a topic that is so divisive and has no concrete answer? I chose a nice, cozy position on the fence. After my small group leader learned of my stance, he gently told me that I was practicing intellectual laziness and missing all that God had for me by avoiding the deep work of studying this subject. He specifically pointed out that understanding the sovereignty of God affected all of my systematic theology. That captured my attention.

Why do many avoid theology? Most of us need resolution. The hard sciences can offer controlled variables, input, and output. A theoretical physicist can partner with an experimental physicist to design a proven model to substantiate their hypothesis. Theology makes no such promises. The speculative theologian does not have an experimental theologian to prove their thesis. That is how I felt when my friend challenged me. I then proceeded on a two-year journey of discovery where I considered predestination vs. free will in my daily reading of Scripture, sermons I listened to, books I read, and conversations I had with others. I made a deliberate effort to remain objective, and although I wanted to master that subject, I found myself, as Karl Barth suggested, being mastered by it and changed for the better.[1] I stumbled my way through that process, but the evangelical theological method can be accomplished in a more orderly fashion by engaging the nature, method, and sources of theology to achieve proper application.

 

The Nature of Theology

In their book, Who Needs Theology: An Introduction to the Study of God, authors Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson define theology, specifically Christian theology, as “reflecting on and articulating the beliefs about God and the world that Christians share as followers of Jesus Christ.”[2]  That seems a more than adequate definition. The subtitle of their book reveals a simpler version in the context of evangelicalism—the study of God. If I may be so bold, I would nuance the shortened definition of theology as to know God. I realize that is not a word-for-word comparison to theology, but the nature of evangelical theology is personal. It is a spiritual subject.

In the third chapter of John, Jesus tells Nicodemus that “born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6)[3] and then tells the Samaritan woman at the well in the next chapter that “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). For the Christian believer, this -ology is unlike any other. Our study, indeed, our knowing, demands a belief system based on faith in Christ alone that causes us to see the world in a different way.

In J.F. Baldwin’s primer on worldview, The Deadliest Monster: An Introduction to Worldviews, he uses the analogy of Frankenstein and Mr. Hyde. The Frankenstein monster is a product of his creation and subject to his environment. He does not think he is responsible for his actions. Dr. Jekyll knows he should do good but has a tempting, monstrous side. Baldwin warns us: “Believe in the monster of Frankenstein, and you will become a monster in your own eyes. Believe in the monster of Hyde, and you may, by the grace of God, see your monster slain and replaced by a saint.”[4] The evangelical can only see the nature of theology in one way.

In a broader context, non-evangelicals would hold the simple definition of theology as the study of God or the study of god (lowercase g). The deist would consider the study of the clockmaker. The secularist might consider it a mere philosophical approach. Those might be theology, but they are not evangelical theology. For the evangelical, the nature of theology is more than the study of God; it is knowing God in a personal, spiritual way based on our faith in Christ alone for salvation.

 

The Method of Theology

I once worked as a quality control supervisor for a manufacturer. We used numerous instruments that required continual calibration. On occasion, we hired a firm to certify our equipment, and they used their devices for this task. I always wondered who certified their equipment. Regardless, the method worked to produce a quality product even though I did not have the origin data point. It stands to reason that we can approach theology with trusted methods to produce quality theology.

Dallas Theological Seminary Professor John Hanna suggests that our core methods rely on asking questions and seeking answers using the Bible as our main source. He cautions that we must be careful that if we develop something new, we had better be able to answer for it. In addition, we should also consider whether it complements the Scriptures and whether most all others in the Church agree?[5] With those guardrails, we can safely venture into the study of theology.

Asking questions presupposes we have some level of objectivity. Certainly, our faith in Christ holds an inherent bias, but we accept that and our reliance on the Holy Spirit to guide us in this quest. Rene Descartes would push back, as pointed out by Trevor Hart in Faith Thinking: The Dynamics of Christian Theology. Descartes’ epistemological approach warranted a faith-free zone to avoid any “deception by untrustworthy guides.”[6] However, we make no claims that we are not biased by our faith. In fact, our epistemological approach demands it. That does not make us lazy or that we are skipping steps. We pursue a rigorous discipline in our effort to know God with the goal of understanding our faith, developing Biblical wisdom, and sharing our faith. We do this confidently, knowing that “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (Jas 1:5).

Practically, we accomplish our theological pursuits through our own study, sitting under the Word preached, listening to learned theologians, and engaging in common discourse with those above and below our own level of understanding. All of these can produce the fruit required to tackle the subject. The method is summarized by the thesis in A Practical Primer on Theological Method: Table Manners for Discussing God, His Works, and His Ways by Glenn R. Kreider and Michael J. Svigel, where they continually remind the reader that “Theological method is the manner, mode, and means of participating in discourse concerning God, his works, and his ways.”[7] That key takeaway is that we consider our theology a discourse, lest we ever lose sight that we are asking questions and seeking answers.

 

The Sources of Theology

Many a theological discussion begins with “The Bible says . . .” Evangelicals hold that the Holy Bible is the revealed Word of God and contains our ultimate source of truth. Indeed, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (1 Tim 3:16-17). It might be too simplistic to state that the Bible acts as a governor interjecting a correctional effect to a machine. The Bible does correct us if we stray off course. However, it does so much more. It is fully inspired by the Holy God. His full authority is embedded in the words. It is given without error and sufficient to equip us. In stating that it is revealed to us, we are confident that it is a form of revelation.

With that conviction, we do rely on other forms of revelation. The common nomenclature for revelation has been two categories: natural and special revelation. Natural (or sometimes called general) revelation means those general truths we can see or experience, such as those described in the book of Romans, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). Special revelation includes the miraculous, such as the Bible, dreams or visions, angelic appearances, and the incarnate Christ. It is critical we understand revelation as a source for theology.

Kreider and Svigal argue for a different way to understand revelation. They also use two categories but place revelation in tiers. The first tier, essentially, are those things mentioned above as God’s revelation in three parts: “the Word to the World (available to us today in Scripture), the Word in the World (Christ and his body on earth, the church), and the World of the Word (everything that God has created).” That is the first-tier source of truth. The second tier includes “what people say and do in light of the revelation of God.”[8] One can quickly see the value in this approach by comparing it with other forms of research. We always strive to use primary sources whenever possible because they are supposedly free of biases by other reviewers. However, we can still find great value in secondary sources who have used their expertise to provide a rationale we would otherwise not have. We can have the utmost confidence in our first-tier sources but also glean quality theology from second-tier sources as long as they rely upon the first tier.

As previously mentioned, things like Bible-saturated sermons, listening to lectures, reading books and articles, or engaging others in small groups offer a wealth of theology. Another second-tier source falls under the area of the history of doctrinal development dating back to the beginning of the church. Starting with the early church fathers and progressing through the ages, theologians before us have wrestled with the meaning of Scripture. They encountered not only counterarguments but outright heresy. Their diligence to the Word and discipline to deep study battled those heretical views and developed a consistent doctrine we hold to today such as the Trinity, the authority of Scripture, the work of Christ, etc. Theology witnessed serious challenges during the Renaissance, but faithful believers held fast to the truth, and we reap the benefits of that today.

We not only have the sources of theology available to us today, but we have much greater tools than those earlier theologians could have ever imagined. It is imperative that we are good stewards of those tools.

 

The Application of Theology

What do we do with theology? I have argued that it is a personal endeavor, but it is also a public endeavor. Our pursuit of theology can accomplish great things for our own relationship with God as we seek to know Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. As indicated above, our public outpouring can be used to find heretical notions that sometimes rear their head. However, what is our responsibility to the culture around us?

In his book, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, Andy Crouch suggests we are “world changers because we are culture makers.” He affirms that “making something of the world is of the very essence of what we are meant to be and do.”[9] It is clear that we have a tremendous opportunity to share our newfound knowledge with those around us. If we find great value in first-tier sources of theology and share it willingly, why would we keep hidden our second-tier interaction with theology? We can, as Crouch suggests, become “world changers” through theology. A proper standing in theology fuels evangelism, compassion, discipleship, and defense of the Gospel. We can, with confidence, realize the nature of theology, practice proper methods, and embrace truthful sources to achieve that proper standing. I am so thankful my small group leader encouraged me to pursue theology and mine it for all its worth.

 

ENDNOTES

[1] 1. Kelly M. Kapic, A Little Book for New Theologians: Why and How to Study Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012), 61.

[2] Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson, Who Needs Theology?: An Invitation to the Study of God (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009), 38.

[3] Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations come from the ESV.

[4] J. F. Baldwin, The Deadliest Monster: An Introduction to Worldviews (New Braunfels, TX: Fishermen Press, 1998), 59.

[5] Hannah, John D. “History of Doctrine.” Unpublished class notes for HT 5200. Dallas Theological Seminary. Fall Semester, 2024., other, n.d.

[6] Trevor Hart, Faith Thinking: The Dynamics of Christian Theology (London: SPCK, 1995), 29.

[7] Glenn R. Kreider and Michael J. Svigel, A Practical Primer on Theological Method: Table Manners for Discussing God, His Works, and His Ways (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019), 26.

[8]Ibid, 39.

[9] Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, an imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2023), 188.