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Top Misconceptions about Theology

August 24th, 2009 by Janette

Packing my bags for a couple weeks spent in seminary classes, I thought, “why on earth am I doing this?” Many people I knew who had studied theology of any kind weren’t people I really wanted to be like. Many of them seemed to see God as merely an intellectual pursuit, the Bible as a textbook, and, at least from the outside looking in, were spiritually stagnant and dry. But coming away from that experience and even to this day, 2 years later, I still hold to the fact that those were some of the best weeks I’ve spent. Contrary to what I feared, the more I studied of the deep things of God, the more I found myself able to love and worship him for who he is. I found myself in awe of his nature, his ways, and my salvation. I found theology to be completely inspiring! Not only that, but so very practical.

A.W. Tozer, an old theologian, once said, “What comes into your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.” I tend to agree. What we think God is like, what we think about how he revealed himself to us in the Bible and through Jesus Christ, determines how we live our everyday life. It is extremely important.

We’re going to explore over the next few posts some of the most common misconceptions about theology in the Christian world. Perhaps a discussion like this might motivate you to read more, attend a couple classes, have some deeper discussions, ask the hard questions and generally just refuse to be satisfied with your current level of understanding and knowledge about Christianity.

Misconception #1: Theology is impractical?

I’ll grant you this – the way theology has traditionally been presented is totally boring and impractical – stuffy old men wearing bow ties debating the fine print ad nauseam with zero ability to relate to the culture. But try with me to wrestle your view of theology away from that traditional way. Right perspective is at the core of right action/attitude/thought. If my perspective is skewed, my behaviour will follow – it is simply an outward expression. For example, my inability to trust God with my future is driven by my unbelief that God is actually good and has my good at heart. My distrust moves me to frantically look for other ways or people to help secure my future and it lies at the heart of anxiety. If you ever tried to “just don’t worry about it”, you’ll know how hard it is! But what is at the root of that anxiety? It is a wrong view of God – a misunderstanding of his goodness to me. And developing a right view of God and applying it, is the essence of theology. One example of many I could point to, but an example of the practicality of theology to everyday, ordinary life.