What is theology? It is often defined as the study of God. Simply, the object of theology is God. Thomas Aquinas once said, “Theology is taught by God, teaches God, and leads unto God.” His words are important. If we think of theology as merely study, it can encourage us to treat our daily “God-thoughts” as a mind exercise. For many of us, theology is simply about getting our doctrine right, and has little to do with worship or communion with God. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Theology is more than a group of dead theologians debating Greek, Hebrew, and Latin phrases. It is what we think about God.
Why should I care? First, if theology “is taught by God, teaches God, and leads unto God”, then we should care about theology because it is all about God. I once heard someone say that true theology leads to worship. When you care about theology, you care about the true things of God. And the true things of God… they are glorious, aren’t they?
So let’s dig our noses into the pages of God’s Word, trusting that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Let’s study God by the means of His inspired Word given to us. And let’s worship the God we are growing to love more and more as He reveals Himself to us. That is true theology. It matters.