What is Theology

John 6:14 says “Do not let your heart be distressed. You believe in God; Believe also in me.” This passage of scripture is the premises of theology. Webster’s dictionary defines theology as “The science of God or religion, the science which treats the existence, character, and attributes of GOD his laws and what one believes in.” A.H. Strong who is a twentieth century theologian said that theology is “the science of GOD and the relation between GOD and the Universe. There are some who contest and believe that theology is not a very important subject. They further believe that the existence of a GOD cannot be proven. Therefore there is no need to study anything that is nonsensical. The term theology as we know it comes from the Greek word “theologia” which means ‘discussions about God‘. Even before Socrates, Greek philosophers were believed to have been attempting to explain the origins of the universe. Actually it was the philosopher Plato who first used the word ‘theology’. Aristotle further expounded on its meaning, citing that there are three explanations to everything: mathematical, the physical and the theological, with theological as considered to be the most honorable. One of the goals of theology is to learn about GOD. To learn how GOD relates to man, his love for mankind in addition to the temperament and nature of God. 1John 4:8 lets us know that “whoever does not love does not know GOD, because God is love.” In the Greek the word theology is taken from the two words “theos, which means GOD and the word logos which means word. Simple Put theology is the study of GODS word. According to Grenz 2000, theology is a process and not one of a collection of ideas in a book. Anyone can put write or formulate a bunch of ideas. Theological tasks or processes deal with reflection on whatever ideas are presented. Theology does just that. With theology there has to be some sort of reflection on faith and an actual belief system. When one studies and understand theology they are merely discovering and revealing the meaning of the True Word of GOD. Theology uncovers who God is and understanding his revelation about his self and his purposes for mankind, God replied “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). The name I AM indicated GODS personality. There was really no other need for questioning at that point because GOD knew that I AM was all the explanation that Pharaoh needed. Likewise the study of theology is to get to know God the “I Am” in an effort to glorify him through our total worship and obedience to him. When one thinks about loving something or someone we have to first get to know them. We have to understand their likes and dislikes. Know all about their personality and find out what makes them tick. Having knowledge of what makes them happy or sad and also knowing that they LOVE us unconditionally even when we do things that hurt them helps us to have a better relationship with them. These things are exactly what is involved in the study of theology. Notice the progression here: we must get to know Him before we can love Him, and we must love Him before we can desire to obey Him. As a byproduct, our lives are immeasurably enriched by the comfort and hope He imparts to those who know, love, and obey Him. (PAPAL, C., & STATEMENTS)
Not understanding what theology is or having an inaccurate understanding of GOD can be seen as detrimental to any Christian’s relationship with GOD. Knowing about God is critically important theology is the art and science of enjoying God through Christ in all of life (Shaw 2004). Shaw explains further that the personal nature of theology is an essential component in having a healthy relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ. If we try to live in the world without knowing about God and understanding him we run the risk of missing out on many of the true blessings that God has to offer. God wants his children to have the absolute truth