When theology is mentioned in a circle of women I have often found the response to be less than enthusiastic. Mention books on homemaking, marriage or parenting, on the other hand, and everyone seems interested. Why is that? I have heard comments like, “I’m just not smart enough”, “I will leave the study of theology to the men”, or “I don’t need theology I just need to read my Bible.”
But the truth is no one is “smart enough” to know God on their own. It is only because God has revealed himself to sinners that we can know him at all. And leaving the study of theology to the men is like saying no to a beautiful dinner prepared by a master chef, only allowing some of the guests to eat. And reading the Bible is itself a theological effort. There is no reading your Bible without theology. Ultimately it is impossible for any Christian to ignore theology (the study of God) and grow strong in the faith. It’s not that I believe we need fewer books on marriage and homemaking, but that we need more theology in and around everything we do.
Here are 6 reasons women should study theology
1. To know God
Many women’s ministries and books focus on “practical Christian living” that is too often divorced from doctrine which gives us guidelines and rules rather than a Guide and redemption. We are made and saved to know God. This is the essence of eternal life (John 17:3). We are God’s children, adopted into his royal family. Wouldn't it make sense to get to know our father as best we can? Peter calls us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of God (2 Peter 3:18). Do you want to know God? Then you must be a theologian. This doesn’t mean you have to be measure up to R.C Sproul, but it means you must strive to know your God as best as you can. If you don’t you are robbing yourself of the knowledge of God and more than likely developing bad doctrine along the way?
If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones— bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas. - C. S. Lewis
2. To handle life’s hardships
Practical living flows from our theology, whether we realize it or not. This is especially true in regards to how we handle hard days. How we think about and respond to the way our children argue with each other or disobey us is directly influenced by what we believe about God. How we interact in our marriages, how we handle financial strain, illnesses and tragedies, directly flow from our theology. Is God in this darkness? Does he have a plan? Does he still love me? Is he angry? Is he still in control? What does he want from me in this? This is theology.
3. To give an answer for what we believe
We are told in 1 Peter 3:15 that we need to able to give an account for what we believe. Without theology we cannot answer the big questions about life, death, suffering, and purpose from a Biblical view point. Those are theological questions. Neither can we share the gospel apart from theology. Telling people about Jesus is theological discourse. Consider than you are called to bear witness to a resurrected savior, and made a part of a people who were created to proclaim God’s excellencies.
Comments