Becoming a theologian

Today, we begin our next "unit" of Bible study. Today's Bible Study is titled "Becoming a theologian." Well, what is a theologian?

dictionary.com defines theologian as a person versed in theology, esp. Christian theology; divine. Well, then, what is theology? dictionary.com defines theology as the field of study and analysis that treats of God and of God's attributes and relations to the universe; study of divine things or religious truth; divinity.

If you look at the individual parts of the word theology, it literally means, the study of (or knowledge of) God. For our purposes, I want to define theology as knowing God and knowing about God. Let's quickly look at a couple of Bible verses that talk about knowing God and knowing about God.

¹When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

The apostle Paul was a theologian. He did not think of it as being something fancy and involving big, fancy words (although some theologians use big fancy words). To him, it was as simple as knowing Christ and that Christ was crucified for our sins. He didn't want the believers in Corinth (to whom 1 Corinthians was written) to trust in fancy words, but to trust in God's power. Paul wanted to teach the Corinthians about God because he wanted them to know God. What would happen in they knew God? Let's read what Jesus said about knowing and keeping His teachings.

³¹To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

John 8:31-32

Jesus wanted people to know and follow His teaching because the truth (about Him and through Him) would set them free.

• Do you want to be a theologian?
• Do you want to know about God?
• Do you want to know God?

Tomorrow, we will look at our starting point for knowing about God.