I Heart Theology?

In our blog last Thursday we talked about some ways to choose good Christian books. Okay, let’s pick a book.

What To Read?: There are several general types (genre’s) of Christian books. Let’s assume we’re not interested right now in fiction or biographies. Among non-fiction books let’s consider several options. Devotional books are written to help people in a very personal way with their relationship with God. They tend to be written in a very inspirational way – sometimes they are selections from a well published author or preacher. They are often bite-sized reflections which are not really connected to each other – ideal for daily reading. Practical Theology is a very broad category that seeks to take Biblical truth and apply it to issues of life. Marriage and parenting books, books on worry, on financial management, etc. are all practical theology. The challenge with practical theology is that some books can deal with the practical very well, but lack in the theology department. Or they may be theologically sound but miss the mark in where we really live. We should have a regular diet of good practical theology to help us walk in a manner worthy of our calling as believers.

A third type of book, and the one that intimidates us, is sometimes called Theology Proper. Theology is ‘the study of God’. Theology books wrestle with ideas, particularly about God and our relationship to Him. Many theology books are ‘systematic theology’, a theologian grappling with what the Bible says about something in particular, or a range of things. Theology wrestles with doctrine – what should be believed. For example, the difference between a practical theology of suffering and a doctrinal theology of suffering might be something like this: The practical theology would seek to help you or me wrestle with our own suffering and seek to give us help in responding to it in God-honoring ways. A doctrinal work on suffering would wrestle with the BIG questions – why is there suffering, what does the Bible say about suffering, what is God’s purpose for suffering. It may have little practical advice for folks who suffer. Besides systematic theologies, there are biblical theologies (tracing the development of an idea through the Bible); historical theologies (dealing with how a theological idea has been treated through history), and commentaries (verse by verse studies on specific books of the Bible). Each type of theology has its own merit and use.

Just remember our point from last week – not every Christian book (and this includes theologies) is a good book. Theology is evaluated based on its ‘soundness’ – how well it conforms to the teaching of the Bible as understood in proper context.

Next Thursday we’ll jump into how to actually read a book of theology. Yipee.