Theology

What subjects should we study?

 

For centuries, pastoral training has focused around four major areas:

  1. theology,
  2. biblical studies,
  3. church history, and
  4. pastoral practice.

Some training programs give more emphasis to one, and some to another, but you’ll find these four at most schools. We’ll explore what each of these four include, and how they can be helpful to leaders in the church.

Historically, theology has been the central focus of pastoral training; theology was called “the queen of sciences.” The word “theology” means “study of God,” but in practice, it also includes the study of what God does, of what the church is, and of how people ought to respond to God.

Everyone has a theology – everyone has beliefs about what “God” is like, just as we all have beliefs about tables and chairs. If we have a word for it, it means that we have some concept of what it is. But many people have not given any serious thought about what they believe about God. Their beliefs are not necessarily wrong – although no one has a completely correct understanding. So, when we study theology, we explore in more detail various aspects of God: relationships within the Godhead, God’s unchanging attributes, relationships with creation, etc.

This can never be done from a “neutral” perspective, as if someone could approach the topic without already having beliefs about it, able to arrive at an objective and provable set of conclusions. We cannot put God under a microscope in order to make an objective study. Nor is is possible for a teacher to present a completely neutral discussion of the topic. Every theological school and teacher, whether they admit it or not, has a perspective.

Grace Communion Seminary teaches from a perspective informed by Incarnational Trinitarian theology. Those terms are shorthand for a lot of additional detail, but for a starter, they identify our central beliefs about Jesus Christ: that he is fully divine (which implies a Trinitarian rather than a solitary view of God) and fully human (though fully divine, he became flesh, or incarnated).

There are many Christians who accept the Trinity as a doctrine, and the Incarnation as a doctrine, and yet do not seem to follow the implications of those two doctrines into other areas of theology. But we try to explain in more detail how those beliefs lead us toward many more beliefs. Not everyone will agree with our line of thought, but it is still our desire to explain our beliefs as best we can, without condemning the motives or the intelligence of those who have other beliefs. But we do have our beliefs, and we find them compelling, exciting, and important.

This does not mean that everyone in GCI has identical opinions on every topic. It does not mean that every topic has a specific answer endorsed by a certain theologian. It does not mean that our perspective changes everything we teach. (Our theology has nothing to say about the date of the Nicene Council, the meaning of the Greek word apostolos, and many other facts. Those are determined by other areas of study.)

We have learned a lot about theology from people like Karl Barth and Thomas Torrance, but this does not mean that we agree with everything that they wrote, or for that matter, what any theologian wrote. Our standard is Scripture, but we believe that this theology is deeply rooted in Scripture and it helps us see the message of Scripture more clearly.

Even people who studied under Torrance do not agree with everything he wrote, and they have a few disagreements among themselves. There is no monolithic “Incarnational Trinitarian" view of everything, but it nevertheless provides us a useful starting point as we study and teach more about God.

Some of our textbooks are written by Incarnational Trinitarian theologians, and some are not. We want you to be be aware of what others teach, too.

As noted above, theology includes a lot more than just study of God’s nature and being. Just like medicine, auto mechanics, accounting, and just about any other profession, theology has its own special terminology. Sometimes it is overly complex, but sometimes it helps us talk about the topic more clearly. Either way, it is part of the subject matter, and just as in other professions, we have to learn some terminology.