Aaron - The 40 Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today

Theology is often not a very popular topic among Christians. The term sometimes conjures up visions of overly educated individuals who have overly lofty thoughts about things that are totally irrelevant to pretty much everything. But this reflects a misunderstanding of what theology is as well as the vital importance of theology to our own spiritual health and that of our churches. Similarly, the idea of any kind of history of theology is sometimes not highly regarded and is often misunderstood by many Christians. The thinking is, The Bible was complete in the first century. What we believe is based on the Bible. Therefore, how can there be a history or development of that? Isnt that just going beyond the Bible?

There is something both right and wrong in this thinking. What is right and important to note is that the earliest generations of Christians, all the way back to the first century, had a basic belief system: There is only one true GodYahweh, the God of Israel. Sin has separated all people from God, who is holy. God fulfilled his Old Testament promises of a Messiah who happens to be the Son of God, God himself (fully and eternally), and who also became a human. This unique individual, Jesus Christ, died to pay the penalty for sin, was buried, and was resurrected in victory over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:19). This same Jesus returned to heaven but will one day come back to earth. This is also what most Christians believe today in continuity with first-century Christians.

So what the first-century Christians knew and believed was necessary those truths are the heart of the Christian faithbut it was not sufficient . How could it be when the object is the infinite being and mind of God himself? For example, the first-generation Christians believed that Jesus was fully God and fully human, but they had not yet considered how that could possibly be. They also believed that Jesus heavenly Father was also God, as was the Spirit, who was sent on a broader mission on the Day of Pentecost. This did not mean that they believed in three godsthey were still strictly and fervently monotheistsbut they had not yet thought through how there could be three but still one. They believed that Jesus died for sin, but they had not yet fully considered the significance of this. How exactly did he die for sin? For whose sin? Is forgiveness of sin all his death accomplished? And so on and so on. These are the questions and issues that later generations of Christians took up. Their suggested answers were sometimes wrong and rejected by the majority of Christians; this was called heresy . But little by little, Christians were coming to grips with the deeper truths of God and becoming spiritually healthier as a result.

So the idea of development of theology or doctrine is not wrong or dangerous; rather, it is to be expected. It does not involve expanding on Scripture, that is, going beyond it; the Word of God is sufficient, meaning God has given us everything that we need to know (2 Timothy 3:1617). Rather, it involves explaining Scripture, that is, going deeper into it. Scripture is sufficient, but our understanding of it is not sufficient. Even now in the twenty-first century we are only really scratching the surface of the infinitely deep and high things of God (Job 11:79; Isaiah 55:89).

So theology is a good thing and the history of theology is a good thing because they both help us to understand God better, and that is a very good thing. There are a few other benefits that come from studying the history of theology that could be mentioned: First, it helps us to be discerning by being able to recognize theological errors that have been made in the past. Second, it helps us to distinguish between what is just a passing fad in Christianity today from what is timeless and enduring biblical truth. Third, it should impress upon us the sovereignty and mercy of God who has preserved his truth despite false teaching and fleeting trends. Fourth, it promotes a healthy humility as we realize that great thinkers have made great errors in the past and that our understanding of the Bible today is in large part due to hundreds of years of thought on the part of others. As many have said, we modern Christians are standing on the shoulders of giants. Fifth and finally, in an age when the concept of truthespecially universal, timeless truthis being denied, the history of theology reminds us that, for centuries, Gods people have not only believed in universal truth, but also that the most vital truth has been recorded and preserved in the Bible. And it is just as relevant today as when it was written.