I admire visionary leaders who point out promising goals and outline steps to reach those goals. However, without a clear definition of what the goal is or lacking a compelling reason to pursue that goal, a visionary leader may fail to lead people to reach what is promised. I would argue that a "good theology" is what a visionary leader needs to give people a clear definition and a compelling reason to pursue the goal.
What is a good theology? Grenz
and Olson defined it as "reflecting on and articulating the God-centered
life and beliefs that Christians share as followers of Jesus Christ, and it is
done in order that God may be glorified in all Christians are and do.”[1]
With this definition, I would suggest that a good theology is like a GPS-enabled
life book which gives Christians a clear definition of what a God-centered life
is and a tool to help Christians live a God-centered life with specific answers
to "what's", "how's" and "why's".
Reflection on "Theology as a Necessity"
So why we need theology? A good
theology grounds a God-centered life, and a God-centered life brings glory to
God[2],
which gives the necessity of a good theology. Grenz called
this God-centered life "discipleship", which
is "allowing Christ to be Lord of the core convictions - the belief
structure, the worldview - that govern not only thoughts but also entire lives."[3] A good theology roots in God’s words (biblical theology), so
we can "discover and destroy the wrong faith or myth regarding to
incorrect convictions."[4]
A good theology
helps us reflect on and articulate what it means by living out a life of
discipleship. I found similar claims in 1 Peter 3:15, "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts,
always being ready to make a
defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in
you, yet with gentleness and reverence." Peter not only pointed out
the importance of a Godly living, he also challenged us to be ready "to make a defense" when an
opportunity presents itself. A good theology helps us
get ready to give defenses of what we believe.
Why theology? not every theology.
As Grenz warned, bad theologies could be very dry and pointless. I heard people
debating on the needs to pray before a mid-night snack. They concluded that we
prayed only for hot meals, eating ice creams doesn't require a prayer. Grenz
changed my view about the necessity of doing theology. We do good theologies to
help us "know the truth not merely so that we might think properly, but so
that we might live properly."[5]
What kind of Theology?
Grenz argued that everyone is a
theologian, but not everyone is a good theologian; Everyone is doing theology,
but not every theology is the same. Grenz helped me see five kinds of
theologies based on their different levels of reflection - folk theology, lay
theology, ministerial theology, professional theology, and academic theology. The
least reflected theology is folk theology, which is "unreflective beliefs
based on blind faith in a tradition of some kind"[6].
On the other side of spectrum lays the academic theology, which Grenz argued
that it is "disconnected from the church and has little to do with
concrete Christian living." However, all Christians who seek to grow in
their faith need lay, ministerial, and professional theology, as Grenz
suggested. Knowing what level of reflection I am in now helps me apply different
theology's tasks and tools as discussed below.
Theology's Tasks, Tools, and Traditions
I like Grenz's classification of theology's
tools and tasks, it helps me understand theologian's works. First, Grenz
identified two major theology's tasks: critical and construction tasks. Critical
task includes two activities: examining and evaluating Christian beliefs, and second,
categorizing valid Christian beliefs as dogma, doctrine, or opinion.[7]
With the help of this classification, I know which theology's task I am
engaging in now and what tools are available to me when conducting specific theology's
activities.
For example, I once heard of a
youth pastor teaching students "let Jesus be your co-pilot". With a
concern in mind, I questioned the validity of this teaching. Although I was
doing the theology's critical task, I didn't know where to get the tools and
tactics needed for this task. Grenz gave me three major sources and norms as
theology's tools - the biblical message, the theological heritage of the
church, and the thought-forms of contemporary culture. Grenz also suggested his
tactics. He asked us to start answering the "Why?" questions. Why did
this youth pastor teach his students "Jesus is my co-pilot"? if this
is what he truly believes, then I would want to know what biblical bases he has
(tool #1 - biblical theology) and whether there were similar teachings on this
"co-pilot" belief (tool #2 - historical theology). I would also examine
it carefully to see whether this teaching was a contemporary version of
Gnosticism or a part of the "New Age" movement (tool #3 - relevancy).
Grenz also helped me engage in theology's
second task - constructive task. He defined construction task as the
development of "unified models of diverse biblical teachings and the application
of those models relevantly to contemporary culture."[8]
He argued that the goal of the
construction task of theology is to "articulate our foundational beliefs
about God and the world for the sake of living as Christians in our
contemporary context."[9]
Grenz's tools for the construction task include three practices of systematic
theology - developing of a synoptic vision of the biblical message, the
theological heritage of the church, and contemporary culture.[10]
He argued that a synoptic vision is the key, which he defined as "holistic
perspective that attempts to draw into coherence the otherwise blooming,
buzzing confusion of data."[11]
He suggested a tactic to develop this synoptic vision by using an "integrative
motif" that will "forms a hub that stands at the center and holds
together the spokes of the wheel of the theology."[12]
To apply Grenz's tools and
tactics to examine the teaching of "Jesus is my co-pilot", I will
need to clearly articulate the relationship between God, Jesus, and me. I would
develop a synoptic vision similar to this - "God's grace mission is to
restore our sonship through Jesus' work on earth", where I would use "God's
mission" as my "integrative motif" to tie the rest of theologies
together (God's grace, restoration, sonship, and Jesus' work). Once my synoptic
theology is formed, I would attempt to revise the teaching to "Jesus is my
pilot" as a contemporary equivalence to say " Jesus is my Lord."
One of Grenz's construction tools
is to use traditions or historical theology as a source to assist in theology's
tasks. He categorized traditions into five camps: the Eastern Orthodox Church,
the Roman Catholic Church, Protestants, Liberal (or “Modernist”) theology and mediating
theologies.[13]
Grenz suggested that most of the dogmatic and doctrinal theologies were
developed in the first seven centuries in the first two camps and the
corruption of the Roman Catholic Church gave birth to the third camp - the
Protestant. Grenze argued that "all three major branches of Christian
theology and church life discussed so far agree on certain basics."[14]
I would tentatively agree with
Grenz's assertion that all three major branches are still biblical and
Christian on the very core and fundamental level, since they are still
"God-centric" beliefs. On the other hand, most of the contemporary liberal
(or modernist) theologies are man-centered, characterized in viewing God as
optional at the best or even obstructive at the worst.
Although I appreciated Grenz's
illustration of Christian traditions, he didn't address the impacts of western Christian
traditions (traditional teachings) on other parts of the world. I can see the
places for a modernized Hinduism (everyone is God), Daoism (God is Dao), and
folk religions (spirits are Gods) in our post-modern setting where the
spirituality is taking a whole different meaning and perspective. I would argue
that we need more "tools" in Grenz's "traditions" category
at least to include the Christian reflections on eastern religions and schools
of thoughts from other parts of the world. We also need to study how
Christianity interacted with eastern religions in history as part of the historical
theology, especially the historical reviews in western Christian Church's dealing
with contextualization (e.g. Nestorianism in 7th century China, Heavenly
Kingdom of Peace rebellion in 1860's China, and the Eastern Lighting cult in
China and U.S.). Without this level of reflection, I believe Grenz's argument
in traditions will fall in the danger of "perversion" as discussed in
the lecture "the need for community".[15]
Summary
Grenz encourages me to construct
theology in context, which I believe we should include views and voices from a more
diverse source. As Grenz pointed out, we want to balance our theology between being
faithful to the biblical message and being relevant to contemporary. I would suggest
that we add more tools, tactics and experiences from other Christian sources from
other parts of the world when doing historical theology. I like what Grenz
concluded about a good theology which helps me to “become steadfast in faith
and more sure of what I believe.”[16]
and I was also convinced from the lecture that doing theology is also finite
which requires constant revision and always needs to be contextualized.
[1]
Grenz, Stanley J. and Roger E. Olson, Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the
Study of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 49
[2]
l Cor. 10:31
[3]
Grenz, Stanley J. and Roger E. Olson, Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the
Study of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 48
(paraphrased).
[4]
Ibid., 41.
[5]
Ibid., 43.
[6]
Grenz, Stanley J. and Roger E. Olson, Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the
Study of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 27.
[7]
Ibid., 80.
[8]
Grenz, Stanley J. and Roger E. Olson, Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the
Study of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 98.
[9]
Ibid., 80.
[10]
Blaising's definition of systematic theology is also stressing on the
importance of contemporary philosophical and cultural environment. (lecture,
module 3, Theology Methods)
[11]
Ibid., 147.
[12]
Ibid., 146.
[13]
Grenz, Stanley J. and Roger E. Olson, Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the
Study of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 83-86.
[14]
Ibid., 84.
[15]
Lecture, Module 5, Role of Culture.
[16]
Grenz, Stanley J. and Roger E. Olson, Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the
Study of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 42.
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