Basic Theology

I enjoy theology. I enjoy debating the merits of different theological perspectives. Calvinism vs Armenianism, covenant vs dispensational, pipe organs vs guitars.

Theology is good for us. It is studying our God and knowing more about it. It involves spending time in the Word, in prayer, and in studying who God is and what he has done, is doing, and will do. It is good for us. But at the end, I am willing to let it all go for nothing but Jesus Christ and his death for my sins.

I cling to this as my most basic theology. It is the foundation everything else is built upon. The house may burn, but if the sure foundation of Jesus and his death will remain, I am safe.

I once was discussing creation with someone who strongly subscribed to 6 day creation. Their argument was that if you didn't take the creation literally, you believed that death came before sin, and therefore their is no need for a savior. Now I could come up with arguments of how the effects of sin could be felt before sin, since the effects of Jesus' death were felt before his death in the saving of the faithful before ~33AD, however, a stronger argument is found in what if you are wrong? In this perspective, if one wrong on creation, then their entire faith collapses.

In theology, one should be OK with being wrong in things. We are dealing with things beyond our human understanding. Jesus told Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" When looking at theology, we are dealing with God himself, the alpha and omega. Our theology may be wrong in some areas. Be OK with that, because you placed your hope, your salvation, your all, on the death of Jesus and not the beliefs of man.