Theology is now present as a separate faculty in many educational institutions and is also taught as a distinct discipline in related specialties and courses. This discipline can be identified as the study of nature and all that surrounds people from Divine point of view. The elevation of this teaching to the rank of sciences will allow modern confessors and their followers to more accurately interpret religion, to understand its essence, origin, and purpose.
Theology allows Christians to realize the diversity of worldview approaches that shape the universal space. In addition, the study of the tradition of the Church today is fundamentally essential since there is a prominent cultural and historical significance of the Christian Church. Therefore, Christians and ministers need to be informed or studied in scripture, philosophy, history, etc. The most important task of theology is the formation of cultural and religious consciousness among the population1. In addition, theology today can serve as a tool for spreading and reforming, and justifying religious tradition2. The main goal of theology is to bring a person to a living communion with God. According to McLaughlin, limiting the spiritual life to the realm of the senses alone does not give a Christian the opportunity to build his life as a reasonable service to God3. Such a Christian is not able to fully fulfill the commandment of love for God. In addition, Orthodoxy is alien to the opposition of faith and reason, which are inextricably linked and presuppose each other4. There can be no faith without mind, and it is for this reason, a Christian must be theologically informed.
Knowledge of the origins of the Church and its traditions allows people to understand its entire organizational structure better and understand the prerequisites and consequences of specific religious processes. This is not just a philosophical discipline; theology has practical applications today and allows Christians to solve modern problems and study possible ways of interpreting and understanding the world.
References
McLaughlin, Rebecca. Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion. Illinois: Crossway, 2019.
McQuilkin, Robert, and Paul Copan. An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom. Illinois: IVP Academic, 2013.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J., and Owen Strachan. The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision. Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015.
Wilson, Todd, and Gerald Hiestand, eds. A Pastor Theologian: New Possibilities for Church Leadership. Illinois: IVP Academic, 2016.
Footnotes
- Vanhoozer, Kevin J., and Owen Strachan. The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision (Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015), 15.
- McQuilkin, Robert, and Paul Copan. An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom (Illinois: IVP Academic, 2013), 162.
- McLaughlin, Rebecca. Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion (Illinois: Crossway, 2019), 32.
- Wilson, Todd, and Gerald Hiestand, eds. A Pastor Theologian: New Possibilities for Church Leadership (Illinois: IVP Academic, 2016), 65.