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The Significance of Deepening Theological Understanding for Christians

Introduction

“You do not know what you do not know.” This statement has stuck with me for the

better part of two years now. The four stages of the learning pyramid state that this “not

knowing” is the first and bottom tier of learning. This first stage would be considered ignorance

or unconscious incompetence. As a Christian who likes to look at things from an intellectual

standpoint, this first stage bothers me. According to Thomas Aquinas, a well-reverenced

medieval theologian, “Theology is taught by God, teaches of God, and leads to God.” This claim

could also be interpreted simply as the fact that theology is “speaking about God” (Amerkle).

Christians cannot afford to be uninformed and unknowledgeable in any significant area of their

life, and theology is no different. When I first started wanting to become more serious about

following Christ, I did not realize how much understanding I was lacking. I am not currently an

expert on every single subject matter regarding theology within Christianity. Still, I am far more

advanced in what I know now and understand more of what I do not currently comprehend. Most

notably, I know what I did not know when I was younger. I needed to learn to grow more in my

spiritual walk, and I neglected its significance due to ignorance. When I had someone reveal to

me that I did not know as much as I thought I did and start to educate me on theology, I began to

grow and understand theological concepts at a deeper level, impacting how I reverenced my

relationship with Christ. So, why is it important for Christians to understand theology at a deeper

level?
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Literature Review

Theology originates from the Bible and the implications man connects from its words and

is incredibly deep and broad in what it covers. St. Jerome, a priest from the late fourth century

and early 5th century sums the Bible up well: “The Scriptures are shallow enough for a babe to

come and drink without fear of drowning and deep enough for theologians to swim in without

ever touching the bottom." The Bible is divinely inspired by God, an infinitely all-knowing,

all-powerful, and all-present being, through man to reveal His word to people on earth. Since it is

originally divinely inspired by God Himself, it implies it is inerrant and infallible. How, then,

does God work? As finite beings, we cannot describe or understand an infinite One. However,

we see a pattern throughout the Bible that shows how God works in three separate-but-together

ways. This diagram below demonstrates the triune relation between God the Father, God the Son

(Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit.

God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, each of these three are not mixable

or without separation. It is a tricky concept to grasp as a human because we are just one-in-one
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while God is three-in-one. This view of the Trinity is theological and is from multiple passages

in the Bible (John 1:29-34, Ephesians 1:17). This understanding of the Trinity is an essential

belief of Christians because you must understand the basic premise of it to understand how God

works. He works through each Godhead individually and through them all for the same

overarching purpose. It makes no sense to follow someone who does not get the basics of how

they do things, and this is why we must believe and at least try to start comprehending the

Trinity. In his book Essential Truths of Christianity, R.C. Sproul gives some excellent points

about the must-know beliefs of a Christian. He discusses the act of Revelation, The Nature and

Attributes of God, The Works and Decrees of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Human Beings

and the Fall, Salvation, The Church and Sacraments, Spirituality and Living in this Age, and the

End Times. Understanding these basic principles and how they apply to life as a Christian is

essential.

Who is precisely in need of theology? Every Christian is a studier of theology, a

theologian, despite some knowing less than others. Think of it in the sense of cooking. Someone

who cooks food might be considered a chef. Still, they could also be considered a chemist

because they are dealing with chemical compounds at a fundamental level, using recipes to

determine what coagulation of ingredients will determine their outcome. When they desire to

cook more food and understand the concept of cooking better, they might read some books on

how to do so. In the same way, we as Christians should have the desire to know and understand

God better, and theology helps us do just that. Just like amateur chefs can look up to professional

chefs and learn how to cook better, Christians (lay theologians) can look up to professional
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theologians and glean from their work a more profound theological concept of what it is they are

trying to grow more in (Grenz et al. 20-21).

What are the essential beliefs that Christians should believe? Addressing centrality must

be a priority within our faith, or core beliefs that all Christians should have. The Trinity would be

part of this essential centrality, which also confirms that Jesus is God. Another part of centrality

that would be important would be the gospel, also known as the “good news.” God calls us to go

and make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to observe His commandments (Matthew

28:19-20). On the individual side, when a Christian confesses Jesus is Lord and believes God

raised Jesus from the dead, they will be saved (Romans 10:9). They cannot make this confession

unless they are informed of this, which is why it is of utmost importance we go out and share.

Why do we need to be saved? What do we need to be saved from? These are essential

questions to consider when taking an introspective look or answering someone’s question. We

need to be saved because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

Additionally, the wages of this sin are death or eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23). It is

imperative to note that not only has everyone fallen into sin, but our good actions do not do

anything in terms of making ourselves right with God (Galatians 2:16), meaning we are not

justified or made righteous through good deeds or what we have done, but what through Jesus

did through His atoning death on the cross. However, it is only the beginning after one has

achieved this salvation from Jesus by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Since we are in Christ,

actively and daily repenting from our sins (Matthew 3:2), we should now be going through what

is called the process of sanctification or the process of God changing and transforming us to

replace our sinful desires with His will and obedience.

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The Bible is from which Christians originate these theological concepts, as

referenced many times in this paper. It is broken up into two books: the Old Testament and the

New Testament. The Old Testament recounts the universe's creation until the prophets' days.

Adam and Eve committed the original sin and were punished by being sent out of God’s direct

presence in the Garden of Eden, and we still bear this curse to this day (we all would have made

the same choice in this scenario, believe it or not). During this time, they were not under the

covenant of grace that we are currently under, so they were forced to make sacrifices, such as

lambs and cattle, to atone for their sins. However, it was only temporary. The Old Testament also

predicts and prophesies the coming of Jesus in the books of Isaiah, Micah, Zechariah, and

Psalms, with other books also hinting at the coming of Christ. The entire Bible points to Jesus,

but it is more directly shown in the New Testament. The New Testament recounts the sinless life,

death, and resurrection of Jesus and his atoning work for our sins on the cross through four

different eyewitness accounts (Luke is a secondhand account). It also has letters from the

apostles and various followers of Jesus, with Paul of Damascus writing a large sum of these

letters. Without the Bible and the information it provides, we would be lost entirely in terms of

being given the knowledge to understand what Jesus did for us.

Another significant group of men we could look to are our well-studied ancestors, the

church fathers. These men were very influential over many centuries and inspired many pastors,

theologians, and lay Christians alike. One of the most influential of the men was Martin Luther.

Seeing how corrupt the Catholic Church had become during the 16th century, he decided to take

a stand. He is famous for many of his doctrines, including his 95 Theses (propositions of change

for the Catholic church, as they had become corrupt and strayed from the teachings of the Bible),
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which he nailed outside the door of a Catholic church, and his position on the Eucharist (Christ is

present within the Eucharist). However, he is probably most well known for the Five Solas: Sola

Scriptura (Scripture alone), Sola Fide (justified by faith alone), Sola Gratia (grace alone), Sola

Christus (Christ alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone). Sola Fide was the most

alarming stance he took during this time. The Catholic Church was suffering from a belief that

they had to do various works to receive salvation when we are told this is not the case in

Ephesians 2:8-9 (we are saved by grace through faith in Christ). Luther ultimately challenged

this and the church as a whole, stating that justification (we are made righteous through Jesus’s

death on the cross, not our good works) is not our own doing and is one of the core elements that

formed Protestantism (George 63).

These mentioned beliefs are critical to understand as a Christian. The Bible is a long book

with many statements that can sometimes be hard to interpret correctly, and it does not help that

English speakers do not natively understand Greek and Hebrew. Albert Mohler, a distinguished

Christian theologian currently the president of the biggest protestant church denomination in the

United States, the Southern Baptist Conference, gives an excellent example of how we should go

about it when we disagree with another believer on a theological view. The first level, he claims,

is faith-defining, meaning that if one were to disagree on one of the central tenets of Christianity

(the Trinity, Jesus is God, saved by grace through faith), it would be tough for someone who

holds to those views to see someone with an opposing view as Christian. The second level is

church-defining. If one were to disagree with someone on another topic that is also clearly

mentioned in the Bible, but it does not affect a view of God or salvation in any way, it would

mean that someone and the opposing would stand to be a member of different churches who
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would lean more to that given disagreed upon belief. The third level is at a level of something

implicit and not explicit and is not so severe as to lose fellowship with this other believer that

one might disagree with (Mohler).

“The expanse of what theology covers is breathtaking, and it shows us just how

comprehensive and widely impactful it is to all of life. Consider a few areas in the study of

theology for how a correct and biblically informed theological understanding affects the whole of

our lives” (Ware). Theology is not only an intellectual view and a means to grow in our

relationship with God through understanding, but it is also a worldview that must be used as a

lens on how a Christian should base his or her life as they are following Christ.

Methodology

To dive deeper into the realm of theology and get answers directly related to this

research, I went through the process of interviewing some pastors I have sat under at different
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points in life, with two of them being my current pastors and the other being my dad, who has

been my pastor for the majority of my life.

I asked the following questions to obtain primary research data for this project:

Introduction

Can you briefly introduce yourself and give a background of your walk with Christ? Why

are you a Christian?

Explanation

Is it important for Christians to deepen their theological understanding? Why?

What does it look like for someone to understand theology at a deeper level?

Would there be any opposing viewpoints to this argument? Why would they hold to this

view?

Application

Are there any specific books, articles, or resources you would recommend to individuals

interested in deepening their theological understanding?

How can Christians implement this into their lives? Are there any specific

recommendations or suggestions you would make to someone who wants to better understand

theology?

How do you envision this understanding of theology practically applied within Christian

communities or theological education?

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Findings

The first of these interviews was conducted in person with Pastor David Rodiguez and I jotted

down some takeaways.

“I am a Christian because I know I am a sinner and my ultimate destination is to be

before God and the only way to that is to be a follower of Jesus. The ultimate goal is to stand

before the Lord and give an account for my earthly lifetime.”

“Teaching theology should not be something we shy away from… We should desire to be

theologically sound in God’s word. You can’t show up to gameday without the proper practice.”

Both of the remaining interviews were conducted virtually and were recorded using

Zoom:

Pastor Andy Frazier

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wGHfLMyhAf981UuPRbLm6xu50i0CDE9z/view?usp=drive_li

nk

Pastor David Alexander

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I95Av7UufG-lQhMWZdkrdyx-j3AbJOFa/view?usp=drive_link

Observations and Implications

Considering all of the brilliant responses I received from these three fantastic pastors, the

answer ended up being a resounding “yes.” Christians need to seek to understand theology at a

deeper level. Despite this answer being a “yes,” there is more to it than just that. There are a few
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sections that this can be broken down into, specifically how this deepening of understanding can

be applied to the life of a Christian.

1. Personal Transformation

- “[Theology] is personal and practical. …information should lead to transformation. The

more we know about who Jesus is and what He’s done for us should widen and deepen

not only our head but our heart. It should completely affect how much we love God based

on how much we know about God. The grace that we study becomes more and more

amazing the more that we study it.” -Andy Frazier

- This summary of the transformation theology given to us by Pastor Andy Frazier gives us

ground to stand on when it comes to how a deeper understanding of theology should

affect our lives. The more you get to know someone, the more inclined you are to love

and care for that person, and the same is true in our relationship with God.

2. Discernment

- “Some would oppose saying that it is a pastor’s job to be theologically trained, not mine.

This should not be the attitude of a Christian. Paul is a good example of this, he was led

by Jesus’s disciples.” -David Rodriguez

- I have seen Christians who think that it is not their job or not important to understand

theology at a deeper level when this could not be further than for what we are to strive for

as Christians. Paul, an apostle of Jesus models this as he sought after those who were

further along in their faith to help give him knowledge. This knowledge gives us the

ability to discern. If someone does not understand something at a basic level, then the
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only answer they can give at that moment would be “I don’t know.” But what if the

decision that needs to be made has eternal implications? You should want to be able to

not only develop knowledge for the ability for personal discernment in decisions of life,

but for the ability to assist and help discern decisions in the lives of others who might

need help.

3. Witnessing to Others/Defending the Faith

- “The vast majority of stuff in [the Bible], God put in there for a purpose and as for us to

get to know who He was so that our life can be transformed into His likeness to mirror

Him in who we are in our ethics or integrity or walk with the Lord and the ability to teach

others and to be an anchor to others to be [Jesus’s] hands and feet.” -David Alexander

- The Bible is our key source of information when it comes to sharing with others. Whether

it be to fellow Christians or someone who does not know who Jesus is, we must be ready

and prepared to teach them, and understanding theology at a deeper level helps so much

when trying to address the questions of others. Furthermore, Jesus is our example when it

comes to how He walked and spoke to others. We are just called to be reflections of that

to the best of our human abilities.

4. Engaging with Contemporary Issues

- “Any time we can encourage or challenge people to read God’s word–I think that is the

most helpful thing we can do. Studies have shown that engaging in Scripture and reading

God’s word affects every area of our lives. As a believer, we have to be grounded in the

Word, so, if we are not reading the Word, if we are not studying the Word, if we are not
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applying the Word, then we are not walking with Christ the way we need to be.” -Andy

Frazier

- When it comes to dealing with issues in the modern world, there is only one way to

prepare ourselves as Christians, and that is through studying Scripture and growing an

understanding of theology so we can make more informed decisions. Christians should

desire to give up the lives they once had and how they related to the world to be set apart

(Psalm 4:3) and make decisions based on the influence of Christ and the Bible.

Every area of our lives as Christians can and will be impacted by theology and our

understanding of it. Practically, it can be applied to our lives and our relations with others.

Spiritually, a deeper understanding can help foster a more intimate relationship with God. And

intellectually, we can understand God more (never fully, we are limited by our human minds) to

justify why our faith in Him is true and worth giving up our lives for. So my challenge for my

fellow Christians is to get into God’s Word, have someone who is further along the faith teach

you, and continue to relish in the grace that Christ has afforded those in Him at the cross.
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Works Cited

Amerkle. “What Is Theology?” Houston Christian University, 20 Apr. 2021,

hc.edu/school-of-christian-thought/departments/theology/definition/.

George, Timothy. “Theology of the Reformers.” Google Books, Broadman & Holman

Publishing Group, 2013,

books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=C9O1AwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=theol

ogy+of+the+reformers&ots=FcriIQg0Vs&sig=_olhPI5lv-S-hhpWqB44jWxrTIg#v=onepa

ge&q=theology%20of%20the%20reformers&f=false.

Grenz, Stanley J, and Roger E Olson. “Who Needs Theology?” Google Books, InterVarsity

Press, 1996,

books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=c-DeDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=why%

2Bis%2Bit%2Bimportant%2Bfor%2Bchristians%2Bto%2Bunderstand%2Btheology%2Bd

eeper&ots=aif0NCLYBw&sig=QZxSesLPqQqyQDMomyZMcwJB0Fg#v=onepage&q=w

hy%20is%20it%20important%20for%20christians%20to%20understand%20theology%20

deeper&f=false.

Mohler, Albert. “A Call for Theological Triage and Christian Maturity.” Albert Mohler, 12

July 2005,

albertmohler.com/2005/07/12/a-call-for-theological-triage-and-christian-maturity.

Sproul, R.C. “Essential Truths of the Christian Faith.” Essential Truths of the Christian

Faith, Tyndale House Publishers,

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books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=DC-TRU4tEvsC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=underst

anding%2Bof%2Btheology%2Band%2Bmaturity%2Bin%2Bfaith&ots=TyfP7tHHze&sig=

zEdffOY8z7-XJAc8UsYPu4M-WGA#v=onepage&q=understanding%20of%20theology%

20and%20maturity%20in%20faith&f=false. Accessed 26 Sept. 2023.

The ESV Bible. Crossway, 2001,

www.esv.org/.

Ware, B. A. (n.d.). The importance of theology and theological understanding. The Gospel

Coalition.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-importance-of-theology-and-theological-und

erstanding/