WE ARE ALL THEOLOGIANS

It is not uncommon to hear from the pulpit that it is not necessary to be a theologian to live the Christian life and preach the gospel to other people. Actually, to be a Christian you do not have to be an expert in theology. This discourse, however, is a reflection of the anti-intellectual stance of many congregations, whose leaders and priests have little or no theological training. Such lack of commitment to erudition leads the more educated, who also need the salvation of Christ, to view the church as intellectually superficial.

To those who do not value theology, it is worth remembering what C. Lewis said: "If you do not care about theology, it does not mean that you have no idea about God. It means, rather, that you have a lot of misconceptions, bad, confused and outdated ideas"[1] Theology is the study of divine science. When one becomes converted, he begins to study about God, Jesus, his Kingdom. This knowledge shows that such person worked with some kind of theology. So, as Bruce Milne put it, "there is no Christian who is not also a theologian ... we are all theologians ..."

This contempt for theology may result from the ignorance of many preachers or even from the excuse motives of some who, without the divine call, found churches. But it is necessary to recognize the elitist and arrogant character of certain theologies that conduct their analyzes far from the life of the church and from non-Christian or anti-Christian presuppositions.

In this debate about the relevance or not of theology, one can claim what Paul said: "Knowledge brings pride, but love edifies" (1Co 8.1). But he also affirmed that some sin because of a lack of knowledge of God (1Co.15.34) and Jesus said that we should love God with all our "understanding" (Mt 22:37).

The leaders and priests have a great responsibility: to bring people to the knowledge of God. This involves prayer, consecrated life and much study. In Israel, in the mid-8th century BCE, God, through the prophet Hosea, formally accused the priests: "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests..."(Hosea 4: 6).

It is true that there is a lot of irrelevant theology to the church. But there are many good theologies that sprouted from the deep prayer and the life of the early Christian communities, and the experience of men who walk with Christ. To reject theology means to reject Christian knowledge, the knowledge about God. Thus, the appeal of the prophet Hosea remains actual: "let us aknowledge the Lord; let us press on to aknowledge him..."(Hosea 6: 3).

Antônio Maia – M.Div.

Copyright

LEWIS, C. S. Crisitianismo Puro e Simples. São Paulo: Martins Fonte, 2005

MILNE, Bruce. Estudando as Doutrinas da Bíblia. São Paulo: ABU, 2005