Tom Holland recently paraphrased Stephen Jay Gould on his podcast ‘The Rest is History’ saying that “the magisterium of science and the magisterium of religion don’t overlap and are rivals” going on to hypothesise that history, likewise, has its own domain—or magisterium—that sits in direct contradiction to religious readings of history. Historians “don’t adduce supernatural explanations” with regards to historical events, Holland explained, but rather explain events as they have occurred, assuming natural causes. Statements like this aren’t uncommon, and to a large extent, I agree. There is a benefit to simply reporting events as they are. In a world of “fake news” and mass rewriting of history, it is important that we stand alongside classical historians (CH) in their mission to uncover and recount the historical record as accurately and accessibly as possible. In fact, it’s for this very reason that many Christians have promoted Holland’s book “Dominion” even given Holland’s own lack of faith. The fact that—all supernatural explanations aside—a CH can come to the conclusion that the Church has had such a profound and irrevocable effect on the world is a miracle in itself.

With that said, it would be untrue to say that CHs only recount historical events, because though they might not “adduce supernatural explanations,” they do indeed make educated assumptions and interpretations with regard to:

A. The veracity of historical accounts
B. The likely causes and effects of events
C. The connections between different events either through form (i.e. Wars, Alliances, Revolutions) or relationship, (i.e. Bismarck and Hitler; or King Henry V and Prince Harry, the present Duke of Sussex.)

With that in mind, coming to the historical record as Christians, or Theological Historians (TH), being indwelled by the Spirit and educated in the ways of the word, it would be impossible to perform these same interpretations without at times cautiously suggesting a supernatural explanation. Radical personal and spiritual transformation of key Christian figures throughout Church History, for instance, is something THs should attribute to the God-given gift of faith, and the work of the Spirit1.

How does this relate to a series on Theology though? Well, in order to read Historical Theology well, we need to read it as both History and Theology; looking at events and experiences that happened to and through men and women of God, as well as the writings penned by those men and women. Historical documents are neither “inspired” nor “infallible” like Scripture, but we should nonetheless, as stated before, seek out God’s presence throughout. Whilst God is present in every page, chapter, and verse of Scripture, with historical theology—as well as literature written today—we take up a more investigative role, looking for traces of God’s work, dusting for God’s fingerprints if you will. This takes a few forms, so let’s take a look at how we can make sure to do this well.

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As we’ve mentioned before, Historical Theology fits into a rough system of three theological studies, also including Biblical and Systematic Theology. I have defined these as follows:

Biblical Theology = “What does the Bible say?”
Systematic Theology = “What does the Bible say about…?”
Historical Theology = “What has the Church / have Christians historically believed about…?”

In the introduction to this series, I stated that “we must always weigh history on the scales of Scripture, not vice versa” treating both Systematic and Historical Theology—and indeed any other form of Theology including that of other religions—against the Bible. Good and Bad Theological work has been undertaken since the garden and will continue to be until Christ comes again.

Whilst we must be wary of the aforementioned bad theology, let’s not forget that we’re not the first members of the Church to pursue God through his word and learn more about him, about how to live, and encourage the life and work of the church. The disciplines of biblical, systematic, and historical theology didn’t start in the 20th century, but have existed since the dawning of the Church. If I told you that you could sit down with the hundred greatest theologians, evangelists, pastors, preachers, mothers, and fathers since Jesus ascended into heaven, would you take that oppurtunity? What would you ask? Which Biblical questions might you have, and would you weigh or even accept difficult answers?

This is the offer and the challenge we’re faced with when thinking about Historical Theology. This “field,” so to speak, is neither about learning dates nor is it impersonal or irrelevant. God has drawn close to Christians throughout history, and through their legacies, we are invited to reap the rewards.

First of all, I would like to make a plea for the reading of biographies. More than anything, biographies help to remind us that the Church and its theology didn’t simply appear out of nowhere. Whilst none of us would ever say this out loud, the truth is that many of us act as though our church or the church at large simply is and that it will just, presumably, continue on in much the fashion that it has so far. This flies in the face of the historical record, which is full not only of men and women committed to sharing the gospel with unreached people groups, both at home and abroad, but also those who have gone on to defend the faith, even unto death.

We must continually look for those who share our passion for the great commission, for making disciples of all nations, wherever they might be. This goes for great theologians and farmhands, pastors, and laypeople.

These men and women have done much for the sake of the Church and her bridegroom; serving the Lord, and serving his people. Part of that has been through writing. When my wife and I ran a podcast we said the following in our intro, “the main way that discipleship has been bolstered throughout Church History has been through literature,” and I stand by that. From the epistles of Paul, Peter, John, Clement, Polycarp, and others, to great tomes like Calvin’s Institutes or Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics, the Church has been blessed by the love and care which has been taken by saints throughout history who sought both to learn and to share, to uphold and defend the faith.

On the other hand, literature, as well as preaching, has also been used by those who have sought to tear down the church—whether they knew they were doing it or not. Heresy has on various occasions infected the church, and in response, our theological immune system has kicked in. Councils, brave men and women, as well as multitudes of sponsors and supporters have surrounded and suppressed the virus, defending the true bride of Christ from its effects. Unfortunately, as with all viruses, these heresies have hibernated, mutated, and assimilated other worldviews, rearing their heads again, only for our immune system to kick in once more. We’d be unwise not to regularly review, and renew our knowledge about these heresies, as well as the creeds and other writings which the Church has used to fight them. They will come around again, in fact, they already have—en masse.

Ultimately, more important than learning from the example of others, more important even than fighting heresy is our need to be reminded to return to scripture. I have been immensely blessed by reading the expositions of Scripture preached by and written by men like Chrysostom, Augustine, and Spurgeon, as well as the “Systematic” works which, through a firm understanding of Scripture, have responded biblically to the needs of the church of the writer’s time.

This necessity to return to Scripture is well laid out in this quote from Matthew Barrett:

"Century after century, sola scriptura has been the [grounding obsession] of the Protestant mind, its foundational premise on which all its doctrines are built and established. Where it has not, Protestants have misaligned themselves with their own heritage, their own tradition. Where it has, the gospel can be heard with clarity and authority, with sufficiency and life-giving power."

Matthew Barrett, Historical Theology for the Church, 2021, 204.

Our learning from Church History is not in order to add to scripture, but to return to it, not to manipulate the text, but to learn to exegete the text well. By learning from the mistakes and successes of the past, we can be better equipped to fulfil our part in the manifold expedition of the great commission; to make disciples of all nations and defend the faith in our own time.

Part of the struggle of writing articles and series like this is the amount I have to leave unwritten. I could easily write for a whole year on any of these subjects and still not scratch the surface. My encouragement to you is to find out for yourself what I’ve missed and what I’ve left out. This isn’t an invitation to simply know what Biblical, Systematic, and Historical Theologies are, but to dive in and learn about them yourself.

This isn’t merely an academic exercise but is more akin to tracing one’s family tree. I’m blessed to have access to my great-great grandfather’s journal, he was a minister and a military chaplain and he documented the blessings and struggles of that life. Reading his journal left me with a sense of legacy, of missional familial continuity. The same is true when I look at the life of my younger brother, a man dedicated to the Lord and to seeing young men and women discipled well. I’m not academically fascinated by my brother, I’m spiritually spurred on. The same is true of my ancestors in the faith, their words and examples are a reminder to me of what has come before, but also of what’s ahead and I can’t wait for you to find out what that is like too.

Grace and Peace,

Adsum Try Ravenhill

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Thanks for subscribing, this is the second in a series on Biblical, Systematic, and Historical theology. In summary, these are simply defined as:

Biblical Theology = “What does the Bible say?”
Systematic Theology = “What does the Bible say about…?”
Historical Theology = “What has the Church / have Christians historically believed about…?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of Systematic Theology, I have the book at home somewhere.”
— Almost everyone I’ve spoken to about Systematic Theology

This is the sentence which convinced me to write this series. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard it said—it’s certainly in the high double-digits range—but when I heard it again recently my heart broke a little. The misconception that Systematic Theology is just a book (probably a blue book written by a guy called Wayne) is an understandable one, as it’s the only one most people have seen, even if most people, following the sentence above, say something along the lines of, “Oh, I haven’t read it though,” or “I mean, it isn’t really meant to be read, right?”

My thoughts about that particular volume aside, this saddens me even more than the first response. You would assume that a book which commands the sole attention of someone’s mind when they think of Systematic Theology (ST) would at least be widely read, but from my experience, this isn’t the case. It may be that in previous generations when questions about difficult subjects arose the book would be pulled from the shelf in order to help answer them, but in the digital age, why not just open one’s phone, type the question into Google, and click on the first link1?

If so many people misunderstand what ST is, and even more don’t seem to need to understand ST in order to find the answers they want, why even raise the issue? Problem solved!

Not quite.

There’s a famous scene from the TV show Friends in which disaster strikes when Rachel tries to make an English dessert. “It's a trifle. It's got all of these layers. First, there's a layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of jam, then custard, which I made from scratch. Raspberries, more ladyfingers. Then beef sautéed with peas and onions. Then more custard and then bananas and then I just put some whipped cream on top.” Rachel, proud as pudding, presents her creation, and when questions arise about the inclusion of the beef she replies, “You know, [British] people just put very strange things in their food.” using the example of “Mince Pies”2 to prove her point. It's all very well having access to a cookbook, some food, and some utensils, but the wisdom to know how to use them, what foods go well with others, or even whether two pages might be stuck together, are beyond important when it comes to serving up something edible.

The same is true of Theology, just as Rachel’s “System of Gastronomy” erroneously allowed for odd combinations in British food, a faulty understanding of ST leaves us blind when it comes to discerning good answers to our questions from the bad.

Since the early church Christians have wrestled with the practical application of this simple command. It’s all very well telling us to teach “what accords with sound doctrine,” but what does that entail? The Bible doesn’t only talk about good doctrine either, but also bad doctrine—even the doctrine of demons—but whilst all doctrine must come from a full and thorough understanding of the Bible, the Bible itself doesn’t contain a systematic list of the good and the bad; as much as we might wish that we could flip to Romans 17, and read a final, exhaustive list of do’s and dont’s.

This isn’t to say that the Bible is up to each person’s interpretation either. It would be foolish to assume that just because certain details are unclear, this allows us to place anything we like back into the Bible, and pretend it’s true because “that’s my interpretation.” The Bible is explicitly clear on most issues, and the Church, even with its many denominations, is far more united than we often think. The Apostle’s Creed, for instance, is recited in churches of various backgrounds around the world each and every Sunday, despite differences in understanding about the gifts of the Spirit, the second coming of Jesus, the nature of the Lord’s supper, we can all agree on this:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord,
Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
Descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into Heaven, and now sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty;
He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church3,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

— The Apostle’s Creed

In fact, disagreeing with this creed is one of, if not the determining factor in deciding whether someone is teaching heresy. Why? Because this teaching is Biblical; by Biblical I don’t mean that this is scripture though. This isn’t a lost section of 3 Corinthians or a late teaching of Jesus, but each word was discussed, defended, and delivered to the saints by a group of trusted pastors and scholars who read, studied, and loved the Bible, and has been confessed as truth through two millennia of Church History by others who read, studied, and loved the Bible too. This Creed—this system of theology—clarifies for believers the basic truths of the faith which the Bible teaches in order to codify and simplify what might take a lifetime to fully grasp.

Systems are not good, however, in and of themselves. ST can, like Rachel’s trifle, be confusing and painful to swallow and contain elements which don’t belong. In Irenaeus’ Against Heresies, he describes the heretics’ actions by saying:

…the method which these men employ to deceive themselves [is to]… abuse the Scriptures by endeavouring to support their own system out of them.

Irenaeus of Lyons, The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, 1885, 1, 329.

How can we be sure to create a good system—which we would call orthodox—and not a heretical one?

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Before you do anything else, read the Bible. A good grasp of Biblical Theology will ground you in what’s important, and help you not be swayed by the changing tides of the culture, even the culture of the Church. Even as recently as this past month, the Church in the UK has weathered incredible storms both from without and within, but the ones who are still standing afterwards are the ones who built their house on the rock. I say this knowing that you could go and pick up, for instance, Louis Berkhof’s ST and read it through, making notes, and come out the other end with a good grasp of ST. This is a surefire way to believe like the enemy, in truth, but not in Spirit and truth. It is quite possible to know the best arguments for Calvinism, or the amillenial view of eschatology, or why the Bible calls men as elders in the Church without any love for Christ or the Bible, it is even possible to fight for “Systematic” Christian values without ever coming to faith. I’ve known of people who would openly say that they believed in Calvinism before they believed in Christ, because the logic of the system made sense to them, even if the gospel didn’t.

Start with the Bible, getting to know what the Bible says is the best way to begin learning about God and what truth looks like. Imagine for a second that you’d read every article I’d ever written, there are ninety-two on this site alone, if someone then gave you three articles and asked you to determine which one I’d written, and which ones were written by other writers/bloggers, you’d be able to make a well-informed decision; or instead imagine appearing in court as a witness and being asked to determine whether a voice recording belonged to a close friend or family member, even without knowing exactly how you’d be able to give an accurate answer because you know their voice.

There’s an old proverb which goes, “When is the best time to plant an oak tree? Twenty years ago, but the second best time is now,.” The same is true of Bible reading, you may have been a Christian twenty minutes, twenty weeks, or twenty years, and may have always struggled to find the will to dig into the scriptures. I’ve spoken to so many people who find it hard to start reading because of guilt over not having started earlier, if that’s you, start now!

As important as it is to read the Bible, it is important not to do so alone, there are theologians that preceded us in reading the Bible and have wisdom to pass on, but just as we must be sure to accept wise counsel, we must be wise about the counsel we keep. That starts by listening to a variety of voices.

Shortly before I left school London hosted the Olympics, and the whole country—to everyone’s surprise—threw itself behind athletes, causes, volunteering, and attending events; as a result, previously unknown athletes became British heroes and heroines. One of these heroines was Jessica Ennis. I distinctly remember the rising excitement after the first day of the heptathlon which saw Ennis break the record for most points scored in a single day. Ennis went on to take home the gold medal and spend the next few months appearing on chat shows, speaking to schools, and hopefully getting some rest.

When we compare Ennis’ times, however, to the other female Olympic champions in each of the sports Ennis competed in, we get these results:

Whilst Ennis stood head and shoulders above her fellow all-rounders, against athletes focussing on one particular sport, she wouldn’t have had a chance—it’s unlikely she would have even qualified for any individual event.

When building a library of books on Systematic Theology, don’t let that library be occupied by a single author. It is impossible to expect any single theologian to provide equal attention or rigour on all subjects, so rather seek out a broad range of authors who have done specific and detailed work on the subject at hand, or who have a track record of understanding and clarity about that subject. If you would like a list of recommendations, leave a comment to let me know and I’ll make sure to write an article on that in the near future.

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The second step follows the first in spirit, but not in form. It is a good idea to pick up a single collection of detailed but simple answers to a wide range of questions but written by a huge host of theologians4. I’m not speaking in the abstract here, but about a specific set of systems which have been handed down throughout Church History. These fall under three categories; Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms. If Church History were the British Crown jewels, these three parts of that inheritance would form the Orb, the Sceptre, and the Ring which accompany our crown of righteousness. Whilst we should certainly still value the whole vault, these are priceless. You can find these jewels freely online, or in single volumes alongside commentary, but whatever you do, make sure these are a part of your library.

Finally, whilst I don’t think any one author should command your entire understanding of ST, there are excellent volumes—or multi-volume series!—written by one or two men which I do recommend, and that will help to supplement your learning, as well as providing a full understanding not only of how to build a system, but how various elements of the system relate to one another.

They will cover subjects like the theology of salvation, the theology of the Church, what it means to be Human, the nature of the Trinity, Apologetics, how the Church ought to interact with culture, and many more areas of theology.

I won’t give an exhaustive list here, I will only suggest a few you might want to begin with, but I will say that when looking for a Systematic Theology, it is a good rule to check to see whether what followed from life of that theologian who wrote it suggests/ed that they are a saint you might want to imitate. There is wisdom in choosing volumes from those who are sadly no longer with us but don’t preclude living men and women from your libraries, just be careful to choose them well.

Here’s a short list5:

• R.C Sproul’s The Essentials of the Christian Faith

• Cornelius Van Til’s Introduction to Systematic Theology

• Geerhardus Vos’ Reformed Dogmatics

• Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics

In the introduction to this series, I said that the definition of, and chief aim, of ST is the answer to the question, “What does the Bible say about…?” Whilst this is a simple definition, it tracks pretty well and distinguishes it from Biblical Theology, which asks a simpler, but deeper question, “What does the Bible say? These two questions make up two of three main parts of the theological life of the Church, alongside other smaller parts like, “What do other faiths say about God?” and “What does my culture think about God?” The third main part is Historical Theology, which asks the question, “What has the Church / have Christians historically believed about…?” and thinks about if/why/how that has bearing on our lives or our understanding of the Bible today. That will be the next part of this series, but potentially not the last. These articles have taken a birdseye view of each of these parts of the theological life of the Christian, but not at the finer details. I’d love to know if there are particular areas of theology you would like me to take a deeper look at throughout 2023. This could be about, for instance:

• Sotieriology - The Theology of Salvation

• Scripture

• The Attributes of God (Immutability, Wisdom, Righteousness, Omnipotence, etc.)

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For those of you who aren’t subscribed, I already have a historical theology series ongoing which looks at the 1200 years of Church History which protestants have often left largely unread. Please do check that out, and if you found this article helpful, please do subscribe for more articles like this, and to receive the final instalment of this series in your inbox on Tuesday the 31st of January!

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Finally, keep reading your Bible, keep learning from the saints who have preceded you, and who have wisdom and knowledge to impart, and most importantly, don’t neglect the scriptures in search of something more fulfilling. ST develops our doctrinal understanding but doesn't replace the Bible, we need to read the scriptures to hear the voice of the Lord and to spend time in communion with him. To prize ST over the Bible would be like neglecting to spend time with my wife to dwell upon how to love her better and to simply think about her. If I did that a chasm would grow between my imagination and my true knowledge of her.

Grace and Peace,

Adsum Try Ravenhill

3

Small c, read more about why that’s important here:

The Raven's Writing Desk

Judah, Judas, Jude?

This Sunday we’re starting a series on the book of Jude which will take us through most of the year. If you’re interested in my plans for the rest of 2022 and you missed last week’s Sunday article covering that, click here to go and read that! Also included this week is a review of “Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture: A Literary, Canonical, and …

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4 years ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · Adsum Try Ravenhill

This is the first in a three-part series on theology, covering Biblical Theology, Systematic Theology, and Historical Theology. If you missed the introduction to this series, you can find that here. I hope this series will provide a starting point for those who want to dig deeper and form a robust understanding of Theology.

Part II - Systematic Theology

Part III - Historical Theology

At the tail end of last year, the world was set ablaze with the fire of football, the World Cup was upon us whether we liked it or not. Every four years I’m surprised by the people who come out of the woodwork and don the national colours to support “our boys” even though for the 3 years and 10 + 1/2 months previous they’ve shown no interest in grown men kicking a ball around a pitch. What made this even more bizarre last year is the fact that I’m in a church plant here in the UK with a large population of Americans, all of whom—it seemed—were thrilled at the prospect of celebrating the game for the first time.

Although, of course, very few of them understood the rules…

While I’m by no means an expert—I don’t even enjoy football—I was one of the very few who could answer questions about the game. People would come with misunderstandings, bewilderment, and hushed questions about the off-side rule, and I would do my best to answer. All the while I would sit on my phone and take note of the real experts who knew the game inside-out and try to discern the wisdom in their predicted statistics, as well as their insights into prior and future games.

This process plays itself out in similar ratios throughout the church; there are those who know next to nothing, those who know about some things, and others who know why those things are so.

All of this sits under the umbrella of Systematic Theology—or Footballology. The reason I bring this up is that no matter which angle I try to come at Biblical Theology from, I get stuck thinking about all the questions I have been asked over the years about the Bible and all of the people who’ve I’ve come across who approach Bible reading with questions like:

• “What is the Bible saying to me today?”

• “How do I apply this to my life right now?”

• “What relevance does this have in the 21st Century?”

Before they ever ask:

• “What does the Bible say?”

This would be like someone hoping to become a “football expert” asking questions like, “How do the rules relate to this part of the game?” without ever asking, “Can I read the rules?”

The same is true of all sorts of documents today, this mentality is not an exclusively Christian issue. Whether it’s the Magna Carta or the Constitution, Jane Austen or Shakespeare, the Bible or the Quran, the world around us has a tendency to read historical works not through the eyes of the original audience or the author, but rather through the lens of 21st-century western thought.

How do we, as Christians, learn to treat the Bible differently?

It all comes down to this:

Scripture. Scripture. Scripture.

Whilst it’s necessary that we use outside sources to help us—and make sure we don’t go into rogue territory—these resources1 should be those which help us to understand the original intent, geo-political landscapes, languages, cultures, and otherwise foreign concepts which are not accessible to us simply by merit of owning a Bible. With that said, our first and most important resource in learning Biblical theology is not a course, a book, or this article; we need the Bible, God’s word, the Scriptures.

Imagine you’re sitting across from someone who has never opened a Bible before in their life.
Where do you reckon they should begin? Genesis? The Psalms? Matthew? Why?
I think a good place to start would be 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

This assertion that every book, chapter, verse, word, and syllable of the Bible is breathed out—or inspired—by God must be central to how we approach the Bible and Biblical theology. A few years ago I heard about a bottle that “flavoured” water without adding anything to it. Instead of sugar, or flavourings, the bottle contained a small ring with an intense smell trapped inside which was released when you drank the water. As a result, it tricked your brain into thinking you were drinking coke, for instance, even though all you were consuming was sparkling water. When we read the Bible as Christians we are not only absorbing words on a page, rather, we are trusting in the spirit that we will be breathed into and that the word of God would transform us, and that as we drink the life-giving water of the word, that the Spirit would make it sweet to us.

Reading the Bible isn’t just an academic endeavour.

When we read, we should do so with a posture of worship, and eagerness to get to know our God more intimately, to understand his words more clearly, and while the study is a part of that, if it’s the only part, we might as well forget the whole thing entirely. To study the scriptures without loving the Lord would be like me asking my wife questions in order to write an essay about her, rather than to love her. Don’t get me wrong, I could write books about Anna, probably even poems if I put my mind to it, but my primary reason for getting to know my wife isn’t anthropology, or literature, but romance.

If I sat you in front of a stranger for the first time and I asked you to get to know them, how many hours do you think it would take before you truly knew them? Two? Two-hundred? Two-thousand? Likewise, Biblical Theology isn’t something you can crack in an evening or a single sitting, in fact, even John Gill, who wrote the first comprehensive commentary on the whole Bible, did not understand it in all its majesty until after he arrived in heaven. Biblical Theology isn’t a goal, it’s part of the process of our sanctification. Whilst there are those who have rightfully and helpfully made a career out of plumbing the depths of Biblical Theology for the good of the Church and for Orthodoxy, it would be incorrect to assume that the average Christian doesn’t have an understanding of Biblical Theology, even if it’s a false understanding! We must, therefore, be careful to make sure that we build guardrails for ourselves so we don’t trespass into fields of heresy; and risk inviting others to join us there.

In the introduction to this series, I gave a simple explanation of Biblical Theology:

“What does the Bible say?” This is the heart of Biblical Theology.
— Navigating the Pilgrim's Path

While simple, when we consider the ramifications, we’re left with what is, essentially, an impossible task. Take any verse of the Bible, write it down, and ask, “What does the Bible say?” and promise not to get up from your seat until you’ve plumbed the depths of just that verse, you might never get back up again! At the other end of the spectrum—taking the Bible as a whole, one-cohesive storyline—the more you read, the more you’ll see how connected the Bible is, and the more connections you see, the more you’ll expect, and the more you’ll expect, the more you’ll…well…you get the point.

As true as it is that we cannot ever hope—in this life—to fully understand God or his word, we must remember that having received the Spirit upon receiving the gift of faith, the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was revealed to us, not by man but by God. That truth will not change no matter how much we study and cannot be taken away. Our study, whether once a day or once an hour, is not concerned with discovering something new, but with getting to know our God more dearly, glorifying him, sharing his word with the nations, and blessing the people of God.

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“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Psalm 1:1–2, ESV

These verses encapsulate perfectly what I’ve been saying in this article so far. We meditate on the Bible day and night because that’s where our joy is found, we don’t seek to walk in the way of the world, nor listen to the false gospels it preaches to us daily. We are truly blessed.

While I believe that the best way to get started on this journey or to continue on it well, is to dig daily into the word of God, I would be irresponsible not to suggest some ways that you can do so wisely, and with wise counsel alongside you2. I mentioned earlier that there are some academics, pastors, and theologians who have helpfully gone ahead of us and done the hard work of studying historical records, original languages, cultures and other religions mentioned throughout the Bible, and much more. In addition, some have traced patterns through the storyline of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation and can help us to see those patterns too. Some of these books are dense, every one of them is imperfect, and none should be placed above the Bible. With that said, here are some suggestions about where to get started.

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Commentaries

The easiest and most cost-effective way to get started with studying the Bible is to choose a book, and then find a commentary about that specific book. While there are good commentaries which cover the whole Bible, I would suggest building a small library of specific commentaries over buying one of these larger volumes. Part of this is that each book will, hopefully, be covered in more detail, but also that you’ll have the chance to learn from a wider range of authors.

I would suggest following this simple framework for study; Context, Comparison, and Consistency.

When you first start the book, read the commentary to give you a wide-angle lens view of the broader context and culture, but this is the only time I recommend you pick up the Commentary first. After that, each day, read a section—this could be a chapter, or just a few verses—as well as the sections before and after (the Context). Think about what the verses are saying and then make notes. If this text is confusing, before you look it up in a commentary, try and think about other places in the Bible which explain this same point in more detail, or look in the margins of your Bible, which may have suggested verses elsewhere which you can read (Comparison). Once you’ve done this comparative study, then you can open the commentary (Consistency). What you’re hoping to find is:

1. Explanations which affirm your thinking so far

2. Explanations which challenge how you’ve thought about the text

3. Points and insights you would never have thought of

To find good and consistent commentaries on any book of the Bible, I suggest you go to the aptly named www.bestcommentaries.com and look up the book of the Bible you’re planning to study.

The New Testament Theology Series

In addition to commentaries, I would recommend the New Testament Theology series by Crossway, which is the most accessible series I’ve come across dealing with Biblical Theology, whilst still remaining robust. I’ve written about a couple of these books, but the one I suggest you begin with is the Mission of the Triune God by Patrick Schreiner.

Here’s a quote from my review of that book:

“This book is not about Acts alone, it’s about God, his plan, and the fulfilment of that plan, one which did not find its beginning and end between “In my first book, O Theophilus…” (Acts 1:1) and “Boldly and freely he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 28:31), but from and into eternity. Oh, that we would grasp that.”

With that, I’ll end this article, but please do come back next week to check out the next instalment of the series, which will be on Systematic Theology.

Grace and Peace,

Adsum Try Ravenhill

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Welcome to 2023! We’ve been here a little while now, I know, but this is my first newsletter of the year. I’m so thankful to all of you who read, like, and comment on these articles, it helps more than you know, and I hope that in the coming year, I can repay that support with helpful, edifying, and God-glorifying articles…

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In the Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan—an allegorical tale which mirrors the path we all take as Christians—a character named faithful says the following:

“Heavenly knowledge…is the gift of God;
no man attaineth to them by human industry,
or only by the talk of them.”

John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress

Navigating that truth, that theology—the study of God—comes ultimately from God, that it is good and right that we should handle and sink our teeth into it, but that mere talk of it is not enough, presents something of an issue. Does this mean that each Christian reads the Bible alone, receives the gift of faith, and then never speaks of it to another? Not at all! On the other side, if we are to discuss it, how do we differentiate between mere talk—or even contention—and talk which builds us up in the faith? I think the answer is, to paraphrase Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “[That] too many men talk about theology, and not enough talk theology.”

To help explore what it means to study, learn, and then talk theology rightly, I thought it would be good to write about the differences, relationships, and confusions between Biblical, Systematic, and Historical theology, each of which represent a category of theology which has stood the test of time throughout Church History, and still help us to understand the Bible, ethics, our place in society and the church, as well as— most important of all—our God.

Though there’s plenty of literature out there on these different categories of theology, they tend to be long-winded, academic, and therefore largely inaccessible for most people, despite the fact that whether we know it or not, each of us has a personal relationship to each, and have formed Biblical, Systematic, and—most likely—historical positions we hold to, potentially without basis, or knowing we’re doing so. I’m not only including Christians in that statement either, but each and every member of the human race.

In the following weeks, we’ll look in further detail at each category, how we can be wise in how we deal with each one, and some next steps to help you do so. Today though we’’ look simply at some misunderstandings, and misapprehensions, and also how each one builds off of Biblical Theology, and why it must!

The primary way in which we learn theology is—or should always be—the Bible. If we had no commentaries, no books, and no sermons, the Bible would still be sufficient. With that said, we should be thankful that while this is true, we are truly blessed, especially as literature, internet-dwelling beings that we have access to such a library as the world has never seen before, and the Christians throughout history who have made it their mission to open up the Bible to the people of God, and to speak words of life to them, or to make clear the elements which on the surface are incredibly difficult to understand. I don’t know where or from who, but I once heard the gospel described as a well, accessible enough that even a child can draw water, but one so deep that if you spent your whole life diving down into it, you would never reach the bottom. The Bible, the word of God is a well which does not run dry, is not weathered down or away by new thinking or philosophy, but rather proves it’s potency in the lives of the saints every day; and will do so until Christ comes again.

Each of us is somewhere on that scale, between the child drawing water for the first time, and the lifelong diver. Some of you may well go on to write—or have already written—biblical theologies of particular books or passages for instance, some of you read and listen to the Bible each day, but you’ll never write down a note about what you’re reading, and others have just come to faith, regardless we have all developed a biblical theology and will continue to do so.

As Christians, the most important thing we can do to aid in this endeavour is—and I’m aware this is groundbreaking news—read the Bible, and listen, and re-read, and re-listen. While reading blogs, listening to sermons online, or picking up the latest book recommendation are good things to do, we start here, as Spurgeon is often quoted as saying, “visit many good books, but live in the Bible.” All the while asking one main question: “What does the Bible say?” This is the heart of Biblical Theology.

By the Bible, I mean the whole Bible. The greatest danger we face with regard to Biblical Theology is refraining from—or even casting aside—books, passages, and verses from the Bible due to difficulty, unease, or even boredom. Every verse in the Bible should be read, preached, and absorbed by Christians, nothing is off-limits; not the Song of Solomon, Leviticus, Genealogies, Prophecies, or lists of laws, all of these are "breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:16-17) When we make a habit of laying aside any part of the Bible—either in preaching or in personal reading—we lay bricks on the path to heresy.

While starting with the Gospels is a good idea, and it may take some time, especially for newborn Christians to make their way through those, we should not read the Bible looking for whatever is simple, whatever is palatable, or whatever we already know.

I recommend taking time each day to look in deeper detail at one passage or verse you read each day, and then in addition read or listen broadly to everything else. Taking this big picture, fine detail approach means that you’ll begin asking questions in the finer times which might be answered in the broader ones—you may have no idea who Melchizedek is, for instance, if you’re reading Hebrews, but then find out whilst listening to Genesis. As questions turn into answers, as you have conversations with others, you begin to form a greater understanding of the Bible. With the aid of Study Bibles and commentaries, you might even look deeper into why we have the books of the Bible we have, the way they’ve been ordered in the past and the present, or even study Biblical languages.

However your path looks, you’ll end up with either physical or mental notes, some of which connect passages to one another, some of which you’re still confused about, but all of which answer to one degree or another the question I mentioned earlier, “what does the Bible say?”

Side Note: I feel it is necessary that I begin with the biggest misunderstanding I hear about Systematic Theology.

Systematic Theology isn’t simply a big book written by a guy named Robert, John, Louis, or Wayne. These books, though interesting, are usually collections of individual studies in Systematic Theology, bound together under one cover, usually by one or two theologians. Some of these are helpful, some are not. In a couple of weeks I’ll make specific suggestions about which books of Systematic Theology I recommend—either individual subject books or collections—but for today I will simply say that I would generally recommend making sure that if you are buying one of these larger volumes that you’ve thoroughly vetted whether or not the theologian has a good track record.

If Biblical Theology asks ‘What does the Bible say?” Christian Systematic Theology asks “What does the Bible have to say about [insert subject]?” While we ask questions of the Bible in the first category, these questions are about getting to the heart of what has been written (What did the author mean? What culture was dominant at the time? Who were the Sadducees? etc) whereas, in the second category, we are able to begin asking questions of the broader text which come from living in the world as a Christian. Technology in Biblical times was nothing like it is today, for instance, and so whilst we might read certain passages and learn principles which directly speak to our relationship with social media for example, in Systematic Theology we get to ask questions like, “What does the Bible have to say about adopting new technology?” In fact, there have been a number of books written on this subject over the past few years, as well as ongoing blogs and newsletters which deal with the finer points from a Christian perspective. In addition, Systematic Theology also deals with broader theological topics like the role of men and women, apologetics, the Trinity, and the attributes of God, as well as refutations of heretical teachings which claim to be biblically based. This is a huge remit of course, but each comes from asking questions of the Bible. This is a less-than-complete explanation, but hopefully, it goes 80% of the way towards illustrating the place of Systematic thinking in the realm of Theology.

Earlier I mentioned that whether or not someone is a Christian, they will have developed a Biblical, Systematic, and more often than not, Historical theology in their own lives, but how can that be if they potentially haven’t ever read, seen, or heard of a Bible?

Take, for example, an agnostic schoolboy who has decided that whilst Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam might be somewhat true, none of their holy books can be trusted. That in itself is a Biblical Theology, it will affect how he views God, how he views himself—disinterested in faith and not in need of salvation—and this, as a result, will mean that when he asks hard questions in life like the meaning of it, whether there is an afterlife, or how to handle technology, his systematic approach will likely be to do so without the Bible, and therefore he will form a system based on his own experience, his teachers, possibly parents, and other outside sources. He may even then go on to back up those theories with history, possibly even as simply as “pre-modern era = bad, progress = good.”

Far worse, as we previously mentioned, is the case of a Christian who was told by a pastor that she needn’t read Leviticus, the minor prophets, Hebrews, Jude, and Revelation—after all the pastor would never preach from them—she has now developed an incomplete view of the Bible, and a weak Biblical Theology. When she then goes on to ask deeper questions then, like “how should I think about my sexuality?” she will find herself answering those questions with;

a. Scepticism about the importance of the canon of Scripture
b. A lack of understanding of the basics of the faith
c. Little knowledge of the shape and overarching story of Scripture

For this reason and many others, we must make sure our Biblical Theology is not undervalued, and that our System of theology after that is not unduly influenced more by the world than by the Bible.

“Biblical study is incomplete until biblical theology has been done.”

B. S. Rosner, New dictionary of biblical theology, 2000, 4.

I began by saying how important it is that we hold both of the following to be true:

1. The Bible is sufficient

2. It is a mighty blessing that we have such a huge library of Christians throughout history at our fingertips to draw and learn from

Historical Theology is where we exercise our thankfulness for the cloud of witnesses who have come before us and walk their paths after they’ve left them behind. In the last category, I used the example of technology, which has sped up at a rate we’ve never seen before. With that said, it isn’t like technological advances have never happened before, Chris Martin from Terms of Service was originally inspired to write about Social Media because of Neil Postman’s book on the rise of the television! Throughout Martin’s book, he also references other historical advances such as the printing press, to help us understand how to view what he calls “the Social Internet.”

Whether we’re talking about political perspectives, heretical views, Church movements, or a host of other subjects, looking at history can help us to understand that we’re far from the first Christians to face this kind of opposition or positions, and others have done good work in understanding what the Bible has to say in response before we have.

Historical Theology allows us to find answers our fellow brothers and sisters have given to various questions in history, track the potency and veracity of usefulness and effect of the Bible throughout time, and then finally, perhaps most importantly, check our own work against what’s come before.

I’ve said it before but the more of Church History and its theologians that I read, the more I’m convinced of Ecclesiastes 1:9:

What has been is what will be,
    and what has been done is what will be done,
    and there is nothing new under the sun.

We ought to assume that the paths we have ahead of us have already been traversed, perhaps even fought through, by Christians before us. What’s more, in their kindest, they have left behind them signposts and instructions along the way to help us along, how foolish must we be if we were to ignore them?

With that said, we must always weigh history on the scales of Scripture, not vice versa.

The first two articles in this series are out now, and the final part is coming soon. In summary, when we talk about Biblical, Systematic, and Historical Theology, here’s what we mean:

• Biblical Theology: “What does the Bible say?”

• Systematic Theology: “What does the Bible have to say about [insert subject here]?”

• Historical Theology: “What has the Church historically believed about X, and how has the Church answered questions and faced opposition in the past?”

If you have more questions about any of these, please drop them in the comment section below and I’ll make sure to respond to them in upcoming articles, either in the body of the article, or as an FAQ/Q&R. The most crucial thing to remember, beyond anything else, is to read your Bible, to study God throughout it, and to keep your eyes fixed on God.

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Grace and Peace,

Adsum Try Ravenhill