I agree that Christians, generally speaking, have lacked theological and
philosophical knowledge over time. This is unfortunately to the Church's
deficit. Due to advancements in technology, it is easier to access
information that you are looking for, but it could be incorrect and you
may not realize it. Each Christian should prioritize understanding living
with a Christian lens and with Christian ethics, as noted in this week's
presentation video. Leithart explains that this should be done through
"ecclesial biblical theology," or theology based on Scripture for the growth
of believers in their church and other churches.1He states that there is a
divide in biblical theology scholarship and is ecclesial biblical theology
that is meant to be from the church for the church that emphasizes
ecclesial and theology aspects equally.2Vanhoozer and Strachan describe
this occurring in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They point out
that the office of pastor surrendered deep study of theology to academics
and focused more on simply proclaiming the gospel to all that they
can.3Prior to this, it was seemingly normal for pastors to engage in deep
discussion and study theological ideas. Moving away from this was to the
detriment of the pastor and the theologian, who are now mostly
separated.4This is a generalization, there are still pastors who are also
theologians, but many pastors yield to others in terms of being a
theologian, thus not pushing their congregation to actively study His Word
and grasp theology in a way that would push them to be theologians in
their own right.
This is an issue for the church today. Theological understanding is of the
utmost importance for the pastor and preaching theology is important.
The gospel message that is geared towards believers and non-believers
can also explain theological concepts that the congregation needs to hear.
These concepts can also help those who may not believe in Him begin to
understand what Jesus did even more. As every Christian looks at life, it is
imperative for the pastor to explain theology in order to build an ethic that
is founded in Scripture as these ethics should be central to Christian
living.5
I believe that pastors do focus on certain aspects of the Christian faith, but
neglect others. This is probably based on each pastor though. In my
experience, I have consistently seen pastors skip past church history
(except for discussing the Reformation or talking about a missionary),
philosophy, and even apologetics. Again, each aspect of Christianity is
important in its own way and should be studied. Much like the quote in
regards to repeating history, if we do not seek to understand as much as
we can about Christianity and preach and share it for those in the
congregation (theology, philosophy, ethics, history, etc.) then we are
putting the future of the Church in danger. We need to do as much as we
can to pass on this information to the next generation in a way that is
clear but is deep enough for a greater overall understanding.
1. Todd A. Wilson, and Gerald Hiestand.Becoming a Pastor Theologian:
New Possibilities for Church Leadership. (InterVarsity Press, 2016), 7.
2. Ibid., 10.
3. Kevin J. Vanhoozer, and Owen Strachan.The Pastor as Public
Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision. (Baker Academic, 2015), 87-88.
4. Ibid., 88.
5. Week 1 Video: Dimensions of Christian Ethics
