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, c 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.1 He
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.2 Vanhoozer 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.3 Prior 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.4 This 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
