What is the Goal of Theology?

What comes to mind when you hear the word, "theology?" Something that guys with more than one PhD do? Something pastors trying to do? Maybe you hear that word and all you think about it is a study. You correct in assuming that it is a study. Theology simply means "study of God."

This past week, our students were learning about theology and how it helps to know Jesus our Savior, God our Father, and the mission of the church taken from John 17 (this lesson was from The Gospel Project). I have to admit, students come to know theology as another academic course or field of study that do not want any part of. I can understand their unwillingness to it because many Bible teachers paint theology that way.

As we were going through our lesson, we got to where we talked about the goal of theology. The goal of theology is not to accumulate knowledge but to simply know who God is. Theology is the study of knowing God. How do you know someone? By getting to know them. When my wife and I started dating, our desire was to get to know each other. Even after 13 years of marriage, we are still getting to know each other as we grow in our relationship with one another. In our study of theology, we are pursuing God by getting to know who He is. This is a study that a Christian will continue for the rest of their life.

Someone may ask, where should we begin our study of God. Good question. The answer is the Bible. The Bible is God's revelation to mankind. The Bible shows us who God is and how He works. Getting good theological books is great, but you need the Bible. Since the goal of theology is knowing God, you need to read the book He wrote using 40 different authors using their own writing styles.