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A Practical Theology The term "Theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "the character of one who speaks or treats of [a certain subject]", or simply "the study of a certain subject". Saint Augustine defined theology as "reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity."
There are a number of different perspectives on theology and many diverse doctrinal stances held by many different and sincere Christ-followers around the world. The Bible says to "...speak the Truth in Love..." We must strive to understand good theology and truth as God reveals it to us. Sometimes, though, people hold the truth in pride, arrogance, and unloving attitudes ("Our way is right... yours is not..."). This creates "classism" within the Body of Christ. It creates a "Who's in, who's out" mentality. This is neither healthy, nor in alignment with God's heart. Conversely you may have a heart of gold and love people, yet have a warped understanding of truth. We need both Truth and Love... together they are powerful and attract people to Christ.Throughout time, Theology has been studied and engaged in various ways. In ancient times, the stories and ideas of who God was were passed down and preserved in narrative (story) form. The stories were discussed among teachers and people, along with their meanings and life-applications. Today, many people attend seminaries to pursue degrees in Theology as a form of education. In these settings Theology is often studied in a systematic way within sterile, classroom environments. Where the ancient Eastern mind would explain God through stories, poems and art, our modern Western explanations often break down the whole of theology into finer pieces (called doctrines) to study. Where a Western mind looks for lists, "bullet-points," and definitions to understand theology, the Eastern mind would look for pictures and applicable illustrations pulled from life. Both of these approaches to theology have their benefits.
Here at Anchor, we seek to understand, teach, and live out an "Integrative" or "Practical" Theology.
We call this "Integrative" for 3 reasons:
1) We want our Theology to be both Systematic and Narrative, integrated together seamlessly (Click links to read more...)
2) We want our Theology to be integrated with our lives... not just a system of beliefs we have agreed to in our minds, but beliefs that have been fully accepted at a heart level and begun to work themselves into our daily lives
3) We want our Theology to be integrated with the whole of Scripture (a balanced perspective, where the doctrines are all in alignment with one another... we must learn to view any doctrine in light of all scripture)
