Theology is for the church!
January 11, 2005
“Theology, as a function of the Christian church, must serve the needs of the church. A theological system is supposed to satisfy two basic needs: the statement of the truth of the Christian message and the interpretation of this truth for every new generation.”
Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology, 1.1
I love it. I ran across some Tillich in The Openness of God, and so I ran and picked up Tillich’s Systematic Theology (which we’re reading for Systematic Theology next semester, along with Cone, Gutierrez, Ruether and Calvin’s Institutes, a far cry for last year’s Bonaventure, Pseudo-Dionysius and all the early, dead guys…should be interesting) and have been reading some of that tonight. So I flipped to the first page, and that’s what I see. Theology…must serve the needs of the church. Tillich…a practical theologian. I never knew. I’m sure I won’t be with Tillich on everything, but quite the sentence and quite the way to put a focus to his Systematic Theology - to say that theology must serve the needs of the church. If it doesn’t…it’s just noise, clanging cymbals, worthless.
Tags: Theology, Tillich
Posted in Theology
Adam Walker Cleaveland: 
January 11th, 2005 at 11:11 pm
Dude!
I just found your blog through Planet Emergent. I started reading your I Am… and thought “WOW It’s me”…until I got to the mac loving part. Oh well.
What kind of Subaru do you drive?
Nice blog, I’ll be sure to stop back.
January 12th, 2005 at 8:37 am
that’s where i have to diverge with tillich and run to barth, over the word “need”. tillich assumes way too much of the correspondence between need and reality. barth would put it rather “theology, as a function of the Christian church, is done in the church”. what we know of theology arises for the benefit and creation of the church, not necessarily our needs.
January 12th, 2005 at 12:47 pm
I am in agreement with Myles, although may I suggest Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology? It is quite good and is designed for the Body, not the theologians.
January 13th, 2005 at 11:24 am
Systematic theology can be boring as hell, although I actualy like Daniel Migliore. We just keep moving away from the mystery. I read chunks of Dogmatics and the 1531 Institutes… now what? :) I think I may pull out Dynamics of Faith and read it again.
“Theology…must serve the needs of the church.” Yes… and God’s cause is not cult, but humanity. (Another great German theologian, Hans Kung)
I enjoyed your post.
Rick
January 19th, 2005 at 8:31 pm
I would disagree with this quote, “Theology…must serve the needs of the church.” How about “Theology…as God revealed through His scripture to serve mankind’s ultimate needs.”