The place of historical theology
Maybe you’re discussing something, and someone say, "oh that sounds like Pelagianism to me." This person is making use of historical theology. They are identifying what’s going on nowadays, using categories and names from the past.
And you can do this because a lot of the heresies and false teachings that crop up today are merely variations of heresies and false teachings that have come up again and again throughout church history. And so this ability to recognise and describe is a very useful skill to have.
The great value of studying church history isn’t just for interest’s sake (although it is very interesting) – it’s so that we can know how others have fallen into theological traps in the past, so that in today’s church we can avoid falling into them all over again.
However there is actually a difference between the ability to use historical theology, and the ability to think theologically. They are not the same thing! In fact a person can have one and not the other, or the other and not the one. Often people think they are thinking theologically when they are tossing around words like ‘hyper Calvinism’ and ‘Tridentine’ and ‘Sabellianism’ – but they’re not. They’re actually using in the skill of historical theology - which is useful in its own right, but is not the same as thinking theologically.
Of course the Reformers of the past were, in their own day, using the ability to think theologically. And some of them were absolutely phenomenal in their ability to think theologically! John Calvin, for instance, published the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion at the age of 26 – a work that is still being used today! But as people today look back on and reapply their work, that is the skill of historical theology.
The two are related to each other as a mechanic (historical theology) is related to an engineer (thinking theologically). They are both working with theological ideas. But while one is concerned with using ideas from the past, the second is constructing new ideas (which will hopefully be in line with the gospel).
The idea here is not to denigrate historical theology – becuase it really is a useful skill. If only people would learn from the lessons of the past! But historical theology is not a substitute for thinking theologically…
[ PS: the picture is of the Reformation Wall in Geneva, Switzerland. From left to right, William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, John Knox. ]
Categories: Ministry
