It’s difficult to describe the level of brain fatigue that you reach after two days of listening to theology lectures from 8am to 5pm. My head literally feels heavy by the end of each afternoon. And then of course I try to read some of my required 1,276 pages of reading (not even exaggerating) until my eyes cross and small puffs of smoke come out of my ears. And did I mention there’s a ten page paper due this Friday as well? It’s insanity, pure and simple.
Why then do I subject myself to this brain-exploding ordeal? Several reasons. 1) A week long class is incredibly efficient. Yes, it’s torture, but it’s only five days instead of fifteen drawn out weeks. 2) My short term memory is fantastic; my long term memory is feeble at best. So learning and regurgitating all this information in a one to three week time span (the final three assignments are due two weeks after the class ends) is great for the way my brain is wired. 3) It fits well with the way I approach the study of theology (for which I have no spiritual gifting of easy comprehension). I like to take what I’ll call the dunk tank approach. I submerge in as much information at once as possible, come up for air when I’m about to drown, and count on the Holy Spirit to make what needs to stick stick. I don’t worry about the rest. Honestly, if I tried to fully understand it all, I’d be cowering under a desk somewhere weeping by hour two.
Which is not to say I don’t have enormous respect for theology and theologians. I count on them to be the bumpers in the bowling alley of my belief—they keep my faith from falling into the gutters of error and indolence. And once I have the basic “this is heresy,” “this is orthodoxy” foundation (to switch metaphors), then I can go happily on with Bible study, prayer, worship, and mission. Sound basic theology, I firmly believe, is enormously important to the Christian life.
But I’m not someone who delights in debating whether or not Christians are commanded to keep the Sabbath, when/if the rapture will occur, or what the various horns on the beast in Revelation are meant to symbolize. I’m vaguely curious about the various positions on those topics, but I don’t plan to write a dissertation on any of them. In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul tells us that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” but we do not study Scripture just so that we will know more and be able to teach more. The next verse completes the sentence and gives us the point of studying the Word: “so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (emphases mine) Will defining my position on the timing of the great tribulation equip me to better serve the orphan? I don’t think so. Is this a reason not to read Revelation and grapple with these issues? No. In fact, Revelation is the only book in the Bible that explicitly promises a blessing to those who engage with it: “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” (Rev 1:3)
I do think it is important to learn these things, to read the whole Bible over and over, to wrestle with the sticky theological controversies. That’s why I chose to study at Dallas Theological Seminary, despite the insanity of the syllabi and the potentially crushing pressure of being in a community of so many ‘cradle Christians’ (a topic for a separate blog post, and something that has actually been a blessing more often than not). “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Tim 1:6) I could continue to quote from Paul, who was himself a scholar among scholars, a brilliant and zealous theologian who completely missed the Messiah until Jesus pretty much smacked him in the face. Studying esoteric concepts in a library or academic tower does me no good at all unless it helps me love Jesus and love others more and more. Studying the character of God and the nature and content of His promises does help me love better: it gives me greater humility, greater compassion, deeper joy, and more exuberant hope. Squabbling about how many exact years the “millennium” will last does not help me feed the hungry or repent of my sins.
There is a tension, a balance that we hold as Christians. We must know the gospel, and we must know it well enough to be able to explain it clearly, to a three year old, in our sleep. (I’m serious; I’m convinced it is impossible to ‘overstudy’ the gospel message.) And we are to read the entire Bible often and strive to understand it to the best of our ability. It is revelation from God, and is immeasurably beneficial to believers. But if all we do is study, even if all we do is study and teach, we are missing the major point of the Scriptures. We’ll be making the mistake of the Pharisees: memorizing the message but missing the meaning. Christ Himself, who I think we can argue knew the Bible better than anyone ever, spent far more time doing than He did debating.
My point in all of this is that I place great value on the comprehensive (sometimes brain-crushingly-comprehensive) theological education I am getting. But I place far greater value on the fact that it has hugely increased my love for my Savior and His creation. Will I learn and understand everything there is to know about Eschatology during this week long course? I’ll be lucky if I comprehend 10% of what is being taught. I could stress and make flashcards and pull all-nighters and probably bump that percentage up to 15%, or I can trust the Holy Spirit to help me retain what I need to know to serve God and to serve people to the best of my ability. And maybe that sounds like the obvious conclusion, but I’ll tell you, as an overachieving academic nerd, it took me several semesters to settle fully into that truth. And that truth is the only thing that got me through six theology courses without wandering off into the wilderness poking straw in my hair. =)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. –Proverbs 3:5-6
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