Theology of Andrew: Rob Whittaker on Systematic Theology

Monday, March 17, 2008

Rob Whittaker on Systematic Theology

"Many of us have a system, we may not have put a label on it, we may not even realize it is a system, it's the system of our denomination, it's the system of our parents, it's the system of our culture, it's the system of our education, etc. What we tend to do, is make all truth submissive to our system. Look at theology... when we find a bible verse that does not fit our system, what we tend to do is force the verse into our system, so for instance, if you believe God (describes calvinism) and you find a verse that says God wills all men to be saved, what do you do? You look into the greek and the word want, and you'll do some pretty fantastic expositional gymnastics, to make that verse fit your system...we all do that.... can I suggest to you a better method... could I encourage you, when you find some truth that doesn't fit your system, to be prepared to change your system... we make truths fit our system, rather than making our system submissive to the truth.... for example studying the stars is biblical theology, systematic theology is studying theology, where we join up the dots and put them into systems that we understand and can predict God...Some of you have a Calvinist system, some of you have a Charismatic/Pentecostal system, Lord bless you all, I'm not knocking systems I'm just saying: systems are helpful provided that you do not get tyrannized by them." - Rob Whittaker Principal of Capernwray Hall Bible School, England.

1 comment:

Michael W.March 17, 2008 at 1:13 PM
One of the books I am reading (Metamorpha by Kyle Strobel) just talked about this. It wasn't so much about doctrine or theology, but world view.

Basically saying that so often we let our cultural understanding interpret the Bible, but we need to let the Bible form our cultural understanding.
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Quotes For Thought

"If baptism is the beginning of my life, and the day of regeneration is the first of days, it is obvious that the words spoken when I received the grace of adoption are more honorable than any spoken since....Through this confession I was made a child of God, I, who was His enemy for so long because of my sins. May I pass from this life to the Lord with this confession on my lips." - St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, par. 26.

"To know Jesus and Jesus crucified is the sum total of my philosophy." - St. Bernard of Clairvaux

"Oh the extraordinary goodness of God toward man? The just of the Old Testament thank God in the weariness of long years; but that which they obtained, by means of a long and heroic service pleasing to God, Jesus gives to you in the brief time span of an hour. Indeed, if you believe that Jesus Christ is the lord, and that God had raised him from the dead, you will be saved and you will be introduced into heaven by the same one who introduced the good thief." - St. Cyril of Jerusalem

"He made us to believe in Christ, who made for us a Christ on whom we believe. He makes in men the beginning and the completion of the faith in Jesus who made the man Jesus the beginner and finisher of faith" - St. Augustine

"Nor must we trust in holiness of origin, in forefathers, or in
the gifts of God which we enjoy. We must look to the Word alone and judge thereby. Those alone who truly embrace the Word will be as immovable forever as Mount Zion. They may be few in number and thoroughly despised by the world, as were Noah and his children. But God, through these few, preserved to man the truth of that promised mastery when he had not even room to set his foot upon the earth." - Bl. Martin Luther "Commentary on Genesis"