Theology Survey (2): Associations with Theology

As I said in the last post, we are going to be putting up some responses to a survey about theology up on the blog in the next few days. I think this will make for interesting reading, both for the thoughtfulness of the answers and the variety of perspectives we received back. Here is the first question and responses:

Question: "What associations come into your mind when you hear the words 'doctrine' and 'theology'?"

#1: "I associate confusion and division. I think of controversial topics that can be discussed within the church and Christian community. The only things I’ve ever really known of theology have been very intellectual and were not usually properly taught to me. I feel like a lot of the time, people can become negatively divided over tense issues and can turn it into being who is right about this, and not truly trying to seek God’s heart in the issue. People are taking pride in their knowledge and not in what God has done."

#2: "System of beliefs about God, the world, and life in general."

#3: "Stuffy libraries at Covenant Seminary and dusty books."

#4: "I think that within the context of the Christian Church, these words have both gained a really academic feel, although in a practical sense, they are very simple ideas. Theology is simply the study of god/God, and doctrine is a system or list of beliefs about god/God."

#5: "I feel a negative connotation concerning “doctrine” and “theology” because, frankly, when I hear these words I feel that the issue of missions and making new disciples is ignored... I would choose “evangelizing” – showing love to the lost, see Matthew 28: 18-20 – over learning and discussing topics, such as theology and doctrine... I feel that I don’t know enough about theology and doctrine to have authority to disciple to people who don’t know it."

#6: "Books; an underlying set of beliefs that guide everything else that is done, whether in a church or in an individual. I think of the foundation for our lives (or what should be the foundation)."

#7: "I won’t lie…the first thing I think of are old dusty seminaries. But if I think about it more...words like…truth, knowledge, understanding, study, hard work, life, freedom….come to mind."

#8: "When I hear the words theology and doctrine I think of seminary. I just think that seminary is the place that 'advanced Christians' go to further enhance their knowledge of things such as theology and doctrine. I know this isn't true but I feel that in some weird way seminary is where people go to dig deeper and to learn these deeper issues."

#9: "Theology to me is more of a way of thinking. When I think of theology I think of ideas, conversations, interpretations and more of a loosely defined set of beliefs. Doctrine to me is more of a set of beliefs. I think of something like a list of rules or concrete points about what someone believes or subscribes to."

#10: "When I hear the words theology and doctrine I think of the core values and beliefs that I hold to be true. It’s the foundation of my faith. When I start to doubt or struggle with something, remembering my theology and doctrine is what brings me back to Christ."

#11: "My first association is with books. I don’t know why because theology is something that is in us. But I associate those words with being boring and dry. Something that people like to discuss but never really get anywhere with it or have an impact on the kingdom."

#12: "There are two ways to go here with theology and doctrine. One way to go is that these terms point to hardline truth statements that cease thought by giving the final answer to religious questions. The second way, and the way that theology and doctrine ought to function is that they become statements of understanding about religious questions that do not stop at themselves but provide a framework for thinking about lots of other questions – human questions that are broadly shared. Dorothy Sayers talks about this latter sense whereby the “dogma is the drama”, which is to say dogma (i.e. doctrine), along with our imagination, give us dramatic ways of seeing and of making sense of other questions. It helps us to put our thinking to use in dealing with our problems and questions."