The Queen of Sciences vs. The Tetragrammaton
This quote from C.H. Spurgeon reminds us what practical doctrine really is:
“In too many cases the sublime truths are held in abeyance under the pretence that they are not practical; whereas the very fact that they are revealed proves the Lord thinks them to be of value, and woe unto us if we pretend to be wiser than He.”
Excerpt taken from "Lectures To My Students"
XXIII On Conversion As Our Aim
pg 336
Spurgeon's words are amazingly applicable to the Church today. Unfortunately we have a lot of people who walk around calling themselves Christian, but when doctrine is discussed they are found to be more than lacking. People have become afraid of doctrine in large part because they do not understand how intensely practical it really is. Many have become squemish about doctrine because they have seen the results of bad doctrine. This is understandable, but no less dangerous.
Dr. Daniel Ebert (Clearwater Christian College)
"There is a parallel between this reaction against theology and the Jewish Tradition, which avoids the pronunciation of the Sacred Name or Tetragrammaton (YHWH). The desire not to violate the third commandment, and take the Lord's name in vain, was a noble one. But the over reaction of not pronouncing the Tetragrammaton at all, resembled superstition, and in the end has led to a lack of proper knowledge. Today no one knows for sure how the Divine Name was originally pronounced. So it is with theology. Those who fear its abuse, and avoid doing it at all, render a disservice to the Church. In the end there is the loss of true knowledge, which is essential to the health of God's people. The proper course is not to avoid theology altogether, but rather to do it responsibly. And this leads us to the main purpose of this lecture: the responsibilities of theological discussion. We will consider this, first with respect to God, then with respect to the church, and finally with respect to one's self."
We must fight to preserve sound theology by emphasizing its practicality. We must not relinquish the doctrines that God has given to us, or else the generations that follow us will have nothing to stand on. When God revealed these truths He did so because they would be profitable to us; so let us labor furiously to take advantage of God's gift and be sound theologians.
We must not neglect biblical Theology; we must fight to preserve the "queen of sciences."
“In too many cases the sublime truths are held in abeyance under the pretence that they are not practical; whereas the very fact that they are revealed proves the Lord thinks them to be of value, and woe unto us if we pretend to be wiser than He.”
Excerpt taken from "Lectures To My Students"
XXIII On Conversion As Our Aim
pg 336
Spurgeon's words are amazingly applicable to the Church today. Unfortunately we have a lot of people who walk around calling themselves Christian, but when doctrine is discussed they are found to be more than lacking. People have become afraid of doctrine in large part because they do not understand how intensely practical it really is. Many have become squemish about doctrine because they have seen the results of bad doctrine. This is understandable, but no less dangerous.
Dr. Daniel Ebert (Clearwater Christian College)
"There is a parallel between this reaction against theology and the Jewish Tradition, which avoids the pronunciation of the Sacred Name or Tetragrammaton (YHWH). The desire not to violate the third commandment, and take the Lord's name in vain, was a noble one. But the over reaction of not pronouncing the Tetragrammaton at all, resembled superstition, and in the end has led to a lack of proper knowledge. Today no one knows for sure how the Divine Name was originally pronounced. So it is with theology. Those who fear its abuse, and avoid doing it at all, render a disservice to the Church. In the end there is the loss of true knowledge, which is essential to the health of God's people. The proper course is not to avoid theology altogether, but rather to do it responsibly. And this leads us to the main purpose of this lecture: the responsibilities of theological discussion. We will consider this, first with respect to God, then with respect to the church, and finally with respect to one's self."
We must fight to preserve sound theology by emphasizing its practicality. We must not relinquish the doctrines that God has given to us, or else the generations that follow us will have nothing to stand on. When God revealed these truths He did so because they would be profitable to us; so let us labor furiously to take advantage of God's gift and be sound theologians.
We must not neglect biblical Theology; we must fight to preserve the "queen of sciences."
posted by Paul at 8:00 AM
2 Comments:
Interesting terminology: "the Queen of Sciences."
By the way, where was my "Tuesday's Sports Short." I missed it.
Theology used to be considered and refered to as the "Queen of Sciences" as for the Tuesday sports short...
The Tuesday morning meeting at 6am threw a monkey wrentch in my normal routine. It will be back next week.
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