"The Benefits to our Lives"
The children’s minister at my church suggested a reading for us at a luncheon a few months back. “Systematic Theology” by Wayne Gruden. This book is like, 1200+ pages long and almost like a text book. I've just began reading it! This book is such a wonderful resource and full of all kind of information!! Since I'm reading 3 books right now, it will take me a while to get through this one!!
The exert I read tonight was called “The Benefits to Our Lives.” - why study systematic theology?! To quote Gruden, “If there were no sin in our hearts, we could read the Bible from cover to cover and, although we would not immediately learn everything in the Bible, we would most likely learn only true things about God and his creation. Every time we read it we would learn more true things and we would not rebel or refuse to accept anything we found written there. But with sin in our hearts we retain some rebelliousness against God. At various points there are – for all of us – biblical teachings which for one reason or another we do not want to accept.”
So, studying systematic theology (“any study that answers the question, ‘What does the whole Bible teach us today?’ about any given topic.) "helps us to overcome our wrong ideas, be able to make better decisions later, and will help us grow as Christians," says Gruden.
“The more we know about God, about his Word, about his relationships to the world and mankind, the better we will trust him, the more fully we will praise him, and the more readily we will obey him.”
The exert I read tonight was called “The Benefits to Our Lives.” - why study systematic theology?! To quote Gruden, “If there were no sin in our hearts, we could read the Bible from cover to cover and, although we would not immediately learn everything in the Bible, we would most likely learn only true things about God and his creation. Every time we read it we would learn more true things and we would not rebel or refuse to accept anything we found written there. But with sin in our hearts we retain some rebelliousness against God. At various points there are – for all of us – biblical teachings which for one reason or another we do not want to accept.”
So, studying systematic theology (“any study that answers the question, ‘What does the whole Bible teach us today?’ about any given topic.) "helps us to overcome our wrong ideas, be able to make better decisions later, and will help us grow as Christians," says Gruden.
“The more we know about God, about his Word, about his relationships to the world and mankind, the better we will trust him, the more fully we will praise him, and the more readily we will obey him.”
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