On general principle, I believe that theology is secondary to the gospel. We have, from day one, as the “called out” people of God, been called back in to sharing our faith, our relationship, with others. That is the gospel. God reaches in and grabs our attention and we are never the same.

Subsequently we do try to understand what is happening and that reflection results in theology.

So, I believe that theology has to be contemporary. That means that as each generation tries to understand, they (have to?) create some theology. Because we are all human and because we all have the same Lord, there will be similarities but because we live in uniquely timebound, cultural, historical, and linguistic situations, expressions of theology must also change and adapt.

The theologies of the past and those that now surround us, have had to ultimately serve as handmaidens to the gospel. by the same token, theology is not an absolute, it has to be contextually relevant to the time of its creation and to its own millieu. By looking at past theologies within their contexts, as with any historical works, will certainly be informative, but there is also no good reason to take it as normative for today unless you or I personally find it to be useful!

Calvin’s “Institutes” helped to drive the Reformation, but I doubt that they will have the same effect now.

At the same time, theology cannot be purely our speculation, for we would not have any useful theology without God’s self-revelation!

God has been working with mankind in and through history. Foolish to ignore that the theologies of the past are also a result of what God with His self-revelation (and the demands of His gospel) meant to real people in real situations.

Live to serve : Serve to live