How to Read Theology for All Its Worth

A Guide for Students

Karin Spiecker Stetina

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9780310093831
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

The Guide You Need to Read Theology Well.

Too many Christians avoid reading theology for fear they won't understand it or out of a misconception that it's only meant for the academic elite. Similarly, students in introductory theology classes can feel overwhelmed by the concepts and terminology they encounter.

Yet theology can be read with enjoyment and discernment. In How to Read Theology for All Its Worth, professor, author, and devoted reader Karin Stetina introduces students to the basic skills of intelligent reading, applied especially to theological works. Anyone who'd like to read theology well, whether a formal student or interested layperson, will benefit from the simple steps Stetina outlines.

Steps include:

• Identifying genre
• Becoming acquainted with the author and the context out of which he or she wrote
• Determining a thesis and main arguments

How to Read Theology for All Its Worth will equip readers not only to understand theology but also to insightfully engage authors' ideas. With the basic tools in hand, everyone can read with confidence and enjoy "conversations" with theological works.

CHAPTER 1

Overview:
Getting Acquainted
with the Tools of the
Discerning Reader

Is not the great defect of our education today—a defect traceable through all the disquieting symptoms of trouble that I have mentioned—that although we often succeed in teaching our pupils “subjects,” we fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think: they learn everything, except the art of learning.

DOROTHY SAYERS,

“THE LOST TOOLS OF LEARNING”

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

PHILIPPIANS 4:8

How do we discern wisdom? Judging intelligence is a far easier task than judging wisdom or divine truth. Yet Scripture calls us to do this very thing. It warns us that there are many false prophets in the world and in the church and calls to think about what is true and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8; 2 Timothy 4:3–5; 1 John 4:1). One practical way to go about this task is by equipping ourselves with the tools of careful inspection.

WHAT IS THE MIND-SET OF A DISCERNING READER?

The task of knowing who to read and how to read theological works, for the Christian, is vital to learning how to interpret and apply the Word of God as part of the body of Christ.¹ The opposite can be true as well; knowing how to interpret and apply Scripture is vital to knowing who to read and how to read in theology. As the editors of a volume on theological methods point out, “Everyone interprets the Bible in their own way.”² Whenever we come away from a Bible study or a sermon, we are well aware of the truth of this statement. Each reader has a lens or a bias by which he or she interprets both Scripture and the world. For example, the well-known verse John 3:16—“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”—has been subject to vastly different interpretations. While the Arminian theologian (see the glossary if you are unfamiliar with this term or any others used in this text) would assert that this passage affirms that everybody has the opportunity to be saved, the Calvinist theologian would say this text teaches that only those who believe in Christ will be saved.³ How can such a simple, well-known passage be understood in such radically different ways? The answer lies, in part, in what each reader of Scripture brings to the text.

It is beneficial, therefore, when approaching theological texts to be able to read between the lines, discerning the different perspectives, so that one can understand and evaluate the theology that is being taught. The author of Hebrews encourages this line of thinking: “Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14). When equipped with the tools of careful inspection, a reader may glean the truths contained in the work and avoid believing that which leads us astray from Christ, as Paul warns about in Ephesians 4:1–16. This is particularly important for the young theologian, as Helmut Thielicke rightly suggests:

My plea is simply this: every theological idea which makes an impression upon you must be regarded as a challenge to your faith. Do not assume as a matter of course that you believe whatever impresses you theologically and enlightens you intellectually. Otherwise suddenly you are believing no longer in Jesus Christ, but in Luther, or in one of your other theological teachers.⁴

One step in training our minds and hearts to be more discerning is learning how to listen well to a text, as we would listen to a conversation partner.⁵ Mortimer Adler, in his well-known classic How to Read a Book, suggests just this conversational approach:

Reading a book should be a conversation between you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the subject than you do; if not, you probably should not be bothering with his book. But understanding is a two-way operation; the learner has to question himself and question the teacher. He even has to be willing to argue with the teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying. Marking a book is literally an expression of your differences or your agreements. It is the highest respect you can pay him.⁶

Often we don’t take the time to understand what the “teacher” is actually saying. Listening to a text is more than just reading the words on the page. It also requires understanding the author’s perspective and his or her manner of communicating. As Deborah Tannen points out, “All communication is more or less cross-cultural. We learn to use language as we grow up, and growing up in different parts of the country, having different ethnic, religious, or class backgrounds, even just being male or female—all result in different ways of talking.”⁷ Add historical and presuppositional differences to this list, and it is understandable why truly perceiving what an author is saying can be such a challenging task.

As Christians, however, we are called to wisdom, not to ignorance or a critical spirit. Scripture encourages us to be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19). Furthermore, as Proverbs 1:5 (NIV) reads, “Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” Too often, we seek to be heard before we listen, and thus sow the seeds that foster what Deborah Tannen calls the “argument culture.”⁸ Rather than engaging in thoughtful, constructive dialogue, we can end up contributing to an adversarial culture either by erring on the side of “civility” or by manifesting a “warlike” mentality. We can seek to reverse this trend by training our minds and hearts to listen well to the Holy Spirit, as well as to the works with which we engage in conversation.

BECOMING A DISCERNING READER

A practical step to becoming a discerning reader who can recognize wisdom is learning to ask the right kinds of questions and knowing how to find the answers to those questions. These questions can be broken down into the following categories: the textual features, the context, the theological framework, the sources, the theologian’s views, and assessing a work. In the following chapters, we will cover each of these categories in greater depth, but below is a broad overview of this process.

Textual Features and Publication Information

What do the textual features and publication information convey?

Much can be discovered about a theological text just by looking at the foreword, the introduction, the original publication date, the publisher, the table of contents, the footnotes/endnotes, and the bibliography. Examining publication information can help answer some of the following questions:

• Who published the work? Publishers gear their works to particular audiences and areas of interest.

• When was the work originally published? The original publication date can give you information about the context.

• Who was the intended audience? A theologian directs his or her work to a particular audience.

• What was the purpose of the work? Publishers and theologians have an aim behind the work.

The often neglected footnotes/endnotes and bibliography are also valuable resources for answering questions such as the following:

• What types of sources does the theologian rely on? Does the theologian cite primary or secondary sources? Are the sources secular or religious? Are they scientific, philosophical, or theological? Is Scripture a primary source? Each of these can impact the theologian’s viewpoint.

• What parts of Scripture does the theologian cite? The parts of Scripture that the theologian primarily relies on—such as the Gospels, the Epistles, narrative texts, prophetic texts, wisdom literature, poetic texts—can impact his or her theological perspective.

• Who has influenced the theologian? Identify the specific theologians, thinkers, and schools of thought that the theologian favors.

• With whom is the theologian dialoguing? It is important to acknowledge whom the theologian seeks to support or refute.

We will look at these questions in more detail in chapter 3.

Context

What is the context of the work?

Context plays a crucial role in determining the meaning of a work. The context includes information not only about the setting of the text but also about the background of the theologian, whom the theologian is addressing, and the theologian’s frame of reference. If we are to hear the theologian accurately, as he or she intends to be heard, we need to recognize the text’s social, historical, and religious context and the intended goal of the text. Some of the questions we should address are the following:

• What is the specific context of the work? This includes examin...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Introduction: Becoming a Student of Theology
• 1. Overview: Getting Acquainted With the Tools of the Discerning Reader
• 2. Preparing for Reading Theology for All Its Worth: Being Steeped In Prayer and Scripture
• 3. First Steps: Examining Textual Features and Publication Information
• 4. Identifying the Context: Getting Better Acquainted With the Theologian
• 5. Discerning Theological Frameworks: Identifying the Theme of the Work and How It Is Conveyed
• 6. Discovering the Sources: Identifying the Foundations of the Work
• 7. Discerning the Theologian’s View: Listening for the Main Contention, Key Points, and Key Terms
• 8. Assessing: Evaluating and Applying the Theological Work
• Appendix 1: Equipping Others to Read Theology for All Its Worth
• Appendix 2: A Selected List of Significant Theologians and Theological Works
• Appendix 3: How to Dialogue With a Theological Work
• Appendix 4: A Guide for Participating In a Theological Discussion
• Appendix 5: How to Lead a Theological Discussion
• Appendix 6: Theological Discussion Questions On Cyprian’s On the Unity of the Church
• Glossary
• General Index