Why bother with Theology?

Through reflections on Colossians 1:15-23, Vinoth Ramachandra sets a comprehensive agenda for the work of theology. He suggests that 'theology is the enterprise of relating all human knowledge, as well as all our everyday activities, to God's self-disclosure in Christ.' [The Message of Mission. Leicester: IVP, 2003. pp.22-23]. Here we can offer a preliminary definition which suggests that 'theological reflection is a process which seeks to make connections between "our everyday activities" and "God's self-disclosure in Christ", as it is expressed in the Bible and in the faith of the Church.

Theological Reflection

What is theological reflection? One branch of theology which takes context and experience seriously is Theological Reflection. For decades, this approach to theology has been widely accepted as an essential part of the ministerial training to people preparing for Christian ministries.

However, different scholars have looked at theological reflections with different definitions:

Every one is a theologian

The word theology comes from the Greek words; theos meaning 'God', and logos which can mean 'word', 'reason' or 'thought'. This means that theology is thinking about God, and we all think and talk about God in one way or another on a daily basis.

Link between faith and charitable action

Roy Hattersley, a self-proclaimed atheist (though what he wrote is definitely not what a typical atheist would say), comments on his reflections after seeing Hurricane Katrina's destruction in New Orleans in 2005. He observes how the American government entrusted disaster relief to a religious body, the Salvation Army. Here is his reflections about the link between faith and charitable action:

"The Salvation Army has been given a special status as provider-in-chief of American disaster relief. But its work is being augmented by all sorts of other groups. Almost all of them have a religious origin and character.

'Why does a loving God allow evil?'

What happens when people ask, 'Why does a loving God allow so much evil?' This is one of the most commonly asked questions when a disaster strikes. 

If we break the question down to smaller parts, we'll see this simple question is embroiled in many interesting, deeper questions!

Theology in Context

'Theology is in every case contextual. The theology we create will inevitably be influenced in all kinds of subtle ways by the social and material environment within which we live and work. In many cases we might simply be unaware of such influences, we may have no interest in them, or we may positively choose to ignore them. Alternatively there may be places which prompt us to make locality a strength and to see in it the opportunity - perhaps even necessity - for acknowledging its role in the formation of responsible and generative theological, even doctrinal, thought.'

Davies, Oliver. 'Violence in Bloomsbury: A Theological Challenge' International Journal of Systematic Theology 8 (2006), p. 252.

Everything we perceive and believe is established in context. Nothing can be separated from context.