arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything
against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.
Martin Luther, 1521
Systematic theology is any study that answers the question, “What does the whole Bible teach us today?” about any given topic. It involves collecting and understanding all the relevant passages in the Bible on various topics and then summarizing their teachings clearly so that we know what to believe about each topic.
The study of systematic theology will sometimes involve the use of terms and even concepts that were not themselves used by any individual biblical author, but that are the proper result of combining the teachings of two or more biblical authors on a particular subject. The terms Trinity, incarnation, and deity of Christ for example, are not found in the Bible, but they usefully summarize biblical concepts.
The study of systematic theology will make it possible to formulate summaries of biblical teachings with much more accuracy than Christians would normally arrive at without such a study.
The primary reason that Christians should study theology is because Jesus commanded his disciples and now commands us also to teach believers to observe all that He commanded. This includes the content of the entire Bible.
Matthew 28:18-20 : And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Studying systematic theology will help us grow as Christians. 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.
If we are going to teach obedience to all that Christ commanded, it is absolutely necessary for us to collect, organize, and impart the Bible’s content to others as part of our mandate to make disciples of all people. Before we can teach all that Christ commanded, we must first know all that Christ commanded. We can work toward this goal through the study of systematic theology.
This text was adapted from Wayne Grudem’s book “Systematic Theology”.