On the Consequences of an Ignorance of Biblical Theology

Milton Stanley recently posted a link to a forum over at 9Marks, in which several scholars shared their answers to the following question:

"In what ways will a congregation’s understanding of salvation and the gospel be limited if their pastors do not have a good grasp of biblical theology?"

Well, that's a good questions, and the answers given here are very interesting indeed. There is a lot of wisdom on this brief discussion, but let me just share a few highlights with you:

Andrew Davis wrote,

Pastors must have a firm grasp of biblical theology in order to make sense of the Bible’s cohesive story and to communicate it clearly to their congregations. Without that grasp, the congregation’s understanding of salvation may be limited to reforming their moral choices and improving their quality of life for now, all sweetened with a somewhat vague concept of heaven for later. Their understanding will fall far short of the grandeur of the true picture: the promise of a full salvation worked by Almighty God from all of sin’s damage, resulting in a perfect relationship with God, with God’s people from all eras and all nations, and with God’s world.

Graeme Goldsworthy wrote,

Congregations will not understand the centrality of Christ for interpreting Scripture and the meaning of life in our world. Recourse to people and events—particularly those of the Old Testament—will be valued mainly for their exemplary lessons, and not for their typological contribution to understanding the person and work of Christ. They will not see that Christ in his gospel is the interpreting principle for scripture and, indeed, for all reality.

Phil Johnson wrote,

Preaching that omits this vital dimension always breeds the same kind of dull-heartedness and spiritual decline Jesus encountered in Israel at his first advent. The church today is in the throes of a very similar spiritual miasma, because too many churchgoers have been fed for too long on a steady diet of topical messages, motivational talks, shallow, feel-good homilies, or even thinner gruel.

Aaron Menikoff wrote,

What happens when congregations aren’t exposed to the great storyline of Scripture? They see less of God, the Author of history, and more of themselves. They are humbled less by his enduring faithfulness. They turn the Bible into their advice column or quick reference guide. When Christ promises that the gates of hell will never prevail against the church they shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh." They don’t fall to their knees and worship the promise-keeping Lord of the universe.

Ray Ortlund, Jr., wrote,

We need to see each particular biblical truth in connection with the whole, centered not in the law but in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the message of God becomes clear and compelling. Then the grandeur of it all begins to break upon our hearts. Then we can stand up to that tidal wave of God-denial that is always washing over us.

Stephen Wellum wrote,

We will not only fail to understand the "big picture" of Scripture and God’s redemptive plan, we will undercut the glory of Christ and the centrality of the gospel. Too often we view Scripture as a series of unconnected pieces apart from an overall storyline and plan. Thus, when we seek to apply the Scripture to our lives (especially the Old Testament), we divorce the episodes of the Old Testament from their canonical context. As such, most of our teaching of the Old Testament is reduced to moralism, instead of driving our hearers back repeatedly to the wonder, glory, and power of the gospel.

And Bruce Waltke wrote,

The consequence of a general ignorance about the Old Testament among the people of God is a pervasive reduction of the full message of the New Testament to a basic gospel of atonement and individual ethics. I suspect many Christians feel spiritually undernourished because they live out their lives on the basis of about ten biblical texts.