Does Theology have any practical applications

[alien444]

I have this view for some time that theology is totally useless. Any intelligent debate about religion or Christianity, inevitably veers into theological-apologetic rhetoric. It may be fascinating for some to discuss the finer points of the trinity of transubstantiation, but in the churches every Sunday the fine folks are discussing the limits of science and tolerance masked in the same handful of biblical sections discussed every Sunday. As an non-believer in the supernatural and a student of philosophy and religion, I love debating someone with a strong theological background, but I know it has no practical effect on society. If all Christians were theologians then I think the religious America and the Secular America could co-exist and co-operate with very similar goals, but unfortunately the vast majority of Christians seem to have a Sunday-school grasp on the contents of the bible and practically no knowledge of outside sources and disciplines in order to frame there knowledge. These are the people on the ground--business people, senators, mayors, police officers, and teachers---who are making their daily decisions on a very tenuous grasp of a 2000-3000 year old Bronze Age Jewish Book.

Does Theology have any practical applications?

 

[ebia]

I have this view for some time that theology is totally useless. Any intelligent debate about religion or Christianity, inevitably veers into theological-apologetic rhetoric. It may be fascinating for some to discuss the finer points of the trinity of transubstantiation, but in the churches every Sunday the fine folks are discussing the limits of science and tolerance masked in the same handful of biblical sections discussed every Sunday. As an non-believer in the supernatural and a student of philosophy and religion, I love debating someone with a strong theological background, but I know it has no practical effect on society. If all Christians were theologians then I think the religious America and the Secular America could co-exist and co-operate with very similar goals, but unfortunately the vast majority of Christians seem to have a Sunday-school grasp on the contents of the bible and practically no knowledge of outside sources and disciplines in order to frame there knowledge. These are the people on the ground--business people, senators, mayors, police officers, and teachers---who are making their daily decisions on a very tenuous grasp of a 2000-3000 year old Bronze Age Jewish Book. Does Theology have any practical applications?

Your post seems to disagree with itself.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Jesus gives us a story about two people visiting the temple one day, a Pharisee and a tax collector.

The Pharisee turns his eyes toward heaven, saying, "Lord, thank you that I am not like any of these sinners, especially this tax collector."

The tax collector is unable to even turn his head upward, but merely beats his breast in sorrow, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Two different theologies are present here.

And the "practical" realities they produce are that one of these people sees themselves as righteous, superior, and above the lowly sinful scum around him. The other confesses his wretchedness, is humble, and seeks only mercy.

Perhaps one will notice these two theologies working themselves out ordinarily among various Christians in life.

That's a real, actual happening of theology manifest in how a person thinks. Not merely of the invisible realities of faith, but in the visible reality of interpersonal relationships. If my theology teaches me that I am a big great person, specially loved by God above others, that's how I'm going to act. If my theology teaches me that I am as sinful as everyone else, that I am no better than my neighbor, that I have no right to pluck splinters from someone's eye due to the giant pieces of timber in my own--that too is going to influence how I act.

As a Lutheran I would classify these under Theology of Glory and Theology of the Cross. And a Theology of Glory is always, without exception, toxic theology, ultimately Christless theology, and it can only result in one of two things: Arrogance and despair.

What I think about God includes how I think of God as God relates to myself and others, and if that view of God is a toxic one, it's going to have me left with toxic attitudes and behaviors. Need a real life example? Try the Westboro Baptist Church or the KKK.

Need a real life example of the converse? Try Martin Luther King, Jr or Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Unix]

Perhaps it's a matter of with what people are feeding themselves: what Church/denomination they go to, what their favourite authors are, and what English Bible version they read, besides how serious they are.
Here are my denomination-test results and answers: http://www.christianforums.com/t7828563-post65854559/#post65854559
And my personality-test result and answers: http://www.christianforums.com/t7830849-post65942754/#post65942754
I will be glad if I can enter the seminary in the City (I live 12 miles from the city center) in the Autumn 2015. If not I will have to take some classes in a town to which it's pretty expensive to commute (it's not that long way though) - and I'm already trying to make friends there with a female:

It may be fascinating for some to discuss the finer points of the trinity of transubstantiation, but in the churches every Sunday the fine folks are discussing the limits of science and tolerance masked in the same handful of biblical sections discussed every Sunday. [...] unfortunately the vast majority of Christians seem to have a Sunday-school grasp on the contents of the bible and practically no knowledge of outside sources and disciplines in order to frame there knowledge. These are the people on the ground--business people, senators, mayors, police officers, and teachers---who are making their daily decisions on a very tenuous grasp of a 2000-3000 year old Bronze Age Jewish Book.

Does Theology have any practical applications?

 

[Lukaris]

I think our sense of right & wrong guided by our conscience must govern our intellects so we can have basic humanity. Clearly this a most basic understanding needed on a secular level from childhood & developed with whatever religious faith (or some set of values) a person is raised with. As Christians a basic theology is needed to know Jesus Christ as Lord to live life by His Gospel whatever one's IQ is.

 

[Hospes]

As an non-believer in the supernatural...

Am I to assume this theological statement has no practical applications in your life?

 

[oi_antz]

I have this view for some time that theology is totally useless. Any intelligent debate about religion or Christianity, inevitably veers into theological-apologetic rhetoric. It may be fascinating for some to discuss the finer points of the trinity of transubstantiation, but in the churches every Sunday the fine folks are discussing the limits of science and tolerance masked in the same handful of biblical sections discussed every Sunday. As an non-believer in the supernatural and a student of philosophy and religion, I love debating someone with a strong theological background, but I know it has no practical effect on society. If all Christians were theologians then I think the religious America and the Secular America could co-exist and co-operate with very similar goals, but unfortunately the vast majority of Christians seem to have a Sunday-school grasp on the contents of the bible and practically no knowledge of outside sources and disciplines in order to frame there knowledge. These are the people on the ground--business people, senators, mayors, police officers, and teachers---who are making their daily decisions on a very tenuous grasp of a 2000-3000 year old Bronze Age Jewish Book.

Does Theology have any practical applications?

I am not clear about what you are asking. Christian theology is from what I can see, concerned with understanding what has happened and what is expected to happen. I see the value of a person's religion in the philosophy it produces.

You seem to be making the assumption that religion is man-made for a purpose, and something that could just be discarded if it is found to be harmful. That's not a realistic way to see it IMO, it seems more like an idea that you like that you are trying to prove. But that is not how all religions came about.

 

[aiki]

I have this view for some time that theology is totally useless. Any intelligent debate about religion or Christianity, inevitably veers into theological-apologetic rhetoric.

Why is this a problem? Atheists have their own rhetoric. Is their atheism, therefore, "totally useless"?

As an non-believer in the supernatural and a student of philosophy and religion, I love debating someone with a strong theological background, but I know it has no practical effect on society.

Oh? How, exactly, do you know this?

If all Christians were theologians then I think the religious America and the Secular America could co-exist and co-operate with very similar goals, but unfortunately the vast majority of Christians seem to have a Sunday-school grasp on the contents of the bible and practically no knowledge of outside sources and disciplines in order to frame there knowledge.

You'd have to have intimate knowledge of the "vast majority of Christians" to be able to make the statement you have above. Do you actually possess such knowledge? If so, how? If not, maybe you should consider that thoughtful views usually avoid sweeping generalities.

These are the people on the ground--business people, senators, mayors, police officers, and teachers---who are making their daily decisions on a very tenuous grasp of a 2000-3000 year old Bronze Age Jewish Book.

Yes, there are many believers who are not well-versed in their own faith. How does this relate to your view that theology is impractical?

Does Theology have any practical applications?

Yes - if we're operating from my definition of theology. What is your definition of "theology"?

Selah.

 

[Harry3142]

Alien444-

The attempt made in recent decades by secularist thinkers to disengage [the moral principles of Western civilization] from their [scripturally based] religious context, in the assurance that they could live a life of their own as a "humanistic" ethic, has resulted in what one writer has called our "cut-flower culture." Cut flowers retain their original beauty and fragrance, but only so long as they retain the vitality that they have drawn from their now severed roots; after that is exhausted, they wither and die. So with freedom, brotherhood, justice and personal dignity - the values that form the moral foundation of our civilization. Without the life-giving power of the faith out of which they have sprung, they possess neither meaning nor vitality. Morality ungrounded in God is indeed a house built upon sand, unable to stand up aginst the vagaries of impulse and the brutal pressures of power and self-interest. (Will Herberg, Judaism and modern Man, as quoted in Jewish Wisdom, page 291, by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin)

Anthropologists used to believe that people came together to form a society, then made laws under which the people of that society were to to conduct themselves, and finally initiated some kind of religious belief. However, after discovering numerous ancient sites previously unknown to them, they are now believing that it was religious belief that brought people together in order to form a society, leading to their making laws under which the people of that society were to conduct themselves.

So religious belief is not the roof of a society; it's the foundation on which that society is built. And just as a building will inevitably collapse if its foundation is destroyed, a society will inevitably collapse if its religious belief is destroyed.

 

[theophilus777]

Does Theology have any practical applications?

Read the founding Fathers of the US, see what they said. In summary, read the last sentence above this post, by Harry. They are synonymous, but Harry's is a whole lot shorter.

In a word, yes.