Everyone is a theologian?

[tonychanyt]

R. C. Sproul said:

Theology is inescapable. Not everybody's a professional Theologian with a capital T.

Agree.

But we are all theologians with a lowercase 't'

I don't think so.

because we all have some view of who God is.

I wouldn't define theologian so lightly and loosely. It cheapens the seriousness of the concept.

Everyone’s a Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology (2014):

There is no one who is not a theologian. Everyone has an idea about God, and everyone has an opinion about God. The question is not whether we are theologians, but whether we are good theologians.

By claiming that everyone is a theologian, the overgeneralization risks diluting the meaning of theology, which traditionally involves the systematic and intentional study of divine matters. Encouraging people to grow in their theological understanding, rather than labeling them as already theologians, might be a more constructive way to approach the subject.

Furthermore, what is the operational definition of a good theologian? By what objective criteria did Sproul classify himself as a good theologian, and therefore not a bad one?

The title was probably a marketing trick to sell his book, like Physics for Dummies (2006). Obviously, not every dummy is a physicist

 

[Reluctant Theologian]

Usually only people who studied Theology at uni nowadays are 'official' theologians, but I've found that as a believer who is curious, who cannot be satisfied with easy answers, and who wants to know the why, and is willing to question the known, or is willing to change positions if better insights of truth are gained, it's indispensable to study the Bible, its origin, church history, and all that goes with that - in short .. to become knowledgeable about theology

 

[concretecamper]

R.C. Sproul IMO was a lost, lost, lost person.

 

[David Lamb]

R.C. Sproul IMO was a lost, lost, lost person.

What I have read of Sproul doesn't give me the impression that he was a lost person. I wonder what gave you that idea?

 

[prodromos]

In the Orthodox Church, "If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian."
Only three Saints have been given the title of Theologian in the Orthodox Church, St John the Theologian (and Evangelist), St Gregory the Theologian, and St Symeon the New Theologian.