How important is theology to you?

[godenver1]

This is a question for 'theologically liberal' Christians. I was just wondering how important theology is to you?

How important is it to you that the Bible claimed Jesus walked on water?

How important is it you that Jesus turned very little bread/fish into a meal for thousands?

How important is baptism/communion to you?

And questions like that etc.

Do you care about the nitty gritty of theology or do yo look for a church that you believe is loving and accepting? Finally, do you struggle with any theology that your church teaches?

Sorry for the non-specific questions hahah. Also, I'm sure this has been asked before, but I was hoping for updated personal answers if possible. I also hope you're having a wonderful day

 

[jimmyjimmy]

This is a question for 'theologically liberal' Christians. I was just wondering how important theology is to you?

How important is it to you that the Bible claimed Jesus walked on water?

How important is it you that Jesus turned very little bread/fish into a meal for thousands?

How important is baptism/communion to you?

And questions like that etc.

Do you care about the nitty gritty of theology or do yo look for a church that you believe is loving and accepting? Finally, do you struggle with any theology that your church teaches?

Sorry for the non-specific questions hahah. Also, I'm sure this has been asked before, but I was hoping for updated personal answers if possible. I also hope you're having a wonderful day

Who is Jesus? Why should I care? What did he do? Why are his deeds significant?

Can one answer those questions without theology?

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

How important is baptism/communion to you?

Vital

How important is it you that Jesus turned very little bread/fish into a meal for thousands?

Just miraculous!

How important is it to you that the Bible claimed Jesus walked on water?

Talk about miracles. This one takes the cake.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Vital... Just miraculous!... This one takes the cake.

I believe the one about the loaves of bread "takes the cake" as it were, while the one about walking on water is "just miraculous!"

Gotta get your theology straight, Paul. You're not taking it ciriusly enough.

 

[hedrick]

I'm a theology junkie. Theology is very important to me. I think it's also important to the Church. Bad theology can and does lead to problems in lives, and in the lives of nations.

Historically liberal Christianity has had strong Biblical scholarship and theology.

However there's also a tendency that reacts to the complexities of theology and exegesis by deciding that we can never know anything, and settles for a kind of vague commitment to love. This tendency is not unique to liberal Christianity. It's also alive and well among Catholics and evangelicals. But some people confuse it with genuine liberal Christianity.

 

[godenver1]

I'm a theology junkie. Theology is very important to me. I think it's also important to the Church. Bad theology can and does lead to problems in lives, and in the lives of nations.

Historically liberal Christianity has had strong Biblical scholarship and theology.

However there's also a tendency that reacts to the complexities of theology and exegesis by deciding that we can never know anything, and settles for a kind of vague commitment to love. This tendency is not unique to liberal Christianity. It's also alive and well among Catholics and evangelicals. But some people confuse it with genuine liberal Christianity.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply! For the record, I wasn't trying to imply that liberal Christians don't care about theology at all. I hope no one infers that from the OP.

Do you agree with all your church's theology? Is there room for disagreement?

 

[Apex]

Theology is the study of the nature of God and religious belief. Since both God and my beliefs are important to me, so is theology.

 

[wheatpenny]

Theology is very important to me. I know that we are saved by Grace thru Faith alone, but what we believe, even if it won't assure us of salvation, is important. I believe God wants us to know Him, and one of the best ways to accomplish that is to learn correct doctrine.

 

[SnowyMacie]

Theology and the study of scripture is very important. In fact, I would say that part of the reason why I am theologically progressive is due to how seriously I take scripture. I think when you have a serious, critical approach to it you can comfortably say "Ok, that's wrong, this is actually true."

 

[EpiscipalMe]

I truly enjoy studying theology. It's one of the things I love about my church - our priest is a theologian and works this into his sermons regularly. In addition, we often have adult classes that are theology-heavy.

In my church there is room for open, honest discussion which I think is great. This was sorely missing when I used to attend a conservative evangelical church.

 

[xpower]

I think theology is very important. Bad theology can create very negative experiences for many people, causing them to have a negative view of God and Christianity.

I think the "Good news" should be "Good news". NOT "Bad news", "authoritarianism", bigotry, "saying people will be roasted in hell forever" and other negative experiences disguised as Good news.

 

[Aino]

I would also say that I enjoy theology very much and think having good theology is super important to the church but also to every private christian. Just so that we'd share the gospel correctly and that we'd apply it to our lives correctly as well. I do believe the Bible is true and quite many things we'd best interpret literally. Such as the loaves and fishes etc. After all, if we believe that our Lotd and saviour Jesus Christ literally died and was literally rescurrected for us real people, then why would we not believe he could feed 5000 men with a little boys meal? And yes, the news need to be told so that no one would have to live without having the chance to hear them. If we go on preachong others a vague blahblah and forget Jesus then we have nothing to offer. So yes, keeping the Bible and a good interpretation thereof is super important to me.

But sometimes choosing your battles for the sake of love is also quite vital. There are lots of things that can be discussed and even disagreed upon without necessarily having to start disrespecting someone, or theowing them out of church. After all, not many theological issues are salvational ones!

 

[Targaryen]

theology is extremely important to me. Learning more about my faith,even if it doesn't quite fit my personal feeling of worship is important to me as well as studying Scriptures and personal witness.

 

[TheGoodLight]

How important is baptism/communion to you?

Communion policy played a major role in leading me away from a conservative denomination and over to the UMC. At this point, I would be more likely to attend a service that doesn't do the sacraments (e.g. Quakers/Society of Friends) than to attend a service that does closed table communion.

 

[Basil the Great]

Theology was very important to me in my younger days, but not so much anymore. I believe that the most important thing is to love God and love my neighbor. As far as the theological differences between Protestants, Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, it matters little to me.