In the church, some people often oppose faith and theology because of misunderstanding of theology. They think that too much emphasis on rationality in theology will weaken people's confidence; They regard theology as a boring theory, which seems to have nothing to do with Christian belief life; Some people think that theology can't bring people the true knowledge of faith, and only mysterious spiritual experience can make people really know the Lord; Others think that theology is only for shepherds to learn, and laymen just believe it.

What is faith? What is theology? What is the relationship between faith and theology? Why learn some theology? This article will try to answer these questions one by one.

Second, what is faith?

Simply put, faith is the acceptance, trust and obedience to a certain religious belief.

Let's pay attention to China's understanding of "faith" first. In Chinese, the word "Xin" consists of "person" and "word", that is, the word comes from the heart. Therefore, the belief of China people is that the important relationship between people is sincere, and at the same time, it advocates light, and it should have the spirit of sunshine tolerance and fraternity.

In addition, Zhuo Xinping believes that "belief" should have a lofty belief object, while "admiration" shows people's "feelings of looking up and admiring". He further concluded that "faith" shows that people have a pre-rational and super-rational grasp of the ultimate reality of holiness and transcendence, and "yang" refers to the admiration and worship of holiness and transcendence. Accordingly, awe has corresponding behavior practice in life.

As can be seen from the above, China people's belief is characterized by paying attention to ethical practice, which is reflected in the honest and beautiful relationship between people; At the same time, we should live this life with kindness and reverence for the sacred and noble spirit. This humanism and secular belief can partly explain why China people tend to pursue an inner transcendence.

With the belief spirit of China people, what are the basic Christian beliefs that Christians understand, accept, trust and follow? The answer to this question requires a brief review of the history of theology.

In the early days of the church, according to the New Testament, a person who wants to be a Christian usually has to admit that "Jesus is Lord" (such as Luo. 10: 9- 10) and was baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (such as Acts 2: 38). Baptism is a declaration of faith, indicating that you are dead and living with the Lord (Romans. 6: 3- 10). From then on, the reborn new life is completely in the charge of the Lord.

This basic belief can also be proved by the secret symbol "ICHTUS" of early Christian groups: these Greek letters come from such words: Jesus, Christ, God, Son, Savior, which means that Jesus Christ is God's beloved son and savior.

From this point of view, the core belief of early church belief is "Jesus Christ is the Lord", which shows that believers belong to the only Lord from now on, and also reveals some attributes of Jesus Christ, including the relationship between the Son and the Father.

In the fourth century, in order to clarify the relationship between the Father and holiness, the church held the Nicaean Grand Council in 325. Bishops from all over the world opposed Arioux's heretical view that "the son is the second father", and they jointly formulated Ding's nicene creed, affirming that the father and son are the same honor and the same essence. After the Grand Council of Constantinople in 38 1 year, the basic belief about the Holy Spirit was added to the creed. Since then, the nicene creed has become one of the basic generalizations of Christian belief in the universal church.

In addition, the Apostle's Creed appeared in the 6th-7th century, similar to today's edition, and was widely used in church life. Simply put, the creed means "I believe". The content of the creed is an incisive summary of faith, which is generally accepted by Christianity and has high authority.

After the Reformation, various sects appeared in Protestantism, such as Lutheranism, Reformed Christianity and Episcopal Church. When debating their own beliefs and highlighting their religious priorities, various sects have established some Protestant beliefs, such as the famous Heidelberg catechism, Westminster catechism, and the Anglican Article 39 catechism. These confessions are confessions of faith produced in specific situations. Although they further enrich the main points of belief, they are not as authoritative as the more common beliefs because of their local characteristics.

Generally speaking, the basic beliefs of Christianity are expressed through the Bible, creed and confession. When describing its beliefs, the China Christian Council mainly relies on the whole Bible, the nicene creed and the apostles creed. The acceptance, commitment and obedience of the church to basic beliefs are beliefs. To put it simply, Christian belief means that Christians believe that the only and trinity God is the Creator, and through the Savior Jesus Christ, they save the fallen from their sins and restore all things to a good relationship with God (Col. 1: 20).

Next, what we need to know about faith is that faith has two aspects: objectivity and subjectivity.

Subjectively, we need to know how people establish a relationship with God through faith. Salvation spread by faith makes fallen people trust and commit themselves to Christ and make peace with God. Here Martin Luther gave the best explanation of faith: he pointed out that faith is not just about knowing the basic historical knowledge about the gospel; Faith is a kind of trust and commitment, just as it is not enough for a person to know that there is a boat on the shore when crossing the ocean. He must have the confidence and courage to board the ferry and reach the other side. Finally, faith, like a wedding ring, unites the groom (Christ) and the bride (Christian church).

As far as objectivity is concerned, Christians should know something about the basic beliefs related to the object of belief-God. For example, we believe in a god, but what is the attribute of this god? What is his relationship with people and the world? How to understand the relationship between God's love and justice? Answering such questions requires us to explore the knowledge of faith, which can be said to be the main task of theology.

Next, we need to know something about theology.

Third, what is theology?

Theology consists of two Greek words, theos (god) +logos (logos, discourse, also translated into Tao in Chinese). Its basic literal meaning is a statement about God. This simple definition actually points to the linguistic characteristics of theology, that is, people need to express Christian beliefs in language.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ is logos. This tells us that it is possible for people to talk about God through the special revelation of Jesus Christ-the incarnation of Tao. It is through Jesus Christ that the invisible Father God can be revealed (about 1: 18) and we can speak the word of God-theology.

In addition, the meaning of logos in Greek can also be translated into rationality, which means that when we talk about faith, the language expression should be reasonable and rational, so as to be logical and not inconsistent. If language is the carrier of thought, then our words should be reasonable. We should not only understand our beliefs, but also let people who speak different languages understand them. This means that beliefs need to be expressed in different languages.

When explaining beliefs to different ethnic groups, we should first use the language of that ethnic group. Language is usually related to the way of thinking and cultural habits of our people, so the expression of faith also needs to adapt to the local cultural characteristics.

However, theologians are limited by their own language, culture, times and situations when describing their beliefs, which determines that it is impossible for them to fully explain their beliefs once and for all and apply them to any other situation. This shows the situational and epochal characteristics of theology.

Therefore, theology needs to develop under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in different situations and continue to explain beliefs according to the needs of different times.

At the same time, because theology mainly expresses faith through dia logos, the main way to understand and explain faith should be dialogue (dia+logue).

In order to express our beliefs clearly and accurately, we need to have a dialogue with God's revelation, with specific people who are ready to accept our beliefs, and with specific society and culture to ensure that the contents of our beliefs are effectively conveyed.

To sum up, we can know that theology is that people explain their beliefs to people in different cultural situations in the form of dialogue and in clear and reasonable language on the basis of God's revelation.

Here we might as well understand theology from the situation of China.

Some Christians in China often understand theology as "learning from God". This interesting definition may include the following meanings.

First of all, this concept clearly points out that it is to learn from God, and to learn from a dignified God manifested through Jesus Christ, who is unique and different from other religions and folk beliefs.

Secondly, learning is constantly practicing, practicing and applying in the process of learning, which is what Confucius said.

There are two meanings here:

On the one hand, when learning, people should not blindly get lost in endless theories and let God disappear in their own beliefs. As people often joke, you can't learn God in the end if you learn God.

On the other hand, when studying theology, people should follow the example of Jesus Christ, who revealed God, constantly practice God's teaching and will, and imitate Christ in life. This reflects the characteristics of Christians who study theology in China-as Mr. Xie Fuya said, the Chinese nation is a pragmatic nation, which stresses hard work and faith.

Generally speaking, Christians in China should pay attention to the unity of knowledge and action when studying theology. In the practice of emphasizing faith, the tendency of Christians in China is very similar to the temperament of liberation theology.

In the words of James Kone, an American black liberation theologian, theological concepts are meaningful only if they are translated into concrete practice, otherwise they are abstract and empty.

A systematic and comprehensive study of faith usually includes the following theological fields.

Biblical theology, in short, is to study the New Testament and the Old Testament and explore how the classics testify for God. Of course, learning the Bible well is inseparable from the background knowledge of the Bible and the mastery of the Bible language.

Historical theology mainly focuses on how the church inherits its faith in the towel of history and testifies for it in different times and situations.

Philosophical theology mainly explains and demonstrates the content of belief with the help of philosophical categories and methods.

Practical theology should teach Christians how to organize their faith life in the church and how to practice their faith and serve people outside the church.

Finally, systematic theology requires people to make a systematic, comprehensive and overall statement and exposition of their beliefs in clear language, and at the same time critically reflect on the Christian belief experience.

The main contents of systematic theology include understanding the tasks, sources and methods of theology, and discussing the creation of the Trinity God, the fall of man, the redemption of Jesus Christ, the salvation of man, the new life and new life in the Holy Spirit, the mission of the church and the hope of the coming kingdom of God.

Generally speaking, contemporary theological education generally includes biblical theology, historical theology, philosophical theology, practical theology and systematic theology.

Fourthly, the relationship between theology and belief.

After having a basic understanding of faith and theology, let's look at the relationship between theology and faith.

Generally speaking, theology and belief have similarities and differences. As mentioned above, confidence comes from faith and response to God revealed by Jesus Christ. Theology is a clear expression of faith. No matter when worshiping, preaching, evangelizing and defending, faith needs to be described, explained and defended. This is the use of theology. As a reasonable exposition of faith, theology is naturally closely related to faith.

Some theologians even declared: "Where there is faith, there is theology."

In this sense, not only professional researchers are theologians, but laymen should also think about how to explain their beliefs clearly and reasonably when preaching the gospel and testifying. At this time, he/she is also thinking theologically. Therefore, theology is not the patent of missionaries and theologians. Everyone needs to learn a little theology.

At the same time, although theology and belief are consistent when trying to explain faith clearly, there are some differences between theology and belief. Theology is a reasonable expression of belief, which involves rational reflection and test of belief content. Accepting basic beliefs and establishing contact with God is not exactly the same as rational consideration of basic beliefs in beliefs. Rational consideration can lead to a new understanding and expression of faith, but this new theological understanding does not necessarily meet the traditional belief standards of the church, so faith is still different from theology.

Moreover, people with theological thinking are limited by their own specific language, culture, social and political environment, so their understanding and expression of God's belief are limited. In this way, theology has historical relativity, some languages used to express beliefs in the past may be outdated and no longer meaningful to contemporary people, and church practice based on some beliefs in the past may also hinder the development of today's church.

For example, the theological concept of the early church did not support the establishment of female clergy. Today, female priests play an irreplaceable role in the church.

In short, theology needs to develop under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and with the needs of the times and situations, and there is no "any ultimate theology". The relationship between God and man established by faith is unchanged, but the explanation of this belief needs to be updated constantly, which also shows the difference between theology and faith.

Theology is a kind of belief that is constantly being thought by reason, which involves the balanced relationship between belief and reason. Man's rationality is limited. Anyone who claims that his theology has fully and comprehensively explained his beliefs is deceiving himself and showing rational pride and arrogance in front of the "unspeakable" transcendental God. On the other hand, if anyone thinks that he can gain knowledge about God only by his own subjective belief and ignores the anti-goodness of reason, then he will easily enter the extreme state of blind belief, which will lead to an anti-intellectual ignorance.

Therefore, we must have a humble attitude in theological thought. When people realize the limitation of reason, they can only humbly start from faith and seek understanding of God in faith. True theology seeks the true knowledge about God, but this kind of true knowledge, as Calvin said, is inseparable from the inner piety of believers and the worship and service of the church.

When we understand the relationship between theology and belief, we will not misunderstand China's current theological thought construction. Our basic beliefs are preserved in the Bible, the nicene creed and the apostles creed, and our belief in establishing a good relationship with God remains unchanged.

However, under the current situation in China, we can't stick to the traditional and western modes of belief interpretation. Although the theological society in the past has a certain continuity with theology today, it is no longer suitable for the contemporary situation, and the views that are meaningless to contemporary people must be abandoned. What is discarded is only the reflection and interpretation mode of faith in the past, which is not unified with faith.

Therefore, the renewal of theology is not to deny basic beliefs, but to see the contemporary and situational characteristics of theology. On this basis, we need to have a new dialogue with the Bible, church tradition, contemporary culture and society, and construct a new situational theology, with the purpose of explaining the faith in clear and reasonable language acceptable to contemporary people, as an effective witness of the faith of contemporary China people.

Verb (abbreviation for verb) The necessity of studying theology.

After understanding theology, faith and the relationship between theology and faith, we might as well sum up the significance of studying theology. Why do Christians need to learn a little theology?

1, love God with wisdom

As Christians, we all know that we should love the Lord our God wholeheartedly, wholeheartedly, wholeheartedly, with all your brains and thoughts.

However, Bishop Ding Guangxun mentioned in the morning prayer of Nanjing United Theological Seminary that we should "love God with wisdom" (Kyle Gospel 12: 33). As Christians, we should respect and worship the only God with all our body, mind and spirit, which naturally includes that we should use all our wisdom and knowledge to seek, know and honor God. Therefore, studying theology is one of the important manifestations of loving God with wisdom.

Not only that, in the eight-step spiritual journey of Christians' pursuit of sanctification, Peter also reminded us that "with confidence, we must add virtue;" With virtue, we must add knowledge; With knowledge, it is necessary to add moderation; With temperance, we must add patience; With patience, we must add piety; With piety, we must add love to our brothers; If you love your brothers, love all "(1 pet. 2). 1: 5-7).

It is mentioned that Christians should have "knowledge" on the basis of faith and virtue. All real knowledge comes from the God of truth, so we try to learn all kinds of knowledge, that is, we are learning the truth of God. The knowledge we have learned is used to serve faith, so that we can have a richer understanding of faith from many angles and can better testify for the Lord.

On the one hand, Paul has set a good example for us. When he was in a prison in Rome, he still didn't forget to study. He specifically asked Timothy to leave him in Troas' books and tapes and paint his portrait (see 2 Timothy). 4: 13).

Therefore, Christians have the responsibility to learn a little theology in order to love God with wisdom, serve the Lord better, preach the gospel and salvation. Faced with all kinds of intellectual challenges to Christian belief from the outside world, Christians have theological knowledge and can make reasonable defensive responses to it; Faced with all kinds of heretical ideas related to Christianity, Christians have basic theological equipment, so they can recognize the wrong angle and defend the truth of Christianity.

2. Deeper faith

Studying theology can also help us deepen our understanding of faith. When attending church activities, laity brothers and sisters often have this experience: when they hear someone as the witness of the Lord, they may tell some very subjective, personal and even "mysterious" experiences.

For example, some people say that they went to heaven and met their neighbors and friends, while others say that they talked directly with the Lord Jesus in their dreams. At this time, it is necessary to analyze whether what they say is correct with reason according to the basic beliefs of the Bible and tradition.

Not only that, when singing hymns in church, especially when translating old hymns, I often feel confused about some unfamiliar lyrics. For example, in the 76 hymns "The Coming Song of Worship", "God's light, God's light, is produced, not caused". What does this lyric mean? After learning a little theology, I know that what I am talking about here is the relationship between the son and the father. A son is born to his father, but he and his father are equal, and father and son enjoy the same respect and honor.

For another example, when listening to a priest explaining a passage, he may hear a different view from another preacher's, or contradict the view he found on the Internet. So how should he understand this passage? This also needs theological thinking to measure. After careful study, analysis and research, our conclusion will deepen our understanding of faith and know more about God.

Step 3 guide life

Christians, like non-Christians, will experience many challenges, difficulties and dilemmas in their lives. At this time, Christians need to connect their beliefs with their daily lives. Faced with challenges, Christians will be confused and even have a crisis of meaning. Why didn't God help me when I encountered illness and pain? If God is omnipotent, why not stop such misfortune from coming to Christians? Thinking and seeking answers to these questions once again shows that everyone who takes faith seriously is a person who participates in theological activities and is a theologian. Theology is not only preaching and discussing the truth, but also guiding the life of Christians, understanding God's will in our lives and criticizing some wrong faith practices.

If someone thinks he is sick, he can't go to the doctor, otherwise it is a sign of lack of self-confidence. The wisdom of medicine and doctors comes from the grace created by God, and they seek God's my my saving grace with confidence. From a theological point of view, how can we separate God's creation from my my saving grace? Both are blessings from God.

Christian salvation not only refers to the salvation of future souls from God's paradise, but also includes salvation in this life and this world. For Christians, learning and practicing the virtues of "faith", "hope" and "love" in different situations every day makes every life experience full of meaning and enables us to learn to be like Jesus.

Not only that, theology should also help Christians practice their beliefs in society. Theology-reflection on faith reminds believers to follow Jesus with the letter "S J", pay the price of being a disciple, stand with the suffering and marginalized people in society, make our personal and social life change and transform because of God's grace, fill the earth with God's justice and peace, and make God's will on the earth as if it were in heaven. This is the practical significance of theology.

Conclusion of intransitive verbs

This paper defines belief and theology respectively, and tries to explain the consistent but different relationship between theology and belief. Finally, it introduces the significance and necessity of studying theology. Studying theology is not only the expression of Christian wisdom and love for God, but also helps us to deepen our understanding of faith. At the same time, it also enables us to link faith with life, so that we can integrate knowledge and practice in life, imitate Christ, glorify God and benefit others.