How to study theology

Luther's three rules

In 1539, when the first volume of Luther's German writings was published at Wittenberg, he wrote a preface for it. He confessed that he would have been glad to see his books forgotten, so that people would read the Bible instead. Then he offered to show the right way to study theology, a way he said King David teaches in Psalm 119. It has three rules: oratio, meditatio, tentatio, that is, prayer, meditation and trial Luther, Preface to the Wittenberg Edition of His German Writings.

The first is prayer. Do not trust your own reason and understanding, Luther says; kneel down in your little room and pray, humbly and in earnest, that God through his dear Son would give you his Holy Spirit to enlighten you, lead you and give you understanding. The psalmist prays in the same way:

Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.

Psalm 119:18

John Wesley paraphrases the prayer: "Enlighten my mind by the light of thy Holy Spirit, and dispel all ignorance and error" Wesley. Matthew Henry agrees: "Those that would see the wondrous things of God's law and gospel, must beg him to give them understanding, by the light of his Spirit" Matthew Henry.

The second is meditation. "Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my meditation" (Psalm 119:97). As Henry puts it, "What we love, we love to think of" Matthew Henry. For Luther, meditation was not only something done silently in the heart. It meant reading the very words of Scripture aloud, again and again, comparing them, and asking what the Holy Spirit means by them. Never suppose, he warned, that you have understood a passage because you have read it once or twice.

The third is trial, Luther's Anfechtung: the struggles, doubts and attacks that come to anyone who holds to God's word. Trial, he wrote, is the touchstone. It teaches you not only to know and understand but to experience how right, how true, how sweet, how mighty and how comforting God's word is. The psalmist learned this too: "Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I keep Your word" (Psalm 119:67), and "It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes" (Psalm 119:71). Luther added, with his usual irony, that his opponents had done him a service: by assailing him so fiercely they had made a fairly good theologian of him. And if you ever think you have mastered theology, he said, feel your ears; you will find a fine long pair of donkey's ears.

With humility and love, in the church

The greatest danger in studying theology may not be ignorance but pride. Paul warns:

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the one who loves God is known by God.

1 Corinthians 8:1-3

James says that the wise should show it "by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom" (James 3:13), and that "the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle" (James 3:17). Augustine taught that anyone who thinks he has understood Scripture, but reads it in a way that does not build up the twofold love of God and neighbour, has not yet understood it as he should Augustine, On Christian Teaching.

Nor is theology a private hobby. Christ gave pastors and teachers "to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12), so that we will no longer be "tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching" (Ephesians 4:14), but will grow up into Christ, "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). So theology is studied in the church and for the church. We grow as we read together, ask questions, and listen when others correct us.

Old books and primary sources

From prison Paul asked Timothy to bring "my scrolls, especially the parchments" (2 Timothy 4:13). Henry remarks, "Paul was guided by Divine inspiration, yet he would have his books. As long as we live, we must still learn" Matthew Henry. He goes on to thank God for the writings of wise and godly people in every age, and urges us to profit by reading them.

If we read only new books, we share all the blind spots of our own age. The Fathers, the Reformers and the Puritans saw things we miss, and they missed things we see; reading them lets one age correct another. But Henry also keeps them in their place: "The written word is a more sure guide to heaven, than all the fathers, the teachers, and ancients of the church" Matthew Henry. Old books are read under Scripture.

Where you can, read primary sources before summaries. A chapter of Augustine or Calvin teaches more than a page about them. Read those you disagree with in their own words, and read them fairly, until you could describe their view in terms they would accept. Only then weigh it by Scripture.

A few habits help. Read Scripture first and most. Read one good book at a time, to the end. Keep notes of what strikes you and the questions it raises. Talk with others about what you read. And turn what you learn into prayer.

Studying with this app

This app has tools for that kind of study. This course's timeline shows where each person and event belongs. In Creeds and Confessions you can read documents such as the Nicene Creed or the Westminster Shorter Catechism in full, together with an introduction to each one's history and teaching.

When you open the commentaries beside a passage, you can compare the Fathers on the Gospels in the Catena Aurea, the warm application of a Nonconformist Presbyterian minister in Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, and the brief notes of the leader of the Methodist movement in Wesley's Explanatory Notes. What a Commentary Is and How to Read One shows how to use them well. Big questions are taken up in essays such as How should we read the Bible?; the doctrine course begins with God makes himself known, and the Reformed Faith course with The story of the Reformation.

Whatever tool you use, the order is the same: read the text, pray and meditate on it, and then listen to the voices of the church. From the next lesson on, this course follows those voices, from the Fathers to about 1900.

Practice