“If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean you have no ideas about God, rather it will mean you have a lot of wrong ones.” — C.S. Lewis
The following is an excerpt from 4 Most Common Comments from “Regular People” about Studying Theology by Eric Geiger, Senior Pastor of Mariners Church in Orange County, CA.
In the summer of 2020, I led an online theology class for people in the church I pastor. I was blown away that over 1,000 people engaged in the class, asked thoughtful questions, and walked through the material each week. We used a theological textbook as our reading, and explored a different “ology” each week: Bibliology (study of the Bible), Christology (study of Christ), Soteriology (study of salvation), Pneumatology (study of the Spirit), and so on. There were four overarching comments I heard from people in our church after teaching them theology for eight weeks.
1. Theology impacts me every day.
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2. I have a better and deeper understanding of what I believe.
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3. Thinking about God is richer in community.
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4. The reading was too much for “a normal person.”
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The experience in summer of 2020 led to conversations with my good friend Ed Stetzer on how we can help people in our churches study theology in a more accessible way. Ed and I have been working on a Bible study for groups and churches that we will be releasing with the Rooted Network this fall. I am excited to share more in coming days!
You can read what Eric wrote about each of these four points on his ministry leadership blog.
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Eric Geiger is the Senior Pastor of Mariners Church in Irvine, California. He has authored or co-authored several books including the best-selling church leadership book, Simple Church.
