Dr. Michael Allen, Professor of Systematic Theology, shares some of the best resources for studying systematic theology. He reminds us that while the task is weighty, God graciously provides what we need. Scripture stands above all as our greatest resource, and there is no substitute for reading the whole counsel of God. Alongside it, the creeds and confessions, the prayers and hymns of the church, and faithful theologians throughout history serve as wise guides, helping us think carefully, receive the church’s witness with humility, and grow in knowing and following Christ.
The following is a transcript of the video above.
What are the best resources for studying systematic theology?
Studying systematic theology is a weighty task. To take in all that the Bible says, to consider it in a careful, repentant posture, is something none of us are equipped for. And yet God provides. God provides his presence and his promise. God illumines, and God speaks. He is our teacher by Christ and His Holy Spirit. God also provides through means. And there are resources out there that we can turn to, not only those around us, communities, and teachers who we might glean from, but witnesses from ages past. It’s important to be wise in this regard. Of course, the greatest resource we have is Holy Scripture. And nothing replaces the calling to be in God’s Word and to be moving across God’s Word. Someone who wants to grow in their perception of systematic theology or the whole counsel of God simply can’t replace the challenge of reading the whole counsel of God. And so, reading the Old and New Testaments, as well as the wisdom literature and the Gospel accounts, is absolutely crucial.
Secondly, we’re wise not to overlook the remarkable witness offered by the great creeds and confessions of the Church, whether that’s the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the definition of Chalcedon, great witnesses from ages past in the early centuries of the Church, or its later confessional statements like the Westminster Standards. These are guides that shape actual church belief and practice. They’re meant to provide guardrails, not always to answer every question, but to give us parameters and principles by which we engage all the many challenges and questions that arise as we read this text of Scripture and wonder about it, or we respond to that question that’s pressing upon us from the culture around us. Creeds and confessions are a remarkable resource.
Third, I’d suggest we not overlook the great prayers and hymns of the Church’s past. There are, of course, songs that come and go, and they’re one-hit wonders, and they can be forgotten. But there are remarkable prayers that have marked the piety of Christians the world over and through the ages, the great Te Deum and so many others, which are really meant to serve as rhythms to shape how we view ourselves, how we imagine the world, how we perceive all things in light of God. Likewise, there are remarkable hymns and songs that have been produced in many different settings around the globe and at various ages. And they have a remarkable formative impact on our perception of central metaphors in Scripture. Key connections between various beliefs and hymnody is meant to form us and shape us as we think theologically.
Finally, there are theological texts written by individuals throughout church history. Folks from various continents and contexts are great resources. There’s not a single go-to. There’s not a necessary starting place. There are so many witnesses, and I’d encourage folks to branch out confidently, knowing that there are so many voices you could hear who would lead you into Scripture helpfully. There are some bad ones, to be sure, but there are so many more who are a blessing, who’ve proven time and again to be generative and helpful as folks seek to better understand Scripture and to better know what it means to follow Christ. I would especially encourage folks beginning to study systematic theology in a serious way to think about those voices that themselves take earlier thinkers seriously and who have since been taken seriously by later others. In reading them, the Augustins and Basils, the Aquinases and the Bernards, the Calvins and the Luthers and and wrestling with those figures, you are not only learning one person’s thought, but in learning their thought you’re encountering others that they’re wrestling with, and you’re encountering someone who still later figures will wrestle with deeply and seriously both agreement and disagreement. It’s productive to glean from folks who are throughways, not cul-de-sacs, where you study them, and studying them helps you learn from studying others. Again, there is a range of these witnesses. Each will have their own favorite, no doubt, and this text will impact you in that season, and this author will seem so very pertinent and personal to you. And it’s appropriate that we glean from various folks. But it’s crucial that we have a humility, we have an openness, we have a desire not so much to stand over them, but to ask how God might instruct us with wherever we are from what witness they have to offer always to take it to Scripture, to ask in what ways it’s true and good and beautiful, in what ways it accords with God’s holy and inspired word, but always receiving it gratefully honoring that great fifth commandment that we honor our spiritual fathers and mothers as well. These and so many other resources are there at God’s word, generous hand to help us along the path as we seek to grow as theologians.
