Dr. Ligon Duncan explains that a true theologian not only knows, believes, and teaches the whole counsel of God, but also lives it out. Marked by both truth and godliness, their life reflects the doctrine they profess, showing that faith and practice belong together. 

The following is a transcript of the video above. 

What is a true theologian?

Many years ago, Hermann Vitzias, a famous Dutch Reformed minister and scholar, wrote a book titled The Character of a True Theologian. Now, what he was talking about was young men who were preparing for gospel ministry. What does their character look like? And so, asking the question, what is a true theologian? It can be answered from a variety of angles. Of course, we could go to what Jesus himself said in the Gospel of Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount. He told his disciples that he wanted them to make disciples by teaching people to observe all that he had commanded. And that means, of course, that those who are disciples of Jesus, true theologians, shepherds of the church, must be able to teach the flock to observe what Jesus has taught. And of course, that means teaching the whole counsel of God, because Jesus proclaimed the whole of the Scriptures and the truth that the Scriptures spoke about him. So a true theologian needs to know the truth of the whole counsel of God, believe it and hold to it by conviction. But it is also very, very interesting that the apostle Paul emphasizes, when he’s talking about elders, that elders must not only be apt to teach, but also have a character that commends the Gospel. So Paul will emphasize in 1 Timothy that elders who ought to be true theologians are those who are characterized by truth and godliness. That is, in their personal lives, in their family lives, in their ecclesiastical lives, and in their social lives in the community. They are to live lives in a manner worthy of the Gospel. They are to live out the truth that they profess to believe, so that both truth and life, doctrine and devotion, faith and godliness go together in their lives. A true theologian is one who not only studies the truth and believes the truth and teaches the truth, but lives that truth out by grace, by the work of the sanctifying Holy Spirit in our lives.

Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III

Ligon Duncan (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Edinburgh) is the Chancellor & CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, and the President of RTS Jackson. He has authored, co-authored, edited, or contributed to numerous books. You can follow him on Twitter.