Ministry leaders in our day don't need less theological training — they need more. Join us for @SBTS Virtual Preview Day on April 16 to learn about the training for ministry you could receive at Southern Seminary. Register at the link below. https://t.co/tcjljdBBUk
— Albert Mohler (@albertmohler) March 17, 2021
I suppose that a seminary president has no choice but to favor more theological education, but the rest of us should not be fooled by Mohler: Theology has no more intellectual dignity than astrology, but is vastly more dangerous.
The problem with theology is that it never does the difficult work of establishing its premises. First, it has to prove that Our Invisible Friend is real. Then (in the case of Christian theology), it has to prove that Our Invisible Friend somehow superintended the production of the anthology known as the Bible. Then — and only then — may theologians begin parsing the text and attempting to discern what Our Invisible Friend expects of us.
I am not holding theology to an unreasonable standard. When an engineer sits down to analyze a problem, every single line of the analysis has a documented pedigree — that’s why it’s possible to build safe bridges that are miles long, dams that safely impound millions of gallons of water. Theology, on the other hand, does not have rigorous intellectual standards, and disrupts lives and even kills people every single day.
No matter how pretentious a theologian may be, no matter how grave the presence, the humdrum truth is that theologians deserve no more regard than the palm-reader at a country fair.