The Importance of Theology
By Jeff Paton
God is perfect, He cannot lie. This is the first and foremost presupposition that this whole web site is based upon. Since God is perfect, He must be consistent. Truth cannot be inconsistent.
Any system of thought that claims to be of God must be consistent with the Word of God, and with itself. Inconsistency is the mark of a belief system that is in error.
Imagine an airplane that has been set on autopilot for a course from New York to San Jose, California. The co-pilot sets the bearing of the aircraft, but unknowingly, he enters in a course that is a mere tenth of a degree off of what it should have been. When the pilot looks out of his window over Cleveland, Ohio, he thinks to himself "we are right on course." Everything appears to be going as it is supposed to be, so he assumes that everything is alright. No adjustment seems necessary, so no corrections are made.
Right now, they are only ten miles off of their course, but that is not enough for them to notice that there is a problem. The problem is that as they continue, the farther they will be deviating from their desired target. When they descend to land in San Jose, they will be hundreds of miles off course.
Theology is a lot like our pilot's example. If we are off at the beginning of our theology, even by a little, and follow our conclusions to their logical end throughout the rest of our theology, we will be far off our course and not even know it! If we move away from the Bible as the basis of our theology, we can only expect to off course through the rest of it.
Not all errors and deviations are spiritually fatal; but many are! We must all realize that while many would like to make the Bible teach something from their own theological imagination, by doing so they are deviating from the truth if it is not first founded upon the Scriptures. Accurate theology is vital for those who want to know the truth; there is no virtue in believing a lie!
I pray that you will be open to a healthy self-examination of your beliefs, and that your prayer will be that God will to lead you into all truth.