Roger Olson is Professor of Theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University. He is widely regarded as one of the important evangelical voices and writes prolifically for both popular and academic audiences. Olson has written a number of books including How to Be Evangelical Without Being Conservative, The Story of Christian Theology, and The Westminster Handbook to Evangelical Theology. His next book, Against Calvinism: Rescuing God’s Reputation from Radical Reformed Theology, will be published by Zondervan in 2011. For more information, view his faculty page or browse his website.
As a student at Truett Seminary in the late 90s, I was privileged to take an introductory course in theology from Olson. I learned much more than facts about theology from Olson; I learned to think theologically. If you think of yourself as something of a theological novice, I suggest you read a little book he co-wrote with Stanley Grenz: Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the Study of God. Theology is a task for all Christians, not just clergy or those in academia.
Recently, he wrote an article issuing an important reminder that no theology constructed by a human is ever complete or infallible:
. . . I assume that all theologies (outside Scripture itself) are fallible because they are created by finite and fallen human beings.
Unless a person is quoting Scripture in the original language, he or she is humanly interpreting Scripture. There is no such thing as a statement about the meaning of Scripture that is not human interpretation. “It’s interpretation all the way down” applies to every theological system and doctrinal statement.
That is not to say all theologies are equal; surely some are better interpretations than others. Some are simply incoherent and others (or the same ones) have little or nothing to do with the actual import of a passage. Still, even the best theological systems are someone’s interpretation of Scripture (and possibly of human experience of God) and not God’s Word. And yet, especially conservative evangelicals have a tendency to forget this and treat some system or tradition as functionally infallible and thus equal in authority with Scripture itself.
So What?
Are there times when you need a healthy dose of theological humility? How do you recognize and learn from those moments?
Have you ever been so certain of a theological position that you presented it in such a way that suggested your view was infallible and any other view was either incorrect or incomplete? Olson writes of himself: “I can advocate my beliefs and argue against others’ without implying that mine is tantamount to God’s Word while theirs is stupid or heretical.” It is my hope that is true in your own life and for all who call themselves by Christ’s name.