Anabaptistica
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 56, No. 2 – Spring 2014
Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
By Kelly M. Kapic. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012. 126 pages. Paperback, $7.20.
Seminaries are often mistakenly and purposefully called cemeteries. This is unfortunate, but real. One can blame institutions, professors and churches, but the heart of the problem is the problem of the human heart. A person pursuing theological training without pursuing the Triune God is a recipe for disease. Kelly Kapic has written this little book on why and how to study theology as a vaccine and as a reminder for young theologians to keep a God-centered perspective when doing theology. Kapic received his Ph.D from King’s College, his M.Div from Reformed Theological Seminary, and his B.A. from Wheaton College. He is currently pro- fessor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, where he has served since 2001. This book is a stated attempt to update Helmut Thielicke’s classic work, A Little Exercise for Young Theologians (10). Up to this point in his career, Dr. Kapic has spent the majority of his time and energy reflecting on the work of John Owen, that puritanical paragon of doing theology from one’s knees with scopes sharply set on the exaltation of Christ and the transformation of the heart, all for God’s glory. This background makes Kapic eminently capable of writing a book such as this.
This book is broken up into two parts and ten manageable chapters. Part one answers the question, “Why Study Theology?” and begins with a quote by Martin Luther affirming that just as we are called Christians, so we are also called theologians. All Christians have a theology. Our lives are surrounded by theological ques- tions, so theology is inevitable and “it is not a conversation our souls can afford to avoid” (20). Theology is also inevitable in that God created us and desires to see us reflect his glory and bask in his love (22). Knowledge of God and worship of God are interrelated and worship is tied to wisdom. The distinction between the wise person and the foolish person depends on how one responds to God. Kapic concludes part one with the helpful reminder that theology is a pilgrimage, always second order and always tentative. Our theology also has a two-fold limitation: our fallenness and our finitude. Our theology can be true, but ever remains incomplete. Theologians young and old are continually dependent on the Holy Spirit. As philosopher Paul Helm notes, we are on an “epistemological pilgrimage” (32), or as Puritan theologian John Owen put it, “we see but his back parts” (35). This is no excuse not to strive for theological faithfulness, but a reminder that “our call is to come, to gaze at Christ, to hear his word and to respond in faith and love” (37).
Part two examines the characteristics of faithful theology and faithful theologians. Chapter four introduces the second part with a reminder that theology must always be lived theology. The rest of the book unpacks faithful reason, prayer and study, humility and repentance, suffering, justice and knowing God, and the love of Scripture. Kapic’s chapter on reason is one of his longest. He argues that reason, for the Christian, works in the service of faith. Following the approach of Augustine, believers must always begin with revelation, not self-enlightenment. To use his words, “Unless you believe you will not understand” (53). Kapic prefers to speak of “faithful reason” since reason only works rightly when full of faith (55). As we reason from faith, the Holy Spirit works through our rational faculties. Gently brushing aside the myth of neutrality, Kapic shows that our faith will be determinative for what we deem reasonable.
In the next chapter, building on Thielicke’s warning to keep the second, rather than third, person in view when approaching theology, he writes, “Scripture is God’s voice to his people, and by his Spirit we encounter it as a living, rather than a dead, letter” (65). Therefore, theology and prayer are inextricably linked. In other words, theology is communing with God. Kapic refers not to a fifteen-minute morning devotion, important though that is, but a way of being, constantly communing with the Lord. Everything a theologian does is before the face of God. Following Warfield’s emphasis, ministers must be both learned and godly, just as a soldier needs both his right and left legs (68). “We cannot choose between prayer and study; faithful theology requires prayerful study” (70). Chapter seven is a much-needed chapter on humility in theology. He notes that how we treat others reveals a great deal about how we view ourselves before God. “Humility recognizes one’s dependence on the wisdom and insight of others” (72). Augustine is held up as a model of theological humility because he saw his theology as a work in progress and even published a book of retractions at the end of his career. The humble theologian keeps in mind the greatness of God and the finitude and fallenness of man. Our theology, therefore, is always incomplete.
Chapter eight begins with an exposition of Psalm 113 and God’s holy exalta- tion and stunning condescension. Kapic posits that true theology must account for the value God places on the marginalized and the vulnerable. To love God is to love what he loves. He writes, “Active concern for the poor and needy is a core concern of our theology” (86). Using Isaiah 1 and the first letter of John, the author shows that concern for truth necessarily brings with it a concern for one’s neighbor. The book then develops the idea that the best theology is done in community. Stemming from the Reformation tradition, the author adheres to sola Scriptura, but also recognizes that the Holy Spirit has a history and has been active in guiding previous theologians (93). All of us wear culturally colored lenses and reading those saints who are dead yet speaking helps us identify our own particular presuppositions in order better to check cultural baggage at the door. He quotes the famous line by W.R. Inge: “He who marries the spirit of the age soon finds himself a widower” (96). Kapic also exhorts the budding theologian to dip into streams besides his own, asserting that one can learn something from most theological traditions. The book concludes with a chapter on the importance of Scripture. The inscripturated text is where God has self-identified. His word and his works go together. Kapic concludes his little book on doxological doctrine with a fitting definition of theology. It is “an active response to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, whereby the believer, in the power of the Holy Spirit, subordinate to the testimonies of the prophets and apostles as recorded in the Scriptures and in communion with the saints, wrestles with and rests in the mysteries of God, his work and his world” (121).
My primary complaint about this book is that I did not receive it my first year of seminary. Containing short and well-written chapters, the book is full of mature exhortations. It is enriched by the inclusion of a host of quotations from a broad selection of theologians, past and present, showing that Dr. Kapic is not writing anything novel here. His is the historic way of doing theology. This reviewer found no significant disagreements, but resonated deeply with most of the content of the book. Dr. Kapic reminds young theologians of the sheer privilege and joy it should be to think God’s thoughts after him. He also constantly connects theology and worship, thereby modeling what he is advocating. His treatment of the need for humility in theology is especially pertinent. The metaphor of theology as a pilgrim- age is a helpful reminder. Kapic includes short expositions of Scripture from both Testaments throughout this little book. He clearly bows his intellect to the authority of God’s Word, encouraging his students to lower their faces to the pages of Scripture to feel the warmth of God’s breath (113). Finally, the book has a couple of nice indexes making it easy to refer back to it later.
As a Baptist, I may have added or minimally expanded on a few topics. For instance, there is not enough emphasis on the importance of the local church. Also, agreeing with Barth that theology exists to critique the preaching of the church, I would have liked to have seen a chapter on preaching. I would have liked to see his section on how the cross shapes theology expanded. The notion of mystery in theology received scant treatment. Since exegesis must be the life-blood of theology, I personally would have appreciated a call for young theologians to shut their mouths where God has not opened his. Agreeing that Augustine was Pauline on many things, this reviewer would have liked to have seen a more robust treatment of the jarringly predominant theme of love in the New Testament, especially when disagreeing with other blood-bought, Spirit-indwelt theologians. Given the space given to social justice in theology and the archetypal and ectypal knowledge of God, I was disappointed not to see these more important issues treated in a more thor- ough way. While this book has yet to be received widely, one can hope that professors will assign this book to first-year seminary students. It is the perfect sort of book for the spiritual formation class that many of the SBC seminaries require, and yet even seasoned theologians will be refreshed by it. I am confident that it will be successful in awakening many from their spiritual dogmatic slumbers.
