Everyone wants to know how to make money, how to lose weight, how to make friends and influence people. But before all that, more importantly, the first thing we got to know is how to think -- and as people who live our lives before God -- specifically, it is knowing how to think theologically.

Hi, my name is Terence and I’m your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Today I review “How to Think Theologically” by Howard W. Stone and James O. Duke. 142 pages, published by Fortress Press in 2006. 2006 is the second edition. The fourth edition, published in 2023 is available in Amazon Kindle for USD14.99.

Reviewing the 2nd not the 4th Edition

Why am I reviewing the 2nd edition and not the 4th edition? Because I got the 2nd edition for free. Even though I was not reviewing books for the past 6 months, I still made sure to get the Logos free book of the month. For June, the free book was “How to Think Theologically”.

You might be wondering whether it’s worth listening to a review of the second edition when, if you do read the book you would get the latest edition. In any case, my review is still helpful in your buying, reading, decision.

First, whatever is good in the 2nd edition will be in the 4th edition. That is why there is a 4th edition.

Second, when you hear all the good things I have to say about today’s book, you might resolve, like I have, to never miss a free book deal. And if you did get the Logos free book for June, this review might just persuade you to read it.

I Could Not Help You... Until Today

The book resonates with me because it describes the one thing I have been trying to excel in all these years.

When I was a young Christian I did not know what thinking theologically meant. I knew it was imperative for us to think biblically but what does that mean?

I only understood after I read books like Don Carson’s “Showing the Spirit”, a commentary on 1 Corinthian 12-14. That book fundamentally transformed my thinking process.

Now, many good books later, I try to bring the Bible to bear in everything, to understand God and his work in myself, the people around me and the world across space and time.

If you ask me, “Terence, I want to learn how to think theologically too, can you help? Can you do what you do best and recommend a book?”

A few weeks ago, my answer would be, “I wish I had a simple guide for you. Everything I practise, I learnt it the hard way through many books, by many writers, on many diverse issues, over many years. You could read Don Carson’s book but you would learn by observing the master. The master is not explaining what or why or how. He is busy doing the thinking through the Bible on the topic. In Don Carson’s case, thinking through 1 Cor 12-14 on the topic of the Holy Spirit. I wish I have that one book to recommend to you.”

And today, I have!

Buy this book. Read this book: “How to Think Theologically” by Howard W. Stone and James O. Duke.

Dynamic Duo

Howard Stone is a psychologist, marriage and family therapist, theologian ,and professor emeritus at Texas Christian University. James Duke is Professor of the History of Christianity and the History of Christian Thought at Brite Divinity School.

They have put together this concise how-to guide for Christians who never knew they were theologians and don’t know where to start.

So let me share my thoughts on the book.

Embedded vs. Deliberative

First, I found the distinction between embedded theology and deliberative theology to be immensely helpful.

This is the way I understand it. Embedded theology is what you grew up with in church; it's the air you breath. It's instinct, reflex, it's how you do the faith.

Deliberative theology is questioning your growing up years; it's putting the air you breath into a mass spectrometer. It's inquisitive, reflective, it's asking why you do faith in this way and not that.

Deliberative theology is the theology I tend to force unto the people around me. Embedded theology is what they wish we could all do instead.

When we make a distinction, we are drawing a line, we are pointing out differences. Sometimes, often times, that leads to quarrels. Other times, making that distinction helps people to reconcile.

We recognise that embedded theology is what everyone practises and it is good enough until it isn't. And then deliberative theology becomes necessary. Christians who are able to do deliberative theology within the faith are less likely to deconstruct themselves out of the faith.

They are more equipped to handle crisis. In this book, the authors use many real world examples. But two stick out the most.

First is the Great Hymnal Controversy. The church wrestles with whether to buy new and different hymnbooks to replace the ones falling to pieces. You can replace this controversy with the one you have in your church.

The second crisis moves away from the religious assembly to the personal home. Tom’s mother has terminal cancer and the doctor suggests removing life support. Tom doesn’t know what is the right thing to do. All of us have faced devastating dilemmas before. And if you have not, you will.

Do you know what to do? Do you know how to think theologically?

The Reason You Read This Book: How-To

Stone and Duke are here to help. They will teach us in a systematic way.

The first three chapters of the book sets up the motivation and principles. Then the next four chapters show us how to do it, and lastly the final two chapters describes how thinking theologically works in the Christian community and in spiritual formation.

When we come to the how-to chapters, the authors give us a template to work from. Three sets of diagnostic exercises covering three areas: The Gospel, the Human Condition and Vocation.

I quote:

Each question in turn (though not necessarily in order) can be applied to every issue that calls for our theological deliberation. The exercises surely will not cover all that could be said about the meaning of the Christian message of God. But they strike near the very heart of the concerns of Christian faith. In exploring these questions, something is disclosed of the breadth and depth of the Christian message. They provide a staging area for later, more complete, reflection.

Let’s look at the questions in the first set, the Gospel set.

1. What is the gospel?
2. How does the gospel reach the people?
3. How do people receive the gospel and its benefits?

Hmm... the questions are not ground-breaking. A bit basic. And that’s the point, to go back to basics and re-evaluate our situation in light of the basics, the gospel!

This is how it works, I quote:

For the church council debating the purchase of new hymnals, a clearer understanding of the church’s role in promulgating the gospel might have facilitated the discussion. Tom, who is already searching the Scriptures on his own for help in dealing with his mother’s imminent death, might be prompted to seek more help from the church: as a companion to the Scripture in making the gospel of Jesus known and as a potential source of guidance and strength in making his hard decision regarding life-support removal.

We now turn to the chapter on Human Condition. The questions are:

1. What is the basic problem with the human condition? (What is Sin?)
2. What is the resolution to that problem in the human condition? (What is Salvation?)
3. How is the problem resolved? (What is the means of Salvation?)

This chapter reminds me of another book I read, “Gospel Fluency” by Jeff Vanderstelt. Vanderstelt makes this audacious claim: “For every problem, the gospel is the solution.”

When I first heard it, I thought, "That couldn’t possibly be true."

But as Vanderstelt explains, I begin to realise that, indeed, underlying every quarrel, addiction, fear and anger, is sin. And once I saw the True Enemy, it was easier to see The Solution, because there is only one solution to Sin, and that is Jesus Christ.

So far we have only looked at two sets of questions. You can do so much with these questions.

Find a quiet place to sit. Reflect on the questions that Stone and Duke ask in their book. Don’t give the Sunday School answers. See the issue as a Christian.

And when you do some reflections, you can be surprised at how an incidental reading leads to unexpected assurance.

That was what I got.

What is Sin is Not Incidental

It all started when someone told me, “Nobody is born with a sin nature. We are all born as a blank slate.” In theology, this means a denial of Original Sin.

I believe we are all born with Sin. But I went back to study why I believe so. Along the way, I read Augustine’s Anti-Pelagian writing, which became a podcast review. I searched for Christian books that deny Original Sin, I couldn't find any. There are books that deny Original Sin, but they were not within the broad spectrum of the Christian faith.

But the biggest pushback I faced seems to not be whether to affirm or deny Original Sin, but whether it even matters. The issue is not veracity, but practicality or necessity.

Some say: “Why don’t we accept both interpretations as equally valid? After all, many Christians hold different interpretations on many parts of Scripture and have learnt to look past these differences to unite on the main thing, the Gospel.”

So I have been questioning myself over and over again, whether am I being unnecessarily difficult. Yet, over and over again, as I study Scripture, I cannot see how one church can hold two opposing interpretations on what Sin means.

Stone and Duke's chapter on t