Cole, Graham A. Theological Method: An Introduction. Short Studies in Systematic Theology 1. Wheaton: Crossway, 2025 (2020). 106pp excluding end matter.
Summary and Critique
Theological Method isn’t so much about presenting a method for doing systematic theology, but presenting five key “elements” (Cole’s term) necessary for doing systematic theology that are faithful to the one true God as a faithful disciple of Jesus. As such, the book’s original title, Faithful Theology (published in 2020), more accurately reflects the book’s contents.
Chapter 1 sets forth Scripture as the locus of theology. Because the Bible is where divine self-revelation is to be found (it is the Word of God), the Bible is what is reflected upon. That reflection should lead to an appropriate response from the theologian.
Chapter 2 reminds the theologian to learn from other Christians and theologians, both from the past and the present. Cole is clear, however, that Scripture is supreme and always has the final say.
Chapter 3 sets theology in its proper contexts. We are outside of Eden, in the groaning of creation, in the last days, in a sinful world of human brokenness with a real opponent (the devil).
Chapter 4 comes the closest to presenting an actual method for doing systematic theology. Cole gives the reader tools, criteria, and questions for doing theology wisely.
Chapter 5 illustrates the above four elements by putting them into practice around the doctrine of the Trinity. Cole concludes his study by reminding the reader that doing theology is both worship and forms the theologian as a worshipper.
Overall, Theological Method is a book intended for new Christians who desire to engage with theology but do not know how. Although it is only an introduction, Theological Method is more simplistic than the other books in the series, which is disappointing. The other books in the SSST series make complex topics simple, not simplistic. Although Cole attempts to illustrate how to do theology in chapter 5, he chooses a topic—the Trinity—that is too large and complex for the reader to really see any method. A better choice would have been to choose a more manageable topic, such as one of the attributes of God (i.e., simplicity or stability). I also would have liked Cole to distinguish between biblical theology and systematic theology, showing how systematic theology is built upon solid biblical theology.
For those who have been in a solid Bible-believing church for a while or who have had any level of theological education, Theological Method will seem quite simplistic and not offer much insight, but will reaffirm truths they should already hold.
Summary of Each Chapter
Introduction
This book was formerly published in 2020 under the title Faithful Theology: An Introduction.
The goal of this book is to help readers get better at talking and thinking about God (11). Thus, this book is about the proper method to use in doing “faithful theology” (14). Because Scripture is key when learning about the things of God, Theological Method explores how to move from Scripture to theology (15)
Theology is important because it answers three normative questions vital to all people:
- “What ought we to believe (orthodoxy, right opinion)?” (15)
- “What ought we to value (orthokardia, right-heartedness)?” (15)
- “How ought we to live (orthopraxy, right practice of life)? (16)
In order to address the method of doing theology, Cole suggests the following five key elements (16–17). Each element is given its own chapter:
- The foundation of theology in the self-witness of God in Scripture.
- Knowledge of the history of theological debate and discussion.
- Doing theology in context of a broken and fallen world.
- The role of wisdom in theology.
- The doxological dimension in doing theology.
Important Definitions
- Theology: “talking about God” (11). When talk about God “is organized, we have a body of teaching, or doctrine” (11). Cole notes that he uses “theology,” “doctrine,” and “teaching” as synonyms throughout the monograph (15, note 6).
- Method: “A method . . . is a self-conscious way of going about doing something” (13–14, quote originally from Robert Jenson, A Theology in Outline, 111).
Chapter 1: The Word of Revelation
The foundation of theology is the self-witness of God in Scripture. The church gets its idea of God from the Bible: “Doing theology is an evidence-based practice, and Scripture provides the crucial evidence” (20). “Doing theology needs a secure epistemological base. God’s word written is that base” (37).
Scripture is, thus, to be read in a way that retrieves its true sense. Cole believes the reformers’ hermeneutic is instructive for modern Christians engaging theology and Scripture: “Scripture interprets Scripture, Scripture is not to be interpreted against Scripture, and plain Scripture is to interpret obscure Scripture” (27).
Chapter 2: The Witness of Christian Thought and Practice (Past and Present)
Chapter 2 is quite simple. When engaged with theology, Christians should consult Christians from the past to hear what they have to say and to learn from them (both the good and the bad).
“Doing theology wisely means learning from the past both positively and negatively. However, in theology tradition can only ever be norma normata (a ruled norm). Again, in contest between Scripture and tradition, Scripture constitutes the final court of appeal in an evangelical methodology” (41). “Scripture . . . is the ruling norm (norma normans), while tradition is a ruled norm (norma normata)” (51–52).
Cole then gives a lengthy illustration of how we can learn from the Arian controversy.
Chapter 3: The World of Human Brokenness
“Doing theology acknowledges the setting in which the task takes place and also the era in which doing theology is done” (54). Here is the setting (or context) of the theologian as put forth in this chapter:
- Outside of Eden
- In the groaning of creation
- In the last days (between the two advents of Christ)
- In a sinful world of human brokenness
- Where there is a supernatural opponent of God, of His Word, and of His people (Satan)
Chapter 4: The Work of Wisdom
This chapter attempts to relate and connect the word of revelation, the witness of Christian thought, and the world of human brokenness together. Cole says the relating of these three elements is “a work of wisdom” (69).
Wisdom is needed because wisdom “knows what to do with data, information, and knowledge for both thought and life” (69). Further, wisdom is predicated on the fear of the Lord (69). Wisdom “is reasoning employed as the servant of Scripture and not as the master of Scripture” (70, emphasis added). Thus, Cole uses (1) tools, (2) criteria, and (3) questions provided by wisdom to connect the word of revelation, the witness of Christian thought, and the world of human brokenness together
Tools that are helpful in thinking, speaking, and writing theologically:
- Dogmatic Rank (76–78). Dogmatic rank “means that teachings need to be ranked, and the ranking has to do with importance for faithfulness and fellowship” (76).
- Reason and Imagination (78–79). Just because something is unimaginable (beyond mental imaging) does not mean it is inconceivable. The two should not be confused. “The distinction between the unimaginable and the conceivable is important” (79). Doctrines like the Trinity are conceivable, but are unimaginable.
- Reason, Faith, Fear, and Sight (79–80). “How reason, faith, fear, and sight relate needs wise treatment” (80). In Scripture, the great contrasts are between trusting and fearing and between trusting and seeing, not between trusting and reasoning (80).
- Control Beliefs (80–81). “A control belief acts as a gatekeeper to what we admit as a candidate for knowledge or not” (81). Control beliefs are needed for faithful doctrines of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church, etc. (81).
- The Discipline of Biblical Theology (81–82). Biblical theology must be employed in the construction of doctrine (81). Biblical theology is the “disciplined way of reading Scripture canonically that places any text in its context, both its immediate literary unit and its place in the canon in the light of redemptive history’s unfolding plan, from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22” (81).
Criteria that help in doing theology (a criterion “provides a standard by which something may be judged,” 82).
- The Scriptural Criterion (82). “Does a theological claim or proposal have scriptural warrant? Is it consistent with what we find in the Scriptures? Where stands it written” (82).
- The Rational Criterion (82). “Are we being asked to believe in nonsense or the self-contradictory” (82).
- The Liveability Criterion (82). “Am I able to live as though my claim or theological proposal were true” (82).
Questions that need to be asked to do theology wisely:
- The Factual Question (84). Is there biblical testimony relevant to addressing the issue at hand.
- The Semantic/Conceptual Question (84–85). “What is meant by the words used to articulate a particular problem” (84).
- The Moral Question (85). “What ought we to answer” (85).
- The Pastoral Question (85). “How will by answer affect relationships?” (85).
Chapter 5: The Way of Worship (Putting It All Together in Thought and Life)
The goal of this chapter is to see how theology affects how one lives life by showing what theologizing looks in practice (87, 89). Cole states, “Faithful thinking ought not to be divorced from faithful living” (87). To show how theology is lived out in practice, Cole explores “the doctrine of the Trinity in the light of the normative scriptural testimony and the witness of past and present great Christian thinkers, with an eye on the broken creation of which we are a part” (87).
Cole concludes his study as follows: “The doctrine of the Trinity informs our answers to the two other normative questions at the heart of the theological task: What out we to value, and how ought we to live? We ought to value the relational and its other-person-centeredness. We ought to live as Paul told us to: ‘Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour’ (Rom. 12:10)” (96).
Cole concludes his study by claiming that “the study of doctrine is an act of love for God: in studying the things of God, we are formed as worshipers and as God’s servants in the world” (99). Doing theology is to be offered to God as worship.
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