“Theology” simply means “the study of God.”
That means all believers are theologians – or, at least, should be. To be clear – and fair – this does not mean that everyone is an academic or scholar i.e. someone who has made a career out of studying the Bible. But, nonetheless, we’re all biblically commanded to be theologians: a person who studies the Word of God.
I ran across a wonderful article on this topic this past week. You can access the article here.
From the article:
“Laypeople have no biblical warrant (argument) to leave the duty of doctrine (a set of beliefs) up to pastors and professors alone.”
Besides, pastors being human and flawed, it is completely possible for a Bible teacher to actually misinterpret something and get it flat wrong. Paul would end up writing a third of the New Testament. But that hadn’t happened yet. And the Bereans took no chances:
Finally, it’s simply what we’re commanded to do:
By the way, it’s vital for us all to remember that Paul’s instruction to Timothy above was a command, not a suggestion. 🙂
Soli Deo Gloria, Nick