These posts are about theology, loosely defined. Theology = “talking about God.” If I expanded on that definition a bit, I’d say, “Theology is a more-or-less organized way of thinking about God, who he (or it) is, and how we should live in the light of this.”

There are a bunch of different approaches to theology. Some are Christian. Others are Muslim, Buddhist, etc. There are even atheist theologies, although people don’t usually call them “theology” (because the THEO- in theology comes from the Greek word for God (or god), theos.)  Philosophy that doesn’t involve God = “atheist theology.”

I am convinced that theology is deeply important.  Why does theology matter?  Two part answer:

Part 1: Theology matters because EVERYBODY believes SOMETHING about God, even if they believe he doesn’t exist. Even if they mock belief in God, they believe something.

Part 2: What they believe about God affects the way that they live, the way they react to life and death, their values and priorities, etc.

Theology matters because you believe something, and what you believe affects how you live. More on this thought in the next post.