Why Do Women Need Theology?

Why do women need theology? Well, simply put, we need theology for the same reasons a man does. 

Theology is the study of God and religious beliefs. Everyone has an opinion about God. Even Atheists. But it comes down to whether your views line up with Scripture or not. As R.C. Sproul puts it, “Everyone is a theologian. It’s just a matter of whether you will be a good theologian or a bad theologian.” 

For some reason, it’s always been assumed that women have no interest in theology and therefore, they don’t need to be burdened with it. I’m not sure where that view point came from or how it started. However, whether it’s accurate or not, really isn’t the point. Women should be diving into God’s Word and learning as much as we can whether we want to or not. But my bet is that once you start, your desire and love for it will grow into an unquenchable thirst. 

That brings me to the first reason of why women need theology: Love of God. If you love God, then you already have a minimal knowledge of Him. If you didn’t know God, then it wouldn’t be possible for you to love Him at all. As a Christian, because of our love for God, we should be desiring to grow in our knowledge of Him. Mark 12:30 says “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” As one of my favorite teachers, Justin Peters, puts it, “The Bible never separates knowledge of God and love for God. If we truly love God, then we will want to know Him more and more, and the only way for us to know God is through our study of His Word.” 

The second reason why we need theology is discernment. Unfortunately, women tend to be more easily deceived, and therefore, it is vitally important for us to be able to distinguish between right and wrong according to Scripture. False teachers and teachings abound greatly, sadly. To protect ourselves from falling for them, we need to be able to know what God’s Word says about any subject. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10). We should be comparing everything that someone, including our favorite pastor, says to Scripture. 

Thirdly, knowing God in truth helps us to better worship Him in truth. God is deserving of our worship and our praise. Authentic worship comes from the heart and the mind. If we fail to know God with our mind, then that could lead to us failing to worship Him in the way that we should and the way that He deserves. “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:23). The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. What better way to glorify and enjoy God then to worship Him deeply and truly? 

The fourth reason is to be able to rightly interpret Scripture. Just as you need discernment to help protect you from false teachers and teachings, you need to make sure you are not twisting God’s Word yourself. Eisegesis, when you inject your own ideas into the text, is the down fall of so many. Studying and knowing God’s Word, and using proper exegesis, helps us to not only apply Scripture to our lives correctly, but we are also able to tell others about Him rightly. Just as Paul told Timothy, you should ”Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth”(2 Timothy 2:15). 

The last reason that I am going to present to you, is that we demonstrate theology in the way we live. Having a solid, deep understanding of God’s Word matters because it will affect how we act and how we love. What we believe changes how we live. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). Charles Spurgeon said, in his “Imitators of God” sermon, “Nearness to God brings likeness to God. The more you see God, the more of God will be seen in you.” We should be imitators of God. We should be growing in our sanctification and acting more like Christ as we do. Our theology and what we know about God is a great factor in us being able to do so. 

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list, as the reasons and benefits for anyone knowing theology are probably too many to name. However, my sincere hope is that these five reasons will help any woman reading this to understand the importance of theology and that they will encourage you to dive into God’s Word. My prayer for each of us is that this Book of the Law shall not depart from our mouths, but that we will meditate on it day and night, so that we may be careful to do according to all that is written in it (Joshua 1:8).

*I originally wrote this for Undying Light