TransformedBTBy Parker Reardon

I’m sure you have heard people claim that doctrine is divisive, irrelevant, boring, or impractical. Yet we must not, as Dr. Charles Ryrie so aptly observes, “forget that all practice (and every experience) must be based on sound Bible doctrine, and all Bible doctrine is expected to result in proper practice. Sound doctrine and biblical experiences have to be wedded. You must not have one without the other.”

The beloved theologian J. I. Packer was interviewed about why, if theology is such a bad word, he devoted his life to it. He said, “It helps me appreciate the greatness, goodness, and glory of God—lifting up the sheer wonder and size and majesty of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the providence of God, the Puritans and Calvin taught me that’s what theology is about. The truth I try to grasp and share is truth that enlarges the soul because it tunes into the greatness of God. It generates awe and adoration.”