The Usefulness of Good Theology
Some years ago, while working toward my Bachelors’ degree, I took an introduction to psychology course. The class was generally not memorable except for one thing the teacher repeatedly said. “There is nothing quite so practical as a good theory.” I have come to appreciate the wisdom of this statement, for it fuses together what we so frequently (and unconsciously) separate in an unnatural way—intellectual thought processes from the practicalities of life. Examples of the reality of this fusion in life are many: The scientist testing a theory in “real world” conditions, a teacher employing well thought out strategies to present and get the children in the classroom to comprehend math concepts, the computer programmer who searches out what he knows about the specifics of the software and the hardware design to try to expand their usefulness and applications, the mother who intentionally and creatively implements principles of morality through her example and parental enforcement of bou