Study theology to deepen your own love of and faith in God. An unexamined faith is often an untrusting one. Some people think that doing theology is bad for your faith, but that suggests that when you face a tough situation, or are asked a hard question, your faith will die. Here at St Mellitus College, we believe that God gets bigger, more beautiful and more trustworthy as you gaze more and more deeply. Paul says this in Romans 8.31 ‘If God is for us, who is against us?’ If death can’t separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, the study of theology certainly can’t.

Study theology for the sake of your church. It is not everyone’s calling to do formal academic study of theology, but it is the calling of every Christian disciple to do all they can to deepen their faith. Those of us who are called to this kind of study are one of the varieties of the Spirit’s gift to the church. As you study, always think, how can this help my Christian friends? What are the questions and situations they are wrestling with? Study to be a resource for your church.

Study for the sake of those who don’t know God. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is good news for the whole world? If so, how is the whole world going to find that out. There are a lot of strange ideas about God around in our culture, and a lot of damaging ideas about what life is for. We need to equip ourselves to be confident in the good news we have to share.

Finally, study theology to be a gift to this community of joyful study here at St Mellitus College. Help the community you study with, staff and students alike, to grow in the knowledge and love of God, and in Christ-like lives in the power of the Holy Spirit.