Updated: 1/2/20
Be doers of the word and not only hearers, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word but not a doer, he is like a man who examines his natural face in a mirror. He examines himself and then goes away and immediately forgets what he was like. But the person who looks carefully into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so, not just being a hearer who forgets, this man will be blessed in his actions (James 1:22–25).
It is a lot easier to hear James’ warning than to implement changes in our busy lives. It is easier to hear than to do. It is easier to separate theory from practice. It is easier to spend time studying theory than to implement it. James understood this. So, he filled his letter with practical advice on how to live consistently with God’s word. There is no New Testament book that offers a greater number of practical commands per page.
A fully developed theology is applied theology. This is made clear by John Frame, a conservative Protestant theologian in the early twenty-first century. His magnum opus, Systematic Theology (2013), is 1,200 pages long. If it had been printed in a normal-size book, it would have been 1,400 pages long. On page 8, he makes this observation.
The only term I know that his broad enough to cover all forms of biblical teaching and all the decisions that people make in their lives is the term application. To apply Scripture is to use Scripture to meet a human need, to answer a human question, to make a human decision. Questions about the text of Scripture, translations, interpretation, ethics, Christian growth—all these are fair game for theology. To show (by word or deed) how Scripture resolves all these kinds of questions is to apply it. So I offer my definition of theology: theology is the application of Scripture, by persons, to every area of life.
I am in full agreement with this definition. Theology is practical theology. This is true of all theology, not just Christian theology. A crucial point to understand is this: every worldview is a theology. I offer two assertions. First, theology is an inescapable concept. It is never a question of theology vs. no theology. It is always a question of which theology. It is therefore a question of which god. This is the question of original sovereignty: “Who’s in charge here?” Something or someone is always in charge. There is always a final court of appeal. Second, following Frame’s lead, all theology is practical theology. Every theology offers a theory of how the world works. Once a true believer thinks he has the inside truth about how the world really works, he asks the supreme question of ethics. “How should the world work?” His answer will influence his behavior. He will then ask this: “What must I do to make the world more consistent with how it should work?” This is the abiding question of the activist.
If you have read the first two volumes of this work, Student’s Edition and Teacher’s Edition, you are now facing this question: “What must I do to make the world more consistent with how God says it should work?” Answering that question is what this edition is all about.
I have written a fourth edition, the Scholar’s Edition. When printed, it will be in two volumes. That will be the capstone to this project, which I began at the age of 18 in 1960. I am well aware of the fact that capstone books rarely are read by anyone. They are written to persuade the truest of true believers, the most active of activists. They sit on the shelf unread, just as Karl Marx’s Das Kapital has sat ever since 1867. They have this primary purpose: to persuade leaders who are either at the top of the pyramid of influence or else climbing toward it that the movement’s philosophy is both logical and in accord with the way the world works. Therefore, the movement is worth committing to. Secondarily, the capstone book persuades movement’s troops of the same two things: its logical coherence and real-world relevance. But the troops have not read it and probably never will. It serves as a book of confirmation. “The answers are in there! Therefore, I am not wasting my life.”
The greatest of all such books is the Bible. Not many Christians study it in depth. But most Christians are convinced that it is worth studying, since it shows how the world works. It also shows how the present world falls short. The vast majority of Christians have adopted an eschatology—the doctrine of last things—that insists that the world cannot be reformed. Yes, an individual can use the Bible to reform himself with God’s help. Of course, Christian families can be reformed by biblical principles. Even churches can be reformed or else replaced by better ones. But society cannot be successfully reformed. Neither can the state. In contrast, another group of Christians, few in number in the past, insist that Christ’s redemption is comprehensive. Wherever sin reigns, Christ’s kingdom can reform it. Therefore, the Bible offers answers to every question, including this one: “How should this area of life be reformed?” This is the issue of healing. The concept of healing is related to salvation. A salve heals.
I am in the second group. I am inviting you to join. But to persuade you to join, I must present a program of reform. In volumes I and II of this study, I have offered suggestions about how the economy works and why. I have discussed ways in which the state, by threatening violence, has reduced voluntary cooperation. The results have been negative: reduced liberty, reduced personal responsibility, reduced output, and therefore reduced wealth. I explained why the results are negative.
Now it is time to discuss how the state can be restrained. If it is successfully restrained, mainly by self-government under God’s law, this will increase the domain of voluntary cooperation. There will be visible benefits. Moses announced this 3,500 years ago.
Look, I have taught you laws and decrees, as Yahweh my God had commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land which you are going into in order to possess it. Therefore keep them and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear about all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what other great nation is there that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call upon him? What other great nation is there that has laws and decrees so righteous as all this law that I am setting before you today? (Deuteronomy 4:5–8).
Before you decide whether to become an activist, you should count the cost. Jesus made this clear.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you who desires to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost to calculate if he has what he needs to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take advice about whether he is able with ten thousand men to fight the other king who comes against him with twenty thousand men? If not, while the other army is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for conditions of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not give up all that he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:27–33).
Do you believe this? If you do, keep reading.
Note: I have used an unfamiliar translation of the Bible: the Unlocked Literal Bible. It is not copyrighted. It is here: https://unfoldingword.bible/ulb. It is an updated version of the American Standard Version (1901). It is accurate. It is readable. Because it is easy to read, digital translation programs will make fewer mistakes when translating it. The King James Version, which is not copyrighted, uses archaic seventeenth-century language. So does the ASV. I want people to make translations of my book. I authorize this without any payment of royalties.
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