I was puzzled the first time I learned that, during the middle ages, theology was called the “queen of the sciences.” I remember thinking “theology isn’t a science, it’s part of the humanities.”

I wondered about it for years. Then one day it dawned on me: Science is an attempt to describe the nature of reality – and so is Theology:

Each observes and draws conclusions about what is real and what is not real – and attempts to make accurate statements about the nature of reality.

Each can observe correctly or incorrectly and each can draw true or false conclusions, but both are still engaged in the same task: attempting to correctly describe reality.

It’s true that Theology uses revelation as a source of information and Science uses only observation by the five senses, but they are still each attempting to correctly describe the nature of reality.

At a fundamental level all Christians believe that Theology is a Science:

We believe that God, humanity, and the universe can be described in ways that are more accurate or less accurate.

We believe that there is a reality about the nature of Divine and human existence that can be described correctly or incorrectly.

We don’t believe that our descriptions of this reality cause it to come into being or to change. We believe that God is God, humanity is humanity, and Christian Theology is describing what it sees – not creating it.

That’s why it’s so strange and, really, anti-Christian when we use subjective language to describe the gospel. For example:

A scientist would make an objective statement about reality: “the earth orbits the sun.” He would never make a subjective statement about reality: “if you believe the earth orbits the sun, then it does; if you don’t believe it then it doesn’t.”

Likewise, the gospel makes an objective statement about reality: “God the Son has become flesh and blood and adopted humanity into the Triune Life.” It should seem ridiculous to us to say “if you believe you are adopted into God’s life then you are and if you don’t believe it then you’re not.”

Why have we tolerated such language? Because even though we do believe in the scientific nature of Christian Theology – i.e. that Christian Theology is attempting to describe reality – we have not fully understood the reality it is describing.

We have thought that it was describing a real potential: the reality that we can potentially make ourselves children of the Father by our belief or action.

In fact, Christian Theology is describing the real nature of existence: the whole creation exists in and through the Son of God and in the Son’s incarnation the Father has adopted humanity as his children (Acts 17:28, Col. 1:17, Eph. 1:5, Col. 1:20, Rom. 5:18, Heb. 2:14-15).

This is a scientific statement, not a subjective feeling. Jesus is the revelation that, in and through him, we are adopted children of the Father. Our feeling or belief doesn’t make it true or untrue any more than our feeling or belief makes it true that the earth orbits the sun.

Either humanity is adopted into the life of the Father, Son, and Spirit – and therefore Christian Theology’s description of reality is correct – or we’re not adopted and Christian Theology is incorrect. But the one thing that Christian Theology is not is an invitation to magically change the nature of reality by thinking the right thoughts or saying the right words. That’s superstition, not science.

And that’s why Christian Theology is good news! It’s a description of reality that says we are all safe and at home in the Father’s heart through Jesus.

In my next post I’ll talk about how the Science that we call “Theology” is a necessary subject of study for all people.