In Paul’s command to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:13-14, Paul’s understudy, Timothy receives the imperative to ‘guard’ and ‘retain’ the truths entrusted to him. Those verbs certainly infer that this young man will feel the pressure to soften the edges of the truth in order to make it more compatible with the values of his culture. In the Western world today, there is a concerted push to marginalize and ultimately silence the theologizer. In this article, we will explore the strategies being utilized by the powers of darkness to reduce the theologizer to an irrelevant, and ‘toxic pest’ (the apostle Paul was described as a real ‘pest’ in Acts 24:5). In our own culture, one of evil one’s strategies is to vilify the theologizer by labeling him, a dangerous patriarch.

Whether a pastor or a layman, there is a biblical calling upon every Christian man, husband, and father to be a theologizer. Believing men are to be biblical teachers in the body of Christ and in the home—to ‘steward’ of the truth in such a way as to set forth from Scripture the knowledge of God in Christ, the meaning of human existence, and the path of life.

The church today is afflicted by a gospel of “easy-believism.” By easy-believism, we do not mean that salvation is not by faith alone. What we do mean is that saving faith is erroneously depicted as residing within the sinner’s capacity. Concerning this easy believism and its noxious fruits, the words of Welsh pastor Howell Harris are even more true today than they were 200 years ago: Churches are filled with folks who have a détente with sin; they are at ease under its dominion. They won’t study the fruits of faith or make their election and calling sure; but turn the grace of God into licentiousness.