A Little Exercise for Young Theologians

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A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke

Thielicke writes: “How all important it is that a vigorous spiritual life, in close association with the Holy Scriptures and in the midst of the Christian community, be maintained as a background to theological work, and that the unformed shadows of thought always derive their life blood from that source.” (37)

If you find yourself in the Bible primarily to prepare a teaching as compared to praying through it to encounter God’s word to you. If you or someone you know has strayed away from life transforming and informing faith, because of theological learning. If you are in seminary or heading there. Well then, this book may be for you.

You can easily read it in one short session, but you may choose, instead, to savor Thielicke’s thoughts over a few weeks. Either way, I don’t think you can find a better, shorter book on topic: it has 13 very short chapters (typically 2-3 pages in length), but great content fills each page. You might want to grab your own copy; however, if you live close by, you can use mine.

This book’s content is capsulized by the above introductory quote, an approach to learning and teaching about God (“theological work”) that has been mine for years. I just never knew there was a concisely written book about it and one done by an internationally known professor, pastor, and theologian. I didn’t know, that is, until one of my sons shared his copy with me.