The Importance of Theology

For those who pursue higher education, it is important to have a proper understanding of how knowledge is acquired and how the pursuit of truth needs to be encompassing and holistic. John Henry Newman understood this well in the nineteenth century, and offered a compelling vision of how truth must be acquired in all its many facets.

In his Dublin lectures that make up The Idea of a University, Newman notes the importance of theology in the midst of other subjects. Great minds have made countless intellectual advances in their various fields of expertise, yet Newman points out the importance of maintaining theology as the mother of all subjects if one is going to pursue the truth in earnest. Properly understood, theology is the study of God’s Revelation and of what can be derived from that Revelation, passed down through the fonts of Scripture and Tradition under the authority of the Church. Any attempt to discover the truth while overlooking what God has revealed as the source of all truth, neglects both the foundations of truth itself and how divine light is refracted in all other areas of study.

Newman heard the familiar calls to make education more practical for students to have the skills needed to be successful in this world. This call for making the liberal arts more practical is still ringing loudly today. Yet while there was pressure to make education more applicable to future careers, Newman knew that the most useful thing a student can receive is a strong intellectual foundation in truth itself. With this, he desired to keep theology as a keystone within the framework of education, and therefore, rightly asked what would be more practical than learning about the God who created us, redeemed us, and desires that each of us share in His eternal glory?

For this end, Newman maintained the need for theology classes within a proper university education. All students need not major in theology. Yet they should have a baseline understanding of the nature of truth, which is derived from God who does not deceive, nor can be deceived. If the truth about God is not apprehended, students are left pursuing other forms of knowledge that have no common starting point or foundation. They are also left pondering the deepest questions about life, without knowing the ultimate destiny to which all human life ought to be ordered.

Newman also recognized that when theological training is lost within university settings, other forms of knowledge will usurp its place. For while theology has maintained a crucial role in higher education since the medieval era, some universities minimize the study of God and Revelation, and view theology as a personal spirituality of self-fulfillment and not as a proper academic field with its own methods and terminology. Moreover, the reduction of theology has opened the door for other fields to fill its place, which strive to be the foundation or apex of truth. Fields like Anthropology, Philosophy, Literature, Psychology, or Gender Studies have at times expressed too strong of a voice within the pursuit of truth, and have promised more than they can provide. No one particular field can claim for itself to be a foundation in the pursuit of truth, unless that field begins with God as the Creator and Redeemer.

A liberal education is intended to allow the mind to pursue the truth in freedom. Yet to do so with integrity, the mind must be presented with the fullness of truth to draw out accurate and compelling conclusions. Theology offers students this foundation, knowing that what God has revealed can serve as a spring board to other explorations of where God’s beauty, truth, and goodness are found in a variety of arts and sciences. Furthermore, the study of theology serves as the interpretive lens by which other fields of study can be understood within a comprehensive whole, particularly when making reference to God and to Catholicism as the custodian of His revealed truth. With this vision, Newman understood the proper role of theology, a role that Catholic universities should still strive to uphold.