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You’re Doing it Wrong: Tabloid Theology

Oct 13, 2009 Print This Post

Lately I have really been digging The Theology Program podcast (especially since I discovered I can listen to it at twice the speed on my iPhone). Don’t let the name freak you out, it’s a great entry level podcast for people who want to take the next step in thinking theologically (which should be all of us).

One of the things that struck me was the clear presentation of two wrong ways to approach theology. To be completely frank, I know tons of people who do one or both of these and this gave me language to use.

The first wrong way to approach theology is Tabloid Theology. Here’s the definition TTP uses:

One who constructs his or her theology based upon naïve hearsay information that has no basis in fact and very little, if any, evidence to be believed. Many times people are Tabloid theologians because of the theology’s appearance of originality. As well, it can be “cutting edge” in many people’s minds.

Let me put this in layman’s terms. A Tabloid Theologian hears something cool (or something bad) about Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, Church, or whatever and they instantly get excited about it and believe it. What’s missing? The Word. This person doesn’t ground their faith in what Scripture teaches, but rather on reports from other people about cool (or bad) ideas, experiences, or whatever. These are the urban-legends of the faith, but for many people they build their theology falsely on them.

One simple example: those who say they have seen (or dreamed or talked with) angels. Often, the description of the angel doesn’t jive with scriptural descriptions (the little we have). In addition, people often describe a “sense of peace,” which is the exact opposite of the reaction of those who see angels in the Bible (and need to be constantly told, “Don’t be afraid!”).

Another example would be reports of “special movements of the Spirit” in different cities or churches that are full of unsubstantiated claims of miracles that do more to wreck the church’s reputation than share God’s love with the world. People get all fired up about these things without examining what the Bible may have to say about them (I would encourage many of these people to read 1 Corinthians, for example).

These are just a couple examples and in each one, either the Bible is the authority or a story you have been told is the authority. You can’t have it both ways. Not all experiences contradict the Bible (some stories we hear may very well be true / authentic), but many of the extreme ones that people get excited about do.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about the next wrong way to approach theology.