William Barclay on Theology

William Barclay (1907-1978) was a Scottish theologian and pastor who wrote a popular set of Bible commentaries that have sold over 1.5 million copies. (I own several of his.) He argued that theology "has no 'once and for all' form of discourse," as if it could be stated in a way that is valid for all places and times. We Christians cannot just repeat the words of the New Testament without explaining what they mean in contemporary language. That is one reason why we need to retranslate the Bible every few decades. If what we say about Christianity (theology), is not translated into the cultural vernacular, how can we connect in our time with our generation?

Good theological writing aims to communicate what the Bible says and means to contemporary readers. That is also why biblical translations, such as The Message Bible, are valuable. Good theology translates the realities of biblical faith into language and concepts that connect with people today rather than relying on works of the past. It is not that older works, such as The King James Bible, are not valuable, it is that they are harder to access by the common person.

In Nehemiah 8:8 we read about the priests presenting God's word to the people: "They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading." The people in Nehemiah's generation needed explanation to understand what Moses had said some 900 years before. How much more do we, then, need understanding? The work of theology never ceases.