Doxological Theology and Theological Doxology

At the conclusion of his study on Romans 11, super loud P. Joel, aka “The reverse of Elijah,” offered this final quote from Stott:

“It is of great importance to note from Romans 1-11 that theology (our belief about God) and doxology (our worship of God) should never be separated.  On the one hand, there can be no doxology without theology.  It is not possible to worship an unknown god.  All true worship is a response to the self-revelation of God in Christ and Scripture, and arises from our reflection on who he is and what he has done… Worship without theology is bound to degenerate into idolatry.

On the other hand, there should be no theology without doxology.  There is something fundamentally flawed about a purely academic interest in God.  God is not an appropriate object for cool, critical, detached, scientific observation and evaluation.  No, the true knowledge of God will always lead us to worship, as it did Paul.  Our place is on our faces before him in adoration.

As I believe Bishop Handley Moule said at the end of the last century, we must ‘beware equally of undevotional theology and of an untheological devotion.’”