Peppermint Patty was describing to Charlie Brown the exam she took in school that day. One question on the test read, “How many angels can stand on the head of a pin?” Peppermint Patty queried her friend as to how a person could answer such a question. True to form, Charlie Brown offered an astute, carefully crafted explanation. He informed Patty that her teacher had posed an old theological problem, for which there is no answer. Oblivious to her friend’s display of theological acumen, Peppermint Patty expressed her dismay. She had answered, “Eight, if they’re skinny, and four if they’re fat!”
Many people cringe at the thought of reading a theology book. They are convinced that theologians are stuffy academic types who hang out in ivory towers where they discuss obscure, unknowable, and irrelevant questions like the one posed to Peppermint Patty. Unfortunately, many theologians provide ample support for this stereotype. They are sometimes content to argue with each other about issues that are of no concern to most people, even to most Christians. And they often give the impression that their discussions have no bearing on life in the real world. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. Theology is by its very nature connected to life. Each of us, regardless of religious affiliation (or lack of it), has a core set of beliefs (a worldview) about God and the world (or ultimate reality). And these beliefs form the foundation for how we live.
This book is about theology, and more specifically, Christian theology. It sets forth my understanding of the core beliefs we share as believers. My goal is to make theology accessible to people who are reticent to read a theology text. More specifically, I want to survey the Christian theological landscape with you, so that you might sharpen your core set of beliefs—not for the sake of priming you to win theological arguments but to assist you to live as a Christian in the society in which God has placed you so that you can connect Christian belief with Christian living.
The theme around which this book revolves is given in the title, Created for Community. At the heart of the Christian message is the good news that the Triune God desires to bring us into fellowship with himself, with each other, and with all creation. I believe that this biblical vision of community—this core set of beliefs—can provide the foundation for truly Christian living, as we are drawn by the Holy Spirit to live on the basis of this vision.
In a sense, this volume is the distillation of my lengthier book, Theology for the Community of God, published in 1994 by Broadman & Holman. In that volume I take the reader through the process by which I arrive at the theological conclusions presented in more summary fashion here. You might view Created for Community as an extended sermon, similar to what a pastor might say in twenty-five minutes. Theology for the Community of God, in contrast, represents the diligent work that would occupy the pastor throughout the week of preparation for that Sunday sermon.
Roger Olson represents those theologian-pastors who have devoted their lives to assisting Christians—especially younger Christians—in discovering and clarifying the core beliefs we share. In addition, over the years he has become a close and cherished friend. In gratitude for his partnership in the theological enterprise, for his personal scholarship, but above all for his friendship, I dedicate this book to him.