I am Kyle Brent: a sinner saved by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ to the praise of the glory of God.
I am a student in many different ways. Formally, I am a student of Philosophy at Mississippi State University (Go Dawgs!) and am currently in my senior year. After I am done with my undergraduate degree I plan on going to seminary to pursue formal theological training in hopes to one day be a pastor, teacher, or some combination of the two.
I am a student of Sacred Scripture, the only rule of faith and practice, in which I find what I am to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of me. Likewise, I am a student of history, particularly Church History. I find it important to know how those in the history of the Church have thrived, failed, lived, died, thought, fought, and taught under Christ their Head, who is our Head as well. I love languages, particularly dead languages. Philosophy, too, is enjoyable to study but only within moderation. Over the years, under my formal philosophical training, I have found that the "love of wisdom" pervades any culture. By understanding attempting to understand philosophy, especially the historical and thematic trends of it, I find that I learn more about culture and how one thinks based upon forgotten presuppositions. Philosophy also gives me a "healthy skepticism" about institutions, or, rather, impositions, found in today's society. I ultimately think that philosophy is futile as an end in itself but that knowing it aids in the engagement of culture. All of these things (Scripture, history, language, and philosophy) will be used in later posts with Scripture being the dominating rule, of course.
Another area that I enjoy studying should be discussed next as it will describe the purpose of this blog. As you may have noticed, the title of this blog is "The Queen's Guardian." In explanation of this title, two questions will be answered: Who is this queen? and why does she need to be guarded?
If you know anything about academia between the medieval period and the Enlightenment, you may have heard of "the Queen of the Sciences" (Regina Scientiarum). This was not the designation of math, biology, physics, or any other field that may hold this title today. It was not philosophy, though she was known as the queen's handmaiden. This field of study was also called "the science of living blessedly forever" by the Puritan preacher and teacher William Perkins. Another puritan called this field "the doctrine of living unto God" (William Ames).
This queen, so highly viewed by those of old, is theology, literally, the study of God.
Now that the queen has been introduced, why does she need guardians? There is, in modernity, a twofold attack on this queen. The first attack is from intruders attempting to overthrow the queen; the other is from within the very court of the queen. Today's "academia" has taken the castle by storm and has installed a tyrannical dictatorship which they term "science." The interesting thing is that this dictatorship is working on borrowed capital from the queen. Things like "truth" and "knowledge" and the like depend on theology, or at least the One whom is studied. By denouncing the legitimacy of theology they denounce the One Who is studied in theology, the fons omnis scientiae (fountain of all knowledge). Yet they act as if objective knowledge is obtainable without God. This positivistic move by "Science" neglects the very foundation of objective truth to Whom theology points but runs upon the foundation of the objectivity of truth. This is comparable to a thief who believes wholeheartedly that the money he has stolen is counterfeit but yet still uses it as if it were legitimate currency. Thus, in the modern, "Scientific," and blindly positivistic academy, defenders of theology, and of the Faith in general, must come to the forefront.
Secondly, the members within the queen's own court are attempting reginacide. Theology has become a word of contempt within much of the Church today. Anti-intellectualism pervades much of Christian "thought" today. Whether it be by emotionalism, nominalism, laziness, or general disinterest, theology has been replaced by various things within Christian culture. An "I don't know and I don't care" spirit pervades churches everywhere, and it is not without its effects. A lessened understanding of who God is and who man is directly follows. Orthodoxy has become amoeba-like. Right practice is now a foreign, subjective notion. Those outside the churches believe that the people within the churches as lacking the competency to engage them on an intelligent level, and, for the most part, those unbelievers are correct. Gone is the notion that the mind is a faculty of man through which God is to be loved (Luke 10:27)!
Discerning truth concerning God is theology, and it involves the mind. Emotion cannot take the place of the mind as the primary evaluator of truth. What one feels is not always right as such feelings are susceptible to subjectivity. The study of God through His Word, using the mind that is renewed and is being guided guided by the Spirit, is the only way to objective truth. Discerning one's own understanding through knowledge that has been handed down to us by the pillars of the faith helps to confirm our legitimacy for the same Spirit that illuminates the Word for Christians today is the same Spirit who has worked in the hearts and minds of Christians for the past 2000 years. Such things have been lost in today's church. Thus an apology for theology must be made not only to those outside of the Faith but also to those inside.
I hope you, assuming that there is a "you" that is reading this, will frequent this blog and be edified by what you find. I hope that you find nuggets of truth here that will cause you to want to know more truth concerning God. My hope is, also, that you find that theology is refreshing, not dry and dull, because of the God upon whom it expounds and that it is trying for both your heart and mind. And, most importantly, I hope that what you find here will urge you to be more like Christ and conform to what is found in the truth of God's word, to the praise and glory of God.
May we all strive to serve King Jesus through the study of the Queen of the Sciences.
Soli Deo Gloria
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8).
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