Why We Are All Influential Theologians, for Good or for Ill

J. I. Packer:

The Puritans made me aware that all theology is also spirituality, in the sense that it has an influence, good or bad, positive or negative, on its recipients’ relationship or lack of relationship to God.

If our theology does not quicken the conscience and soften the heart, it actually hardens both;

if it does not encourage the commitment of faith, it reinforces the detachment of unbelief;

if it fails to promote humility, in inevitably feeds pride.

So one who theologizes in public, whether formally in the pulpit, on the podium or in print, or informally from the armchair, must think hard about the effect his thoughts will have on people–God’s people, and other people.

J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness (Wheaton: Crossway, 1990), 15.