Why is it important to study God?

This past weekend I picked up a book that I bought a while back and started to read, but put down probably to read another book that interested me more. As I began to read the book again, I quickly became overwhelmed with different terms used to describe various views of God and His interaction with man. So overwhelmed that I found myself wondering whether it would be beneficial to continue reading the book, especially since there are many others that I have not read and that definitely look easier to read.

The more I thought about it, the more important I realized it is for me to continue reading the book. I think that one reason is that too many people who label themselves as Christians or Evangelicals or who even claim to believe in the same God I do even though they do not call themselves Christians do not understand who my God, the God of traditional orthodox Christianity is. Unfortunately, I often do not understand enough about their view of God or my own view of God to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation where I can start at the point of disagreement instead of having them try to convince me based on the points of agreement. Over the past several weeks, I read the debate between Mohler and Card (mentioned in a previous blog I believe), and I realized that the only way that Mohler was able to distinguish Mormonism from Christianity was by pointing out the differences. This took a knowledge of what Mormons believe about Jesus. However, it also took knowledge about what Christians believe about Jesus and knowing the issues that we refuse to compromise on. Of course this knowledge must be obtained somehow, and I believe it is by studying the Bible and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us about God through Scripture. It is only then that we are able to read the words of other men and know that they speak truth when describing God.

Anyway, I think that I am embarking upon an interesting journey during which I hope to learn about the areas that modern (or postmodern) man with his worldly wisdom is seeking to make God Almighty, Creator of the universe, Savior and Redeemer, Sovereign Lord into something or someone that God is not. Maybe this will prepare me to respond to people who attack who God is. It will definitely enable me to better understand the points of difference. So in conclusion I think that it will enable me to be better prepared to give a defense.