Theology has become a bad word in the majority of our churches and denominations. However, bad theology is deadly in any generation. The consequences of bad theology usually are felt by various consecutive generations.

         In the eighteen hundreds we had the rise of Enlightenment; this is an attempt to combine science with faith. This is trying to make Christianity look smart. However, the Bible tells us in First Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (KJV)

         The enlightenment era gave birth to Liberal Theology, Liberal theology is an attempt to interpret Scripture through the eyes of modern philosophic perspectives. Again, is Christianity plus something else and it is the Word plus something else, as if the Word is not able to stand in truth alone.

         Well, Church history is obviously deeper than what I am briefly presenting here, but the point that I will try to make is that any theology that moves away from God’s Word as absolute truth is bad theology and it must be confronted and rejected in our local churches.

         I love to study church history because father time do not lie, father time will tells us indeed what was good, what was bad and what was ugly. As time has gone by, the Body of Christ has been a victim of deadly theologies. We have placed a great deal of emphasis on emotionalism and very little emphasis on orthodox theology.

         Theology is not a degree; theology is a way of life. The basis definition of the word is, “…the study of God and God’s relation to the world.” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theology). Anybody having a conversation about God is having a conversation about theology.

         This liberal theology gave birth to Pentecostalism. Pentecostalism gave birth to the charismatic movement, the charismatic movement gave birth to the start of denominations without accountability, so called non-denominations and, all that, gave birth to what we have today, the Prosperity Gospel, where is all about being healthy and rich; is all about me and what I can get.

         But where did all these mess started, it started with the first theologian, the snake in the garden as she offered a very tempting and attractive view of what God already established. Genesis 3:1-4 gives us the first theological dialogue in the history of humanity.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. (NKJV)

         The snake was the first speaker to discuss the subject of God in the Bible and thus the first theologian. This original “doctor in         theology” called unto question God’s character with a charge   that divine prohibition extended to all the trees of the Garden a      lie”[1]

What was the result of the devil’s theology in the garden? Adam and Eve lost the divine ability to be eternal; they started physically dying from that moment on. They immediately died spiritually. They were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. There were other consequences, but the must devastated one, was that they lost their communion with God; they lost His manifested presence. No longer were they able to walk with God in the cool of the day.

         Bad theology always drastically affects our relationship with God. What brings revivals to expirations is pride and personal agendas that ultimately manifested in one thing, bad theology.

[1] Jason S. DeRouchie, What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About: A Survey of Jesus Bible, (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academy, 2013) 68