The McNugget Theologian

The McNugget Theologian

The Apostle Paul is widely regarded, by believers and unbelievers alike, as one of the most profound theologians to ever live. Whether it was because he was classically trained by one of the most prominent Jewish leaders of his day – Gamaliel – or whether it was because of his close, personal time in the Judean wilderness with the Lord (or likely a combination of both), everyone essentially agrees that Paul had a mastery of the things of God that far transcends most human beings. Masterpieces of theological precision have come from the mind, heart, and hand of this great man: Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Corinthians, etc. Every believer stands in the shadow of these mighty contributions of the faith. Seminarians study it in schools of higher learning, preachers have expounded on it for centuries, and Christians have enjoyed a thorough presentation of doctrinal truth from his work.

Concerning this, many say that they simply can’t understand a lot of what Paul has to say. Certainly, this is said of Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, the Corinthains letters, and even the Thessalonian letters. They’re deep, sometimes technical, and very rich. If this is you, I’d like to speak about something I mentioned from the pulpit a few weeks ago to help you understand Paul a little better.

Paul was a master at compiling large quantities of information in bite-size pieces of information. “The McNugget Theologian” I called him in jest. But I use this title as a way of creating an image of how he wrote. Like a 10-piece McNugget meal is meant to be eaten one Nugget at a time, so too were Paul’s words. His “McNuggets” are essentially prepositional phrases: information, broken down into chewable parts, so that you can appreciate the whole meal. Take Ephesians 1:5 as an example of what I mean. Paul, while writing on the topic of redemption, said this about your salvation, “…having predestined us/to adoption/as sons/by Jesus Christ/to Himself/according to the good pleasure of His will…" (/’s added to emphasize the separation of prepositional sentences). Paul writes like this because it is the easiest way to pack large doctrinal content into powerful units of understanding. We could literally spend hours studying any one of those prepositional sentences, let alone understand the complexities of them all! Together, though, they help us understand the riches of salvation that comes from God.

Make sense? I hope so, because the Bible was written in a way that was designed to be understood. It isn’t supposed to be something that only those with degrees understand. God’s Word is deep, but it is also meaningful. You can go as deep as you want, but it’s all designed to educate you and draw you into a closer relationship with the Lord.
I hope this helps today. I know it sure changed the way I read Paul’s letters. Take your time as you study and ask the Lord to help you understand. Grab some great resources like a dictionary or commentary and watch the Word of God come alive like never before!

Blessings,
Bro. Ben