Home Podcast Eric Geiger: What the ‘Alarming’ State of Theology Report Means for the...

Eric Geiger: What the ‘Alarming’ State of Theology Report Means for the Church

eric geiger
Photo courtesy of Eric Geiger

Eric Geiger is the senior pastor of Mariners Church in Irvine, California. Before moving to Southern California, he served as senior vice president for LifeWay Christian Resources. Eric received his doctorate in leadership and church ministry from Southern Seminary, and he has authored or co-authored several books, including the best-selling church leadership book, Simple Church.

Other Ways to Listen to This Podcast With Eric Geiger

► Listen on Apple
► Listen on Spotify
► Listen on Stitcher
► Listen on YouTube

Key Questions for Eric Geiger 

-What was your reaction when you saw the State of Theology report?

-Why is it important for the average person to understand theology?

-How do you try to help people in your church be more deeply connected to theology?

-Are we in a “crisis of discipleship”? How do we have more effective discipleship?

Key Quotes From Eric Geiger 

“I wasn’t overly surprised [by the report] just because if you’re not going to sit under the teaching of Scripture consistently, you can develop some unhealthy beliefs about God and about all that he’s done and all that he’s doing in the world.”

“When you have people who claim that they are Christ-followers and believe the Bible and then come to some of the conclusions that people are saying they’ve come to, it is definitely alarming.”

“I remember when I first was pastoring…you’d have people Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. So a lot of opportunities for theological training…it just has dramatically shifted really in a generation.”

“As you know, when you teach expositionally through a text, the weeks build on one another. Well, the challenge I have is there’s very few of the people who will be there consecutively all 10 weeks. So that’s just a reality that we have as pastors.”

“Both can be true at the same time. There’s a deficit in theological thinking and understanding among God’s people. And at the same time, there is this hunger among God’s people to know and to understand the deeper things of God.”

“Think about this: 60% of the people who would be in our churches believe that the Holy Spirit is a force and not the third person of the Trinity who I have a deep and abiding personal relationship with. And so why does that matter? I mean, it matters so much because if the people I pastor think of the Spirit as only a force, then that’s a power that they can use for their own advantages.”