If in studying philosophy one cannot make money out of it, it is not in the case of theology. Many religious leaders in the Christian world have become rich because of theology.
Theology is the study about God, coupled with the divine revelation. It is an in-depth inquiry and research on the nature of God and His will for mankind. This discipline is very rich on how God has reached us out first in order to establish relationship with us – his universal salvific will. Since God is the Supreme Being, He knows all human queries. And that is the reason we ascribe to Him with the adjective word ‘omniscient.’
Objectively speaking, the discipline of theology is full of divine truth. It is not mixed with human understanding called syncretism, for God’s thoughts are beyond human understanding, according to one of the wisdom books of the Old Testament. But what makes the claim that ‘one can make money out of theology’ is of human doings.
The topic on tithing is out of the question here, for all members of any religious institutions are obliged to give one-tenth of his earnings for the support of all the expenses and the missionary activities of the Church, and of thanksgiving to God for the blessing we receive every day. But some religious leaders, who are knowledgeable in theologizing, manipulate and use it other than what is essential for religious purposes.
What is this all about? Theology should be in the service of the God and of the Church. But what we see from our religious leaders? They are using theology in the service of their personal gains by accumulating wealth. I remember the words of the executive director of one of the religious institutions in the city that ‘they are making the Church as milking cow!’ He himself, as a Jesuit priest, testifies to this common observation.
I think this is one of the reasons why people nowadays, who are immersed in the very secular world, do not take into hearts the preaching of their pastors. And if they do not give their listening ears to them, it is because they do not see the truth of theology. It just that people want to hear the real theology that brings salvation and not theology that fishes out money from their pocket.
