What is Experimental Theology?
By Joel B. Key. Experimental or experimental
theology addresses how a Christian experiences the truth of Christian
doctrine in his life. By experimental or experimental
theology, we mean Christ-centered theology which stresses that
for salvation, sinners must by faith have a personal, experimental,
that is, experienced, spirit-worked knowledge of Christ, and, by
extension, of all the great truths of Scripture. Thus we must emphasize,
as the Puritans did, that the Holy Spirit causes the objective
truths about Christ and His work to be experienced in the heart
and life of sinners. For example, our lost state and
condition by nature due to our tragic fall in Adam, our dire
need for Jesus Christ who merits and applies salvation by His
Spirit, and our responsibility to repent and believe the Gospel
of God's freely offered salvation in Jesus Christ, all must be
known and experienced in our lives. Experimental theology
stresses that the Holy Spirit blesses man abasing. Christ-centered
theology that makes room for Christ within the soul. Believers
will then yearn to live holy for his glory out of gratitude
for his great salvation. The gospel truth of sovereign
grace that abases us to the lowest and exalts Christ to the highest
in our salvation must be proclaimed and experienced. Experimental
theology is therefore applicatory. It explains how the life of faith
begins with spiritual rebirth and grows in resisting sin and
in becoming Christlike, while being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Such teaching addresses the mind,
engages the heart, and confronts the conscience. We believe that
more than historical faith, believing biblical truth and doctrine with
the mind is necessary for salvation. True saving faith, biblical doctrine
and truth formed within the soul by personal knowledge of and
trust in Christ alone for salvation is essential. At minimum, a true
Christian should be able to explain the basics of personal conversion,
which results in experiencing the reality of the guilt of sin,
deliverance in Christ, and gratitude to the Triune God for His glorious
salvation. Emphasis must be placed, then,
on the necessity of being born again, repenting, and believing
in Christ alone for salvation. True conversion should never
be presumed in adults or children. Out of loving concern for children
and adults, biblical marks and fruits of saving grace are expounded
from Scripture to distinguish spiritual life from counterfeit
Christianity. Reformed experimental theology
teaches that Christianity is not only a creed and a way of
life, but also an inner experience resulting from personal fellowship
with God through the indwelling Spirit. Some assert that this
produces an unbiblical kind of mysticism, but nothing could
be further from the truth. Unbiblical mysticism separates
Christian experience from the Word of God, but the historic
Reformed stance demands God-glorifying, Word-centered, Spirit-worked
experimental Christianity. Such Christianity produces a
balanced Calvinism that does justice to all aspects of the
Christian life, the intellectual, the emotional, the volitional,
and the spiritual. It helps promote a comprehensive
reformed worldview. It shows us how to live in two
worlds, how to have heaven before our minds to guide and shape
our lives here on earth.