Question:

What is the definition of the word "THEOCENTRIC", where can I find the definition, and how does this word separate Christianity from Islam.

W_____________

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My Answer:

Dear W________,

What a great question? Thank you for having the insight to ask it. Theocentric literally means "God-centered." I'd imagine you are challenging me to call my website "Christocentric" instead, which means "Christ-centered." There are two good reasons why I chose not to do this:

1. I didn't think about it when I registered my domain.

2. I don't think christocentric goes far enough. Why? Because ultimately Christ -- who is fully God and fully man -- is God-centered Himself! Allow me to develop this.

Those who know me well know that I absolutely despise any teaching that claims to be Christian that is divorced from the Person and work of Christ. There is a lot of teaching out there which is really mere moralism -- truths, principles, and techniques that could be taught in a Jewish synagogue, a Unitarian assembly, or Islamic mosque. I strive hard to root everything I believe and teach in the redemptive work of Christ and in the eschatological promise of a new heaven and new earth completely purified from sin and rebellion. Thus, I strive to be christocentric in all I do.

However, I realize that even Christ is theocentric ("God-centered"). His command as the God-man to His people is clearly given through His messenger: "Worship God" (Rev. 19:10; 22:9). His incarnation, crucificixion and exaltation are all for one distinct purpose -- the glory of God the Father: "that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:11). Indeed, the final phase of redemptive history involves the christocentric submitting to the theocentric, if you will. In other words, Christ gives His kingdom to the Father and thus the end of all things is theocentric: "And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28).

In my opinion, we must be radically christocentric in our teaching and lives, but in the grand scheme of all things, this is to be theocentric!

Ultimately, however, the thing that separates my theocentricism from those involved in Islam (who worship Allah, and not the Triune God of Biblical revelation) and Judaism (which denies the Trinity) is that my theocentricism is centered around the true and living God of Biblical revelation. To be theocentric ("God-centered") is truly a distinctively Christian attitude if it involves being centered around the Triune God of the Bible who is displayed most clearly in the second Person of the Trinity -- the Lord Jesus Christ (see John 1:14-18).

Thus, I am theocentric in that I seek to worship, honor, and exalt the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through the redemptive work and continued intercession of the Son of God who gives me His Spirit in order to maintain and perpetuate this work in my heart.

Yours in Christ,

Rich

  © Richard J. Vincent, March 11, 2000