The Fog of Theological Jargon

In dealing with some objections to the study of theology, Dr. Michael Williams from Covenant Theological Seminary says this:

Another objection: "Theology delves too deeply into things it cannot know, mysteries that are beyond human understanding, and this preoccupation with the unknowable puts theologians out of touch with the practical everyday lives of people." This one makes me scratch my head because it is unfortunately often true. Theology is often too speculative, far more speculative than it has any right to be. It is one of the things I am going to argue in this course. Much of seventeenth-century Calvinism, my own tradition, engaged in the kind of inquiry that Calvin himself would have called speculative. Theologians have sometimes claimed to know more about heaven and hell, the age to come, the ministry of angels, and many other things than the Bible says, and sometimes we have specialized in and trafficked in the most highly questionable of theological concerns. Perhaps it will tickle the ears of the overly curious. But let me spread the guilt around to get other people involved. I think an overly speculative and argumentative theology is also sometimes the special interest of theological students. Once we have mastered some of the ideas and impenetrable fog of jargon, we seek for someone to joust with. We have not mastered the goal of theological study, nor its real intention, but we have got some of the tools -- I was going to say the weapons -- and thus we seek intellectual combat with anyone who is willing to take us on. In other words, sometimes we know just enough theology to get into trouble and to give the theological enterprise a bad name. So unfortunately I think this third objection is often far too true.

From this lecture.