Theology > Everything Else?

I've heard many a pastor & theologian make a comment that, despite their best intentions, really irks me.

It goes something like this: "Theology is the Queen of the Sciences."

They're referring back to an adage used centuries ago by the founders of the original American universities, who wanted ministry preparation to be their most important goal. They saw every other field of study as ultimately existing to support & further the field of theology.

I respectfully disagree, for three reasons.

1. Perhaps most importantly, I see no reason for such a conclusion in Scripture. There is no dichotomy between sacred and secular, no higher versus lower callings.

2. Theology is an applied science. It draws on the resources of literary analysis (to be able to read the sacred text), history (to understand the context of the sacred text), philosophy (to logically reason through & assimilate the principles learned from the text), psychology (to analyze the concept of the human as developed by the sacred text), and the physical & biological sciences (to understand the metaphors & creation description of the sacred text). (There are probably other relationships that I'm missing.) If theology is a queen, then she is rather dependent on her subjects for her survival.

3. I think those who make such a statement are making the classic mistake of confusing the glory of God with information about God. Every field that humans study exists for the purpose of glorifying God in worship from His people. Reading a physics book is not an act of worship unless I respond to the God who created physics; in the same way, reading a theological book is not an act of worship unless I respond to the God described in it. The reformers, after all, longed for "the glory of God alone," not "the knowledge of God alone."

I would, therefore, like to submit the following revised version of this well-meant sentiment: "Doxology is the goal of the sciences."

Have you heard similar statements? How do you think Christian scholars should respond to such statements?