And what he said about theology should serve as a reminder for today's academic theologians. In 1899 he stated in a speech that a doctor in theology is a servant of the church. His work consists of searching the Scriptures defending its truth, the training of men aspiring to become pastors, the perfecting of the saints in the building of the body of Christ. Bavinck was a Reformed theologian, whose dogmatics were rooted in the 16th century Reformation. According to him, no confession was as Biblical, broad, and truly catholic as the one of the historic Reformed churches.
Theology is more than a discussion of church, religion, etc.
In theology the church discovers her treasures. Without theology the church cannot exist. Bavinck was convinced that the Reformed churches needed an independent Reformed theology. But without faith theology cannot exist. for Bavinck, theology was still the queen of the sciences. He fiercely resisted the secularization of theology, which was already an issue in his time.