What is Theology?

In my prior post, XYZ Theology, I mentioned a paper I prepared for the GodBlogCon on theology and blogging.  As I mentioned before, my intention was to share this with the class, get feedback and maybe some editorial help, revise it and then publish it.

But in the spirit of the blogosphere I want to follow a suggestion of Tod Bolsinger's that pastor's view blogging as a kind of workshop for ideas, where they lay them on the table, get feedback and allow the community to help shape the ideas.  I am sure Tod will blog on this soon, won't you Tod (how's that for a subtle hint?)?

So, I've actually gotten a bit of feedback already and thought I would go ahead and start serializing the paper here so that everyone can help me out. 

I'll mention up front that most of my thoughts on theological method have been shaped through a class I took at RTS Orlando called "Intro to Pastoral Theological Studies," taught by Richard Pratt.  I suppose it is proper to say that Richard shouldn't be blamed for any of my misrepresentations of his views.  But then again, I had an impressionable young mind when I studied under him so, if I have become heretical in any way it's probably because he led me astray.

This post is a part of the introduction and discusses a definition of theology.

Theologians Defining Theology

Theology seems like a simple matter to define, and it is, at least until you start reading the many different definitions offered by theologians throughout the years. 

Here is  a sampling of how some theologians have defined theology.

Thomas Aquinas - "Sacred doctrine (theology) is a unified science in which all things are treated under the aspect of God either because they are God Himself or because they refer to God."

Charles Hodge - "The science of the facts of divine revelation so far as those facts govern the nature of God and our relation to Him."

Paul Tillich - "The methodological explanation of the contents of the Christian faith."

Emil Brunner - "The study of the development of dogma."

If you wanted to place these definitions into different sections of an academic encyclopedia it seems that Aquinas, Hodge, and Tillich are defining theology in scientific terms and Brunner is defining it in historical terms.

Whether the last paragraph rightly parses the statements of the theologians, one thing seems clear - each of these men view theology primarily as study.   There is a distinct academic ring to their definitions of theology.  This is understandable since each of them were academics. 

In addition, the very word "theology" implies study.  The word is a compound of two Greek words, "theos" meaning "God," or "divinity," and "logos" meaning "study."  Hence, theology has traditionally been associated with study.

But such a definition has weaknesses.  It de-emphasizes our experiential relationship to God and emphasizes conceptual orthodoxy, or as one theologian has put it, "notional correctness."  To be sure, theology does not have to do this, but it often does.

As a reaction to this, some have broadened the definition of theology.

And we will see this broadened definition in the next post  . . .

Comments

[Mark Daniels]

Good idea to serialize this, David. I'm looking forward to reading more.

When I was in seminary, we had small groups composed of students and their advisers, who gathered on a weekly basis. They were called integrative groups (or I-groups). The idea was to help the students integrate the disparate strands of their seminary education through regular personal interaction. We also were to forge real-life relationships that fostered an integrated community. So, the groups were designed to help us become integrated in multiple ways.

Shortly after I began attending, our I-Groups were given a project. We were to answer the question: "Who does theology?" It was an interesting way of posing the issue of what theology is, putting it into an active, personal, and practical mode, not just defining theology, but defining how it gets done in real life.

The obvious answer would have been that systemeticians or scholars of various sorts do theology. But as our discussion of the question continued, under the watchful leadership of our adviser, the systemetician Hans Schwarz, we began to parse that word, theology. Our definition: "the word about or the study of God" led us to conclude that, to a greater or lesser extent, everyone is a theologian because everyone, even superficially, considers the matter of God.

This raised two important conclusions for me. If people are naturally inclined to wonder about God, the fact that they don't do so may have several root reasons. I won't go into all of them. But one of them must be that those of us who are credentialed or ordained at times unwittingly and at others, deliberately, have made theology so arcane and technical that those not credentialed or ordained feel that they can't contemplate or study God.

This, in turn, leads me to another major conclusion: Those of us who are called to pastoral or theological ministries should certainly strive to learn more and think more about theology. That, after all, is part of our calling. But that calling includes making the theological truth we glean from our study, reflection, thought, discussion, and prayer accessible to everyone. It's interesting to me that one of the greatest theological minds of all time was Martin Luther. He's been rightly described by some as a genius. But most of his writings were pitched to the laity. His sermons and the larger portion of his treatises are filled with pithy phrasings and memorable illustrations which even today, the non-credentialed and the non-ordained can latch onto, inviting everybody to be part of the study of God, even if his readers or hearers may have disagreed with him.

This is why blogging represents such an opportunity for anyone committed to sharing Jesus Christ with others. The coming of God into our world in Jesus proves that God wants to be made accessible to all people. For us to truly be "doing theology" on our blogs, we need to be committed to helping everybody "do theology." I truly believe that the more people are allowed to be engaged in this discussion in accessible, unpretentious language, the more they will come to know, follow, and love Jesus.

Just a few thoughts, David. Good post!

Blessings in Christ,
Mark Daniels

[David Wayne]

There you go Mark, getting ahead of the game. I bet you were the guy who broke the curve in school, weren't you?

Just kidding, those are good thoughts and I will be hitting later on the fact that we are all theologians and this is not a merely academic discipline.

[stephen commey]

dear sir
i visited this site once and will like to be part of the team but i'm from africa and will love to see u ,the blog team transfering the gospel to all the wide world.thank u for u good work by the way and meay u live we live to see Jesus smilling down on us.
well this is my address
stephen commey
post office box 216
k.n.u.s.t/kumasi
ghana/west africa

[stephen commey]

dear sir
i visited this site once and will like to be part of the team but i'm from africa and will love to see u ,the blog team transfering the gospel to all the wide world.thank u for u good work by the way and meay u live we live to see Jesus smilling down on us.
well this is my address
stephen commey
post office box 216
k.n.u.s.t/kumasi
ghana/west africa
well that is it all and have a nice day