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Theology (Greek θεος, theos, "God", + λογος, logos, "word" or "reason") refers to discourse concerning religion, spirituality, God, and related topics, that attempts to be reconciled with the langage and concepts of both belief and reason (cf. rationality, Western empiricism). Though cultures and systems vary, the purpose of theology has largely been the continuity of such discourse within the context of emerging rational thought, language, social modernisation, and revolutions in government —all of which have consistently moved away from theocracy and monarchy toward secularism and democracy. The very concept of "theology" itself arguably represents an influence of Western secular values upon the religious world, and thus often simply refers to religious education in accordance with Western social and academic norms. Within the "theological" framework, student theologians may engage in extra-traditional religious discourse and navigate many of the sectarian and denominational and doctrinal (ie. dogmatic) differences, while remaining as faithful believers in their respective traditions.

As Western theological traditions have developed according to predominanty Christian and Jewish beliefs, study and discourse may be directly tied to localised forms of evangelism. Students in theology often seek to become religious clergy. In certain systems, the expressions of theologians may be regarded afte time as part of a religious canon, or else cited as authoritative interpretation at a particular time. As such, "theology" may refer simply to religious interpretation which is more logos and ethos-based and less pathos-based than either ministry or prophesy. Theologians may help clarify religious differences, translate localized religous traditions and beliefs into abstractions and generalisations which have more universal meaning, or otherwise represent the views of a particular system or tradition within current religious debates.

History of the term

The word "Theology" is derived from Hellenistic Greek, but its meaning has changed significantly through its use in the European Christian thought of the Middle ages and Enlightenment

The term theologia is used in Classical Greek literature, with the meaning "discourse on the gods or cosmology" (see Lidell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon for references).

Aristotle divided theoretical philosophy into mathematice, phusike and theologike, with the latter corresponding roughly to metaphysics, which for Aristotle included discussion of the nature of the divine. The term has since been appropriated by a number of Eastern and Western religious traditions.

Drawing on Greek sources, the Latin writer Varro influentially distinguished three forms of such discourse: mythical (concerning the myths of the Greek gods), rational (philosophical analysis of the gods and of cosmology) and civil (concerning the rites and duties of public religious observance).

Christian writers, working within the Hellenistic mould, began to use the term to describe their studies. It appears once in some biblical manuscripts, in the heading to the book of Revelation: apokalupsis ioannou tou theologou, "the revelation of John the theologos". There, however, the word refers not to John the "theologian" in the modern English sense of the word but -using a slightly different sense of the root logos meaning not "rational discourse" but "word" or "message" - one who speaks the words of God - logoi tou theou.

Other Christian writers used the term with several different ranges of meaning.

  1. Some Latin authors, such as Tertullian and Augustine followed Varro's threefold usage, described above.
  2. In patristic Greek sources, theologia could refer narrowly to the discussion of the nature and attributes of God.
  3. In other patristic Greek sources, theologia could also refer narrowly to the discussion of the attribution of divine nature to Jesus. (It is in this sense that Gregory Nazianzus was nicknamed "the theologian": he was a staunch defender of the divinity of Christ.)
  4. In medieval Greek and Latin sources, theologia (in the sense of "an account or record of the ways of God") could refer simply to the Bible.
  5. In scholastic Latin sources, the term came to denote the rational study of the doctrines of the Christian religion, or (more precisely) the academic discipline which investigated the coherence and implications of the language and claims of the Bible and of the theological tradition (the latter often as represented in Peter Lombard's Sentences, a book of extracts from the Church Fathers).

It is the last of these senses (theology as the rational study of the teachings of a religion or of several religions) which lies behind most modern uses (though the second - theology as a discussion specifically of a religion's or several religions' teachings about God - is also found in some academic and ecclesiastical contexts).

History of theology

See the main article on the History of theology, particularly for the history of Jewish, Christian and Islamic theology.

Theology and religions other than Christianity

For example, some academic courses on Buddhism which are dedicated to the rational investigation of a Buddhist understanding of the world prefer the designation Buddhist philosophy to the term Buddhist theology, since Buddhism lacks the same conception of a theos.

Moreover, the application of the term Theology to religions similar to Christianity can be misleading. in Islam, theological discussion which parallels Christian theological discussion has been a minor and even slightly disreputable activity, named "Kalam"; the Islamic analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be the investigation and elaboration of Islamic law, or "Fiqh".

In Judaism the historical absence of political authority has meant that most theological reflection has happened within the context of the Jewish community and synagogue, rather than within specialised academic institutions. Nevertheless Jewish Theology has been historically very active and highly significant for Christian and Islamic Theology. Once again, the Jewish analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be Rabbinical discussion of Jewish law and Jewish Biblical commentaries.

Theology and the Academy

Theology has a significantly problematic relationship to Academia that is not shared by any other subject. Most universities founded before the modern era grew out of the church schools and monastic institutions of Western Europe during the High Middle Ages (e.g. University of Bologna, Paris University and Oxford University). They were founded to train young men to serve the church in Theology and Law (often Church or Canon law). At such Universities Theological study was incomplete without Theological practice, including preaching, prayer and the Mass. Ancient Universities still maintain some of these links (e.g. having Chapels and Chaplains) and are more likely to teach Theology than other institutions.

During the High Middle Ages theology was therefore the main subject at universities, being named "The Queen of the Sciences" alongside the Trivium and Quadrivium that young men were expected to study. This meant that the other subjects (including Philosophy) existed primarily to help with theological thought.

With the Enlightenment universities began to change, teaching a wide range of subjects, especially in Germany, and from a Humanistic perspective. Theology was no longer the principle subject and Universities existed for many purposes, not only to train Clergy for established churches. Theology thus became unusual as the only subject to maintain a confessional basis in otherwise secular establishments.

As a result theology is often distinguished from many other established Academic disciplines that cover the same subject area. Those who contend it is different sometimes claim that it is distinguished by viewpoint (suggesting that theology is studied from within a faith, rather than from without) and by practical involvement (suggesting theology cannot be truly studied or understood without a practical faith - an idea that would have been familiar to some of the early Christian Church Fathers, who described the theologian as a person who "truly prays."). Others would simply claim that theology involves taking seriously claims internal to a religious tradition on their own terms, as topics for investigation and analysis - studying people's beliefs about God, rather than necessarily studying God, perhaps - even if that inquiry is not carried out by one who is committed to the relevant tradition, or involved in practice flowing from it.

Nevertheless theology should be distinguished from the following disciplines;

All of these normally involve studying the historical or contemporary practices or ideas of one or several religious traditions using intellectual tools and frameworks which are not themselves specifically tied to any religious tradition, but are (normally) understood to be neutral or secular.

Even when it is distinguished from these other disciplines, however, some hold that the idea of an academic discipline called 'theology', housed in institutions like Universities, is an inherently secular, Western notion - although it can also be noted that these Western academic traditions have themselves been heavily shaped by Christianity.

Theological studies in different institutions

In Europe, the traditional places for the study of theology have been universities and seminaries. Typically the protestant state churches have trained their ministers in universities while the Catholic church has used seminaries. However, the secularization of European states has closed down the theological faculties in many countries while the Catholic church has increased the academical level of its priests by founding a number of pontifical universities.

In some countries, some state-funded Universities have theology Departments (sometimes, but not always, Universities with a medieval or early-modern pedigree), which can have a variety of formal relationships to Christian churches, or to institutions within other religious traditions. These range from Departments of Theology which have only informal or ad-hoc links to religious institutions (see, for instance, several Theology departments in the UK) to countries like Finland and Sweden, which have state universities with faculties of theology training Lutheran priests as well as teachers and scholars of religion - although students from the latter faculties can also go on to typical graduate careers such as marketing, business or administration, even if this is frowned upon by some.

In the United States, the United States Constitution prevents the study of theology from enjoying state endorsement. Theological studies (sometimes called Biblical studies) take place in a large number of private universities and seminaries, at varying academic levels and with various different degrees of academic freedom. Some hold that many of these American contexts for the study of theology have less academic freedom than the faculties of theology in many European state universities, pointing out that, at least in some of these contexts, theologians who end up with views deemed "heretical" by the denomination upholding the institution and may find themselves out of work.

Divisions of theology

Theology can be divided up in any number of ways. Many of these divisions have originated in the study of the Christian religion, although some have been adapted and extended to apply to other religions, or to the study of multiple religions.

In many Christian seminaries, the four Great Departments of Theology are:

  1. Exegetical Theology
  2. Historical Theology
  3. Systematic Theology
  4. Practical Theology

The four departments can usefully be subdivided in the following way:

1. Exegetical Theology:

  • Biblical Studies (analysis of the contents of Scripture)
  • Biblical Introduction (inquiry into the origins of the Bible)
  • Canonics (inquiry into how the different books of the Bible came to be collected together)
  • Biblical Theology (inquiry into how divine revelation progressed over the course of the Bible).

2. Historical Theology (study of how Christian theology develops over time):

  • The Patristic Period
    • The Ante-Nicene Fathers
    • The Nicene Fathers
    • The Post-Nicene Fathers
  • The Middle Ages
  • the Reformation and Counter-Reformation
  • the Modern Period.

3. Systematic Theology:

(though note: subdivisions in the area of Systematic Theology are probably more apt to vary across differeng theologies than in the other 3 types of theology)

4. Practical Theology:

Theology can also be divided up into :

Academic subdisciplines;

Topic (or by 'Loci');

  • Angelology (less common than it used to be) - angels, the unseen world
  • Bibliology (a less common term than most of the others) - the Bible, the nature and means of its inspiration, etc.; hermeneutics is the study of proper biblical interpretation (exegesis).
  • Christology (normally only in Christianity) - Jesus Christ, the nature of Christ, the relationship between the divine and human in Christ
  • Covenant theology, an interpretive grid that understands God's plans in the Old and New Testaments as being a result of God's covenant with his chosen people. This movement is an alternative to Dispensationalism. (Covenant theology is one way to approach the subdiscipline of Biblical Theology.)
  • Demonology (much less common than it used to be) - Satan, demons, evil spirits
  • Dispensational Theology - an interpretative grid that views God's relationship with the created order as passing through successive "dispensations", in each of which the covenants of the previous one(s) may no longer be valid. (Dispensationalism is one way to approach the subdiscipline of Biblical Theology.)
  • Ecclesiology - the church
  • Eschatology - literally, the study of 'last things' or 'ultimate things'. Covers subjects such as death and the afterlife, the end of history, the end of the world, the last judgment, the nature of hope and progress, etc.
  • Harmatiology (often considered under 'soteriology') - sin
  • Missiology (often a subsection of ecclesiology) - missions, evangelism, etc.
  • Soteriology - the nature and means of salvation
  • Theodicy - Attempts at reconciling the existence of all the evil and suffering in the world with the nature and power of the God or gods of the religion
  • Theological anthropology - nature of human being, formerly known as the Doctrine of Man.
  • Theology Proper - God or the divine: attributes, nature, and relation to the world. Often includes discussion of Creation and providence. See the nature of God in Western theology.
  • Pneumatology - the Holy Spirit or divine Spirit; sometimes also 'geist' as in Hegelianism and other philosophico-theological systems;

Modes;

  • Apophatic theology (or negative theology; sometimes contrasted with "cataphatic theology") - the discussion of what God is not, or the investigation of how language about God breaks down
  • dialectical theology
  • Natural theology - the discussion of those aspects of theology that can be investigated without the help of revelation, scriptures or tradition (sometimes contrasted with "positive theology") - the discussion of those aspects of theology

Movements;

Quotes

  • Theology is "faith seeking understanding (fides quaerens intellectum)." - Anselm of Canterbury
  • "Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing." - H. L. Mencken
  • "An authentic theology will not allow man to be obsessed with himself." - Thomas F. Torrance in Reality and Scientific Theology
  • "Theology announces not just what the Bible says but what it means." - J. Kenneth Grider in A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology (Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 1994), p. 19.
  • "Theologians, they don't know nothin' bout my soul." - Wilco, "Theologians", A Ghost Is Born.
  • "I have no use for cranks who despise music, because it is a gift of God. Music drives away the Devil and makes people gay; they forget thereby all wrath, unchastity, arrogance, and the like. Next after theology, I give to music the highest place and the greatest honor." — Martin Luther, quoted in Martin Marty, Martin Luther, 2004, p. 114.

See also

External links

Theology

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