Systematic theology

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Systematic Theology" redirects here. For the book by Wayne Grudem, see Systematic Theology (book).

Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of

dogmatics, ethics, apologetics, and philosophy of religion.[3]

Method

With a methodological tradition that differs somewhat from

sacred texts
of Christianity, while simultaneously investigating the development of Christian doctrine over the course of history, particularly through philosophy, ethics, social sciences, and natural sciences. Using biblical texts, it attempts to compare and relate all of scripture which led to the creation of a systematized statement on what the whole Bible says about particular issues.

Within Christianity, different traditions (both intellectual and ecclesial) approach systematic theology in different ways impacting a) the method employed to develop the system, b) the understanding of theology's task, c) the doctrines included in the system, and d) the order those doctrines appear. Even with such diversity, it is generally the case that works that one can describe as systematic theologies begin with revelation and conclude with eschatology.

Since it is focused on truth, systematic theology is also framed to interact with and address the contemporary world. There are numerous authors who explored this area such as the case of Charles Gore, John Walvoord, Lindsay Dewar, and Charles Moule, among others. The framework developed by these theologians involved a review of postbiblical history of a doctrine after first treating the biblical materials.[4] This process concludes with applications to contemporary issues.

Categories

Since it is a systemic approach, systematic theology organizes truth under different headings[1] and there are certain basic areas (or categories), although the exact list may vary slightly. These are:[5]

  • Angelology
    – The study of angels
  • Bibliology – The study of the Bible
  • Hamartiology
    - The study of sin
  • Christology – The study of Christ
  • Ecclesiology – The study of the church
  • Eschatology – The study of the end times
  • Pneumatology
    – The study of the Holy Spirit
  • Soteriology – The study of salvation
  • Theological anthropology
    – The study of the nature of humanity
  • Theology proper – The study of the character of God

History

The establishment and integration of varied Christian ideas and Christianity-related notions, including diverse topics and themes of the Bible, in a single, coherent and well-ordered presentation is a relatively late development.[6] In Eastern Orthodoxy, an early example is provided by John of Damascus's 8th-century Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, in which he attempts to set in order and demonstrate the coherence of the theology of the classic texts of the Eastern theological tradition.

In the West,

Loci Communes, and was countered by a Calvinist scholasticism, which is exemplified by John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion
.

In the 19th century, primarily in

Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher
, for example, produced Der christliche Glaube nach den Grundsätzen der evangelischen Kirche (The Christian Faith According to the Principles of the Protestant Church) in the 1820s, in which the fundamental idea is the universal presence among humanity, sometimes more hidden, sometimes more explicit, of a feeling or awareness of 'absolute dependence'.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780310450436
    .
  2. ISBN 9781498206594
    .
  3. ISBN 978-0-8028-3820-9
    .
  4. ISBN 9781498206600
    .
  5. ^ "Categories of Theology". www.gcfweb.org. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  6. ^ Sheldrake, Philip (2016). Christian Spirituality and Social Transformation. Oxford Research Encyclopedias.

Resources

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Systematic_theology&oldid=1218614592"