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BY THE AUTHOR
Dr. W. Robert Cook, Th.D
Immortal,
invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious Thy great name we praise.
Walter Chalmers Smith (1824-1908)
Introduction
As we come to the study of theology there are several basic principles,
which must be kept in mind lest we stray from the noble aim of such an
endeavor. To seek to discover and give ordered statement to the thoughts of
God as set forth in Holy Scripture is one of the most sublime activities in
which a human being may engage. So as to avoid the profaning of such a holy
task the following guidelines must be observed.
The basic datum of all biblical theological study is God;
The primary source of information about God is revelation, embodied in Jesus Christ and inscripturated in the Bible;
The basic motif of theology is the glory of God;
The basic limitation of theological study is that those who compose it and those who study it are finite and sinful;
The basic wonder of theological study is that it is redemptively practical and is designed for both faith and life.
Basic
Datum
While the triune God is the ultimate reality, who he is may not be
fully known apart from both his person and his works. Consequently,
theology treats both the Creator and his creation; the works of both
nature and grace.
His being precedes his doing in abstract reality and determines what
and how he acts, but in our concrete experience, his doing introduces
us to his being. Creation teaches us of his omnipotence; providence
teaches of his wisdom; redemption teaches of his grace and love; and
judgment teaches his holiness and righteousness.
Primary Source
Because God is infinite and we are creatures of great limitation, who
he really is may not be discovered by human endeavor. If we would have
an authoritative word about God, his works and his ways it must be by
his own self-disclosure. Since he is a personal God he has given a
personal revelation in his incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; since
he is a rational God he has given a written revelation in the
God-breathed scriptures of the Old and New Testament.
Basic
Motif
The tragedy of much contemporary theologizing is that its focal point
is mankind. In marked contrast, the theme of a genuinely biblical
theology is Christology and one of the major truths of Christology is
the incarnation. It is the intent of the New Testament writers not
merely to call our attention to God as God but to his personal self
disclosure.
Both the Old and New Testament terms for glory, when used of God,
refer to the impact made upon man from his self-manifestation. Thus
incarnational theology is theology wherein God puts his magnificent
character on display. The radiance of his many splendored character is
seen in creative power, in redemptive work, in the life of his
redeemed people, and in the triumph of the Kingdom of God in history
and beyond. Biblical theology deals with all these themes and more.
Basic limitation
The temptation of the theologian is to think of his word as God's
word. However, as Murray has so aptly stated, “Systematic theology is
not itself revelation nor is it an addendum to revelation that is to
be placed alongside of Scripture. It is always a duty, sometimes a
necessity, which the fact of revelation places upon the church of
God.” [1]
The limitations of ignorance, history, incomplete
exegetical skill, and hermeneutical finesse preclude the arrogance of
finality for any theologian or his system. Since all theology passes
through the grid of the theologian's own mind and experience it
inevitably is going to be skewed to some degree from the biblical
center. Furthermore, "systematic theology is never a finished science
nor is its task ever completed." [2]
Evangelical theology is a theologia viatorum (a theology of the wayfarers), not a theologia comprehensorum (a theology of those who have arrived conceptually). It sees itself on a pilgrimage to a heavenly city where faith will be supplanted by direct vision, but at present it is content simply to walk by faith. [3]
This does not mean, however, that all theological propositions are hopelessly subjective and unreliable. When there is high correlation between a statement or teaching of Scripture and a theological proposition, said proposition for all practical purposes carries the authority of God's word. Such correlation should be the theologian's goal.
Basic
wonder.
Given the holiness of God, the sinfulness of sin and the depravity of
man, it is amazing that mankind may know theology let alone experience
it in terms of redemptive living. Certainly, theological propositions
are to be believed as statements of divinely disclosed truth. God's
desire goes beyond this, however. He intends for theology to be
life-controlling.
As Erickson says, “... theology is to be
practical. By this we do not mean practical theology in the technical
sense (i.e. how to preach, counsel, evangelize, etc.), but the idea
that theology relates to living rather than merely to belief. The
Christian faith has something to say to help us with our practical
concerns.” [4]
This principle must be balanced by two corollary truths. First, it is
to be noted that the practical dimensions or applications of truth
always flow from the doctrinal and never vice versa. Second, this
wonder is only possible through the energizing ministry of the Holy
Spirit of God.
A
Definition of Systematic Theology
From the Reformation until the nineteenth century theology was
conceived of as a basically objective study. It was viewed as the science
(knowledge) of God, divine things and his relation to the universe.
Evangelical theologians continue to hold to this view to this day, but from
Schleiermacher (1768-1864) on a radically different view has been held by
many. With his thinking, which viewed theology as the science of the
Christian faith, liberal theology was born. Since religion was for him a
matter of feeling rather than dogma it became completely subjective.
Such a view is fraught with dangers: It divorces theology from the
objective foundation of the Word of God; it reduces theology to a mere
descriptive science, dealing with historical and psychological phenomena,
rather than aiming at absolute truth; and it leads to the conclusion that
Christianity is merely one of many religions in the world, different in
degree but not in essence.
Following the line of orthodoxy the following definition is suggested:
Systematic Theology is the collecting, ordering, comparing, exhibiting, and
defending of all facts from general and special revelation concerning God
and the relations between God and the universe.
Systematic
Theology and the Theological Encyclopedia
Theological study may be divided into four major departments or
categories: systematic, exegetical, historical and practical. Practical
Theology takes the truths which have been formulated and organized in
systematic theology and applies them to life situations in the disciplines
of preaching, counseling, evangelism, teaching and so forth.
Historical Theology deals with what the church has thought about the
teachings of Scripture through the ages and indicates the process by which
biblical doctrine has become church dogma.
Exegetical Theology includes exegesis (the study of the actual content of
Scripture using an historical, grammatical hermeneutic without any
necessary systemization), introduction (inquiry into the origin of the
biblical writings, including identity of authors, time and occasion of
composition, dependence on sources, etc.), canonics (dealing with the
question of how the several writings came to be collected into the unity of
the Bible), and biblical theology (the study of the process of the
self-revelation of God as deposited in the Bible).
Systematic Theology may perhaps be best seen in the theological
encyclopedia in relation to the discipline of biblical theology. Biblical
theology is basic to and precedes systematic theology while systematic
theology is more important in the final analysis because of its
comprehensiveness.
Biblical Theology takes the viewpoint of the author or period of writing of
Scripture while Systematic Theology is written from the viewpoint of
completed revelation. Biblical Theology deals with segments of Scripture
while systematic theology relates to the Bible as a whole. Biblical
Theology assumes the findings of apologetics (e.g., the validity of the
supernatural; the verbal inspiration of the Bible) while systematic
theology incorporates apologetic method into its body of information.
Both approaches to theology are systematic in that they present the results
of their investigations in an orderly form. Biblical Theology is diachronic
(historically conditioned) while Systematic Theology is cumulative, setting
forth the comprehensive and final word of God on a given doctrine. Biblical
Theology highlights the progress of doctrine (Scripture as it was being
written) while Systematic Theology gives emphasis to the finality of
revelation (Scripture as it stands written).
While both disciplines are biblical, Biblical Theology is not concerned
with any other than biblical revelation. Systematic Theology gives
attention to general revelation, as well.
References:
[1]
John Murray, "Systematic Theology." Westminster Theological Journal, (1963),
XXV, 137
[2]
Op. cit., p.139
[3]
Donald G. Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical Theology, I, 19
[4]
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, I, 22
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