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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)
I. 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.
1. The basic datum of all biblical theological study is God;
2. The primary source of information about God is revelation, embodied in Jesus Christ and inscripturated in the Bible;
3. The basic motif of theology is the glory of God;
4. The basic limitation of theological study is that those who compose it and those who study it are finite and sinful;
5. The basic wonder of theological study is that it is redemptively practical and is designed for both faith and life.
A. 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.
B. 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.
C. 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.
D. 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.” [i]
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." [ii]
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. [iii]
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.” [iv]
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.
II. 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.
III. 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.
[i] John Murray, "Systematic Theology." Westminster Theological Journal, (1963), XXV, 137
[ii] Op. cit., p.139
[iii] Donald G. Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical Theology, I, 19
[iv] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, I, 22
