Defining Theology
Defining Theology
Theology is basically the systematic study of the fundamental ideas of the Christian faith. The word “theology” is often used in a rather functional sense, meaning something like “a course of specialized religious study, usually undertaken at a college or seminary.” This, however, does not really do justice to the nature of theology as a distinct intellectual discipline in its own right, or as a discipline that serves the ministry of Christian churches. In what follows, we shall try to give a more satisfying account of the nature of Christian theology, and identify some of its hallmarks.
A Working Definition of Theology
The term “theology” is generally used to mean something like “the systematic study of the ideas of a religion,” including their sources, historical development, mutual relationship, and application to life. The phrase “Christian theology” is more specifically understood to mean the systematic study of the ideas of the Christian faith, including the following four issues:
The Historical Development of the Idea of Theology
The word “theology” is derived from two Greek words: theos (“God”) and logos (“word” or “discourse”). “Theology” is thus discourse about God, in much the same way as “biology” is discourse about life (Greek: bios). If there is only one God, and if that God happens to be the “God of the Christians” (to borrow a phrase from the third-century writer Tertullian, c.160–c.220), the nature and scope of theology are relatively well defined: theology is reflection upon the God whom Christians worship and adore.
The word “theology” is not biblical, but came to be used occasionally in the early patristic period to refer to at least some aspects of Christian beliefs. Thus, Clement of Alexandria (c.150–c.215), writing in the late second century, contrasted Christian theologia with the mythologia of pagan writers, clearly understanding “theology” to refer to “Christian truth claims about God,” which could be compared with the spurious stories of pagan mythology. Other writers of the patristic period, such as Eusebius of Caesarea (c.263–339), also use the term to refer to something like “the Christian understanding of God.” However, it seems that the word was not used to refer to the entire body of Christian thought, but only to those aspects relating directly to God.
Yet Christianity came into existence in a polytheistic world, where belief in the existence of many gods was commonplace. Classical Roman culture, for example, recognized a large number of gods, which were honored by ceremonies of state and in family devotion. Part of the task of the earliest Christian writers was to distinguish the Christian god from other gods in the religious marketplace. Christian theology thus had both a positive and a critical function. On the one hand, it explained what kind of god lay at the heart of the Christian faith, developing New Testament ideas such as “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1: 3). On the other, it showed how this god was not to be confused with those of Roman civil religion, such as Jupiter or Mars.
One particularly important question concerned the relation of the God of the New Testament to that of the Old Testament. How did the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” relate to the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” who figures so prominently in the Old Testament? The doctrine of the Trinity appears to have been, in part, a response to the pressure to identify the god that Christian theologians were speaking about (see p. 301).
As time passed, polytheism began to be regarded as outdated and rather primitive. The assumption that there is only one god, and that this god is identical to the Christian god, became so widespread in western culture that, by the early Middle Ages in Europe, it seemed self-evidently true. Thus Thomas Aquinas (c.1225–74), in developing arguments for the existence of God in the thirteenth century, did not think it worth demonstrating that the god whose existence he had proved was the “god of the Christians”: after all, what other god was there? To prove the existence of God was, by definition, to prove the existence of the Christian god.
Although “theology” was initially understood to mean “the doctrine of God,” the term developed a subtly new meaning in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as the great medieval universities – such as the Universities of Paris and Oxford – began to emerge. A name had to be found for the systematic study of the Christian faith at university level. The influence of Parisian writers such as Gilbert of Poitiers (1070–1154) and Peter Abelard (1079–1142) led to the Latin word theologia coming to mean “the discipline of sacred learning,” embracing the totality of Christian doctrine and not merely the doctrine of God.
More recently, attention has shifted toward the study of the human phenomenon of religion. “Religious studies” or “the study of religions” is concerned with investigating religious matters – for example, the beliefs or religious practices of Christianity and Buddhism – without any fixed view on their truth. In practice, the term “theology” is now often used to refer to the study of religion from a committed perspective, where “religious studies” denotes a critical or neutral perspective. Yet this usage is not consistent.
The phrase “Christian theology” is used throughout this volume in the sense of the systematic study of the fundamental ideas of the Christian faith. This basic approach can be seen in a number of definitions of theology offered by its leading practitioners, such as Karl Rahner (1904–84, Catholic), John Macquarrie (1919–2007, Anglican), and Karl Barth (1886–1968, Reformed). Each of these descriptions of the nature and tasks of theology is helpful in getting a sense of its identity and focus. You might like to spend a few moments reflecting on these three definitions. Note that both Rahner and Barth are using the word “science” in the sense of “an intellectual discipline.”
The Development of Theology as an Academic Discipline
This introduction to Christian theology affirms that it is one of the most worthwhile and exciting academic subjects it is possible to study. But how did this subject emerge? How did theology come to find its way onto the academic curriculum?
In the period of the early church, theology was primarily an activity undertaken within the church. A firm understanding of the intellectual substance of the faith was seen as essential to Christian teaching, preaching, and apologetics. An excellent example of this can be found in Cyril of Jerusalem's (c.313–86) Catechetical Lectures, delivered in Jerusalem around the year 350. These lectures set out a basic understanding of the leading themes of faith, exploring their implications for both life and thought, and distinguishing Christianity from Judaism and paganism. Yet there was no real equivalent of a “theological academy,” paralleling the philosophical academies developed by Plato and Aristotle in the classical period.
Perhaps the most important moment in the history of theology as an academic discipline was the founding of universities in western Europe during the twelfth century. The great medieval universities – such as Paris and Oxford – generally had four faculties: arts, medicine, law, and theology. The faculty of arts was seen as entry level, qualifying students to go on to more advanced studies in the three “higher faculties.” The result of this development was that theology became established as a significant component of advanced study at European universities. As more and more universities were established in western Europe, so the academic study of theology became more widespread.
Initially, the study of Christianity in western Europe was focused on schools attached to cathedrals and monasteries (p. 24). Theology was generally understood to be concerned with practical matters, such as issues of prayer and spirituality, rather than as a theoretical subject. However, with the founding of the universities, the academic study of the Christian faith gradually moved out of monasteries and cathedrals into the public arena. The word “theology” came to be used extensively at the University of Paris during the thirteenth century to refer to the systematic discussion of Christian beliefs in general, and not simply beliefs about God. The use of the word in this sense can be seen to a limited extent in earlier works, such as the writings of Peter Abelard. However, the work which is widely regarded as being of decisive importance in establishing the general use of the term appeared in the thirteenth century – Thomas Aquinas's Summa theologiae (“The Totality of Theology”). Increasingly, theology came to be seen as a theoretical rather than a practical subject, despite reservations about this development.
Many early thirteenth-century theologians, such as Alexander of Hales (c.1185–1245) and Bonaventure (1221–74), were concerned about the implications of neglecting the practical side of theology. However, Thomas Aquinas's argument that theology was a speculative and theoretical discipline gained increasing favor among theologians. This alarmed many medieval spiritual writers, such as Thomas à Kempis (c.1379–1471), who felt that this encouraged speculation about God rather than obedience to God.
At the time of the Reformation, Protestant writers such as Martin Luther (1483–1546) attempted to rediscover the practical aspects of theology. The Genevan Academy, founded by John Calvin in 1559, was initially concerned with the theological education of pastors and was oriented toward the practical needs of ministry in the church. This tradition of treating theology as concerned with the practical matters of Christian ministry would continue in many Protestant seminaries and colleges. However, later Protestant writers operating in a university context generally returned to the medieval understanding of theology as a theoretical subject, even if they made it clear that it had certain definite practical implications in the areas of spirituality and ethics.
The rise of the Enlightenment during the eighteenth century, particularly in Germany, called the place of theology in the university into question. Enlightenment writers argued that academic inquiry should be free from any kind of external authority or intellectual precommitment. Theology was regarded with suspicion; it was seen to be based on “articles of faith,” such as those contained in the Christian creeds or in the Bible, rather than on rational analysiss. Theology came increasingly to be seen as outmoded. The philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) argued that university faculties of philosophy were concerned with the pursuit of truth, while other faculties (such as theology, medicine, and law) were concerned with more practical matters, such as ethics and good health. Increasingly, philosophy came to be seen as the discipline that was concerned with issues of truth; the continuing existence of a university faculty of theology would have to be justified on other grounds.
One of the most robust justifications of the need for university faculties of theology was provided in the early nineteenth century by F. D. E. Schleiermacher (1768–1834), who argued that it was essential for the good of both the church and state to have a well-educated clergy. In his Brief Outline of the Study of Theology (1811), Schleiermacher argued that theology had three major components: philosophical theology (which identifies the “essence of Christianity”); historical theology (which deals with the history of the church, in order to understand its present situation and needs); and practical theology (which is concerned with “techniques” of church leadership and practice). This approach to theology had the result of linking its academic credentials with public agreement that it was important for society to have a well-educated clergy. This assumption was perfectly acceptable in early nineteenth-century Berlin, where Schleiermacher was based. But, with the rise of secularism and pluralism in the west, its validity has come increasingly to be questioned.
In countries in which a strongly secular approach came to be adopted, Christian theology was virtually excluded from the university curriculum. The French Revolution of 1789 led to a series of measures designed to eliminate Christian theology from public education at every level. Most of the older universities in Australia (such as the universities of Sydney and Melbourne) were founded on the basis of strongly secular assumptions, with theology being excluded as a matter of principle. These strongly secular ideologies are now being relaxed, so that undergraduate degrees in theology, or with significant theological components, are now available in Australia.
However, it is a pluralist rather than a secular approach that is now more widespread in the west, particularly in North America. Here, the distinctive position of Christian theology in public education has been called into question as this is held to privilege one religion over others. One result of this trend has been the formation of “faculties of religion” in state universities, in which a variety of religious positions are tolerated. Christian theology can therefore be taught in such a context, but only as one aspect of religious studies as a whole. For this reason, the most important centers of Christian theological education and research now tend to be in seminaries, in which a more committed approach to the issues can be adopted.
We may now turn to explore the architecture of theology, as we consider its various components.