As we got thru the program, we need to decipher which folk theology beliefs we have are worthy to be held & be willing to let go of those that are not.
Most heretical beliefs over the course of history have come from the different interpretations of the Bible.
Systematic Theology - takes a subject & says what does the OT say, the New T, etc. An analysis of scripture. Truth & understanding God does not come just from the Bible, but thru nature, our experiences, community, reason, history (the same Spirit that inspired St. Augustine is the same Spirit that inspires us today), etc. Why do we tend to think that our generation knows more about Jesus than prior generations? There is probably more legitimacy in those that came before us than in our own walk because our walk is tainted by our culture and we are further removed from the original centuries. Those before us have things to offer that we do not & we have things to offer that they did not.
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Categories of Systematic Theology
Prolegomena-FOUNDATIONAL: deals with the foundational issues of theology such as logical methodology, sources and reasons for the study of theology. Need to have a foundation before we study theology.
Bibliology-how do we know the Bible of today is the right one that was originally written. The world is asking this question of us: why can't we read the Gospel of Thomas? How do we know the Bible is inspired? How do we know we can rely on it as God's Word?
Theology Proper/Trinitarianism - the study of God's existence, nature and attributes.
Christology-the study of the person and work of Christ.
Pneumatology-the study of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. (much like the basis of the word pneumonia, which in greek & hebrew = wind)
Anthropology-study of purpose & nature of humanity both in its pre-fall & post-fall state.
Harmartiology-the study of the nature, origin and effects of sin.
Angelology-the study of the nature and works of demons & angels.
Soteriology-the study of salvation.
Certain things were not articulated until centuries later, such as Christ paying the price for our sins & what that means. Our understanding of it wasn't articulated until the 12th century. We have to be careful on what we think about those that came before us because perhaps certain issues were not revealed/articulated until after their time. So they may seem heretical, but perhaps only because it was based on what they knew at the time.
Ecclesiology-the study of the nature & purpose of the Church.
Eschatology-the study of the end times.
So this theological study will cover truth, the Bible, God, man, sin, salvation, the Church and the end times. A systematic approach. What is it that we believe & why?
Theology Comparisons
Biblical-theology based ONLY on the Scripture. May form doctrine based on one biblical author.
Systematic-theology based ALL sources of theology including Scripture. Doctrine would be based on ALL biblical authors.
Historical-restricts the formulation of theology only to the history of the Church. They create an honest appraisal of history that we can use today to assist in our theology.
Philosophical-restricts the formulation of theology only to that which can be ascertained by reason. R.C. Sproul, Francis Schaeffer, C.S. Lewis.
Creedal-restricted only to that of a particular religious institution or denomination.
Apologetic-formulated for explaining and defending the faith to those outside of the Church.
THE REALITY OF A BELIEF & THE ARTICULATION OF THAT BELIEF ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. Just because something was not articulated until XXXX A.D. does not mean that the belief was not there prior to its articulation.
What is the theological process?
1. Exegetical Statement (What did it mean then?)
Scripture-What was the historical, grammatical, contextual & literary interpretation. Not "what does it mean to you" but "what did it mean?" Ephesians was not written to us, but the Church at Ephesus. Luke was written to the Jews, etc. The Biblical books were not written for us. We are not living in the context that the Books were written.Every good heresy comes from incorrect interpretation of the Bible.
2. Analogy of Scripture-now that I understand what it meant then, how does it square with what Moses said? The prophets? etc. Comparing Scripture with Scripture.
3. Extract Timeless Principles- (e.g., women not wearing headcoverings back then was considered provactive, but is it today? No. It's not a timeless principle and we shouldn't apply it to today. Jesus said to go out and heal the sick, but that applied to that day/time.
Only after extracting the timeless principles can we make the theological statement: what is the timeless truth being taught? Once we've identified it, then we contextualize the principles for today.
Then the Homiletical Statement-how does it apply to us?
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