Introduction: As per our syllabus, Theology in
the broad sense can be divided into four divisions: (1) Biblical, (2) Historical, (3)
Philosophical, and (4) Systematic. These
divisions will be briefly discussed below:
1 Biblical Theology:
Biblical Theology is not a distinct branch of theology, but a special
way of considering theological questions, and clearly the pronouncements of
biblical theology must be carefully considered.
Biblical Theology is the expounding of the meaning of the Bible in its
parts and as a whole. It is the
foundation of the Church’s preaching, teaching, worship and action. Biblical Theology includes textual and higher
criticism, the exegesis of the separate books, the analysis of current themes,
and it culminates in the elaboration of the theological consensus of the Bible.
2 Historical Theology:
Historical theology is the study of the ways in which the Church has
interpreted the Bible and Christian faith and lived them out in the various
periods of Christian history. Historical
theology is divided into Biblical and Ecclesiastical. The first derived chiefly from inspired
sources, and continuing down to the close of the NT canon. The latter begins where the former ends and
continuing to the present time.
3 Philosophical
Theology: This may be considered as corresponding
to the natural theology of older treatment of the subject. Philosophical theology differs from the old
style natural theology in being descriptive rather than deductive; but it
performs the same function of providing a link between secular thought and
theology proper: (a) It lays bare the
fundamental concepts of theology and investigates the conditions that make any
theology possible. (b) In doing this it also provides a defense of
theology against its detractors, by showing that theology can claim to have
foundations in the universal structures of human existence and experience. Hence it has an apologetic function. Apologetic is not a branch of theology, but
rather a style of theology, namely that style which defends faith against
attacks.
There is a difference between
philosophical theology and the philosophy of religion. Philosophical theology belongs within the
theological enterprise and is indeed a necessary part of any theology that
claims to be reasonable.
4 Systematic
Theology: Systematic theology is the total
theological enterprise as this has been unified by the architectonic
reason. The word ‘systematic’ should not
be taken too strictly. The word
‘systematic’ is the traditional word, and there are no good reason for dropping
it, but it should not be taken to mean something like a metaphysical system in
which everything from God to electron is given its place. Systematic theology has more modest aims, but
it claims to be systematic in the sense that it seeks to articulate all the
constituent elements of theology in a coherent whole, and that it seeks to
articulate this whole itself with the other fields that go to make up the
totality of human knowledge, and especially with those disciplines which stand
in a special close relation to theology.
So Systematic Theology can be briefly
defined as the explication of the content of the Christian faith and the
testing of the Church’s language about God in the light of its norm. It includes apologetics and ethics which are
separated off only for expedient reason.
Conclusion: We conclude with the note that the lines of
demarcation separating the different divisions and modes of theology should not
be considered as rigid. One area merges
into another, and indeed it is the conviction that they all belong together
that makes possible the unified structure of a Christian Theology in a
systematic system.
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