What is Theology? Give various Definitions of Theology

1.   Introduction:

Theology is an endeavour to understand God in His relation to His creation. However, it is impossible to fully understand God as human understanding is very limited to know God. Let us try to discuss about theology briefly below :-

To understand Theology, it is vitally important to know the fundamental things like view, watch and reason.  We have to find out the base of our faith in God.  God is truth and how this truth can be found out?  Karl Rahner says, “….to understand God is to understand oneself,” which he says as prerequisite.  Man should understand his fellows in relation to God.  According to him, man should find out reasoning arbitrary in himself.  We should have to balance our faith and reason so as to be extremist and un-extremist.

2.   Definition of Theology:

The term “Theology” comes from the classical Greek words ‘theo’ and ‘logia’ -  ‘theo’ means ‘God’, and ‘logia’ means ‘sayings, accounts, teachings, theories’.  Thus, theology is ‘ a  reasonable study or discourse about God.

1)      Theology deals with God and man.

2)      In Theology we try to understand God in His relation to man.

3.Various Definitions of the Word ‘Theology’:

1)   Martin Luther:

            According to Martin Luther –

a)      theology is concerned with the knowledge of God and of man, i.e., the doctrine of God and of anthropology.

b)      God can be properly known only in terms of his relationship to man and man can be known in terms of his relationship with God.

2)   J.R. Chandran:

            According to J.R. Chandran –

a)      theology is the expression of faith and commitment and therefore, an important aspect of the testimony to faith in Christ.

b)      Theology is faith expressing itself in human language.

     

3)   Karl Rahner:

           

a)Karl Rahner defines theology as the science of faith.

b) it is the conscious and methodical explanation and explication of the divine revelation received and grasped in faith.

c) He said that after receiving and grasping the faith in God we are conscious and only then we can say that all these personal experience.

d) Christian faith is based on Jesus Christ.

e) Therefore, man should be able to stand in his faith and express to others.

     

4)   Thomas Acquinas:

a)For Thomas Acquinas, faith is secondary and reason comes primary.

b) He divided theology into Revealed Theology and Natural Theology.

c) He thought God revealed in this nature, universe.

5)   John Macquaerrie:

To John Macquaerrie, theology may be define as the study which, through participation in and reflection upon a religious faith, seeks to express the content of this faith in the clearest and most coherent language available.

      a)Analysis: Let us analyze the understanding of John Macquaerrie:

            i) The phrase “through participation in and reflection upon a religious faith” is intended to define that theology is continuous with and yet distinct from faith. Theology is continuous with faith because it participates in faith and speaks from the stand point of faith. In theology, faith is bringing itself to a certain kind of expression though of course, it expresses itself in other ways as well.

            Further, it is some specific faith that expresses itself in theology, not just faith in general but the faith of an historical community. Theology, however, will always speak from a specific faith. This also means that theology implies participation in community.

            ii) In theology faith has been subjected to thought. This may even be critical thought, though more often it is descriptive and interpretative. When St. Thomas says, “my Lord and my God”, this is indeed faith expressing itself in language, but it is not yet theology because there is no reflection upon it, and grammatically speaking, the language is not even a sentence. Yet an immediate expression of faith, as we find in St. Thomas’ word, becomes a kind of datum for theology and through which reflection might be brought to the level of theological expression.

            iii) These remarks of John Macquaerrie point us now to the dimension of theology in which it operates as an intellectual discipline. The second part of the definition of theology offered by John Macquaerrie is intended to declare that it is the intention of the theology to express the contents of its particular faith in the clearest and most coherent language available.

      6)   Locke (1698):

            For Locke, “theology is containing the knowledge of God and his creatures and a view of our present and future state, is the comprehension of all other knowledge directed to his true end.” This is still true for the present Christians.