====================================================================== = Systematic theology = ====================================================================== Introduction ====================================================================== Systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topics or what is true about God and his universe. It also builds on biblical disciplines, church history, as well as biblical and historical theology. Systematic theology shares its systematic tasks with other disciplines such as constructive theology, dogmatics, ethics, apologetics, and philosophy of religion. Method ====================================================================== With a methodological tradition that differs somewhat from biblical theology, systematic theology draws on the core sacred texts of Christianity, while simultaneously investigating the development of Christian doctrine over the course of history, particularly through philosophy, ethics, social sciences, and even natural sciences. Using biblical texts, it attempts to compare and relate all of scripture which led to the creation of a systematized statement on what the whole Bible says about particular issues. Within Christianity, different traditions (both intellectual and ecclesial) approach systematic theology in different ways impacting a) the method employed to develop the system, b) the understanding of theology's task, c) the doctrines included in the system, and d) the order those doctrines appear. Even with such diversity, it is generally the case that works that one can describe as systematic theologies to begin with revelation and conclude with eschatology. Since it is focused on truth, systematic theology is also framed to interact with and address the contemporary world. There are numerous authors who explored this area such as the case of Charles Gore, Jon Walvoord, Lindsay Dewar, and Charles Moule, among others. The framework developed by these theologians involved a review of postbiblical history of a doctrine after first treating the biblical materials. This process concludes with applications to contemporary issues. Categories ====================================================================== Since it is a systemic approach, systematic theology organizes truth under different headings and there are ten basic areas (or categories), although the exact list may vary slightly. These are: *Theology proper - The study of the character of God *Angelology - The study of angels *Biblical theology - The study of the Bible *Christology - The study of Christ *Ecclesiology - The study of the church *Eschatology - The study of the end times *Hamartiology - The study of sin *Pneumatology - The study of the Holy Spirit *Soteriology - The study of salvation *Theological anthropology - The study of the nature of humanity. History ====================================================================== The establishment and integration of varied Christian ideas and Christianity-related notions, including diverse topics and themes of the Bible, in a single, coherent and well-ordered presentation is a relatively late development. In Eastern Orthodoxy, an early example is provided by John of Damascus's 8th-century 'Exposition of the Orthodox Faith', in which he attempts to set in order, and demonstrate the coherence of, the theology of the classic texts of the Eastern theological tradition. In the West, Peter Lombard's 12th-century 'Sentences', wherein he thematically collected a large series of quotations from the Church Fathers, became the basis of a medieval scholastic tradition of thematic commentary and explanation - best exemplified in Thomas Aquinas's 'Summa Theologica'. The Lutheran scholastic tradition of a thematic, ordered exposition of Christian theology emerged in the 16th century, with Philipp Melanchthon's 'Loci Communes', and was countered by a Calvinist scholasticism, exemplified by John Calvin's 'Institutes of the Christian Religion'. In the 19th century, primarily in Protestant circles, a new kind of systematic theology arose: the attempt to demonstrate that Christian doctrine formed a more tightly coherent system grounded in some core axiom or axioms. Such theologies often involved a more drastic pruning and reinterpretation of traditional belief in order to cohere with the axiom or axioms. Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher, for instance, produced 'Der christliche Glaube nach den Grundsätzen der evangelischen Kirche' (The Christian Faith According to the Principles of the Protestant Church) in the 1820s, where the core idea is the universal presence among humanity (sometimes more hidden, sometimes more explicit) of a feeling or awareness of 'absolute dependence'. Contemporary usage ====================================================================== There are three overlapping uses of the term 'systematic theology' in contemporary Christian theology. * According to some theologians in evangelical circles, it is used to refer to the 'topical' collection and exploration of the content of the Bible, in which a different perspective is provided on the Bible's message than that garnered simply by reading the biblical narratives, poems, proverbs, and letters as a story of redemption or as a manual for how to live a godly life. One advantage of this approach is that it allows one to see all that the Bible says regarding some subject (e.g. the attributes of God), and one danger is a tendency to assign technical definitions to terms based on a few passages and then read that meaning everywhere the term is used in the Bible (e.g. "justification" as Paul uses it in his letter to the Romans) is proposed by some evangelical theologians as being used in a different sense to how James uses it in his letter (, and ). In this view, systematic theology is complementary to biblical theology. Biblical theology traces the themes chronologically through the Bible, while systematic theology examines themes topically; biblical theology reflects the diversity of the Bible, while systematic theology reflects its unity. However, there are some contemporary systematic theologians of an evangelical persuasion who would question this configuration of the discipline of systematic theology. Their concerns are twofold. First, instead of being a systematic exploration of theological truth, when systematic theology is defined in such a way as described above, it is synonymous with biblical theology. Instead, some contemporary systematic theologians seek to use all available resources to ascertain the nature of God and God's relationship to the world, including philosophy, history, culture, etc. In sum, these theologians argue that systematic and biblical theology are two separate, though related, disciplines. Second, some systematic theologians claim that evangelicalism itself is far too diverse to describe the above approach as "the" evangelical viewpoint. Instead, these systematic theologians would note that in instances where systematic theology is defined in such a way that it solely depends on the Bible, it is a highly conservative version of evangelical theology and does not speak for evangelical theology 'in toto.' * The term can also be used to refer to theology which self-avowedly seeks to perpetuate the classical traditions of thematic exploration of theology described above - often by means of commentary upon the classics of those tradition: the Damascene, Aquinas, John Calvin, Melanchthon and others. * Normally (but not exclusively) in liberal theology, the term can be used to refer to attempts to follow in Friedrich Schleiermacher's footsteps, and reinterpret Christian theology in order to derive it from a core set of axioms or principles. In all three senses, Christian systematic theology will often touch on some or all of the following topics: God, trinitarianism, revelation, creation and divine providence, theodicy, theological anthropology, Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, eschatology, Israelology, Bibliology, hermeneutics, sacrament, pneumatology, Christian life, Heaven, and interfaith statements on other religions. Antiquity =========== *Athanasius of Alexandria *Augustine of Hippo *Basil of Caesarea *Gregory of Nazianzus *Gregory of Nyssa *Irenaeus of Lyon *Justin Martyr *Origen *Tertullian Middle Ages (West) and Byzantine period (East) ================================================ *Adelard of Bath *Albert of Saxony *Albertus Magnus *Alexander of Hales *Anselm of Canterbury *Thomas Aquinas *Bonaventure *Catherine of Siena *Duns Scotus *Desiderius Erasmus *Francis of Assisi *Jean Gerson *Giles of Rome *Godfrey of Fontaines *Gregory Palamas *Robert Grosseteste *Henry of Ghent *Ignatius of Loyola *John of Damascus *John Scotus Eriugena *Peter Lombard *Maximus the Confessor *Paschasius Radbertus *Symeon the New Theologian *William of Alnwick *William of Ockham *William of Ware Protestant, Reformation and Anglican from 1517 to the present =============================================================== * Marcella Althaus-Reid, Metropolitan Community Church (baptized Roman Catholic) * Gustaf Aulén, Lutheran * Karl Barth, Reformed * Herman Bavinck, Reformed * Oswald Bayer, Lutheran * Louis Berkhof, Reformed * Theodore Beza, Reformed * Donald G. Bloesch, Evangelical Protestant * James Montgomery Boice, Reformed * Wilhelmus à Brakel, Reformed * Gerald Bray, Anglican, Reformed * Emil Brunner, Reformed * John Calvin, Calvinism, proto-Reformation * Fernando Canale, Seventh-day Adventist * Lewis Sperry Chafer, Baptist (Evangelical, Calvinist) * Knox Chamblin, Reformed * Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran * Sarah Coakley, Anglican * James Hal Cone, Methodist * Kevin Conner, Pentecostal * Jack Cottrell, Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ * Joseph (Jody) Dillow, Baptist (Evangelical, Calvinist) * Millard Erickson, Baptist (Evangelical, Calvinist) * Gabriel Fackre, Evangelical Reformed * Paul S. Fiddes, Baptist * Charles Finney, Presbyterian (no formal theological training), Congregationalist * John Frame, Presbyterian, Calvinist * Hans Wilhelm Frei, Lutheran (later Anglican), Postliberal theology * Richard Gaffin, Reformed, Presbyterian * Norman Geisler, Evangelical, Graded absolutism * Johann Gerhard, Lutheran * John Gill, Particular Baptist * Stanley J. Grenz, Baptist (Evangelical, Post-Conservative) * Wayne Grudem, Baptist (Evangelical, Calvinist) * Colin Gunton, Reformed * Adolf von Harnack, Evangelische Kirche * Stanley Hauerwas, Methodism, Postliberalism, Christian ethicist * Charles Hodge, Presbyterian * Michael Horton, Reformed * Stanley M. Horton, Pentecostal * H. Wayne House, Baptist (Evangelical, Calvinist) * Thomas Jackson, Anglican * Robert Jenson, Lutheran * Catherine Keller, Process * Simon J. Kistemake, Reformed * Robert Letham, Reformed * George Lindbeck, Lutheran, Postliberal theology * Martin Luther, Lutheranism, proto-Reformation * John F. MacArthur Reformed, GTY.org * John Macquarrie, Anglican (originally Presbyterian, Church of Scotland) * Sallie McFague, Presbyterian, Feminist * Alister E. McGrath, Evangelical, Anglican * Philip Melanchthon, Lutheran, proto-Reformationist * Jürgen Moltmann, Evangelische Kirche * John Murray, Presbyterian * H. Richard Niebuhr, United Church of Christ * Reinhold Niebuhr, New Orthodox theology * Thomas C. Oden, Wesleyan, Arminian * Oliver O'Donovan, Anglican * J. I. Packer, Anglican, Reformed * Wolfhart Pannenberg, Lutheran * Iain Paul, Reformed, Church of Scotland * Earl D. Radmacher, Baptist (Evangelical, Calvinist) * Albrecht Ritschl, Lutheran, Evangelische Kirche * J. Stuart Russell, Congregational, Preterist * Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Baptist (Evangelical, Calvinist) * Friedrich Schleiermacher, Lutheran, Evangelische Kirche, Humanist * Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, United Methodist, Process * William Greenough Thayer Shedd, Presbyterian, Calvinist * R. C. Sproul, Presbyterian * Augustus H. Strong, Baptist (Evangelical, Calvinist) * Kathryn Tanner, Reformed * Henry Clarence Thiessen, Evangelical, Theistic rationalism * Paul Tillich, Lutheran * Thomas F. Torrance, Presbyterian, Church of Scotland * R. A. Torrey, Evangelical * Francis Turretin, Reformed * Kevin Vanhoozer, Reformed * Cornelius Van Til Reformed * John Walvoord, Baptist (Evangelical, Calvinist) * John Webster, Anglican * J. Rodman Williams, Charismatic * Rowan Williams, Anglican * N. T. Wright, Anglican * Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss Reformed, proto-Reformation *Jacob Arminius, Arminianism *John Wesley, Anglican, Methodism, Wesleyan(started in his honor) Roman Catholic from the Counter-Reformation to the present ============================================================ *Noël Alexandre *Mariano Artigas *Franz Xaver von Baader *Jaime Balmes *Hans Urs von Balthasar *Franz Jozef van Beeck *Józef Maria BocheÅski *Louis Bouyer *Henri Brémond *Christopher Butler *Hélder Câmara *Michel de Certeau *Pierre Teilhard de Chardin *Franz Jakob Clemens *Yves Congar *Frederick Copleston *John Dobree Dalgairns *Jean Daniélou *Miguel A. De La Torre *Henry Denifle *Peter Dens *René Descartes *Augusta Theodosia Drane *Avery Dulles *Félix Dupanloup *Louis Dupré *Jacques Dupuis *Ignacio EllacurÃa *Frederick William Faber *Peter Faber *Cornelio Fabro *Febronius *Francis Schüssler Fiorenza *Charles-Ãmile Freppel *Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange *Peter Geach *Ãtienne Gilson *René Girard *Luigi Giussani *Auguste Joseph Alphonse Gratry *Germain Grisez *Vekoslav GrmiÄ *Romano Guardini *Jean Guitton *Anton Günther *Izidor Guzmics *John Hardon *Karl Josef von Hefele *MichaÅ Heller *Joseph Hergenröther *Georg Hermes *Alice von Hildebrand *Dietrich von Hildebrand *Oswald von Nell-Breuning *Ivan Illich *Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz *Caspar Isenkrahe *Elizabeth Johnson (theologian) *Bernard Philip Kelly *Joseph Kleutgen *Milan Komar *Peter Kreeft *Hans Küng *Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire *Catherine LaCugna *Nicholas-Joseph Laforêt *Hugues Felicité Robert de Lamennais *Léon Ollé-Laprune *Alphonsus Liguori *Osvaldo Lira *Ramon Llull *Bernard Lonergan *Henri de Lubac *Richard McBrien *Ralph McInerny *John Mair *Joseph de Maistre *Nicolas Malebranche *Gabriel Marcel *Jean-Luc Marion *Jacques Maritain *Sylvester Mazzolini *Thomas Merton *Vincent Miceli *Giovanni Pico della Mirandola *Luis de Molina *Thomas Molnar *Thomas More *Emmanuel Mounier *John Courtney Murray *Richard John Neuhaus *John Henry Newman *Aidan Nichols *Henri Nouwen *Walter J. Ong *Cyril O'Regan *Henry Nutcombe Oxenham *Franciscus Patricius *Péter Pázmány *Giuseppe Pecci *Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo *Josef Pieper *Karl Rahner *Joseph Ratzinger (afterwards Pope Benedict XVI) *Gioacchino Ventura di Raulica *Martin Rhonheimer *Antonio Rosmini-Serbati *Jacek Salij *Giovanni Battista Scaramelli *Constantine von Schäzler *Max Scheler *Edward Schillebeeckx *Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza *Angelo Scola *Antonin Sertillanges *Yves Simon *Robert Spaemann *Franz Anton Staudenmaier *Edith Stein *Albert Stöckl *Francisco Suárez *Matthias Tanner *Luigi Taparelli *FrantiÅ¡ek Tomášek *Joseph de Torre *David Tracy *Karel Vladimir Truhlar *AleÅ¡ UÅ¡eniÄnik *Jean Vanier *Gianni Vattimo *Louis Veuillot *Giambattista Vico *Francisco de Vitoria *Michael Wadding *Bernie Ward *Thomas Weinandy *Nicholas Wiseman *Karol WojtyÅa (afterwards Pope John Paul II) *Austin Woodbury *Maurice De Wulf *Francesco Antonio Zaccaria *Tommaso Maria Zigliara *Patrick Benedict Zimmer Post-Byzantine Eastern Orthodox ================================= * Sergei Bulgakov * Georges Florovsky * David Bentley Hart * Vladimir Lossky * John Meyendorff * Justin PopoviÄ * Alexander Schmemann * Dumitru StÄniloae * Kallistos Ware * John Zizioulas Other ======= * M. L. Andreasen, Last Generation Theology (Seventh-Day Adventist) * Emanuel Swedenborg, New Church * J. Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology (charismatic) See also ====================================================================== *:Category:Systematic theologians *Biblical exegesis *Biblical theology *Christian apologetics *Christian theology *Constructive theology *Dogmatic Theology *Feminist theology *Hermeneutics *Liberal Christianity *Liberation theology *Philosophical theology *Philosophy of religion *Political theology *Process theology *Queer theology Resources ====================================================================== * St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430). 'De Civitate Dei' * Barth, Karl (1956-1975). 'Church Dogmatics'. (thirteen volumes) Edinburgh: T&T Clark. () * Berkhof, Hendrikus (1979). 'Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Study of the Faith'. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. () * Berkhof, Louis (1996). 'Systematic Theology'. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. * Bloesch, Donald G. (2002-2004). 'Christian Foundations ' (seven volumes). Inter-varsity Press. (, , , , , , ) * Calvin, John (1559). 'Institutes of the Christian Religion'. * Chafer, Lewis Sperry (1948). 'Systematic Theology'. Grand Rapids: Kregel * Chemnitz, Martin (1591). 'Loci Theologici'. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989. * Erickson, Millard (1998). 'Christian Theology' (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998. * Fruchtenbaum, Arnold (1989). 'Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology'. Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries * Fruchtenbaum, Arnold (1998). 'Messianic Christology'. Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries * Geisler, Norman L. (2002-2004). 'Systematic Theology' (four volumes). Minneapolis: Bethany House. * Frame, John. 'Theology of Lordship' () * Grenz, Stanley J. (1994). 'Theology for the Community of God'. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. () * Grider, J. Kenneth (1994). 'A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology' () * Grudem, Wayne (1995). 'Systematic Theology'. Zondervan. () * Hodge, Charles (1960). [https://books.google.com/books?id=0TEkThdhYcIC&printsec=frontcover&sour ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false 'Systematic Theology']. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. * Jenson, Robert W. (1997-1999). 'Systematic Theology'. Oxford: Oxford University Press. () * Melanchthon, Philipp (1543). 'Loci Communes'. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1992. () * Miley, John. 'Systematic Theology'. 1892. () * Newlands, George (1994). 'God in Christian Perspective'. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. * Oden, Thomas C. (1987-1992). 'Systematic Theology' (3 volumes). Peabody, MA: Prince Press. * Pannenberg, Wolfhart (1988-1993). 'Systematic Theology'. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. * Pieper, Francis (1917-1924). 'Christian Dogmatics'. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. * Reymond, Robert L. (1998). 'A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith' (2nd ed.). Word Publishing. * Schleiermacher, Friedrich (1928). 'The Christian Faith'. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. * Thielicke, Helmut (1974-1982). 'The Evangelical Faith'. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. * Thiessen, Henry C. (1949). 'Systematic Theology'. Grand Rapids: William B. Erdsmans Publishing Co. * Tillich, Paul. 'Systematic Theology'. (3 volumes). * Turretin, Francis (3 parts, 1679-1685). 'Institutes of Elenctic Theology'. * Van Til, Cornelius (1974). 'An Introduction to Systematic Theology'. P & R Press. * Watson, Richard. 'Theological Institutes'. 1823. * Weber, Otto. (1981-1983) 'Foundations of Dogmatics'. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. External links ====================================================================== * [http://www.evanglibrary.info/members/theo/erickson/ct/main.htm Christian Theology] Millard J Erickson - Christian Theology * *[http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1463-1652&site=1 International Journal of Systematic Theology] (academic, ecumenical) *[http://www.tyndale.ca/seminary/mtsmodular/reading-rooms/theology Christian Theology Reading Room], Tyndale Seminary *[http://www.thetheologyprogram.com The Theology Program](Studies in Protestant Evangelical Systematic Theology featuring audio and video aids) *[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=SJT Scottish Journal of Theology] (academic, ecumenical) *[http://www.resourcesforchristiantheology.org/ Resources for Christian Theology] (British, Protestant) *[http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/ Faith and Theology] (systematic theology weblog) *[https://frame-poythress.org/the-marriage-of-biblical-systematic-theology/ The Marriage of Biblical & Systematic] License ========= All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematic_theology .