Different Ways to Study Theology

This is a Discussion Board post I wrote for my Systematic Theology class regarding the different ways in which we can study theology. Enjoy!!

Systematic theology, as defined by B.A. Demarest, “begins with the totality of biblical revelation and extra-biblical truth, provisionally respects the development of doctrine in the church’s history, draws out the teachings of Scripture via sound grammatical, historical, and cultural exegesis, orders the result into a coherent whole where the interrelatedness of its parts is evidenced, and relates the results to the life and witness of the Christian community.” (Elwell, 1162) The study of systematic theology takes a look through Scripture as a whole, and picks out (via proper exegesis) verses which apply to specific major doctrines within Scripture. These include Scripture, the Doctrine of God, Man, Sin, Christ, Salvation, the Church, and Last things. (Erickson, 24) These studies can relate to other means of theological study in different ways.

In Biblical theology, the Scripture passages themselves are drawn out via the text. When exegeted correctly, Systematic theology and Biblical theology can be very similar. As Erickson notes, “systematic theology of the right kind will be biblical theology.” (26) Systematic theology drawn out from the text of Scripture, therefore, will relate very easily to Biblical theology concepts.

In historical theology, doctrine is studied through looking at both Church history and various theologians within Church history (i.e. Calvin, Luther, Augustine). Systematic theology can also be understood to be similar to historical theology. Systematic theology deals with specific Biblical doctrines, and historical theology takes a look at how these doctrines have been handled throughout the history of Christianity and by various theologians.

Philosophical theology does much to inform systematic theology. It can inform theology by providing the substance of theology, defending theological arguments, and looking critically at the ideas and arguments for theological positions. (Erickson, 29) While philosophy should not be used as a judge standing over theology, it can be a valuable resource when it comes to establishing the truthfulness of theological statements and concepts.

Personally, I think that systematic theology is the most important type of theology. I think that systematic theology sets forth Biblical truth through a very coherent system of thought which deals with all of the major Bible doctrines—and several other minor ones by implication. In the future, I think I will mainly stick with this form of theology, because it allows me to judge each text by the Bible as a whole. I would certainly be interested, however, in seeing how each of these other types of theology applies to studying specific Bible passages.