How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2, CSB)
Chapter One - Introduction
Theology by definition is the study of God. But in reality it is the study of what God gave humanity in His creation and in the written Word. We only know about God from what He has provided, no research or examination of God Himself has ever been made, and likely will never happen. So, for Christians, theology is the study of the Bible, God’s Word. We also can learn from what we see in creation today. For example, recognize the fine tuning of our planet’s existence (including things like, oxygen and other gas ratios, planetary motion, temperatures, etc.) and life (something that science has not been able to reproduce).
So where does one begin to study God? How do you study God? It seems that each theologian has a different approach. Some build on the work of previous theologians, while others have developed their own unique perspectives based on extensive examination of the Word. Then there are some theologians that prefer to ‘dissect’ the Word of God in a method called systematic theology. Norman Geisler, theologian and apologist, explains:
Systematic theology is generally divided into the following categories: (1) Prolegomena (Introduction); (2) Bibliology (Gk: biblios, “Bible”); (3) Theology Proper, the study of God; (4) Anthropology (Gk: pl. anthropoi, “human beings”); (5) Harmartiology (Gk: harmartia, “sin”); (6) Soteriology (Gk: soterios, “salvation”); (7) Ecclesiology (Gk: ecclesia, “[the] church”); (8) Eschatology (Gk: eschatos, “the last things”).
In addition, the study of the Holy Spirit (a subdivision of Theology Proper) is titled Pneumatology (Gk: pneuma, “spirit”), and discourses about Christ are called Christology. Theological discussions about demons are designated Demonology, those about Satan are titled Satanology, and the study of angels is labeled Angelology.[1]
Theologians are motivated by their need to better understand Scripture and to document their findings so others can learn. But what happens if the findings are different or conflict with other findings? Since there can’t be more than one truth, some theologies must be wrong. How does one know which theology is correct? Sadly, all it takes is to misinterpret one word to negate the gospel message and to render a belief void. Paul heard about a similar problem in the church in Galatia, he wrote, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-10, ESV) It is important to note that Galatia was one of several churches that had theological problems in the first century, corruption in the church does not take long to spread.
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[1] Geisler, N. L. (2002). Systematic theology, volume one: introduction, Bible (p. 16). Bethany House Publishers.