THEO 525-Db Forum 1
To define and explain systematic theology, lets first look at the definition of theology. The
word theology, is a Greek word for God, and is a Greek word meaning, word, Theo logo
discussion, or investigation. Therefore, theology mean studying God, but not limited to just
God, but about the things pertaining to God. Like studying philosophy is striving to get to the
truth of a matter, with God in mind, per Ken Cleaver.
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According to B.B. Demarest, systematic theology is “The attempt to reduce religious truth
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to a coherent and relevant whole for the church.” Demarest goes on to define it in more details:
“(1) presents a unified formulation of truth concerning God and his relationship to humanity as
set forth primarily in divine revelation and secondarily in classical church teaching and the field
of human knowledge and that (2) applies such truths to the entire range of human life and
thought.” Demarest goes on to say that systematic theology is not a false or fake discipline that
deal with fables and private opinions, but it operates with accurate information secured by
reliable sources. It utilizes the results of other branches of theology such as: biblical theology,
historical theology, and philosophical theology. Let’s explore the definition and relation of these
theologies.
Biblical Theology
1 Ken Cleaver, Class Video Lecture, Goal and Method of Theology.
https://learn.liberty.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?
course_id=_532084_1&content_id=_32901395_1
2 B.A. Demarest, Grand Rapids, Mi., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology: Second Edition,
Baker Academic, 2001, 1162.
Biblical theology is all the content of the Old and New Testaments, or the theology found
written within individual biblical book (the Bible), per Millard J. Erickson. Erickson goes on to
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say that biblical theology is simply theology that is biblical, because it based on the Bible and
faithful to the teaching of the Bible. It is related to the other two because it has the message or
the “Word of God,” the author, per B.A. Demarest.4
Historical Theology
According to Erickson, historical theology studies the system theology held and taught by
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the different theologians throughout the history of the church. It is related to the other two
because we can study how they did it before us and learn from their approaches. “Thus, the
theology of each successive century or major period of time would be examined sequentially.
This might be termed the synchronic approach. The other approach is to trace the history of
thought regarding a given doctrine (or a series of them) down through the periods of the church's
life. This could be called a diachronic approach.” Demarest relates it as tracing the faith of the
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church, by topics, throughout the history of the church.
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Philosophical Theology
3 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology: Third Edition, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic,
2013, 11.
4 B.A. Demarest, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 1164.
5 Millard J. Erickson, , 12.Christian Theology
6 Ibid.
7 B.A. Demarest, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 1164.
There are three contributions different theologians believe philosophy may make to theology: (1)
it can supply content for theology, (2) defend theology, or establish its truth, (3) it can thoroughly
examine the concepts and arguments. Therefore, philosophical theology is the final process
before the product can be released or completed, per Erickson. “Here lies a major value of
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philosophy for the theologian: scrutiny of the meaning of terms and ideas employed in the
theological task, the criticizing of its arguments, and the sharpening of the message for clarity.”9
All these approaches are vital to my ministry, which is teaching the Word of God each
Sunday to the adult class in Sunday school. To choose one, it will have to be biblical theology
because it is the most important in context. However, I will have to implore all of them because
“they are overlapping disciplines,” per Demarest.10
Word count=534
Bibliography
8 Millard J. Erickson, , 13-14.Christian Theology
9 Ibid., 14.
10 B.A. Demarest, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 1163.
Cleaver, Ken. Class Lecture. Goal and Method of Theology.
https://learn.liberty.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?
course_id=_532084_1&content_id=_32901395_1
Demarest, B.A. . Grand Rapids, Mi. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology: Second Edition
Baker Academic. 2001.
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology: Third Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Baker
Academic. 2013.
