Systematic theology
Systematic theology is an organized approach to understanding Christian beliefs and doctrines by categorizing information derived from the Bible and other accepted sacred texts. It involves gathering all relevant data about a topic—such as sin, salvation, or Christology—and examining it to provide a comprehensive understanding of what these teachings convey. This method distinguishes itself from other theological approaches by emphasizing the assembly of all related information to form a complete picture, rather than studying isolated texts.
Historically, systematic theology has roots in early Christian thought, with influential figures like Origen of Alexandria and later theologians such as Thomas Aquinas and R.C. Sproul contributing to its development. The practice not only aids individuals in explaining and defending their faith—known as apologetics—but also helps in applying biblical teachings to contemporary issues. By combining insights from exegesis and historical theology, systematic theology seeks to clarify the original context of biblical texts and their evolving interpretations over time. Overall, it serves as a vital tool for Christians looking to deepen their understanding of their faith and its implications for daily life.
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Systematic theology
Systematic theology is an approach to understanding Christian religious teaching and doctrines by organizing them into categories. These categories include all that is known from the Bible and other accepted sacred sources to form a complete picture of a topic or concept. Examples include Christology, sin theology, and salvation theology. This effort to include all the available information and use it to form an overall picture of the concept is what differentiates systematic theology from other theological methods.
Background
Theology comes from the Greek words theos, meaning "god," and logia, meaning "the study or knowledge of." Systematic theology takes pieces of information about things related to God and combines them into specific categories. The systematic theologian gathers all the known information about each category together. The theologian then studies this information to understand what God is saying about that topic to people living at that time.
Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God. Parts of the Bible are accounts of events related to or involving God that occurred throughout the ages. Others are prayers, songs, and prophecies, or the foretelling of what God would do at a future time. Still others are explanations of what the teachings of God meant, as understood by the first Christian followers. Many Christians consider the Bible to be inspired writings and believe that God worked through these followers to convey information to humankind.
The early Christians in the second century after Jesus Christ's death were already applying systematic theology, though the study was not yet known by that name. Early theologians such as Origen of Alexandria used a systematic theology approach as they embarked on the earliest attempts at outlining Christian doctrine. Other theologians associated with systematic theology throughout history include John of Damascus, Thomas Aquinas, Ignatius of Loyola, Martin Luther King, Jr., Henri Nouwen, R.C. Sproul, Wayne Grudem, and Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI.
Systematic theology is one of several approaches Christians use to understand God's expectations and promises, as set out in the Bible. Others include biblical theology, which studies individual sections of the Bible to understand the messages they contain; historical theology, which studies how the understanding of biblical texts has changed over time; dogmatic theology, which studies the doctrines of Christianity that have been drawn from the Bible; and contemporary theology, which studies doctrines related to the issues that are most important in a specific period, most often in the theologian's own time.
Overview
Systematic theology attempts to understand the teachings and beliefs, or doctrines, of Christianity by organizing it into a system. First, all the known information about a topic is gathered together. This includes all the biblical references to the subject and any that are related to it (such as sin and forgiveness), as well as any teachings from other theologians or individuals that address the topic. These are then studied to draw out all aspects of the subject and formulate an understanding of it for people of the time at which the study is done.
The purpose of this, systematic theologians say, is to give a broad and complete picture of what God is saying through the sacred texts. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations can arise when small sections of the Bible are studied in isolation. For example, the Gospel of Matthew includes comments from Jesus stating that adultery is wrong (Matthew 5:27–30). This could cause people to treat adulterers harshly. However, in the Gospel of John, Jesus stops a crowd that is about to stone a woman for committing adultery and offers her forgiveness (John 8:4–11). Reading either one without the other does not give a full picture of what Jesus taught about adultery. A systematic theologian would search out these passages and others in the Bible, along with the writings of previous theologians who examined this topic, and form a complete understanding of what the Bible says about the topic.
Another aspect of systematic theology is understanding what these teachings meant in context and how they would have been understood by the people who first heard or read them. This form of study is known as exegesis. For instance, the parable of the Good Samaritan that Jesus tells in the Gospel of Luke takes on a new level of meaning if the reader understands that Samaritans were hated and distrusted by the Jews in Jesus's time (Luke 10:25–37). Having a Samaritan be the "good guy" increased the story's effect on those who first heard it.
Those following the systematic theology approach have a solid familiarity with the Bible. They search the text for all related passages, a task that has been much easier since the Internet came into existence. The passages are then outlined in a way that helps provide a full understanding of what the Bible says about the topic. The theologian will also seek to understand how the text was understood originally (exegesis) and how it has been interpreted throughout the ages (historical theology). Christian doctrine associated with the topic is also studied (dogmatic theology). All of this is then analyzed until the theologian can take this understanding and apply it to real-life situations for people living in the theologian's own time.
Systemic theology can be used by Christians who want to explain their faith to others, especially when they are challenged to explain Christian doctrines. The practice of explaining or defending the Christian faith is known as apologetics. It is especially important to people who are in a position of teaching Christian beliefs to others. For those who do not engage in any of these practices, systematic theology is still considered to be useful for forming a good understanding of how to apply the teachings of the Bible to everyday life.
Bibliography
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Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Zondervan, 2004.
Grudem, Wayne. "What's Systematic Theology and Why Bother?" The Gospel Coalition, 14 May 2016, www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/whats-systematic-theology-and-why-bother. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
Swain, Scott R. "10 Things You Should Know about Systematic Theology." Crossway, 8 Oct. 2017, www.crossway.org/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-systematic-theology. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
"Systematic Theology." Theopedia, www.theopedia.com/systematic-theology. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
Tweeddale, John. "What Is Systematic Theology?" Reformation Bible College, 22 Sept. 2017, www.reformationbiblecollege.org/blog/what-is-systematic-theology. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
Wellman, Jack. "What Is Systematic Theology?" Christian Crier, 16 Sept. 2015, www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2015/09/16/what-is-systematic-theology. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
“What is Systematic Theology?” Got Questions Ministries, www.gotquestions.org/systematic-theology.html. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.