Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Theologians may undertake the study of Christian theology for a variety of reasons, such as in order to:
help them better understand Christian tenetsSee, e.g., Daniel L. Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004) make comparisons between Christianity and other traditionsSee, e.g., David Burrell, Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994) defend Christianity against objections and criticism facilitate reforms in the Christian churchSee for example John Shelby Spong, Why Christianity Must Change or Die (New York: Harper Collins, 2001) assist in the propagation of ChristianitySee, e.g., Duncan Dormor et al. (eds), Anglicanism, the Answer to Modernity (London: Continuum, 2003) draw on the resources of the Christian tradition to address some present situation or perceived needFor example, see Timothy Gorringe, Crime, Changing Society and the Churches Series (London: SPCK, 2004). education in Christian philosophy, especially in Neoplatonic philosophyLouth, Andrew. The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.
Christian traditions
Christian theology varies significantly across the main branches of Christian tradition: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. Each of those traditions has its own unique approaches to seminaries and ministerial formation.
Hermeneutics: the Bible
Biblical revelation
Revelation is the revealing or disclosing, or making something obvious through active or passive communication with God, and can originate directly from God or through an agent, such as an angel. A person recognised as having experienced such contact is often called a prophet. Christianity generally considers the Bible as divinely or supernaturally revealed or inspired. Such revelation does not always require the presence of God or an angel. For instance, in the concept which Catholics call interior locution, supernatural revelation can include just an inner voice heard by the recipient.
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) first described two types of revelation in Christianity: general revelation and special revelation.
General revelation occurs through observation of the created order. Such observations can logically lead to important conclusions, such as the existence of God and some of God's attributes. General revelation is also an element of Christian apologetics. Certain specifics, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, as revealed in the teachings of the Scriptures, cannot otherwise be deduced except by special revelation.
Biblical inspiration
The Bible contains many passages in which the authors claim divine inspiration for their message or report the effects of such inspiration on others. Besides the direct accounts of written revelation (such as Moses receiving the Ten Commandments inscribed on tablets of stone), the Prophets of the Old Testament frequently claimed that their message was of divine origin by prefacing the revelation using the following phrase: "Thus says the LORD" (for example, 1 Kgs 12:22–24;1 Chr 17:3–4; Jer 35:13; Ezek 2:4; Zech 7:9; etc.). The Second Epistle of Peter claims that "no prophecy of Scripture ... was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit"2 Pet 1:20–21 . The Second Epistle of Peter also implies that Paul's writings are inspired (2 Pet 3:16).
Many Christians cite a verse in Paul's letter to Timothy, 2 Timothy 3:16–17, as evidence that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable ..." Here St. Paul is referring to the Old Testament, since the scriptures have been known by Timothy from "infancy" (verse 15). Others offer an alternative reading for the passage; for example, theologian C. H. Dodd suggests that it "is probably to be rendered" as: "Every inspired scripture is also useful..." A similar translation appears in the New English Bible, in the Revised English Bible, and (as a footnoted alternative) in the New Revised Standard Version. The Latin Vulgate can be so read.The Douay–Rheims Bible, relying on the Vulgate, has "All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach ...". See the comment in the New Jerusalem Bible study edition – footnote 'e', page 1967, Darton Longman Todd, 1985. , but with the caution "less probably". Yet others defend the "traditional" interpretation; Daniel B. Wallace calls the alternative "probably not the best translation."
Some modern English versions of the Bible renders theopneustos with "God-breathed" (NIV) or "breathed out by God" (ESV), avoiding the word inspiration, which has the Latin root – "to blow or breathe into".
Biblical authority Christianity generally regards the agreed collections of books known as the Bible as authoritative and as written by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Some Christians believe that the Bible is inerrant (totally without error and free from contradiction, including the historical and scientific parts) or infallible (inerrant on issues of faith and practice but not necessarily on matters of history or science).Catechism of the Catholic Church, Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture (§105–108) Heinrich Bullinger's Second Helvetic Confession (1566), Of the Holy Scripture Being the True Word of God – "We believe and confess the canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of both Testaments to be the true Word of God, and to have sufficient authority of themselves, not of men. [...] And in this Holy Scripture, the universal Church of Christ has the most complete exposition of all that pertains to a saving faith, and also to the framing of a life acceptable to God [...]."Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978), Online text : "Article XI We affirm that Scripture, having been given by divine inspiration, is infallible, so that, far from misleading us, it is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses."Catechism of the Catholic Church: – "107 The inspired books teach the truth. 'Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.'"
Some Christians infer that the Bible cannot both refer to itself as being divinely inspired and also be errant or fallible. For if the Bible were divinely inspired, then the source of inspiration being divine, would not be subject to fallibility or error in that which is produced. For them, the doctrines of the divine inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy, are inseparably tied together. The idea of biblical integrity is a further concept of infallibility, by suggesting that current biblical text is complete and without error, and that the integrity of biblical text has never been corrupted or degraded. Historians note, or claim, that the doctrine of the Bible's infallibility was adopted hundreds of years after the books of the Bible were written.Compare:
The authority of the Bible can also be linked to the principle of sola scriptura, the claim that by scripture alone that the authority of the Bible is more important than the authority of the Church.
Biblical canon
The content of the Protestant Old Testament is the same as the Hebrew Bible canon, with changes in the division and order of books, but the Catholic Old Testament contains additional texts, known as the deuterocanonical books. Protestants recognize 39 books in their Old Testament canon, while Roman Catholic and Eastern Rite Catholics recognize 46 books as canonical. However, various Eastern Orthodox Churches have differing Old Testament canons. For example, Slavic traditions include the book of 2 Esdras in their biblical canons. Some churches, such as the Georgian Orthodox Church, deem the book of 4 Maccabees as "uncanonical", yet still include the book in the Bible; while others do not include the book at all. Eastern Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants use the same 27-book New Testament canon.
Early Christians used the Septuagint, a Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. Christianity subsequently endorsed various additional writings that would become the New Testament. In the 4th century a series of synods, most notably the Synod of Hippo in AD 393, produced a list of texts equal to the 46-book canon of the Old Testament that Catholics use today (and the 27-book canon of the New Testament that all use). A definitive list did not come from any early ecumenical council.Catholic Encyclopedia: Canon of the New Testament : "The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history." Around 400, Jerome produced the Vulgate, a definitive Latin edition of the Bible, the contents of which, at the insistence of the Bishop of Rome, accorded with the decisions of the earlier synods. This process effectively set the New Testament canon, although examples exist of other canonical lists in use after this time.
During the 16th-century Protestant Reformation certain reformers proposed different canonical lists of the Old Testament. The texts which appear in the Septuagint but not in the Jewish canon fell out of favor, and eventually disappeared from Protestant canons. Catholic Bibles classify these texts as deuterocanonical books, whereas Protestant contexts label them as the Apocrypha.
Theology proper: God
In Christianity, God is the creator and preserver of the universe. God is presented as a father figure to humanity. God is the sole ultimate power in the universe but is distinct from it. The Bible never speaks of God as impersonal. Instead, it refers to him in personal terms – who speaks, sees, hears, acts, and loves. God is understood to have a will and personality and is an all powerful, divine and benevolent being. He is represented in Scripture as being primarily concerned with people and their salvation.
Attributes of God
Classification Many Reformed theologians distinguish between the communicable attributes (those that human beings can also have) and the incommunicable attributes (those which belong to God alone).Herman Bavinck, The Doctrine of God. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1979.
Enumeration Some attributes ascribed to God in Christian theologyThe Westminster Shorter Catechism's definition of God is merely an enumeration of his attributes: "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth."Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question and Answer 4. The Westminster Larger Catechism adds certain attributes to this description, such as "all-sufficient", "incomprehensible", "every where present" and "knowing all things". Westminster Larger Catechism, Question and Answer 7. This answer has been criticised, however, as having "nothing specifically Christian about it."James B. Jordan, "What is God? ," Biblical Horizons Newsletter, No. 82. are: Aseity—That "God is so independent that he does not need us."D. A. Carson, The Gagging of God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan), 1996. It is based on Acts 17:25, where it says that God "is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything" (NIV). This is often related to God's self-existence and his self-sufficiency. Eternity—That God exists beyond the temporal realm. Graciousness—That God extends His favor and gifts to human beings unconditionally as well as conditionally.