What Is Theology?
Those who contend that theology is too muddy, or dusty, or too far away from the matters of everyday life and faith should encounter the words of C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity, “if you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones—bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas.” In this short article, we will attempt to answer these questions: What is theology? What is it composed of? How is it evaluated? What is at stake?
Our English word “theology” comes to us from the Greek word theologos which is “discoursing on the gods.” The ancients called Hesiod and Homer theologians because their poetry told of the gods’ ancestries and powers. Much, much closer to us, the late British theologian John MacQuarrie said in Principles of Christian Theology, “Theology may be defined as the study which, through participation in and reflection upon a religious faith, seeks to express the content of this faith in the clearest and most coherent language available.” Or for another modern definition, pause by James Evans who, in We Have Been Believers: An African-American Systematic Theology says, “Theology is essentially the church's response to the autobiographical impulse, and it grows out of the need to proclaim with authority and commitment the identity and mission of the church in the world. That is, in theology, the church both asks and answers the questions, ‘Who are we, and where are we going?’”
After deciding on a definition, the theologian must consider the content that goes into theology. Typically, we call these the sources or the foundations of theology. Catholics and Protestants, liberals and conservatives, Reformed and Restorationist disagree on both the use of sources and the weight sources should be given, but it will take a long walk to find a theologian who dismisses the primacy of scripture as a source. It is the norm of theology—the measure by which other sources are measured. As Bonhoeffer says in Reflections on the Bible: Human Word and Word of God, “Theology is the exposition of the church’s confession from particular points of view and with a constant testing of the confession by Scripture.”
The challenge, of course, emerges when we ask, “Which part of scripture?” It would be easy enough if we simply read the Bible and granted every part equal weight. Or if we acted like Thomas Jefferson and simply snipped out the parts that we did not like. But, alas, we have to ask “What weight should be given to the Holiness Code in Leviticus?” or “How far does scripture’s testimony of God’s sovereignty run?” While the scripture’s testifying to God’s election of the church gave strength to the thousands of French, German, Italian, and Spanish refugees fleeing for their lives to Calvin’s Geneva, a form of Calvin’s theology of sovereignty was eventually used to justify the imprisoning and torture of the Bantu and the Khoisan people in South Africa.
Because of scripture’s variegated voice or because of the issues and questions it does not consider directly (invitro-fertilization, for example) some theologians also appeal to tradition as a source for theology. Tradition can be a teaching traceable to the apostles, but not found in their writings. Second, tradition could be “that which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all people” (Vincent of Lérins). Third, tradition could take its lead from an ecumenical council like Nicaea of 325 or a confession like the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563. But whether the question is what we believe or in whom we believe, tradition is something received from the past that is useful for today. So, although the faith “has been once delivered” (Jude 3), insight and understanding accrue over time, with the result that tradition is not staid but lively. Tradition is a “was then” and “is now” affair. Keep in mind that churches with a complex liturgy, a pronounced hierarchy, and an earlier founding, value tradition more than their younger, less fussy cousins.
There are reasons, of course, to reject tradition as a source for theology: the tendency of tradition to become traditionalism, the clash of tradition with reason, the rather small circle of authorities who decide what traditions matter, and the threat that overreliance on tradition will eclipse the normative role of scripture. The best position might be a type of humility that admits that sometimes it takes more than one pair of eyes to recognize Jesus (Luke 24:31). As a consequence, tradition could be conceived of as the conversation believers have had about the content or meaning of their faith (Luke 24:32).
The next standard source for theology is reason. Among the many things that human beings can do, two items stand out: we can discover stuff and we can explain stuff. In theology, we say that reason allows us to do both and reason takes shape as either philosophy or science. Philosophy includes logic, epistemology (a theory of knowledge), metaphysics (realities beyond the physical), and ethics (our behavior and actions). Science includes the natural sciences and its discussions of physics, chemistry, and biology; the social sciences with its disciplines like psychology, sociology, and geography; and, increasingly, the formal sciences with its fields of mathematics, computer science, and artificial intelligence.
Reason is human thought in pursuit of truth, but Tertullian famously dismissed philosophy with the taunt, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” In a more accommodating spirit, Augustine thought that philosophy was an aid to theology. Others, like Aquinas, held that faith and reason are two ways of knowing God. If we understood both correctly, faith and reason would not conflict.
The fourth source is human experience. Often considered the problem child of the four sources because of its subjectivity, experience’s contribution and utility is often overlooked and then, if noticed, discounted. The most elegant (and perhaps persuasive) rejection of experience is by Karl Barth who based his theology on the idea that God reveals Godself on the basis of God’s own terms. Disinclined to let our reason, language, and experience define God, Barth held that God is “wholly other.” He wants to keep clear the distinction between the Creator and the creation, knowing that our imagination and experience often lead us astray.
Still, it is significant that the most decisive turn in theology in the era after Barth is the recognition that all theology arises in social, political, historical, and cultural contexts. Because of this, many today argue that the inclusion of experience is both necessary and inevitable. For them, the real issue is which or whose experience is acknowledged or shut out and what is being used in responsible ways. Indeed, Roger Olson in his blog musing, “Thoughts about the Role of Experience in Theology,” finds four meanings to experience: common, universal human experience; cultural experience (how a particular culture views and interprets reality); communal experience (the “habits of the heart” that govern a particular group); and personal, individual experience (an inward experience not determined by social experience and not as general as common, universal human experience).
We have traced four sources of theology, but we should acknowledge that some would also include liturgy, nature, or art as well. No matter the sources, theology has a two-fold task: attempting to talk about God and affirming that God in Jesus Christ has fully entered every aspect of human existence. Theology can take two forms: confessional theology, which is what the church repeats as it gathers around the cup, and apologetic theology, which is what it witnesses to the world about the reasons for its belief, actions, and character.
What can we say about the necessity of theology? Theology is necessary because God has witnessed to us through Jesus Christ (John 1:14). Theology is necessary because Jesus Christ has witnessed to us that He saw us while we were sitting under our fig tree (John 1:48). Theology is necessary because those who have seen Christ now drop their buckets and witness to others that they are being known by Him (John 4:28).
Arthur M. Sutherland, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Theology
Loyola University Maryland