Systematic theology, orsystematics, is a discipline ofChristian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of thedoctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topics or what is true about God and God's universe.[1] It also builds on biblical disciplines,church history, as well asbiblical andhistorical theology.[2] Systematic theology shares its systematic tasks with other disciplines such asconstructive theology,dogmatics, ethics,apologetics, andphilosophy of religion.[3][4]
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With a methodological tradition that differs somewhat frombiblical theology, systematic theology draws on the coresacred texts of Christianity, while simultaneously investigating the development of Christian doctrine over the course of history, particularly through philosophy, ethics, social sciences, and natural sciences. Using biblical texts, it attempts to compare and relate all of scripture which led to the creation of a systematized statement on what the whole Bible says about particular issues. In other words, "In reconstructing Christian teaching, systematic theology proceeds by a process of conceptual abstraction and schematization."[4]
In a seminal article, "Principles of Systematic Theology,"Anglican theologianJohn Webster describes systematic theology as proceeding along a series of principles, which he draws from various theologians includingThomas Aquinas:
Webster has also considered the task of all systematic theology as articulating the Creator/creature distinction, known also as the Categorical Distinction or theInfinite Qualitative Distinction, a concept also explored from the perspective ofcompatiblistic metaphysics byKathryn Tanner inGod and Creation in Christian Theology (1988).[6][7]
Within Christianity, different traditions (both intellectual and ecclesial) approach systematic theology in different ways impacting a) the method employed to develop the system, b) the understanding of theology's task, c) the doctrines included in the system, and d) the order those doctrines appear. Even with such diversity, it is generally the case that works that one can describe as systematic theologies begin with revelation and conclude with eschatology.
Since it is focused on truth, systematic theology is also framed to interact with and address the contemporary world. Many authors have explored this area, includingCharles Gore,John Walvoord, Lindsay Dewar, andCharles Moule.The framework developed by these theologians reviews the postbiblical history of a doctrine, following a treatment of the biblical materials.[clarify][8] This process concludes with applications to contemporary issues.
Since it is a systemic approach, systematic theology organizes truth under different headings[1] and there are certain basic areas (or categories), although the exact list may vary slightly. These are:[9]
The establishment and integration of varied Christian ideas and Christianity-related notions, including diverse topics and themes of the Bible, in a single, coherent and well-ordered presentation is a relatively late development.[10] The first known church father who referred to the notion of devising a comprehensive understanding of the principles of Christianity wasClement of Alexandria in the 3rd century, who stated thus: "Faith is then, so to speak, a comprehensive knowledge of the essentials."[11] Clement himself, along with his followerOrigen, attempted to create some systematic theology in their numerous surviving writings. The first systematic theology in Latin was Lactantius'sDivine Institutes, and the termIntitutio would set a precedence for works of systematic theology in the western tradition.[12] InEastern Orthodoxy, an early example is provided byJohn of Damascus's 8th-centuryExposition of the Orthodox Faith, in which he attempts to set in order and demonstrate the coherence of the theology of the classic texts of the Eastern theological tradition.
In the West,Peter Lombard's 12th-centurySentences, wherein he thematically collected a great series of quotations of theChurch Fathers, became the basis of amedievalscholastic tradition of thematic commentary and explanation.Thomas Aquinas'sSumma Theologiae best exemplifies this scholastic tradition. TheLutheran scholastic tradition of a thematic, ordered exposition of Christian theology emerged in the 16th century withPhilipp Melanchthon'sLoci Communes, and was countered by a Calvinist scholasticism, which is exemplified byJohn Calvin'sInstitutes of the Christian Religion.
The 17th century saw a boom in focused systematic theologies within a renaissance ofthe scholastic method.Francis Turretin'sInstitutes of Elenctic Theology (1696) andPetrus van Mastricht'sTheoretical-Practical Theology (1680) became touchstone works in the field, profoundly influencing later theologians likeWilliam Cunningham,Jonathan Edwards,Charles Hodge, andHerman Bavinck. Similarly,William Ames's systematic treatise,The Marrow of Theology (1629), would become the standard textbook for Harvard and Yale in their nascent years.[13]
In the 19th century, primarily inProtestant groups, varieties of systematic theology arose that attempted to demonstrate that Christian doctrine formed a more coherent system premised on one or more fundamentalaxioms, often reasoned out as a form ofdogmatic theology. Such theologies often involved a more drastic pruning and reinterpretation of traditional belief in order to cohere with the axiom or axioms, and continental theology divided between various schools ofdogmatic theology, e.g.Erlangen Theology ( e.g.F.C.K. Hoffman,Thomasius, andGisle Johnson), Mediating Theology (e.g.Isaak Dorner), classical confessionalism (e.g.Hans Lassen Martensen andHerman Bavinck), and liberal theology (e.g.Friedrich Schleiermacher andAlbrecht Ritschle). In the United States,Charles Hodge'sSystematic Theology became a popular text in conjunction with his work at Princeton Theological Seminary. Significant for this period,Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher'sDer christliche Glaube nach den Grundsätzen der evangelischen Kirche (The Christian Faith According to the Principles of the Protestant Church [1821-1822]) espoused the fundamental idea of a universal presence among humanity, sometimes more hidden, sometimes more explicit, of a feeling or awareness of 'absolute dependence,' and this became a focal point of either acceptation, integration, or rejection among theologians.[14] As such, systematic theology in the 19th century became a sophisticated endeavor of developing and articulating theology from certain assumed first principles, often on the back of the philosophical conversations inherited from Hegel, Kant, and Schleiermacher.[15]
Systematic theology likewise saw a great variety of development into the 20th century, most notably with the advancement ofNeo-Orthodoxy and the multivolumeChurch Dogmatics ofKarl Barth.Helmuth Thielicke wrote his three-volume work,The Evangelical Faith, as a confessionally-Lutheran theology with existentialist emphases, andWolfhart Pannenberg's three-volumeSystematic Theology is an eclectic example of modernist systematics that attempts to integrate faith and science.Robert Jenson's two-volumeSystematic Theology, stands as a final installment of 20th century systematic theology, looking to questions of postmodernity from a Barthian perspective. Several popular-level textbook-style works emerged during this period within Evangelical theology, fromLewis Sperry Chafer's eight-volumeSystematic Theology toWayne Grudem's stand-alone titleSystematic Theology, a particularly sophisticated non-textbook example being the epistemological worldview theology ofCarl F.H. Henry, contained in his six-volumeGod, Revelation and Authority.Reformed theology also saw considerable contributions in the twentieth century, includingLouis Berkhof's popularSystematic Theology andG.C. Berkouwer's multivolumeStudies in Dogmatics. The latter half of the twentieth century also saw the emergence of systematic theologies dealing with critical themes from social, political, and economic perspective, including theLiberation Theology ofJames Cone andGustavo Gutiérrez, thePost-liberal Theology associated withYale Divinity School, andFeminist Theology (e.g.Sarah Coakley). As such, the variety and perspectives of systematic theology in the 20th century has tracked well with both the broadening of ethical concerns post-World War II, its expansive pluralism, and the advent of postmodernism.[15][16]
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