1. Theology (1) Lecture Part I: Studying God
Jintae Kim, PhD
Alliance Theological Seminary
Nyack, NY 10960
(845)
Website:

2. Chapter 1 What is theology?

3. Common Features of Religion (Christian Theology, 18)
(1) Belief in a Supreme Being or Concept
(2) It involves a world-life view.
(3) A Life Style based upon the view

4. What is religion? (19-20) Definition Remarks Doctrine
The middle ages through 18’th century, particularly in the West. A set of belief. Philosophy.
Feeling
Friedrich Schleiermacher. 19’th c. through 20’th c.
Morality
Albert Ritschl, “What is Christianity?”
All of these
Doctrine, Religious feeling, Ethical dimension

5. Religion and Theology (21)
The actual living-out and personal practice of religion, including the holding of doctrinal beliefs, occur on the level of primary experience.
Theology is the second-level activity. It concerns with describing, analyzing, criticizing, and organizing the doctrines.

6. The Definition of Theology (Introducing…,16)
Source: Biblical
The primary source of its content is the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments using the tools and methods of biblical research.
Method: (1) Systematic
It draws upon the whole of the Bible to coalesce the varied teachings into some type of harmonious or coherent whole.
(2) Philosophical
Relates to the issues of general culture and learning.

7. Application: (1) Contemporary
Without distorting the biblical materials, it uses language, concepts , and thought forms that make some sense in the context of the present time.
(2) Practical.
Theology relates to living rather than merely to belief.

8. Theological Studies Biblical Studies Biblical Theology
Historical Studies
Historical Theology
Doctrinal Studies
Systematic Theology: Scripture, God, man, Sin, Christ, Salvation, Church, Last Things (8 Loci)
Practical Studies
Philosophical Theology

9. The Necessity for Theology (17)
(1) Is there really a need to study doctrine?
(2) Isn’t it sufficient if I simply love Jesus?
(3) Doesn’t it just cause division among Christians?

10. 3 Reasons to study theology (17)
(1) Correct doctrinal beliefs are essential to the relationship between the believer and God.
(2) because of the connection between truth and experience.
(3) because there are many secular and religious systems of thought that compete for our devotion these days.

11. 2 Questions - Starting Point of Theology
(1) Should theology begin with proving the existence of God?
(2) Can we do theology without examining the the nature of revelation in the Scripture?

12. A. H. Strong: “The idea of God is a first truth
A. H. Strong: “The idea of God is a first truth. It is a rational intuition. It is not a piece of knowledge written on the soul, but an assumption which is so basic that all other knowledge depends upon it.”

13. 3 Presuppositions in doing theology
(1) God exists: This point is assumed as a first truth or established by an empirical proof.
(2) God has specially revealed himself in the Bible.
(3) This special revelation must be investigated in order to determine what God has revealed.

14. Theology vs Science Augustine
He preferred the term sapientia (wisdom) to scientia (knowledge).
Sciences dealt with temporal things, wisdom related to the eternal matters, specifically to God as the highest good.
Thomas Aquinas
Theology came to be thought of as the queen of the sciences. It is a derived science.
Karl Barth
He argued vigorously for the autonomy of theology.

15. 6 Criteria of H. Scholz for theology to be science
It must be free from internal contradiction.
There must be a unity or coherence in its propositions.
Its statements must be susceptible to testing.
It must make no assertion which is physically and biologically impossible.
It must be free from prejudice.
Its propositions should be capable of being broken up into axioms and theorems and susceptible of proof on that basis.

16. Theology as a science

17. Critique of Sholz
(1) The definition which virtually restricts science to natural science, and which then tends to restrict knowledge to science, is too narrow.

18. 5 Evidences for theology as science (Doctrine, 35)
(1) It has a definite subject matter to investigate.
(2) It deals with objective matters. It does not merely give expression to the subjective feelings of the theologian or of the Christian.

19. (3) It has a definite methodology for investigating its subject matter.
(4) It has a method for verifying is propositions.
(5) There is coherence among the propositions of its subject matter.

20. Common Grounds with other sciences (Doctrines,35; Introducing, 18)
(1) It is subject to certain basic principles or axioms.
(2) It involves communicability.
(3) It employs methods employed by other specific disciplines.
(4) It shares some subject matter with other disciplines.

21. Why The Bible?(Doctrines, 36-7)
(1) Christianity is a movement which follows Jesus Christ. We would then logically look to him to state what is to be believed and what is to be done. We have very little information outside of the Bible regarding what Jesus taught and did.

22. (2) In making the Bible the primary or supreme source of our understanding, we are not completely excluding all other sources. But these will be secondary to the Bible.

23. Theology and Philosophy

24. 5 Views on Relation between Theology and Philosophy (Doctrines, 40-42)

25. (1) No relation – Tertullian (c
(1) No relation – Tertullian (c ), "What is there in common between Athens and Jerusalem?"
(2) Theology elucidated by philosophy: Augustine
(3) Theology established by Philosophy : Thomas Aquinas
(4) Theology judged by philosophy: Deism. Modernists.
(5) Theology supplied by philosophy: Hegel

26. Some 20’th Century Philosophies (Doctrines, 42-53)
(1) Pragmatism - American, John Dewey, James Stuart Mill
(2) Existentialism
(3) Analytical Philosophy: Bertrand Russell, Comte
(4) Process Theology - Alfred North Whitehead
(5) Deconstruction - postmodernity

27. Pragmatism (1) American: John Dewey, James Stuart Mill
(2) No absolute truth. Truth experiencing consequences. Emphasis on the present.
(3) Not “Is it true that God exists?” but “Is it useful to believe that God exists?”

28. Existentialism
(1) Origin: Soren Kierkegaard – Reacting against Hegel’s rational philosophy and Nietzsche’s atheistic emphasis upon the human will.
(2) Philosophers: De Cartes, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Karl Jaspers

29. (3) “Is it?” is far more important than “What is it?”
Limitation of human senses, Focusing in an individual, freedom, subjectivity.
(4) Influence to Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, Paul Tillich and Rudolph Bultmann

30. Analytical Philosophy
(1) Logical Positivism - Bertrand Russell, Comte
(2) While traditional Philosophy focuses on “What is right, What is true, and What is beautiful?”, A.P. focuses on “What do you mean by that?”
(3) Logical Positivism relying only on mathematical data and empirical data.

31. Process Theology (1) Alfred North Whitehead
(2) Change is the key to understanding of reality, in fact, that change is reality.

32. Deconstruction (1) Derrida. Postmodernity
(2) A rejection of any attempt to discover and to express an underlying pattern of reality.

33. The 2 Principles in the Use of Philosophy (Doctrines, 53-8)
(1) Revelation rather than philosophy supplies the content of our theology.
(2) Philosophy is a thought process, a thinking activity rather than a body of truths. The methodology is supplied by philosophy.

34. The Method of Theology (Doctrines, 59-80)

35. The Theological Scene Today
(1) The tendency for theologies to have brief life-spans.
(2) The demise of great schools of theology as such.
(3) Disappearance of theological giants.

36. 3 Lessons
(1) We should beware of too close an identification with any current mood in culture.
(2) A degree of eclecticism is both possible and desirable.
(3) It is important to maintain a degree of independence in one’s approach to doing theology.

37. The Process of Doing Theology (Introducing, 19-22)

38. (1) Collection of the Biblical materials.
Identify all the relevant biblical passages dealing with the topic being investigated and then to interpret them very carefully using the very best of theological tools and methods.

39. (2) Unification of the Biblical materials.
This assumes the unity and coherence among the several biblical materials and biblical witnesses.

40. (3) Analysis of meanings of biblical teachings – Historical meaning
    
(4) Examination of Historical Treatments     
(5) Identification of the Essence of the Doctrine – Divine meaning

41. (6) Illumination from Sources Beyond the Bible: Natural sciences, particularly geology; archaeology.
(7) Contemporary Expression of the Doctrine.
Once we have determined the abiding essence or permanent content of the doctrine (divine meaning), we must express it in a fashion that is reasonably accessible to persons of our day.

42.  (8) Development of a Central Interpretive Motif
    
(9) Stratification of the Topics.
      

43. Chapter 2 Contemporizing the Christian Message

44. 3 Views on Contemporizing (Introducing, 25-26)

45. (1) We should present biblical concepts in biblical terminology.

46. (2) Portions of the biblical view are obsolete and therefore must be eliminated.

47. (3) They desire to retain the essential content of the biblical teaching and restate it or translate it into more modern concepts, to find contemporary equivalents for the concepts drawn from the biblical era.

48. The Locus of Permanence in Christianity (26-27)
The question is how to identify the unchangeable factor.

49. (1) Institutional – Roman Catholic
What is permanent and persistent throughout time is the institution of the Catholic church.

50. (2) Experience – H. E. Fosdick (Social Gospel)
Abiding experiences which are expressed in changing categories. Idea of evolution.

51. (3) Certain actions or a certain type of living – Kant, Ritschl, W
(3) Certain actions or a certain type of living – Kant, Ritschl, W. Rauschenbusch.
It is the teachings of Jesus regarding ethical living and the kingdom of God.
(4) Doctrine – J. G. Machen

52. Two approaches to Contemporizing Theology
transformer? or translator?

53. (1) If doctrine is the unchangeable factor in Christianity, it should be apparent that we advocate the approach of the translators. The process, however, is not as simple as finding 21’st c. equivalents for 1’st c. concepts.

54. (2) Difficulty in translation -  It is impossible to find a perfect semantic equivalent in another language.

55. (3) The contemporizing of the Bible messages is often explained as a method used in a teaching of languages.

56. (4) Then we should distinguish between the permanent or abiding essence of a concept and its temporary forms of expression. (ex: God dwells in heaven  transcendence of God) 

57. The 5 Criteria of Permanence (28-30)
(1) Constancy across cultures
(2) Universal setting
(3) A recognized permanent factor as a basis
(4) Indissoluble link with an essential experience
(5) Final position within progressive revelation