Re: Doctrine, Theology, Stories
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 8:43 pm
I would think of theology as being a subset of doctrine. Doctrine about God.
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We probably need a mix. And maybe my explanation is over simplified. But this is how I meant it...buckeyematt2 wrote: Theology is the attempt to give a rational explanation of our belief: it is thinking about religion." -Bruce Shelley
Yes, I think so. And people don't always use the terms the way they define them if asked. But both have to do with head knowledge, teachings, ways of understanding things. For instance, "Two Kingdom Theology" is not about the nature of God, but some people use that term while saying that theology is about the nature of God. And the "doctrine of the Trinity" is clearly about the nature of God, but it refers to one specific teaching about the relationship between God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus.Josh wrote:My observation is that the words "doctrine" and "theology" seem to mean different things to different people.
And for doctrine:theology (Websters) wrote:the study of religious faith, practice, and experience; especially : the study of God and of God's relation to the world
doctrine (Websters) wrote:a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief
And on the whole, I suspect we need a lot more stories to balance out our theology and doctrine. Lester is really good at that.Theology teaches us how to think, doctrine tells us what to think, but stories teach us what it looks like in people's lives.
I. Biblical Theology as a Science
1. Definition
Biblical theology seems best defined as the doctrine of Biblical religion. As such it works up the material contained in the Old Testament and the New Testament as the product of exegetical study. This is the modern technical sense of the term, whereby it signifies a systematic representation of Biblical religion in its primitive form.
Biblical theology has sometimes been taken to signify not alone this science of the doctrinal declarations of the Scriptures, but the whole group of sciences Concerned with the interpretation and exposition of the Scriptures. In that wider view of Biblical theology, the term exegetical theology has been used to define and include the group of sciences already referred to. But the whole weight of preference seems, in our view, to belong to the narrower use of the term Biblical theology, as more strictly scientific.
2. Relation to Dogmatics
This is not to confound the science of Biblical theology with that of dogmatics, for their characters are sharply distinguished. The science of dogmatics is a historico-philosophical one; that of Biblical theology is purely historic. Dogmatics declares what, for religious faith, must be regarded as truth; Biblical theology only discovers what the writers of the Old Testament and the New Testament adduce as truth. This latter merely ascertains the contents of the ideas put forward by the sacred writers, but is not concerned with their correctness or verification. It is the what of truth, in these documentary authorities, Biblical theology seeks to attain. The why , or with what right , it is so put forward as truth, belongs to the other science, that of dogmatics.
3. Place and Method of Biblical Theology
Biblical theology is Thus the more objective science; it has no need of dogmatics; dogmatics, on the other hand, cannot be without the aid of Biblical theology. The Biblical theologian should be a Christian philosopher, an exegete, and, above all, a historian. For it is in a manner purely historical that Biblical theology seeks to investigate the teaching, in whole, of each of the sacred writers. Each writing it studies in itself, in its relation to the others, and in its place in history taken as a whole. Its method is historical-genetic. The proper place of Biblical theology is at the head of historical theology, where it shines as a center of light. Its ideal as a science is to present a clear, complete and comprehensive survey of the Biblical teachings.
4. Relation to Scientific Exegesis
In pursuance of this end, Biblical theology is served by scientific exegesis, whose results it presents in ordered form so as to exhibit the organic unity and completeness of Biblical religion. The importance of Biblical theology lies in the way it directs, corrects and fructifies all moral and dogmatic theology by bringing it to the original founts of truth. Its spirit is one of impartial historical inquiry.