Systematic Theology

Systematic Theology Pastor Brett Peterson Slide 34 Coastland University

What do you believe? • What would you be willing to die for? Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

DEFINITION: • THEOLOGY • qeo,j, theos- God • lo,goj, logos- word, study, discourse,understanding, universal rational Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

What Is Theology? “Rational discussion respecting the deity.” —Augustine “The study or science of God.” –Millard Erickson “The Science of God and of the relations between God and the universe.” –A. H. Strong “Thinking about God and expressing those thoughts in some way.” —Charles Ryrie Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

What Is Theology? “The science of God or of religion; the science which treats of the existence, character, and attributes of God, his laws and government, the doctrines we are to believe, and the duties we are to practice; divinity; (as more commonly understood) ``the knowledge derivable from the Scriptures, the systematic exhibition of revealed truth, the science of Christian faith and life.” —Webster’s Dictionary Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? Anyone who has asked the ultimate questions of life: • Why am I here? • What is life? • What happens after death? • What is the difference between right and wrong? • Why is there something instead of nothing? Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? The question is not, “Who is a theologian?” but “What kind of theologian am I going to be?” Are you going to be a good theologian or a bad theologian? This is a more accurate question because, as one writer put it, “not all theologies are equal.” -Source unknown Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

“We live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Western civilization. . . We must have passion—indeed hearts on fire for the things of God. But that passion must resist with intensity the anti-intellectual spirit of the world.” —R. C. Sproul Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? There are basically five arenas in which we can do theology: • Folk Theology • Lay Theology • Ministerial Theology • Professional Theology • Academic Theology Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian Folk Lay Ministerial Professional Academic Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian Describe this chart in relation to practicing medicine Folk Lay Ministerial Professional Academic Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian Now describe this chart in relation to practicing theology Folk Lay Ministerial Professional Academic Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? Folk Theology • Naïve • Traditionalistic • Dogmatic • Uninformed and unreflective What are some examples? Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? Folk theology examples: • Views of eternity (clouds, harps) • Angels’ wings • Good works salvation • All people are good at heart Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? • Peter’s gate • Devil’s pitchfork • “God helps those who help themselves” • Demon possession (Hitler, Stalin, etc.) • Name-it-claim-it, health and wealth gospel Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Some ‘Pop’ Eschatology Where will we spend eternity? The ‘Tribulation’ is a 7 year period of wrath on earth. The ‘Time of Jacobs Trouble’ is the 7 year ‘Tribulation’. The antichrist will arise from a 10 nation confederacy The parable of the 10 bridesmaids (they wait for the groom in the brides house) Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

‘Pop’ Theology (cont.) There are many sections of scripture in the New Testament that are not written to the Church. The Church will NOT fulfill the great commission. After the Rapture, a great multitude of people from every nation will get saved And on we could go… Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

The Trinity What is Truth? Who is God? How are you saved? Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? Lay Theology • More reflective upon learned theological concepts • Likely to formulate a doctrine of essentiality • More critical of unfounded traditions • More willing to use study tools Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? Ministerial Theology • Reflection is more sophisticated • Educated in theological methodology • Uses tools and resources at a more effective level • Working knowledge of the languages • Ability to openly critique personal theology against competing models • Devotes more time to reflection Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? Professional Theology • Didactically purposed toward lay and pastoral theologians • Works with pastoral and lay theologians • Conducts practical original research • Critically evaluates common theological trends and folk theology • Often accused of quenching the Spirit Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? Academic Theology • Overly speculative • Overly critical • Dialogue can come only with other theologians • Ivory Tower theologians • Unspiritual theology • Follows the academic status quo Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? Folk Lay Ministerial Professional Academic Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Who Is a Theologian? Acceptable range Folk Lay Ministerial Professional Academic Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Why Study Theology? Because you are a theologian! Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Why Study Theology? “Theology is for everyone. Indeed, everyone needs to be a theologian. In reality, everyone is a theologian—of one sort or another. And therein lies the problem. There is nothing wrong with being an amateur theologian or a professional theologian, but there is everything wrong with being an ignorant or sloppy theologian.” —Charles Ryrie Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Why Study Theology? How do we “do” theology everyday? In other words, how does our theology influence our daily routine? Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Why Study Theology? • When we think about God. • When we share the Gospel. • When we interpret the Bible. • When we get sick. • When we defend the faith. • When we plan for the future. • When we choose schooling for our children. Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Why Study Theology? • When we vote. • When we attempt to deal with sin in our lives. • When we decide on who we marry. Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

What Is Theology? “Credo ut intelligam” “faith seeking understanding.” —Anselm of Canterbury Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Types of theological study: • Apologetics, “Can you give an answer for the many questions people have about the Bible & your faith?” • Exegetical Theology, “What is the message God intended for the text?” • Canononics • Textual Criticism • Biblical Languages • Biblical History/Archaeology • Hermeneutics • Exegesis Proper Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Types of theological study continued … • Biblical Theology, “What does the Bible, in context, teach about the subject you are studying?” • Systematic Theology, “Given all scripture, what is the expositional consistency/progressive revelation for the doctrine?” • Historical Theology, “What has the Church taught regarding the subject or doctrine you are studying?” • Practical Theology, “What action must be taken in light of the doctrine or subject?” Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Relationship of Categories Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Why study Theology in a SYSTEMATIC way?: • God created our minds to Systematize truth: • We construct lists of ideas • We compare what is experienced with previous ideas and teachings • God is a God of order, and therefore reveals Himself in a systematic way • It gives us a clear view of the truth we are studying from Genesis to Revelation. Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Systematic Theology will: • Bring to light the truths of God and how He relates to mankind • It gives us an opportunity to experience God’s revelation of Himself • It helps us maintain a balance between emotionalism and Intellectualism • It allows us to analyze ‘Biblical Theology’ is a all inclusive way. Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Understanding God systematically helps us: • Establish absolute truth on a given doctrine and teach that truth to others • We allow God’s revelation of Himself to teach us His truth • We are then prepared to teach that truth to others • This gives the Church protection against false teaching Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

The Goal of Theology: • To bring individuals into a right understanding of God and how He works in their lives • To proclaim the absolute truth of scripture in a contemporary yet Uncompromised way • To give the Church the meat of God’s Word • To equip the saints • To make the gospel relevant and rational Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Cautions as we study theology: • Apriori: “Finitum non capax infiniti.” That is to say, the finite is not capable of the infinite. • Truth is Spiritually discerned • Preconceived Ideas: Church tradition, man’s ideas rather than Bible based truth. • Example;The Trinity – ‘man is unable to comprehend the triune nature of God’ Where does the Bible say that?! • ‘I was always taught _________________’ • ‘That’s not what Pastor _________ says’ • ‘If the church holds this truth, it must be Biblical’ Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Cautions continued: • Limitations (A.H. Strong, Systematic Theology, I, 34ff), cont. • Incomplete Knowledge of Scripture: We do not know all parts of Scripture and the parts we know we do not know equally well • Silence of Revelation (Deut. 29:29): There is much that God has not seen fit to reveal; there is much we are incapable of receiving • Lack of Spiritual Discernment (I Cor. 2:14): “A theologian is not fitted for his undertaking unless he knows the power of the redemptive provision of which Scripture is the revelation.” John Murray, “Systematic Theology,” Collected Writings, IV, 4 Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

How can we grasp theological truth? • We filter everything through our experience • The academic study of Theology must lead us to Spiritual and emotional change – it is then we begin to experience God in creation. • F. D.W. Schleiermacher says, “ . . . the doctrines in all their forms have their ultimate ground so exclusively in the emotions of the religious self-consciousness, that where these do not exist the doctrines cannot arise.” The Christian Faith, E.T., 78. Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

The study of Theology impacts who we are rationally: • In understanding the author of creation, we begin to understand our place in creation. • “Two characteristics are perceptible in religious conceptions which must be stated at the very outset. They are always the possession of a community and they express not merely a relations between God and man, but always at the same time a relations toward the world on the part of God and those who believe in Him.” A. Ritschl, Justification and Reconciliation, E.T., 27. • In our section on science, we will find many scientists who came to faith by their discovery of an author of creation. Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

The consequence of Theology • It brings us into a right relationship with God • Truth – a right understanding of God Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Theology is God’s revelation of Himself… • It comes down to God’s desire to have a relationship with mankind • God want a relationship with YOU! • WOW! Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

What are the sources of our study of Theology? • The “Wesleyan Quadrilateral” • Scripture (Supreme Authority) • Reason • Tradition • Experience • All four of these areas are important to discover truth – however, the last two need to be used with caution. Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Sources of Theological study; • The Multiple Source View • B.B. Warfield • Nature(What God has created: would include Reason) • Providence (What God has done in history, in the Church-tradition) • Experience (What God has done in your life) • Scripture (What God has said) • “The revelation of God in his written Word is easily shown not only to be incomparably superior to all other manifestations of him in the fullness, richness and clearness of its communications, but also to contain the sole discovery of much that is most important for the soul to know as to its state and destiny.” Warfield, Studies in Theology, 60-1. Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

The Bible is our canon… • Scripture is the unifying authority • How does scripture relate to our experience? • Scripture, as the unique source of revelation, and • Other sources as subordinate to Scripture • The Latin terms norma normans and norma normativa provide help • Scripture is norma normans, a rule that rules • All other revelatory media (Experience, Tradition, Providence, Reason) are norma normativa, a rule that is governed- by Scripture, in this instance Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Our apriori… • Theological Presuppositions • Expositional consistency: • There is Unity in the Scriptures by virtue of their ultimate author, God himself • ‘Sola scriptura’ Scripture is our sole source for faith and practice • You must be born again to understand scripture • The Holy Spirit ultimately must illuminate your mind and heart to the truth in scripture - Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Absolute truth: • Premise – there is absolute truth and it does not change with personality or culture • Since the Scriptures, ultimately, are God’s revelation to all of mankind, there will be a unity of truth even in the midst of diverse cultural emphases and contextualized language • We “have tended to view theology as transcultural or culturally neutral. …and have typically championed biblical authority by claiming that there is only one horizon in theology- the biblical text itself.” Richard Lints, The Fabric of Theology, 102 Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Theology gives us truth that is not bound by space or time… • There is a transcultural aspect to the doing of theology: “Ought we to give our western creeds to the Oriental mind? . . . Of course those Western creeds ought to be given to the Oriental mind. But that ought to be done only on one condition- that those western creeds are true. If they are not true, they ought not to be given to the Oriental mind or to any other kind of mind; but if they are true, they are just as true in China as they are in the United States.” Machen, Christian Faith in the Modern World, 93 Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

The result of studying theology: • Our practice of studying and applying theological truth will impact our culture: “Contemporary theologians must also seek to challenge the contemporary mind to think more critically about its own culturally accepted values.” Lints, Fabric, 113 • Even in the post-modern world, we must be salt and light. As we study theology, we must… Pastor Brett Peterson, CCBCU.EDU

Systematic Theology