Systematic Theology Lecture Notes
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Examples of Theology:
Karl Barth story. Jesus Loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.
“God gives us difficulties to bring out the best in us.” Marvin J. Ashton
“Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.” Soren Kierkegaard
Paul in Romans 1:1-6
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
What Is Theology?
What Is Theology?
Theos (θεός) + Logos (λόγος) = Theology
Theos (θεός) + Logos (λόγος) = Theology
"Theology" is language (logos) about God (theos).”
So to do good theology we must learn to use the right language about God. And then we must also consider the point of learning the right language about God.
One of the sad things that often turns people off to the study of theology is that it at times seems, dry, stuffy, cold, and academic. And the sad thing is that there are many theology books that warrant such a description.
Theology turns cold when we think of it as a science or discipline of knowing about God.
Abraham Kuyper said that “Theology is knowing God”
There is a difference between knowing about God, and knowing God. One makes theology a personal activity rather than a merely academic one.
And what we learn early on in systematic theology is that God is a personal God. Thus the study of theology must be an endeavor to know God as he is, we are to seek to know him personally.
How important it is to know God! Jesus prayed to his Father, “This is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
And what is it for u to know God personally?
Do we relate to him as a friend? as a family member? as an authority? As a father? as a king? - the answer is yes. But which one comes first?
How do we relate to God the right way? as a friend first and then as a father?
What is the determiner of how we are to relate to God?
Is it what my pastor says? my favorite author says? my parents say? Is it up to be how I relate to God?
These questions are questions that arise in the pursuit of theology.
Theology is not about our feelings toward God.
So much thinking around how to understand God is based off of our own feelings.
God’s love is defined not according to the scripture, but according to my own feelings of love.
The doctrines of Justice, Grace, Mercy, Wrath, Election, Atonement, Church, Redemption etc. are so often defined by how we feel about them rather than what the word of God actually says.
Friedrich Schleiermacher is sometimes called “the father of modern theology”—modern liberal theology, that is. Liberal theology is theology that does not recognize the supreme authority of Scripture. Liberal theologians, therefore, need to find some standard other than the Bible to use in developing their theology. So, Schleiermacher defined theology this way: “Christian doctrines are accounts of the Christian religious affections set forth in speech.
You encounter God, you feel a certain way, and then you try to put that feeling into words.
Theology is a disciplined study of God
Theology is ta disciplined study of God not based off our feeling, but based on the authority of God’s word.
All theology must set its foundation in the Scriptures.
So the work of the theologian, and the work of the pastor, is to take God’s word as it is, explain it and apply it to people.
Thus the work for all of us as we seek to do faithful theology is to learn and apply the bible to all areas of life.
When we study theology, it is not like studying ancient ruins and manuscripts.
The study of theology is not one that can leave us unaffected
As we study and learn who God is, we are likewise transformed.
We learn about ourselves
We are matured
We experience God in more personal and powerful ways
I love what Paul s says in Rom 15
4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
The study of Theology brings us hope!
John Frame’s Definition of Theology:
“ Theology is the application of the Word by persons to the world and to all areas of human life.” - John Frame
“Theology in a Christian context is a discipline of study that seeks to understand the God revealed in the Bible and to provide a Christian understanding of reality” - Millard Erickson
So as we study theology, as we seek to know God, he is at the same time at work in us. Inside and out he wants us transformed into the image of Christ.
Types of Theology
Types of Theology
Historical Theology
Historical Theology. Here we are concerned with the development of doctrine through the ages of the Church. The study of creeds and confessions is a subset of Historical Theology, which can be called Creedal or Confessional Theology.
Philosophical Theology
Philosophical Theology, from philo (love) of sophia (wisdom). Philosophical Theology happens when men reflect, speak, and write about matters, not so much of dogma or of polemical definition, but of wisdom and reflection.
We can think of Political Theology as one aspect of this, but also theological reflection on the family and marriage, on the arts, on science, and so forth.
Biblical Theology
Biblical Theology is often defined as the historical unfolding of God's revelation, or of God's revelation and of the history of His covenantal redemption and transformation of humanity and the world. In practice, Biblical Theology is usually broader than this, and also includes the study of literary structure and of Biblical themes. We shall include these in our understanding also.
Biblical Theology includes the following large areas of concern: Covenant Theology, Literary Theology, Typology, and Ritual Theology.
Systematic Theology
Now, before getting into what systematic theology is, i want to address a concern with systematic theology.
The Bible does not contain a system. It does not comply with the rules of a system, and we surely do not have the right nor ability to form a system for the bible to fit into. If we say that the Bible contains a system, then we reduce the Bible to that system, and exclude from consideration things in the Bible that do not seem to fit our system.
What is systematic Theology?
What does the Bible says about...
God
Jesus
Holy Spirit
The Scriptures
Man
Sin
Salvation
End Times
Angels and Demons
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
1. What Is Theology?
2. The Lord
3. God’s Lordship as a Unique Worldview
PART TWO: THE BIBLICAL STORY
4. The Lord’s Covenants
5. The Kingdom of God
6. The Family of God
PART THREE: THE DOCTRINE OF GOD
7. The Acts of the Lord: Miracle
8. The Acts of the Lord: Providence, Part 1
9. The Acts of the Lord: Providence, Part 2
10. The Acts of the Lord: Creation
11. The Acts of the Lord: God’s Decrees
12. God’s Attributes: Love and Goodness
13. God’s Attributes: Righteousness and Holiness
14. The Problem of Evil
15. God’s Attributes: Knowledge
16. God’s Attributes: Power, Will
17. God’s Attributes: Lord of Time
18. God’s Attributes: Lord of Space, Matter, Light, and Breath
19. God’s Attributes: The Self-Contained God
20. God, Three in One
21. The Three Are God
22. Father, Son, and Spirit
PART FOUR: THE DOCTRINE OF THE WORD OF GOD
PART FIVE: THE DOCTRINE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
PART SIX: THE DOCTRINE OF ANGELS AND DEMONS
PART SEVEN: THE DOCTRINE OF MAN
PART EIGHT: THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST
PART NINE: THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
PART TEN: THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH
PART ELEVEN: THE DOCTRINE OF THE LAST THINGS
PART TWELVE: THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Denominations and Theology
Baptist Theology
Methodist Theology
Charismatic Theology
Reformed Theology
Lutheran Theology
Anglican Theology
Catholic Theology
Orthodox Theology
John Behr -
Contrasted with Good Theology.
As people who want to know God through theology, we want to know him not a system.
So often in the study of theology or systematic theology, we often want a water tight system for understanding God. However, this is not the goal of theology.
a system for salvation
a system for prophacy
a system for end times
a system for the church
The Bible does not think in systems, and we should not try and apply a system overtop the bible.
Systematic theology is topical theology. It studies the Bible not by going from Genesis to Revelation but by exploring topics treated in various parts of Scripture, like the topics of God, man, revelation, Christ, the last days. Theologians have sometimes called these topics loci, the Latin plural of locus (“place”). So, systematic theology asks “whole Bible” questions: What does the whole Bible teach about God? About sin? About justification by faith? These are some of the topics we’ll be looking at.