01.02 - Chapter 2 - The Source of Theology

Chapter 2 THE SOURCE OF THEOLOGY Five Kinds of Theology Natural Theology.

Natural Theology is that system of belief which appeals to objective facts contained in the works of God as distinct from the written revelation of Scripture. Objective information is sought from nature, human history, the nature of man, and Providence.

Concerning, Natural Theology the following statements can be made.

1. The created universe reveals the existence of God. That is an objective fact.

♦ Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

♦ Romans 1:20 "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." The story is told that Napoleon once responded to the arguments of skeptics by pointing his finger toward the stars and asking, "Who made these?” There was silence.

2. Natural Theology is not sufficient to meet the spiritual needs of humanity for specific reasons.

• Natural Theology tells of no way of pardon and peace with God.

• Natural Theology provides no escape from sin and its consequence.

• Natural Theology offers no way of eternal salvation.

• Natural Theology provides no incentive to holiness.

• Natural Theology contains no sure revelation of the future.

Natural Theology leaves man in the hands of impersonal laws which are believed to be irrevocable, irreversible, and impersonal. And yet, those who embrace Natural Law believe that somehow this system of belief has the capacity to turn the heart from cold hard objective facts to sensitive spiritual matters. It was the boast of the Deist of the eighteenth century that they would destroy revealed religion and replace it with natural religion. Their boast was premature. "It is the testimony of time that the world has never been made better, nor humanity uplifted, by a purely natural religion." (David Clark)

3. In Natural Theology man seeks God; in Revealed Theology God seeks man because of infinite grace and not out of necessity. “God, having all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself, is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creature which He hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things, and He hath most sovereign dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them, and upon them, whatsoever Himself pleaseth; in His sight all things are open and manifest, His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to Him contingent or uncertain; He is most holy in all His counsels, in all His works, and in all His commands; to Him is due from angels and men whatsoever worship, service, or obedience as creatures they owe unto the Creator, and whatever He is further pleased to require of them.” (The Baptist Confession Of Faith Of 1689, Chapter 2, Section 2; study John 5:26; Psalms 148:13; Psalms 119:68; Job 22:2-3; Romans 11:34-36; Daniel 4:25, Daniel 4:34-35; Hebrews 4:13; Ezekiel 11:5; Acts 15:18; Psalms 145:17; Revelation 5:12-14).

Though God does not need His creation, He does seek fellowship with it for such is the nature of grace. Even sin has not keep God from seeking man. "Adam, where art thou," is still the Divine call (Genesis 3:9) Revealed (Biblical) Theology.

Revealed Theology is primarily concerned with what is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments for in them are all the necessary information that is needed in order to know the Lord. Revealed Theology does not disregard true truth found elsewhere. It does insist that Divine revelation is the leading source of knowledge of God, His will, and of man’s duty to his Creator. To Joshua the command came, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." (Joshua 1:8) Dogmatic Theology.

Dogmatic Theology concentrates on the core doctrines the Church has consistently held to over the centuries concerning Christ. These doctrines include such teachings as the virgin birth, a sinless life, His substitutionary death, the resurrection from the dead, the Second Coming, the Trinity, etc. The Church must be careful to give itself to the foundational teachings. Of the early disciples in Jerusalem it was said that, "they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42) Practical Theology.

Practical Theology seeks to study the effect of Divine truth upon the lives of professing Christians. The main criteria is whether or not a particular doctrine is effective in the lives of individuals. It has been observed that all doctrine is practical and all practice should be doctrinal. Many of the epistles are divided into two parts: doctrinal and practice (note Ephesians 1:1-23, Ephesians 2:1-22, Ephesians 3:1-21, doctrine cp. Ephesians 4:1-32, Ephesians 5:1-33, Ephesians 6:1-24 practice). Timothy was told to "continue thou in the things that thou has learned and hast been assured of, know of whom thou hast learned them." (2 Timothy 3:14) Theology Proper.

Theology Proper returns to the person of God for the command is given, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found" (Isaiah 55:6). The effort to know the Lord is made in order to discern the attributes and essence of God "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" (Jeremiah 32:27). Theology Proper seeks to understand and know God as a person God is not an idol. Nor is God the product of man’s imaginations. "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever people hear the voice of Godspeaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou has heard, and lived?" (Deuteronomy 4:32-33) Man must come to God believing that He exists and that He exists as a person worthy of worship (Hebrews 11:6). All true theology must come back to these basic considerations. J. I. Packer explains.

"How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is demanding, but simple. It is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God."