Today we begin posting a series Paul calls "A 'Reader's Digest' Approach to Theology" [obviously not related to the magazine]. I will progressively link each successive chapter to this page as it is posted on this site.
Table of Contents
I. Bibliology
A. The inspiration of scripture
B. The canonicity of scripture
II. Theology
A. The nature of God
B. The work of God
III. Christology
A. The nature of Christ
B. The work of Christ
IV. Pneumatology
A. The nature of the Holy Spirit
B. The work of the Holy Spirit
V. Angelology
A. The nature of angels
B. The work of angels
VI. Anthropology
A. The nature of man
B. The destiny of man
VII. Soteriology
A. The purpose of salvation
B. The procedure of salvation
VIII. Ecclesiology
A. The design of the church
B. The leaders of the church
IX. Eschatology
A. The reign of Christ
B. The re-creation by God
Prologue
During the next few months, we will examine the basis for what we believe. As I thought of possible titles for this study, the first and most obvious was the standard seminary one, Systematic Theology, but that sounded a little too technical. Then I considered one more "user friendly," similar to recent computer guides, like DOS for Dummies, this could be Doctrine for Dummies; but that was too condescending. There was also the Ridiculously Simple series for medical students that uses a comic book format to teach complex medical procedures; so instead of Gall Bladder Surgery Made Ridiculously Simple, we could study Religious Dogma Made Ridiculously Simple; but I do not have the artistic skills to illustrate such a text. I needed something between the intellectual and the infantile, so I settled for A Reader's Digest Approach to Theology.
You may have covered some of this material before, but I want to fill in gaps and pull together various elements in a single course that helps us see the "big picture." Our belief system is not some shapeless mass of random notions about God; it has a structure and coherence that allows us to think and speak about the One we worship and serve. God reveals Himself in two primary ways:
- He makes general (or natural) revelation available to all people.1
- Through the creative work
[The end notes can be found in the linked pdf]Ps 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
- He makes special (or supernatural) revelation available to His people (primarily).
- Through the spoken (prophetic) word2
Acts 2:17 ...God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
- Through the written wor3
Rom 15:4 ...everything everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
- Through the living (incarnate) word4
Even with this variety of sources, the main source of revelation for us and the main source for studying theology is the Bible, but the Bible is not a textbook about theology. Rather, it contains theological information that we can collect and collate to help us understand who God is and what He is doing.Heb 1:2 ...in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3a The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being....
There are two kinds of theology, two ways of organizing the information we find in scripture. The one kind of theology is...
- Biblical theology
This approach recognizes that more information about God was available to David than was available to Abraham, who lived a millennium earlier. Likewise, that more information about God was available to Paul than was available to Jeremiah. Biblical theology studies how man's understanding about God grows with the passage of time as God reveals increasingly more. The other kind of theology is...
- It views what scripture says diachronically and traces the development of man's understanding about God through history as revelation progressively unfolds.
- Systematic theology.
Systematic theology presents it findings topically, so that everything the Bible says about some aspect of God, like His character, for example, is all together.
- It views what scripture says synchronically, altogether, as a finished product, and organizes everything scripture teaches about God, regardless of when He revealed it to man.
Think of the difference this way: Biblical theology paints a series of vignettes, like a comic strip, with one scene leading to the next; systematic theology paints a single portrait. That second approach, systematic theology, is the one we will take in this course.
We will look at nine major topics, spending about two weeks on each one, studying what the Bible says...
- About itself, called bibliology
- About God, called theology (proper)
- About Jesus, called Christology
- About the Holy Spirit, called pneumatology
- About angels, called angelology
- About man, called anthropology
- About salvation, called soteriology
- About the church, called ecclesiology
- About the future, called eschatology
When I was in the Ph.D. program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, we studied ancient texts, both biblical and non-biblical (e.g., DSS). I taught this course for the first time at the SDB church there. One of the participants, aware of my academic interests, kept me abreast of the latest scholarly advances in the field, and throughout our study I will attempt to do the same for you. Much of his material came from various editions of the Weekly World News, which claims to be "the world's only reliable source." As a sample of that reliability, we will start with the "Top 7 Bible Facts," useful tidbits you may not have known.
WWN: "Top 7 Bible Facts" (Tap 2012c)
- About 50 Bibles are sold every minute.
- The Bible was written in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine Greek.
- Dogs are mentioned 14 times in the Bible and lions 55 times, but domestic cats are not mentioned at all.
- The Bible, the world's best-selling book, is also the world's most shoplifted book [chiefly, I suspect, from motel and hotel rooms].
- Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not contain the word "God."
- The raven is the first bird mentioned in the Bible, sent out by Noah to see if the waters had abated after the great flood.
- The middle verse of the Bible is Psalm 118:8.
- There are 549 chapters before Psalm 118, and 549 chapters after Psalm 118—making the total number of chapters 1188.
Matt 7:15 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
1 Tim 6:3 If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4a he is conceited and understands nothing.
2 Pet 2:1 ...there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them....
1 John 4:1 ...do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.While we will focus on the truth God has revealed, we will also consider the alternative views others promote, some of which are ancient yet still in circulation. Sometimes the difference between truth and falsehood will be obvious. Other times the difference will be subtle. Either way, by sharpening your critical faculties, you will be better equipped to recognize and refute error.
For the Footnotes see the pdf here.
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Jim Skaggs