Is theology biblical?

[trivialtheology]

Can anyone help me

 

[HammerStone]

Why would the study of God not be Biblical, outside of a slanted play on words?

 

[afaithfulone4u]

Absolutely the study of who God is is Biblical That is why the Father sent us His Word to reveal the Father to us. Wouldn't you want to know your Father?
Well, His Word tells you all about Him and the eternal Word was manifest in the flesh to give us an example of God who is exactly the same as His Word.

John 17:4-8
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
KJV

John 5:39-43
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
41 I receive not honour from men.
42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
KJV
What is the Father's name? "The Word"

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
KJV


1 John 1:1-2
1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

2(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
KJV

The Word of God reveals to us the Father because God's Word is the same as God.

 

[trivialtheology]

This is a question I have to answer as a paper. This is a basic vital for anyone who are to pursue a course on theology. Because the world of theology doesn't sound as it should be for the people

ANd thanks for the response

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

This is a question I have to answer as a paper. This is a basic vital for anyone who are to pursue a course on theology. Because the world of theology doesn't sound as it should be for the people

ANd thanks for the response

Here is a good way to look at it ....... when Jesus , and the disciples, and the authors of the new testament were speaking and teaching they all used theology ..... eg .... they used Old Testament scriptures to "prove' Christ and "prove" Christianity and "explain" everything.

Every one of us today also employs at least "minimum theology" when we study our bibles ..... and the scholars use "maximum theology" if they are forming important doctrine

On the other side of the coin ..... say years ago when not everybody could read , or even understand all the bible .... they simply listened to a Sunday morning sermon and learned from that (became believers , learned basic Christianity etc) .... then NO .... theology was not necessary for them.

Actually ..... one of the biggest problems today is that there are millions of people who do read their bibles without applying good theology and mis-understand plenty of scriptures .... thus all the disagreements.

Christian forums are full of them .... they get things wrong and dont even realize it themselves .... then they try to teach those wrongs to everybody else.

So with that in mind theology becomes very important , even for the lay people.

Every bible reader today should also have a textbook copy of "Basic Theology" by Charles Ryrie or similar

 

[Angelina]

It's biblical in the sense that it is a branch of study that attempts to understand the things/nature of God and religious beliefs in general. Not too sure myself though... :huh:

Be Blessed!

 

[Rex]

Yes

 

[Episkopos]

Theology is a man -made approach to the concept of God....Can God be studied? Perhaps to a degree...but the point of the purpose of the word will be missed. Since we are not to have a human (private) interpretation...that kind of speaks for what God thinks of theology.

2Pe_1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

 

[Rex]

Theology is a man -made approach to the concept of God....Can God be studied? Perhaps to a degree...but the point of the purpose of the word will be missed. Since we are not to have a human (private) interpretation...that kind of speaks for what God thinks of theology.

2Pe_1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Some where here we have to find the common denominator the word and the Holy Spirit. John 5:39

2 Tim 3:15
Acts 17:11
Hebrews 4:12
1 Peter 1:23
Matthew 4:4

But I agree the recorded or written word and its study and application is only as good as the spirit of man that discerns them

 

[HammerStone]

Proverbs 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

We have to catch a glimpse into who God is - God's heart even, if you will - by looking at what he has told us. Quantifying that is what is called theology in some circles.

One of the reasons for my rather harsh questioning to the OP is because threads like this tend to derail into throwing babies out with bathwater, thus I am naturally a bit suspicious of sweeping statements. I agree very much with what Rex posted above, and we must remain cognizant that God has chosen ones like the Apostle Paul to write things down and essentially provide us with a very academic yet Spirit-inspired Word of God. Peter even says Paul's writings are hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16), and this was the disciple who confesses Jesus (in the Spirit) for the first time in the Bible, essentially. I think from these two you can see that there are varying ways of knowing (studying) God. Peter is much more the common man, Paul is much more the academic type.

Many times, though, I see this criticism of heavily-involved academic study met with an equally divergent notion of experience in the Spirit. The issue I have with this is you, or I, or anyone else can claim in the Spirit all day long. In fact, I can easily find people on this forum who possess diverging doctrines even though they both claim that the Spirit influenced or spoke to them about that particular doctrine. In fact, I can probably find that divergence between two folks in this very thread. And thus, the criticism of private interpretation can be levied in this realm, as well.

I think too many conflate the study of religion and theology as being one in the same, as well. One studies humanity and how we relate to God; the other studies God.

We all perform theology, even the most Charismatic/Pentecostal/Spirit-Lead amongst us forms a theology of God in one form or another. How we understand (and relate) to God informs everything we do and believe about both Him and the Bible. If I view God in a Trinitarian sense, there are some episodes in the Bible that I would explain and/or understand differently from a Oneness believer. As an extension, there will be doctrines built upon this foundation where we will disagree. Our understanding - our theology - cannot help but inform this.

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

"Basic Theology" by Charles Ryrie

Here is a glimpse of a small portion of the index

...............................................................

ANGELS: Ministering Spirits
-The existence of angels
-The creation of angels
-The nature of angels
-The organization of the angels
-The ministry of angels

SIN
-The biblical concept of sin
-Christs teaching concerning sin
-The inheritance of sin
-The imputation of sin
-Personal sins
-The christian and sin

JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD
-The preincarnate Christ
-The incarnation of Christ
-The person of Christ incarnate
-Christ , prophet , priest , and king
-The self-emptying of Christ
-The sinlessness of Christ
-The resurrection and ascension of Christ
-The post-ascension ministries of Christ

......................................................................

That is a brief glimpse of a small part of the index
There are 15 different sections with a total of 94 chapters on every important bible topic.
Including the index , the textbook is just over 500 pages
Easy to read and quick to find each subject
Every bible student should have a copy

As well , Charles Ryrie presents all endtime views ... pre-trib , post trib , pre-millenial , post millenium , mid trib etc. and goes into good detail on the merits and problems with all views.

I hope everybody finds this "theology" information helpful .

Arnie M.

 

[Guestman]

The word "theology" is not in the Bible, but is what the religious leaders of Christendom has conjured up from allowing Greek philosophy to infect their thinking. The word means: "the study of religion; religious theory; course of religious training."(Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2005) Yes, it is often "religious theory", just as the teaching of evolution is "scientific theory", proposing various ideologies or religious thoughts on who God is as well as the value of the Bible.

The religious leaders of Christendom have advanced such phrases as "theological seminary" the promulgates the trinity as well as the immortality of the soul (that stemmed primarily from Greek philosophy through Plato), as well as at times "hellfire", depicting God as fiendish, everlastingly tormenting "souls" in a fiery "hell" for supposed "crimes" during their lifetime, as well as the clergy-laity arrangement and the supplanting of God's name of Jehovah with "Lord" or "God".

Rather than using words that Jesus used, such as the "truth" (John 8:32) that has only one concise meaning in the Bible, they have placed in the vocabulary "theological meanings", meaning a wide array of viewpoints on the Bible. This has led to over 41, 000 different denominations and sects of Christendom.

There is even a book entitled The Multivalence of Biblical Texts and Theological Meanings (published in 2007), that the web page says that "this important interdisciplinary collection asks how the same biblical texts, shared across Jewish and Christian traditions, can be interpreted for different theological reasons and to different theological ends."

Jesus said just before his death concerning his disciples: "Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word is truth."(John 17:17) No "theology" here, just "the truth" of the Bible. No allowance for various "theories" concerning the Bible, just the "truth". The apostle Peter wrote that "you know this first, that no prophesy of Scripture springs from any private interpretation (or "theological meanings"). For prophecy was at no time brought by man's will, but men spoke from God as they were born along by holy spirit."(2 Pet 1:20, 21)

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

...... Rather than using words that Jesus used, such as the "truth" (John 8:32) that has only one concise meaning in the Bible, ....

So please define what Jesus meant when he said "the truth"

And keep in mind if you use scriptures to assist in make your definition ..... you are being a theologian

 

[Guestman]

So please define what Jesus meant when he said "the truth"

And keep in mind if you use scriptures to assist in make your definition ..... you are being a theologian

All the truths of the Bible, from the sanctification of God's name, Jehovah (Matt 6:9) to the understanding of the "kingdom", a heavenly government that went into operation in 1914 (Dan 2:44) and is composed of 144,000 individuals selected from the earth to serve in the official positions of "kings and priests" to bring obedient mankind to human perfection (Rev 5:9, 10; 14:1), to the bringing of reality the earth as a paradise (Isa 45:18) that God purposed when he created Adam and Eve and gave them the mandate: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth."(Gen 1:28; Luke 23:43)

It also includes the wide array of truths such as understanding that God, Jesus, and the holy spirit does not compose "a holy trinity", but that Jehovah is the "only true God"(John 17:3) as "one Jehovah".(Deut 6:4), that Jesus is his "only-begotten Son" (John 3:16), that is "the beginning of the creation by God" (Rev 3:14) and that the holy spirit is God's active force that he used to create the universe and all life.(Gen 1:2; Ps 104:30)

In addition, it includes the understanding that there is no "hellfire", but that Sheol (Hebrew) and Hades (Greek) are mankind's common grave, from which all there will be resurrected.(Rev 20:13: Acts 2:31, 32) Furthermore, it establishes that Jehovah "turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name"(Acts 15:14), to "cleanse for himself a people peculiarly his own, zealous for fine works."(Titus 2:14) These are a few high points.

 

[JB_Reformed Baptist]

Can anyone help me

How can it not be?

Theology (from Greek Θεός meaning "God" and λόγος, -logy, meaning "study of") is the systematic and rational study of concepts of God... .
bib·li·cal also Bib·li·cal (b

b

l

-k

l)
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or contained in the Bible.

:)

 

[spockrates]

Seems the teacher is actually asking a simple question: What is theology? Tell her what you believe it is and what the Bible has to do with it.

:)

 

[dripping yellow madness]

Is theology biblical??? ins't that like asking does the phone book have numbers? HAHA!

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

This is a question I have to answer as a paper. This is a basic vital for anyone who are to pursue a course on theology. Because the world of theology doesn't sound as it should be for the people

ANd thanks for the response

So please tell us .... what was your answer on the paper you had to hand in on your theology course ??

 

[Dan57]

These days theology can be more religious than biblical.. Theology is not necessarily limited to a biblical God, but is the study of God. JMO

 

[Dodo_David]

All the truths of the Bible, from the sanctification of God's name, Jehovah (Matt 6:9) to the understanding of the "kingdom", a heavenly government that went into operation in 1914 (Dan 2:44) and is composed of 144,000 individuals selected from the earth to serve in the official positions of "kings and priests" to bring obedient mankind to human perfection (Rev 5:9, 10; 14:1), to the bringing of reality the earth as a paradise (Isa 45:18) that God purposed when he created Adam and Eve and gave them the mandate: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth."(Gen 1:28; Luke 23:43)

It also includes the wide array of truths such as understanding that God, Jesus, and the holy spirit does not compose "a holy trinity", but that Jehovah is the "only true God"(John 17:3) as "one Jehovah".(Deut 6:4), that Jesus is his "only-begotten Son" (John 3:16), that is "the beginning of the creation by God" (Rev 3:14) and that the holy spirit is God's active force that he used to create the universe and all life.(Gen 1:2; Ps 104:30)

In addition, it includes the understanding that there is no "hellfire", but that Sheol (Hebrew) and Hades (Greek) are mankind's common grave, from which all there will be resurrected.(Rev 20:13: Acts 2:31, 32) Furthermore, it establishes that Jehovah "turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name"(Acts 15:14), to "cleanse for himself a people peculiarly his own, zealous for fine works."(Titus 2:14) These are a few high points.

It seems to me that it is theological to refer to God as "Jehovah", because that spelling of God's name isn't in the O.T. and N.T. manuscripts. But I digress.