Systematic Theology - Part 1
As I mentioned in my last post, I am going through the book Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. This first week will be a little slow in the sense that there may not be much to talk about, but for the sake for going through the book completely I figured I wouldn’t skip the introducing chapter.
Grudem opens up the book with an “Introduction to Theology.” In this introduction he basically is talks about what systematic theology is and what advantages it has over other forms of theology. According to this book we can define systematic theology as this, “any study that answers the question, ‘What does the whole Bible teach us today?’ about any given topic.” To me this sounds like it would be the best way to study the Bible.
It doesn’t do us much good to just know what the old testament says about a topic, or even what the new testament has to say. It is best to have a complete Biblical understanding of what God’s word is telling us. Grudem speaks of how undergoing a study of the major doctrines of the Bible, should and will have a significant impact on our lives. I hope this is true, which I know it must, because understanding what the Bible says completely on so many different topics has got to be an edifying experience.
People in general will make claims about the Bible, and in a sense they are doing systematic theology. Grudem uses the example of a person saying, “The Bible says that Jesus is coming again.” He goes on to tell us how this statement is a statement which is taking into account the entire Bible. A huge plus to this form of theology is the organization of it. It is not unorganized, so it makes it very clear when you come to the conclusion which you reach through your studies.
One thing that I find to be most intriguing is the statement that Grudem makes about the accuracy of this form of theology, “In systematic theology, summaries of biblical teachings must be worded precisely to guard against misunderstandings and to exclude false teachings.” In other words systematic theology must be very clear and use as little words as possible so that there may be no room for misunderstanding.
So this takes me to the end of my first post of the three I will be posting this week. What I want to hear from you is any preconceived opinions of this type of theology, your experiences with it, books you’ve read on it, if you’ve read this book, and things you would like to learn. So go for it, I hope to see some good discussion!
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Systematic Theology - Part 2 | The Fire of New Desire — September 11, 2008 @ 10:18 am
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