Systematic Theology I Francis Yip

Lecture 1: Introduction to Systematic Theology

系統神學 論

I. What Is Theology?
A. Broad sense 廣義: All disciplines related to the normative1 study of
Christianity
1. major purposes:
a. education of thinking Christians
b. professional training of ministers
c. academic study of Christianity
2. major disciplines:2
a. biblical studies 經研
b. history of Christianity 基 教史
c. systematic theology 統神學
d. practical theology 實踐神學
B. Narrow sense 狹義: systematic theology (may also be called doctrinal
theology or constructive theology)
1. the discipline which is concerned with “the constructive
articulation of the meaning, coherence and implications of
Christian claims”3 (International Journal of Systematic Theology)
a. meaning: what they meant and what they mean
b. coherence: rationally interrelated and interdependent, without
contradiction
1. doctrines of God / creation ÅÆ anthropology ⼈論
2. anthropology ÅÆ soteriology 拯救論 ÅÆ christology 基 論
c. implications:
1. for worship, prayer, and Christian life
2. for ethics, politics, and social life
d. constructive articulation
1. construction, not repetition of the past
2. yet learning from the past is indispensable for our
construction for the present

1
規範性，意味著基 準（信仰）⽽ 價 判斷
2
聖經研究：⽂；基 教史：史；系 神學：哲；實踐神學：
3
建構性地表達基 教宣稱的意義、連貫性、引伸含義
 2. “The systematic theologian’s major task is the reinterpretation of
the tradition for the present situation 統神學家的主 是為
當 境重 釋傳統.” (David Tracy, Analogical Imagination, 64)
a. systematic theology involves both historical and constructive
aspects
b. a systematic theology is judged by its faithfulness to the
tradition and relevance to the situation 忠 傳統 切 境

II. Theology and Faith

A. Theology is “faith seeking understanding” [fides quaerens intellectum
信仰 求理 ∕信以 知]
1. “For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in
order to understand.” (Anselm)
2. Christians are commanded to love God with the whole person,
including the mind/intellect (Mark 12:20)
a. Christians seek to understand God whom they believe and love
b. we should constantly guard against mistakes, errors, and
superstitions 信
3. Faith seeking understanding should be seen as a continuous,
unending quest, because—
a. God is inexhaustible mystery
b. The situation in which the Christian lives is ever-changing
B. Every Christian has some understanding of God, Christ, salvation
(gospel), church, etc. Such understanding is his/her own theology.
1. Stone and Duke call this embedded theology [see assigned
reading]. Such implicit theology, or “first-order theology,” is what
we have learned from our church life (worship, fellowship,
discipleship training, etc.), participation in Christian conferences
培 /特 , reading Christian books, and listening to sermons and
Christian songs.
2. Our embedded theology is often shaped by various theological
traditions. Such traditions can be denominational (e.g., Lutheran,
Reformed, Methodist, etc.) or trans-denominational (e.g.,
ecumenical 普世派, evangelical 福⾳派, charismatic 恩派).
3. We read the Bible, understand our life and the world, make
decisions in church, family, workplace, and society, and pray to
God according to our embedded theology.

2
 4. “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only
because I see it but because by it I see everything else.” (C. S.
Lewis)4
C. Theology influences faith
1. Theology influences experience
2. Theology influences practice

III. Doctrines and Issues in Systematic Theology

A. Major doctrines in systematic theology5
1. God ; creation ; providence 顧佑 ; evil
2. humanity ; sin ; grace
3. Jesus Christ ; salvation ; revelation
4. Holy Spirit ; Christian life
5. Trinity
6. kingdom of God / eschatology 終末
7. Church: nature ; sacraments 禮 and ministry 事; mission 使命;
church and state; church in the world
8. theology of religions
B. Issues in systematic theology (examples)
1. Since God is good, he wants to eliminate suffering. Since God is
omnipotent, he can eliminate suffering. Why is there so much
suffering in the world?
2. The risen Jesus Christ, who has a physical body, has ascended into
heaven. Where is his body now?
3. Is online Holy Communion theologically legitimate?
4. Johnson, who believes that homosexuality is sinful, refused to
receive the Holy Communion administered by pastor Nelson, who
had recently “come out.” Was Johnson theologically right to do so?
5. Elaine’s grandmother, Auntie Katherine, who often went to a
temple of the Empress of Heaven, has died, without accepting Jesus
Christ as her savior, in spite of Elaine’s repeated efforts to convert
her. Elaine asks: “Where is Auntie Katherine now? Will I see her
again? Am I eternally separated from her?”

4
C.S. Lewis, “They Asked for a Paper,” in Is Theology Poetry? (London: Geoffrey Bless,
1962), 165.
5
The order of the doctrines in a theological system often follows roughly the order of the
ecumenical creeds (e.g., the Nicene Creed).

3
IV. Nature of Systematic Theology
A. What is not—or not necessarily—systematic theology?
1. Not the study of God
a. God is not an object and cannot be directly studied
b. we should study theology with humility, not arrogance
2. Not the systematic presentation of biblical teachings
a. For example, the doctrine of the Trinity is based on the Bible,
but it is not explicitly found in the Bible.
b. The Bible is a collection of many books with sometimes diverse
views on a topic (such as suffering). The selection and
interpretation of texts, the harmonization of diverse views, and
the articulation of “the biblical truth” cannot be done without
the presupposition of a certain theological view.
3. Not necessarily systematic in form
a. “systematic” means orderly, rational
b. “systematic” highlights the interconnection of various doctrines
B. What is (systematic) theology?
1. “Theology may be defined as a study which, through
participation in and reflection upon a religious faith, seeks to
express the content of this faith in the clearest and most coherent
language available.” (John Macquarrie, Principles of Christian
Theology, 1)
a. Stone and Duke call this deliberative theology.
b. faith:
1. two interrelated senses of the term “faith”:
a. the faith by which one believes [fides qua creditur];
subjective faith; faith as a verb [信⼼ 信仰之狀 ]
b. the faith which is believed [fides quae creditur]; objective
faith; faith as a noun [信仰 信仰之 容]
c. participation 參 : in Christian life, community, and tradition
d. reflection 反思:
1. theology is not equal to faith!
2. deliberative theology is a second order activity, which
presupposes and depends on faith as first order activities
(such as worship, prayer, fellowship, evangelism, social
services, etc.) and which seeks to understand, analyze,
interpret, and examine critically the content of faith
3. theology is a normative and critical endeavor; it does not
merely describe what is the content of faith; it also makes

4
 judgment about what should be authentic, valid, and
appropriate expressions of the content of faith
e. expression:
1. theology, as its etymology (theologia, from theos [God] and
logos [talk, reason]) suggests, involves both language and
reason
2. theology is linguistic: thus it is subject to the possibilities
and limitations of human language in general and the
particular language with which it is expressed
3. theology is rational: it makes use of the speculative and
architectonic functions of speculative reason and the
elucidatory and corrective functions of critical reason (see
Macquarrie, Principles of Christian Theology, 14–16); it is also
subject to the limitations of human reason

V. Tasks of Systematic Theology

A. Karl Barth (1886–1968): “As a theological discipline dogmatics is the
scientific self-examination of the Christian church with respect to the
content of its distinctive talk about God.” (Church Dogmatics I.1, §1)
B. Paul Tillich (1886–1965): “A theological system is supposed to satisfy
two basic needs: the statement of the truth of the Christian message
and the interpretation of this truth for every new generation.”
(Systematic Theology, 1:1)
1. For Tillich, the interpretation of the Christian message should be in
correlation to the situation out of which people ask existential
questions
2. “ . . . man cannot receive answers to questions he never has asked.”
(Systematic Theology 1:65)
C. Gustavo Gutiérrez (1928– ): theology is “critical reflection on Christian
praxis in the light of the word of God” (A Theology of Liberation, 11)
1. the starting point of theology is Christian praxis (including the
participation in various struggles of life)
2. the criterion of theology is the word of God
3. the primary concern of theology is not orthodoxy but orthopraxis
D. Delwin Brown and Meridith Underwood: “We can describe the task of
theology as (1) an effort to gain a coherent and comprehensive
understanding of ourselves and our worlds, (2) in relation to what is
most valuable or fundamental, (3) in order to live life well. Of course,
the process of theological thinking never starts here exactly. We
seldom ask first about what is coherent, comprehensive or

5
 fundamental. We ask why life is the way it is, often because it is not the
way we wanted or expected it to be.” (“Everyday Theology,”
https://www.religion-online.org/article/everyday-theology/)
VI. Systematic Theology and Other Theological Disciplines:
A. Schleiermacher’s Classical Understanding6
1. Organization of the Theological Disciplines
a. Philosophical Theology (哲學神學)
1. Apologetics [ 辯]
2. Polemics [爭辯]
b. Historical Theology (歷史神學)7
1. Exegetical theology8
2. Church history: church’s life and doctrine
3. Historical knowledge of the present condition of
Christianity:
a. dogmatic theology9 [教義神學]
b. church statistics10 [教 現況學]
c. Practical Theology (實踐神學) 11

1. Principles of church service

2. Principles of church government
2. Understandings
a. Concerns
1. How can theology be a scientific subject (a scholarly
discipline with a genuine subject matter and proper method)
taught in a university?

6
See F. D. E. Schleiermacher, Brief Outline of Theology as a Field of Study: Revised
Translation of the 1811 and 1930 Editions, 3rd. ed., trans. Terrence N. Tice (Richmond:
John Knox Press, 2011).
7
As Schleiermacher notes: good leadership of the Church requires a knowledge of the
present situation of the community and its past.
8
To interpret the writings of primitive Christianity which contribute to the original and
for all times normative representation of Christianity (i.e., the canon). Similar to what we
call “biblical studies.”
9
Dogmatic theology is the knowledge of doctrine now current in the church. The aim is
to know the possibility of development and to give norm for communication. It has both
ecclesial and scientific characters. Ethics is the practical side of dogmatics.
10
“Church statistics” is the knowledge of the existing social condition (internal
constitution and external relations) in all the different parts of the Christian church.
11
Practical theology is a normative discipline which critically apprehends the rules for
carrying out the various tasks of ministry. It is a theoria directly related to the praxis of
church leadership.

6
 2. How can the multiplicity of disciplines in theological
education have any unity?
b. Nature of theology: “Theology is a positive science, whose parts
join into a cohesive whole only through their common relation
to a particular mode of faith” (i.e., Christianity)
c. Theology is vital for church leadership
d. “Prince of the Church”: ‘both a religious interest and scientific
spirit conjoin in a highest degree with the finest balance for the
purpose of theoretical and practical activity alike’ – at the same
time a theologian and a clergyman
B. David Tracy’s Three Publics of Theology12
Type of theology Public Demand for Criterion for
accountability truth-claim
Fundamental 基礎 Academy Reason Metaphysical
Systematic 統 Church Faith Hermeneutical

Practical 實踐 Society Action Transformation

(personal, social,
historical, natural)

VII. Formative Factors in Theology 神學的構成因素

John Macquarrie, Principles of Christian Theology, chapter 1
A. Experience 經驗
B. Revelation 啟⽰13
C. Scripture 經14

12
David Tracy, The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism
(New York: Crossroad, 1981). See also 沈宣仁，「基 教研究與神學的多元意義──當代普
世神學的進程」，載《 世紀的神學議程》（上冊），郭鴻 、堵建偉 ，沈宣仁審訂
（ 港：基 徒學 ，2002）， 21。For an Asian response to David Tracy, see Philip
Shen, “Theological Pluralism: An Asian Response to David Tracy,” Journal of the American
Academy of Religion 53 (1985): 735-751 = 沈宣仁：「神學多元 ：從亞洲觀點回應徐思的思
想」，《思》29 (1994), https://drive.google.com/file
/d/1OT__abXNxFVxhBUAF6XgVEiS_Yn8Iy8f/view?usp=sharing.
13
revelation and religious experience: the primordial revelation that has founded a
community of faith becomes normative for the experience of the community; yet the
primordial revelation must be continually renewed in present experience to become
revelation for us
14
“Scripture is not itself revelation, but it is one important way (not the only one) by
which the community of faith keep open its access to that primordial revelation on
which the community has been founded.”

7
 D. Tradition 傳統
E. Culture ⽂
F. Reason 理性
G. Remarks:
1. These formative factors are operative in all types of theology.
2. Not all factors are on the same level or of equal importance.
3. In one specific type of theology, one or some of the formative
factors may be dominant.
4. We can compare theological systems by considering the
use/influence of these formative factors on them.
H. Another way of looking at the factors (Philip Shen 沈宣仁):
1. revelation, scripture, tradition – “text”
2. experience, reason, culture – “context”

VIII. Evaluating a Theological System

A. What are the sources 來源 of the theological system? How are the
sources selected, used, interpreted, and reconstructed?
B. What is the historical context of the theological system? What are the
factors that have shaped the construction of the system?
C. What is the method ⽅法 used in the construction of the system?
D. How are the theological doctrines interpreted and articulated?
E. How are the doctrines interconnected and interrelated in the system?
To what extent are the interrelations coherent?
F. What are the practical (ethical, social) implications 引申 意 of the
system?