T H E 



3-27 



THE 



the a-ove definition, was first adopted by Peter Abailard 

 ".)b. K42). who drew up a system of scho'laslic divinity, to 

 which he gave the title of 'Theologia Christiana.' 



It should be remarked tliat instead of the Greek word 

 theol-osy, the Latin \\oiAdit-inify is often used to describe 

 (he science of religion. 



II. FOUNDATION'S OF THE SCIENCE. 



Like every other science, theology consists in the appli- 

 cation of the human reason to certain ascertained truths. 

 These truths are. as is plain from the definition, the truths 

 of reluiion. If therefore the existence of God, of attributes 

 gins: to him. and of iclations subsisting between him 

 .ien aiid other beings can be proved, the foundations 

 of theology are laid. Now all mankind, with the excep- 

 > >f a most insignificant minority if indeed, which has 

 l>een doubted, tl ce of a real atheist be pos- 



. believe either that these subjects are within the 

 :d compass of human knowledge, or that some kind of 

 revelation respecting: these subjects has been made by God 

 t.> men. [RELIGION : REVELATION.] Therefore, accord- 

 -i the general sense of mankind, theology is a possible 

 e, founded upon knowledge derived from nature, or 



!ation, or from both those souiv 



Now, it is tr mpts have been sometimes made 



to ir- itire'y out of the religious 



d from natural sources, that is. 



from the constitution of the human mine!, and from the 

 phenomena of the mental and material universe, 

 truths constitute .\,itur<i/ It- I'-finti, and form the subject 

 of the science of A . But the vast ma- 



jority of religious systems are founded on the supposed 

 of a divine revelation ; and for this reason tiie 

 ice of theology is generally understood, to ha\- 



Rflisi'M. Moreover, if it lie true 



that a divine revelation has been given from God to man, 



it will follow that that re\ elation cannot possibly be contia- 



y to any of the truths of natural religion : also many 



reasons might, be urged to show that such a revelation, 



i, would contain in itself at least all the 



truths of natural reUgion, and, as a matter of fact, all the 



I revelations in existence claim to teaeli cverytlung 



which might be learned from nature concerning God : and 



henci- the theology which is founded on revelation must 



include within itself the theology which is founded on 



natural religion. For this reason the grand foundation of 



theologv is usually understood to be rex elation, to which 



.rion is a valuable but not . auxiliary ; 



and it has even been disputed whether it is an essential 



part of a theologian's duty to establish the consistency be- 



Uie doctrines of natural and levelled religion. 

 Hence, with reference to the Christian religion, theology 

 "ided entirely upon the canonical books of the Old 

 and New Testament. 



III. DIVISIONS OF THE SclKNCE. 



1. With lefcr.-nce to its foundation, it is divided, as ex- 

 plained in the preceding paragraph, into Xntiinil and Ite- 



word is used to indicate 



lie foundations of revealed theology are the /'j-jircnncd 

 : God ; just as we speak of poeitirr laws. 

 The term _// is also used to describe any 



'ii of theology which rests upon authority, as, for 

 example, the system embodied in the formularies of a 

 uliir church. See below, under the head of Dog- 

 



2. According to the method of treating the subject, it; is 



nf'tr or ln'fjtira/, and nyxtonat ic or sch<> ' 

 theology. 



,'t. According to the part of the subject which is treated 

 i-i divided into/.' Mid jirnrlinil theology. Of 



'includes (1) The knowledge of the do- 

 cuments \\hk-h contain the revelation, the proof of thieir 

 authority, and the explanation of their meaning, that is, 

 't'lyt/ ; (2) the investigation, arnuigome nt, 

 ion of the truths so revealed, that is, N//.s/<w/,'/,- 

 the workings and changes of religion amor \g 

 have pi-ni'e-M-d it, or Hixtorirat '/'//. 

 /'/" has for its subject.* th> prac - 



tical religion, and the various modes of enforcing them 

 on r. 1 ice to the latter, it is divided into 



(1) Hoiniletic*, or preaching ; i 2) (Mfchftict, or teaching ; 

 (3) L'iturgict, or worship and the administration of the 



sacraments, and (4) Pastoral theology, or the care and 

 government of a church. 



IV. OF DOGMATIC THEOLOGY, on DOGMATICS. 



This is a very useful term, which is chiefly employed by 

 German writers. It may be defined as the science of ex- 

 hibiting clearly, and of tracing to their results, the doc- 

 trines taught by revelation. It means more than the 

 term systi'imi! ir l/i<"ilogy. The province of the latter is 

 simpiy to give to the scattered truths of revelation the 

 scientific form of a connected system, in whatever manner 

 may seem most convenient to the framer of the system ; 

 but dogmatic theology aims at forming a system which 

 shall be accepted as binding by a large body of religion- 

 ists, and then views all religious truth in the light of'that 

 system: il is systematic theology, with the idea of authority 

 snperadded. 



This ma) r perhaps be made clearer by a reference to 

 other blanches of science. The natural philosopher, for 

 example, observes certain phenomena., which he soon finds 

 to have in them some points of connection or similarity ; 

 and by arranging the phenomena with reference to those 

 points, he lias reduced his knowledge of natural philosophy 

 to a soil of system. He may have been deceived in his 

 . ut ions : the analogies he thinks he has detected may 

 not really exist : but still the system lie has framed may 

 be for him a convenient, classification of the observed phe- 

 nomena: his system is a theory. But suppose him to 

 cd further, and to detect (in his own opinion) the 

 real causes of the observed phenomena, and to trace them 

 to further results: suppose that lie frames a system of 

 na'airal philosophy upon the principles which he has thus 

 detected : and that this system is received by a number of 

 men as furnishing a true explanation of the observed phe- 

 nomena : then his theory has gained the element, of au- 

 th':>riti/, and it may be called a dug/untie theory. The. 

 former kind of theory may serve as an illustration of what 

 is meant, by xyx/n/iii//.- 'theology; the latter, of what is 

 m<?ant by dnxiiin/ir I /s eulogy. 



Now, in the case of the Christian revelation, it is a re- 

 markable fact that the documents which contain it present 

 no systematic form. The truths revealed in them, con- 

 sidered separately, may be called (/'igmux, since they all 

 contain the element of authority ; but as they are not 

 systematically arranged, they do not form a system nj 

 fogmatic liii'n/n!;-ii. But to such a system they might be 

 reduced by a person who fully understood them in all their 

 bearings ; and supposing his qualifications for the task 

 compleic, his system would be a perfect system of dog- 

 matics : absolutely true if the revelation were a true one ; 

 and therefore absolutely binding on all who accepted the 

 revelation as true. Now, as a matter of fact, such an at- 

 tempt has been made again and again: many systems of 

 theology have been framed, each claiming to give an ex- 

 position of the v. ord of God at once true and scientific. 

 It is also a matter of i'act that these systems have presented 

 different and contradictory results : but many of them have 

 been accepted as true by bodies of Christians; and they 

 therefore form, to those who accept them, systems ofilug- 

 I timlngy : and in many cases these systems are em- 

 bodied in creeds, or confessions of faith, which then become 

 for all future time the dogmatics, or positive theolog/t. of 

 ho accept them. 



It has very naturally been usual for persons adopting a 

 system of dogmatics to look upon their system not only as 

 probabh tree, but as absolutely true ; and hence they have 

 given to it the title u( orthodoxy (jp0o&>Ei'a, the right be- 

 lief), apphing to every other system the name of hetero- 

 ,'.."o?i'a, another belief. i.<: than the right ontl. 

 But it is deserving of notice that, there are some subjects 

 upon which ii particular opinion has prevailed so exten- 

 sively ninongC 'hristians, that the word orthodoxy isapplied 

 to that, opinion, for the sake of convenience, by persons 

 who do not intend thereby to give their assent to the abso- 

 lute truth of that, opinion. Such a use of the word is found 

 very convenient in ecclesiastical history. [HERESY.] 



Illustrations of these remarks are furnished by the man- 

 ner in which we commonly speak of the dogmas of the 

 Roman and English churches, of Calvinistic and Arminian 

 dogmas, of the orthodox and heterodox doctrines respect- 

 lie person of Christ. 



Out of Dogiimtii: Theology springs Coi//ror/'rt.ii't Then- 

 logy, or that mode of treating the subject of religion in 



