Theology

The English word ‘Theology’ is taken from two Greek words – theos, which means ‘god’, and logia, which means ‘words’ or ‘sayings’. Theology is reasoning or thinking about God, the intellectual discipline of taking into account all the Scriptures say about God. There are two main disciplines within this, Systematic Theology and Biblical Theology. Systematic Theology is the ordering and studying of the whole Bible’s teaching into topics or doctrines, such as the character of God, the doctrine of humanity or the means of salvation. Biblical Theology is the study of a doctrine as it is unfolded within a particular part of Scripture, such as the theme of love in John’s Gospel, or how people came to understand the holiness of God through the first five books of the Bible. It is important for some people to be set aside to study theology specifically, to understand the Scriptures in greater depth so that the Church may be instructed; but all Christians should seek to be theologians to some degree. We must all see what God says about Himself in the entirety of His Word, otherwise our view of Him can be lopsided or even false (Acts 20:27).