Definition: The science of God and the relationship of God with mankind and the universe.

Webster: 1:The study of religious faith, practice, and experience: the study of God and God’s relationship with the world. 2: a theory or system of religious studies.

Science does not create; it discovers. This is accomplished by discovering facts and applying them to obtain knowledge. This is made possible by the human mind (a gift of God) with inspiration of the Holy Ghost, with intense desire to know truth and the God given ability to search for and value truth above personal opinion or tradition.

This must begin with faith in the existence of "One True God". Faith is a higher knowledge than physical science. Faith is also a knowledge conditioned by affection for God and not just our opinion or imagination.

Knowledge is made up of that which bears analogy with our own nature or experience. We only know Things of God that can be proved by evidence; that evidence may be physical or by faith in what the Bible says. This being true it is imperative that we have a pure understanding of the word of God. Faith and only faith can furnish true and sufficient material to establish a system of theology that is convincing. This knowing of God is only limited by the capacity of the human mind and the revelation of the Spirit of God.

We must agree God is trinity, yet he is not made up of parts. We may never know God fully, yet we can partially know him. See 1^st Corinthians 13:9-13. The precepts of God must be established on the positives that our consciousness of spirit, love, holiness, is positive, infinite, and absolute. To know is to limit or define; since God cannot be limited or defined; then God himself only limits knowledge of God. We also must conclude that the laws controlling our thoughts are the laws of the thoughts of God.

Special note about obtaining facts: It must be remembered the time element of an excess of six thousand years since the creation.

Theology is more than assembling facts, and knowledge of these facts. It must be able to show the relation of those facts one with another, and each to all. There are two major methods of the study of theology. The first is biblical, the second is systematic. The purpose of biblical theology is to ascertain and state the facts of Scripture. The purpose of systematic theology is to take those facts, determine their relation to each other and to other truths then harmonize them to arrive at a defined conclusion. This is not an easy task. Throughout the history of the Christian Church men have tried to develop a method of study to prove a preconceived thought or idea. This is not honest theology.

In no department of knowledge have men been satisfied with the mass possession of facts. Harmonization of assembled facts is essential. In the study of God, a much higher form of knowledge is required than in the study of sciences.

As teachers and defenders of the truth we have no choice but to bring all facts together into a mutual relation. And to be able to remove by evidence any objections to a stated conclusion.

God does not teach astronomy or chemistry, but he has given facts from which these sciences are constructed. Neither does God teach theology, but he gave us in the Bible the truths, which properly arranged will produce honest theology. We have in the Old Testament information concerning creation; including the heavens, earth, constellations, stars, man, animals, fowls, fish, and other creatures. There we also learn of the sovereignty of God and his covenant relationship by law with his people. In the New Testament we have the covenant of grace with redemption from sin by Jesus Christ. These are our authority on guide, with the presence of the Holy Ghost we can be satisfied with our conclusions.

It is important to set-aside a certain amount of time for study and a time for prayer.

John 5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me".

6. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

In Bible study, the rule for interpretation is 1) Know the writer, know whom he is writing to, know the time of the writing. 2) Compare scripture with scripture. Remember scripture does not contradict itself. Next be sure of the meaning of a word. The original word is not always translated the same and may have a number of "meanings." In studying prophesy it is important to have access to or have knowledge of Bible history; check if it has been fulfilled or can we expect it to be a future event.

There is a danger of taking a dogmatic form of theology as a basis of faith. This can result in an overthrow of important doctrines of the Bible. These is done by men laying down certain principles, called axioms or self-evident truth and from it develop doctrines of religion by course of argument rather than from the word of God its self. Men are then expected to believe on this reasoning rather than the authority of God.

The language factor must be considered; even the English language has evolved over time, as have other languages. It is now very difficult to understand a native Englishman as he speaks today. There are numbers of dialects of English as we move from one section of the country to another.

Customs and occupations must also looked at as the Bible is studied. A person must know something about the agriculture, trades, and the care of animals of the time. Building structure and materials are important to know. All the parables and comparative stories were given in language and examples that were commonly understood at that time. Example: The messages given in Matthew chapters 22; 25; Luke 12; 14; John 3:29 and Revelation 21 cannot be fully understood without knowing the Jewish customs of the time. A good place to begin is in Genesis chapter 25 with Abraham acquiring a wife for Isaac. It will also be helpful to study current Jewish literature.

Most important is the knowledge of covenants made by God. Knowledge of temple worship and the sacrificial system of atonement is a must. The geography of the times involved is very important. Also the history of Bible events and the people of the Bible cannot be ignored. Prophecy can never be understood without following historical events.

The Bible gives very limited historical information of six thousand years of time; especially of people and nations other than the people of God. And this only when there is an interaction between Israel and other nations; or when by foreknowledge of God there will be an interaction in the future.

Knowledge is acquired by assembling facts that can be proven. If information gathered does not agree; it cannot be considered factual. All facts must agree or they are not facts. The principles by which we base our faith must be derived from facts; not impressed on by our own or someone else’s thoughts.

All truth or facts must be consistent. God does not and will not contradict himself. Therefore if a person believes God has spoken to him and the message is contrary to scripture he is mistaken.

Divisions of doctrine are caused by mistakes in the assembling of facts. Experience can be accepted as fact unless it is in contradiction of the Bible.

Example: If scriptures teach that men are born in sin; (Romans 12-19; Romans 3:23) we cannot change the nature of sin to make it a tendency to sin to get rid of the difficulty of a bad interpretation of the text. True theology is (God knowledge) is inductive by principles and law deduced from fact and then imposed upon the mind.

There are a number of methods of arriving at a Theological System of beliefs. These include the Speculative, the Deistic and Rationalistic, the Mystical, [spritual] and Inductive methods.

The Speculative method assumes certain principles and then undertakes to determine what is and what must be. It decides on all truth, or determines what is truth from the laws of the mind. Deistic form rejects any other sources of knowledge of divine things than that which are found in nature. It assumes certain metaphysical and moral principles, and from them evolves all truth. Closely connected with this speculative method is Transcendentalist. They will admit no higher source of truth than reason, and these truths are determined by human reason. In this form it advances the theory of "the Godhead of man".

Almost all-false theories in science or doctrine are caused to mistakes as to matters of fact. Herein lies the importance of the student of theology to be honest with himself and with assumed facts. All theological facts are contained in the Holy Scriptures, and not from outside sources. Again all facts must agree or they are not facts. God cannot contradict himself. Therefore if we believe God has spoken to by the Spirit, and the message is not in agreement with Scripture, we must conclude we were mistaken in receiving the thoughts as being from God.

Now we must consider both the natural and the spiritual man and the interaction of both in interpreting scripture. Observe closely Paul’s instructions in 1^st’ Corinthians 2:12-14 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

We must not diminish the importance of the Holy Ghost in teaching Scripture. There is no form of conviction more intimate or irresistible than the inward teaching of the Spirit. This inward teaching is confined to already revealed in Scripture. It is not a revealer of new truths, but an illumination of the mind so that it understands truths that appear to the natural mind to be hidden.

It may be good to read what other Christian writers have penned about certain doctrines, but these writings cannot be admitted as true theology. It would be easy to construct or reconstruct a theology that would satisfy the human mind, but this is not God given or Scriptural theology.

True theology is, therefore the inductive, which assumes that the Bible contains all the facts or truths, which form the conclusion of, true Biblical theology.

Mysticism has taken on many forms including the Eastern Religions, Spiritualism, Witchcraft, and probably the most prevalent in Western Civilization is the teaching of "The Lord spoke or The Holy Ghost [Spirit] spoke to me." This Theology combines the supernatural and the natural and assumes God by his immediate intercourse with the soul, reveals his divine truth independent of the teaching of The Word of God. Among certain Pentecostal groups the "spritual gifts" are used to produce the "revealed revelation" of God. They believe that the natural consciousness of man becomes excited by deeper experiences of the Holy Ghost and their thoughts become the source of religious knowledge. All this without determining if these thoughts are in harmony with The Word of God.

Examples of this Theology are found in the founding of certain cults, some of witch grew into major religions.

First: Theology proper; that teaches the being and the personality of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, [Jesus] and the Holy Ghost. The relationship of God to the world, his works of creation and providence.

Second: Anthropology; the origin and state of man; his fall; the nature of sin and the effects of Adams first sin upon himself and his posterity.

Third: Soteriology; the purpose of the plan of God, in reference to the salvation of man; the person and work of the Redeemer; the application of the redemption of Christ to mankind; their regeneration, justification, sanctification, Spirit Baptism all by the means of grace.

Forth: Eschatology; The doctrines concerning the state of the soul after death; the Second Advent of Christ; the resurrection; the general judgement and the end of the world and heaven and hell.

Fifth: Ecclesiology; The nature of the Church; its attributes; its prerogatives and its organization.

Rev. Shelton Turner

Bibliography

Charles Hodge, A.G. Strong, Nelson, and Unger