How Can I Know More About the Bible? | The Main Categories in Systematic Theology

Why does it matter?

There are two main ditches that we can fall into here. We can fall into the anti-intellectual ditch that says all that matters is loving Jesus. But what happens when we are confronted with answering a question on whether something is a sin or not, or how to pray, or who God is, or how a person can be saved, or when Jesus is coming back, or if divorce is okay in a specific situation, or how to parent kids, or how to handle finances, or how much money a person should give to a church, or what kind of church a person should attend (and the questions could go on and on!)? In these cases, it's really helpful to know what the Bible teaches.

God made the mind, and he wants us to use it. God revealed the Scriptures, and he wants us to know them. And, ultimately, how do we love Jesus when we don't know anything about him?

God made the mind, and he wants us to use it. God revealed the Scriptures, and he wants us to know them.

But the other ditch we can fall into is intellectualism. In this case, knowledge is an end in itself. The pursuit is knowledge-not necessarily Jesus and joy in God through knowledge. When knowledge is an end in itself, we are likely pursuing it for some reason other than Jesus. Perhaps, it is even an idol-something else we are worshiping in place of Jesus (i.e., ourselves, career, approval of others, success, power, etc.). Indeed, Scripture warns us that knowledge can lead to pride (1 Cor. 8:1-13). But it's not the pursuit of knowledge itself that should be abdicated. We should pursue knowledge (2 Peter 1:5-8), but it should lead to transformation (1 Tim. 1:5). Knowledge should lead to greater joy, humility, and love! The more we know about God, the more we should want to worship him. The more we know God, the more we should become like him. And the more we know God and become like him, the more humble we should become.

But knowledge itself is not the enemy. In fact, Jesus assumes we will pursue knowledge and relay it to others. It's part of our mission. In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus says to make followers who are baptized and taught to obey everything that he said. Of course, Jesus was physically on earth and taught many things (many of them have been recorded in Holy Scripture). Undoubtedly, these things should be taught to us. But by extension, all the words of Scripture are from God. Therefore, every Christian must be taught all of Scripture and must seek to obey it.

It is a wonderful thing to read Scripture regularly. However, if we must read the entire Bible each time we have a question, then we run into a dilemma. Whenever we want to know what Scripture says about God, the church, prayer, angels, demons, marriage, parenting, finances, love, and many more topics, we would have to reread the entire Bible and make notes about the relevant Scriptures. If we must read 2,000 pages each time we are faced with a question like this, then we likely would need to quit our jobs and focus exclusively on that! It would take a lot of time. That is where theology comes in!

If God cared to reveal it, then we should care to know it and obey it!

Systematic theology is an effort to assemble the Scriptures across the Bible that address a particular subject, and summarize the teaching in a succinct form. If God cared to reveal it, then we should care to know it and obey it! Systematic theology helps us do that! Systematic theology helps us fulfill the commission that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28. So, theology matters!

What is it?

Systematic theology, put simply, is what the whole Bible teaches about a topic.

Systematic theology, put simply, is what the whole Bible teaches about a topic. Here are the main categories which theologians use to organize topics:

- The Doctrine of God: also known as Theology Proper | Here theologians talk about the existence, character, nature, and attributes of God. They also talk about him being one God in three persons (i.e., the Trinity). In addition, they discuss creation, providence, and miracles.

- The Doctrine of Christ: also known as Christology | Here theologians talk about the person of Christ, the birth of Christ, the atonement, the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and the offices of Christ (i.e., Christ is prophet, priest, and king).

- The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit: also known as Pneumatology | Here theologians talk about the work and power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes they may discuss spiritual gifts, while others may put this as a subheading under the doctrine of the church.

- The Doctrine of Scripture: also known as Bibliology | Here theologians talk about the Word of God. They discuss what books belong in Scripture, and how they came into existence (inspiration of the Holy Spirit). Also, they may talk about the authority, inerrancy, clarity, necessity, and sufficiency of Scripture.

- The Doctrine of Angels: also known as Angelology | Here theologians talk about angels and what Scripture says about them.

- The Doctrine of Demons: also known as Demonology | Here theologians talk about Satan, demons, and what Scripture says about them.

- The Doctrine of Humans: also known as Anthropology | Here theologians talk about the creation of humans, male and female roles, and the nature of humans (i.e., Are we composed of body and soul, or body, soul, and spirit, or more parts?).

- The Doctrine of Sin: also known as Hamartiology | Here theologians talk about sin-providing a definition, discussing the origins, and exploring whether we have inherited guilt and a sinful nature from Adam.

- The Doctrine of Salvation: also known as Soteriology | Here theologians talk about the gospel, what happens when someone comes to faith in Christ (i.e., election, regeneration, repentance and faith, justification), and how it happens. They also often discuss how we grow to look more like Jesus (i.e., sanctification), baptism in the Holy Spirit, union with Christ, what happens after death, and what our bodies and lives will be like in the new heavens and new earth (i.e., glorification).

- The Doctrine of the Church: also known as Ecclesiology | Here theologians talk about the nature, purposes, and marks of the church. They will often discuss how a church should be led (i.e., single elder, plurality of elders, etc.). Moreover, they will explore water baptism, the Lord's Supper, and worship (and occasionally the gifts of the Holy Spirit).

- The Doctrine of the Future: also known as Eschatology | Here theologians talk about the return of Jesus Christ (i.e., when it will happen and how?). They will also talk about the millennium (i.e., the 1,000 years discussed in Revelation), the final judgment, hell and eternal punishment, heaven, and the new heavens and new earth.

Application

If God has revealed his thoughts in words, then we should seek to know them! The main application then is that we should seek to understand what God thinks about each topic that he has addressed.

Where can I learn more?

- A great place to start is with the ESV Study Bible published by Crossway. In the study notes, they do an excellent job of providing different views. Also, in the back they provide succinct, two-page articles which cover the big topics!

- There are some great Systematic Theology books that I'll provide more information on in another post.

- If you need the big picture of other disciplines in theology, then I recommend reading this article: click here to read What is Theology?