Systematic Theology

Systematic theology is a discipline which addresses theological topics one by one (e.g. God, Sin, Humanity) and attempts to summarize all the biblical teaching on each particular subject

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We aren’t good at this. In fact some people have given up on trying to extract the different issues from the bible with any certainty. Now there are a few reasons for this.

Firstly, postmodernism has raised questions about whether we can understand the authors intention. Shouldn’t we simply respond to what we read?

Secondly, we’re sceptical of the pursuit. We have seen unbiblical (ie prosperity doctrine) and over-logical (God has no emotions) examples. Many in what is known as the emerging church see it as irrelevant.

2 Timothy 3:16 see the whole of Scripture as useful for equipping us for good works. That means we need to understand how to apply the WHOLE of Scripture to our lives. This will involve understanding what the key themes are and how the Bible relates to current issues.

 

Here is how many people approach Systematics

Now this is obviously a poor method.  But the number of

     books I read on leadership that refer to Nehemiah to make       all sorts of claims is amazing.
 

This method means you won’t ever learn to think God’s         way. You decide what is right and wrong and stick with it.

 

Eph 4:20-24 sees the new life as having a different attitude In our minds that transforms our lives. This can only happen when we look at issues from God’s perspective.

So how do we think through issues?   

Exegesis is the key. You allow the Bible   

to challenge you thinking as you read it in

context and see what issues are important

and which issues aren’t.

Take marriage for example. The key issue

for us is that we have strong feelings for the
person. The Bible though speaks of faithfulness
to our commitments.                     

So how do we go about studying an issue to see what the Bible has to say about it?

1)      Think of key words which relate to the issue.

2)      Look up the key words in a concordance

3)      Read each reference in context

4)      Note any other terms that keep coming up

5)      Write down what you learn from each passage

6)      Note what are the common issues from the Bible’s perspective?

7)      How do themes such as character of God, new creation, sin, the cross and love shape our thinking on this issue?

How about you have go? Why not try the issue of gambling?