DOCTRINE AND THEOLOGY
Meaning
of doctrines
Doctrine means ‘teaching’ or
‘something thought.’ The word doctrine is also used to refer to a principle of
belief and the basic principles of general truth taught to the people.
Christian doctrine is the authoritative teaching of the truths of the Christian
faith believed and thought by Christians. These doctrines are based solely on
the teachings of the Bible.
It
comes from Latin word doctrina, from doceo, "to teach," denotes
both the act of teaching and that which is taught; now used exclusively in the
latter sense.
1. In the Old Testament for
(a) leqach "what is received," hence, "the matter taught"
(Deuteronomy 32:2; Job 11:4; Proverbs 4:2; Isaiah 29:24
(b) she-mu`ah, "what is heard" (Isaiah 28:9, "message," the
Revised Version, margin "report");
(c) mucar, "discipline" (Jet 10:8 margin), "The stock is a
doctrine"
1. In the New Testament for
(i)
didaskalia =
(a) "the act
of teaching" (1 Timothy 4:13,16; 5:17; 2 Timothy 3:10,16), all in the
Revised Version (British and American) "teaching";
(b)
"what
is taught" (Matthew 15:9; 2 Timothy 4:3). In some passages the meaning is
ambiguous as between (a) and (b).
(ii)
didache, always translated "teaching" in the Revised Version (British
and American), except in Romans 16:17, where "doctrine" is retained
in the text and "teaching" inserted in the margin =
a)
the act of teaching (Mark 4:2; Acts 2:42, the
King James Version "doctrine");
b)
what
is taught (John 7:16,17; Revelation 2:14,15,24, the King James Version
"doctrine").
In some places the meaning is
ambiguous as between (a) and (b) and in Matthew 7:28; Mark 1:22; Acts 13:12,
the manner, rather than the act or matter of teaching is denoted, namely, with
authority and power.
The Hebrew
word used for doctrine is leqah. It means` what
is received for instruction or learning.' The Greek word used doctrine is didaskalia. This word is translated as 'teaching' in many places in the
modern English translations of the Bible. Paul used this Greek word in fifteen
places in his pastoral epistles to refer to doctrine or teaching. He used word
in his epistles to refer mainly to the divinely communicated truth concerning
Christian faith and belief. The full understanding of the Christian doctrine
strengthens the faith of Christians and changes their value system and
lifestyle. Hence it is important for all Christians to be thorough with the
Christian doctrines be strong in the Lord. It also motivates them to involve in
ministry.
(Gk. didaskalia) Act of teaching or
that which is taught. The use of the term in Scripture, however, is broader
than a simple reference to information passed on from one person to another or
from one generation to the next. Christianity is a religion founded on a
message of good news rooted in the significance of the life of Jesus Christ. In
Scripture, then, doctrine refers to the entire body of essential theological
truths that define and describe that message (1 Tim 1:10; 4:16; 6:3; Titus 1:9)
The message includes historical facts, such as those regarding the events of
the life of Jesus Christ ( 1 Cor 11:23). But it is deeper than biographical
facts alone. As J. Gresham Machen pointed out years ago, Jesus' death is an
integral historical fact but it is not doctrine. Jesus' death for sins ( 1 Cor
15:3) is doctrine. Doctrine, then, is scriptural
teaching on theological truths.
Jaroslav Pelikan defined Christian doctrine in this way: “Christian doctrine is what
the church believes and teaches.”
Understanding Doctrine by Alister McGrath
Christian
doctrine is the response of the Christian Church to God, as He has revealed
himself, especially in Scripture and through Jesus Christ. It is an obedient,
responsible and faithful attempt to make sense of cluster of astonishing and
exciting possibilities opened up by the coming of Jesus Christ. Doctrine serves
four major purposes. It aims:
1. To
tell the truth about the way things are –
2. To
respond to the self-revelation of God.
3. To
address, interpret and transform human experience.
4. To
give Christian, as individuals and as a community, a sense of identity and
purpose.
‘Relevance’
and ‘meaningfulness’ were words which captured the imagination of a recent
generation. Unless something was relevant or meaningful there was no point in
bothering with it.
Doctrine
is concerned to tell the truth, in order that we may enter into and act upon
that truth. It is an expression of a responsible and caring faith – a faith
which is prepared to give and account of itself, and give careful consideration
to its implications for the way in which we live. To care about doctrine is to
acre about the reliability of the foundations of the Christian life. It is to
be passionately concerned that our actions and attitudes, our hopes and our
fears, are a response to God – and not something or someone making claims to
divinity, which collapse upon closer inspection.
Doctrine
defines who we are to obey. It draws a firm line of demarcation between a false
church, which answers to the pressures of the age, and a true church, which is
obedient and responsible to God, as he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ.
“True knowledge of God is born out of obedience” (John Calvin). A church which
takes doctrine seriously is a church which is obedient to and responsible for
what God has entrusted to it. Doctrines give substance and weight to what the
Christian church has to offer to the world.
Doctrine
is not something which we have invented. It is our response to the action of
God. Doctrine is a human mental reaction to the historical action of God. It is
a rational reflection upon the death and newness and mystery of this event.
Christian
doctrine seeks to tell the truth about God by exposing false ways of thinking
and speaking about God.
Meaning of Theology
[ 1. Christian Theology by Milalrd J.Erickson.
2.
Introduction to Christian Theology by Alister E. McGrath]
The
word “theology” is the combination of two Greek words: ‘theos’ (God) and ‘logos’
(word). “Theology” is thus discourse about God; in much the same way as
“biology” is discourse about life (Greek bios-life). Although “theology” was
initially understood to mean “the doctrine of God,” the term developed a subtly
new meaning in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as the University of Paris
began to develop. A name had to be found for the systematic study of the
Christian faith at university level. Under the influence of Parisian writers
such as Peter Abelard (1079–1142) and Gilbert of Poitiers (1070–1154), the
Latin word theologia came to mean
“the discipline of sacred learning,” embracing the totality of Christian
doctrine, and not merely the doctrine of God. The phrase “Christian theology” is used throughout this volume in the sense of
the systematic study of the fundamental ideas of the Christian faith. “Theology
is the science of faith. It is the conscious and methodical explanation and explication
of the divine revelation received and grasped in faith” (Karl Rahner).
A
good preliminary or basic definition of theology is ‘the study or science of
God.A complete definition of theology: the
discipline that strives to give a coherent statement of the doctrines of the
Christian faith, based primarily on the Scriptures, placed in the context of
culture in general, worded in a contemporary idiom, and related to issues of
life.
This
definition identifies five key aspects of the task of theology.
1.
Theology is biblical. It takes as
the primary source of its content the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments. It utilizes the tools and methods of biblical research. It also
employs the insights of other areas of truth, which it regards as God’s general
revelation.
2. Theology is systematic. That is, it draws on the entire Bible. Rather than
utilizing individual texts in isolation from others, it attempts to relate the
various portions to one another to combine the varied teachings into some type
of harmonious or coherent whole.
3. Theology also relates to the
issues of general culture and
learning. For example, it attempts to relate its view of origins to the
concepts advanced by science (or, more correctly, such disciplines as cosmology),
its view of human nature to psychology’s understanding of personality, its
conception of providence to the work of philosophy of history, and so on.
4. Theology must also be contemporary. While it treats timeless issues, it must use
language, concepts, and thought forms that make some sense in the context of
the present time. There is danger here. Some theologies, in attempting to deal
with modern issues, have restated the biblical materials in a way that has
distorted them. Thus we hear of the very real “peril of modernizing Jesus.” The
Christian message should address the questions and the challenges encountered
today, even while challenging the validity of some of those questions. Yet even
here there needs to be caution about too strong a commitment to a given set of
issues. If the present represents a change from the past, then presumably the
future will also be different from the present. A theology that identifies too
closely with the immediate present (i.e., the “today” and nothing but) will expose
itself to premature obsolescence.
5. Finally, theology is to be
practical. By this we do not mean practical theology in the technical sense
(i.e., how to preach, counsel, evangelize, etc.), but the idea that theology
relates to living rather than merely to belief. The Christian faith gives us
help with our practical concerns. Paul, for instance, gave assurances about the
second coming and then said, “Encourage each other with these words” (1 Thess.
4:18). It should be noted, however, that theology must not be concerned
primarily with the practical dimensions. The practical effect or application of
a doctrine is a consequence of the truth of the doctrine, not the reverse.
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