The Architecture of Theology: Structure, System, and Ratio

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1 University Press Scholarship Online You are looking at 1-10 of 35 items for: keywords : systematic theology The Architecture of Theology: Structure, System, and Ratio A. N. Williams Published in print: 2011 Published Online: September 2011 ISBN: eisbn: Item type: book acprof:oso/ This work proposes a new reading of Christian theology. Examining theological warrants, philosophical debates over the structures of arguments, and the role of beauty in intellectual structures, it suggests theology is inherently systematic, its systematicity reflecting its two subjects, God and other things as they are related to God (Aquinas). The roles of the warrants (scripture, tradition, and reason) are reevaluated, showing their necessary interdependence. Debates in philosophical epistemology are also examined; these have conventionally contrasted foundationalism and coherentism. A contemporary consensus has emerged, however, of a chastened foundationalism or hybrid foundationalism coherentism, in light of which, arguments are understood both as reasoning from foundational propositions and as gaining plausibility from the coherence of claims. Theological arguments also exhibit a dual structure, with propositions underwritten by their dependence on both scripture and tradition and by their coherence in integrated webs, or systems. Theology is therefore shown to be systematic in its fundamental structure. The systematicity of theology is a function of its subject matter, God and other things as they are related to God. Both the two chief subjects of theology (God and humanity) and theology itself are characterized by rationality and relationality. Theology is therefore doubly mimetic, reflecting its subject matter in its structures of reasoning. The order and harmony of those structures however have an aesthetic appeal and potentially attract because of their beauty, rather than their truth. Theological aesthetics is surveyed, asking whether the beauty of systematic structures counts for or against their truth. Page 1 of 6

2 Systematic Theology as Analytic Theology William J. Abraham in Analytic Theology: New Essays in the Philosophy of Theology Published in print: 2009 Published Online: May 2009 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ This chapter explores a vision of systematic theology as analytic theology, describes in general terms what that might involve, addresses some objections, and illustrates how it might proceed by taking up two loci of systematic theology and shows what analytic theology might look like in practice. The chapter provides some suggestions on the division of labour between analytic theology and the epistemology of theology as this crops up in the place of prolegomenon in systematic theology. Introduction A. N. Williams in The Architecture of Theology: Structure, System, and Ratio Published in print: 2011 Published Online: September 2011 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ The book's argument is surveyed in this chapter: systematic theology has in the past been unhelpfully defined by a genre definition, because of suspicion of the notion of system. Christian theology, it is suggested, is inherently systematic. The structure of theological arguments are located in relation to debates in philosophical epistemology over the relative merits of foundationalism and coherentism. The interpretation of theological warrants (scripture, tradition, and reason) is surveyed; these have functioned rather differently in theological arguments from the way in which past debates have claimed. Theology, it is argued, is a form of double mimesis in its rationality and relationality, mirroring the qualities of its two chief subjects, God and humanity. Theological aesthetics is examined, and specifically, the notion that the beauty of argumentative structures may distract away from truth. Finally, the book suggests that theology, in its systematicity, may be viewed as a prelude to contemplation. Page 2 of 6

3 The Systematic Theology Paul C. Gutjahr in Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy Published in print: 2011 Published Online: May 2011 ISBN: eisbn: Page 3 of 6 acprof:oso/ Chapter fifty-four examines the crowning achievement of Hodge s publishing career, his three-volume Systematic Theology. Rather than simply compile and edit his theological writings of the past half century, Hodge took the opportunity to write his Systematic as an organic whole. Certain new stresses appear in the volumes. He emphasized Baconian scientific method and the role of the intellect in theological study to a degree that had not been the case in his theological lectures. He used his Systematic to argue for the importance of the intellect (over the emotions) in theological study, and he made his volumes and apologetic for God s goodness and benevolent work in the world, even after the devastating events of the Civil War. Theology and Aesthetics Richard Viladesau in Theological Aesthetics: God in Imagination, Beauty, and Art Published in print: 1999 Published Online: September 2011 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ This chapter discusses the notion of theological aesthetics. In its wide sense, theological aesthetics includes aesthetic theology that is, the use by theology of the language, methods, and contents of the aesthetic realm. The art of making theological discourse affecting and beautiful ( theopoesis ) is appropriate to all branches and kinds of theology. The application of aesthetic theory (e.g. literary analysis) to theological contents is most pertinent to those functional specialties that Lonergan names research, interpretation, history, and communications. The remaining specialties dialectics, foundations, doctrines, and systematics are the principal field of theological aesthetics in its narrower sense: the use of properly theological starting points, categories, and methods to formulate an account of (i) perception (including sensation and imagination), (2) beauty, and (3) the arts. Such an account may be formulated from the point of view of what Tracy calls systematic theology, or from the complementary perspectives of foundational and practical theology.

4 Theology in the twentieth century Rowan Williams in A Century of Theological and Religious Studies in Britain, Published in print: 2004 Published Online: January 2012 ISBN: eisbn: Publisher: British Academy DOI: /bacad/ This chapter discusses theology in the twentieth century, which was largely dominated by a set of issues that were generated ultimately by the diffusion of the critical approach to the Bible. The survey presented in the chapter determines that the dogmatic or systematic theology in England and Wales has both benefitted and suffered from its slightly tangential relation to mainstream academic theology. What Systematic Theology Is About Robert W. Jenson in Systematic Theology: Volume 1: The Triune God Published in print: 2001 Published Online: October 2011 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ The chapter provides an analysis and characterization of theology and distinguishes systematic theology from other subdisciplines. The chapter states that theology is a continuing consultation and is not the adding of proposition to proposition in the steady construction of a planned structured knowledge. It is further explained that theology is a reflection to do something, and the thing to be done is to carry on with a specified message, whether as proclamatory word from God or as appeal of petition and praise to God, and whether with the signs of a language or with the gestures and meaningful objects of sacrament and sacrifice. Theology is hermeneutic besides being practical and speculative. Conclusions Gordon Campbell, Thomas N. Corns, John K. Hale, and Fiona J. Tweedie in Milton and the Manuscript of De Doctrina Christiana Published in print: 2007 Published Online: January 2008 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ Page 4 of 6

5 The history of the manuscript firmly ties it to a Miltonic provenance. Its physical condition shows clear evidence of how the blind Milton worked on so challenging a project. The manuscript is that of a work-in-progress. There is no evidence that Milton worked on the manuscript after It shows an expert command of Latin, typical of Milton's other Latin works. The stylometric analysis indicates Miltonic authorship. Its theology is characteristic of the theology of other treatises in the same genre. The manuscript rightly belongs in the Milton canon. Types of Pentecostal Theology: Method, System, Spirit Christopher A. Stephenson Published in print: 2012 Published Online: January 2013 ISBN: eisbn: Item type: book acprof:oso/ This book is the first critical study of the major academic theologians within pentecostalism, one of the fastest growing and influential religious traditions worldwide. As a typological study, it establishes four original categories that classify recent pentecostal theologians methodologies in systematic/constructive theology. After assessing the methodological types, the book offers a suggestion for pentecostal theological method that builds on the strengths of each methodological type, while also advancing an original constructive contribution. Specifically, it argues for a reciprocal relationship between pentecostal spirituality and doctrine that follows the pattern of lex orandi, lex credendi. The book then develops a doctrine of the Lord s supper as an initial exercise in this reciprocal relationship. This book is concerned with such issues as the relationship between theology and philosophy, the dynamic between scripture and tradition, fundamental and philosophical theology, and similarities and differences between recent pentecostal theology and other currents in contemporary theology. As a synthesis and analysis of a large amount of primary source literature, this book introduces readers to the scholars leading current theological conversations within pentecostalism. Student Years at the Seminary Paul C. Gutjahr in Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy Published in print: 2011 Published Online: May 2011 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ Page 5 of 6

6 Chapter Eleven looks at the years Charles Hodge studied at Princeton Theological Seminary. His studies included classes with Archibald Alexander (in systematic theology and biblical criticism among other subjects) and Samuel Miller. The beginnings of what would later become known as the Princeton Theology began to take shape during these years. Page 6 of 6