Theology
The word
‘Theology’ is derived from Greek language ‘theos’ meaning god and ‘logos’ meaning
word. It can be therefore described as ‘words about god’ or ‘god-talk’. The
word ‘logos’ can be understood as not just the word but the innate meaning of
the word thus the meaning of ‘Theology’ can be ‘speaking and thinking about
god’ which is sometimes referred to as the science of theology.[1]
“Theology is the continuing service to God’s
revelation, performed by specific men (people), in the form of conceptual
thinking in a specific here and now.”[2]
According to the definition of Gogarten, “Theology is the critical,
methodological thinking of the theologian which he does when he (one) does when
he (one) speaks on the basis of the revelation of God.”[3]
Bultmann defines theology as “the conceptual presentation of the existence of
man (person) as an existence determined by God.”[4]
Theology
can seldom satisfy the natural requirement and expectations of human thought
for a comprehensive completeness. Dogmatics, as a theological discipline is the
Church’s scientific self-examination of its affirmations about God. The Church
thus constructs theology in its own typical sense by undergoing itself to
self-examination.[5]
When we
think about Scripture as the source of Christianity, it is often described as
the religion of book. A few years ago, “German theologian Gerhard Ebeling
wrote that ‘church history is the history of the exposition of scripture.’ He
reminded us that the collection of writings which Christians call the Holy
Bible is an integral element in the life of the Church and in Christian
theology as well.”[6] Theologians sometimes accuse one another of
underestimating or overestimating the value of Scripture, mistaking its
meaning, or failing to apply it rightly.
These disputes, however, are usually domestic quarrels; no serious
theologian denies that Scripture is vitally important in the household of
faith.
Role of Scripture in Theology
The Christian biblical canon
that is known to us today (with Hebrew Scripture and New Testament writings) is
a legacy of the ancient church. It
emerged from a consensus formed over several centuries and it reflects the
impact these books had on church life.
In a strictly historical sense, then, the Bible and the church belong
together, and theologians whose faith seeks understanding must return to the
witness of the Scriptures. The
significance of the Bible for theology, however, cannot be reduced to its value
as a historical record. Christians seek
to hear through these writings a message from God – the Word of God. The Scriptures proclaim the Word that called
forth the faith of Israel and the faith of the earliest Christians. That word of God is still heard today by the
reading of the Scripture in the Church.
It is not surprising that these writings have a special status in the
church and exert a special force-a canonical force-on theological
thinking. They contain resources
essential for theologians whose aim is to understand the meaning of the faith.
“For many Protestants especially, a phrase for the Reformation expresses their
abiding conviction: the Bible is Norma
normans sed non normata, the norm that judges every
other norm but is not itself judged by any other.”[7]
The use of Holy Scripture in theology has always been a hot button
issue in theology: its authority, inspiration, unity and diversity, and reliability
in terms of history and faith have been particular areas of concern. Each church has its own viewpoint on these
matters, and there is considerable grass roots diversity as well. Each of us is well advised to consider where
we will stand on these questions.
However, we should not stop at stating our beliefs about the Bible. How we make use of the Bible’s resources in
actual practice is another important question.
David Kelsey, in The Use of
Scripture in Recent Theology, “Points to four distinct ways in which modern
theologians draw biblical texts into their theological reflections. While the authority of Scripture is affirmed
in all four cases, the Word of God heard through the words of the Bible is
identified in different ways: (1) as propositions about divine truth, (2)
symbolic expressions of faith experiences, (3) recitals of God’s identity, or
(4) invitations to existential possibilities for new life.”[8]
Role of Scripture and
Authority in the Church
The remarks about the concepts “scripture,”
“church,” and “tradition” bring out another point about the use of scripture in
expressions such as this scripture is authoritative for the life of the
Christian church and this scripture is authoritative for Christian theology. When it is judged as these texts are
authoritative for the life of the Christian church, the judgment is very
logical, which means, these texts are Christian scripture. The term
‘Authoritative’ is part of the meaning of scripture and it is not a dependent
judgment about the scripture. And then
about the judgment, these texts are authoritative for theology, it is also
logical because these texts are authoritative for the life of the church. The texts’ authority for theology is
“logically grounded in and dependent on their authority for the life of the
church generally. But since, concretely speaking, the life of the church taken
as some sort of organic whole is ‘tradition,’ that means that the texts’
authority for theology is dependent on their being authority for ‘tradition.’”[9]
To call certain texts as scripture is to say
that they should be used in the common life of the church in normative ways
that they positively rule its form of life and forms of speech. But to say how tradition is used, the text
should be used in certain normative ways in tradition understood as a set of
activities. However, when we hear someone preach the sermon next time and when
the minister quotes the Scripture, we should ask the following things for
ourselves: What is the speaker using the Bible ask me to do? Or, put the same
question to a sermon or lesson that u deliver to a particular congregation, of
it what are you asking your listeners to do when u quote the Bible? If we ask
ourselves these questions next time, we can surely get to know about the four above
categories said by Kelsey. By evaluating
these theologians’ efforts in the light of our own ongoing study of the Bible,
surely we construct a responsible approach to the use of the Scripture for
theological deliberation.
Personal
Reflection:
Looking
into various aspects that deal with the authority and role of sources in doing theology
one may raise a question, “What source is authoritative?” Western thought
regarded Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience as the major authoritative
factors of theology. I wouldn’t say that they aren’t because there are so many
things which only these sources will be able to explain but “Is that all?” When
we talk about Christian theology especially Indian Christian theology, we find
that most of us follow the Western Thought in our theological interpretations.
All of our Sacraments, Liturgies and other elements of our faith are influenced
by the western thought and is followed according to the norms laid at that
time. “How appropriate are these?” is the question that needs to be thought
upon. The Sources we are talking were formed long time ago. The people who
compiled it together may or may not have different ways of thinking. They might
have been influenced by their Political, Cultural and Religious conditions.
They might have had their own context in mind and would have compiled it. Then
again the same question rises, “How authentic and appropriate are these to our
present context?” is a question that we need to ponder upon. This doesn’t mean that
we totally reject all these sources. I also realized that behind each text
there is a story of socio-cultural conditioned aspect. When the text is not
free from the human conditioning, how can it be authoritative? This means that
we should keep in mind the above mentioned things while interpreting the
sources and should understand them in an appropriate way. Looking into the
Indian Christian Theology and its sources, I realized that it was only recently
that I came to know about the sources, The Pramanas, which are identified by
A.J. Appasamy. Even in my town where I come from there might be hardly anyone
knowing about these sources. In a case like this, how authoritative can these
sources be in shaping our Theology? When I came to know about these sources, I
also understood that these sources are outdated and the Indian Theological
Thought has moved on and identified various other sources which are more
relevant and appropriate to the present Indian context. Tradition is another
source which I would like to reflect upon. I believe that tradition plays an
important role in the construction of Theology but we cannot stop there. We
should look into the fact that tradition might mean different in different
social contexts. So, we should understand Tradition according its own context
and then apply it to the present. Blindly following certain Traditions might
lead to a total misinterpretation of things and might also lead to a very bad
end result. Sometimes Tradition might not be scriptural but might carry a good value.
Though Tradition mostly complements Scripture, it might not be the same always.
Tradition always needs interpretation for a proper construction of theology. Experience
as an authoritative source, I think, has more valid arguments than the rest. I agree
to the fact that we cannot theologize without understanding the present
situation. The voices of Dalits, Sexual Minorities, Feminists and the
Marginalized have made it clear that only through experience can one understand
the true sense of Theology. If we are unable to go through their experiences,
we should at least understand what they are undergoing and have to respond in
an appropriate way. I believe that this is the true sense of doing Theology. So
many things happen around the world and all we do is observe a five minute
silence. I think we should transcend this stage and should get involved in the
current issues to understand them and do whatever we can to remove these
barriers. We must be able to relate to their experiences of pain and suffering
and thereby develop a theology which can pave way for equality and justice, and
the goodness of life that can be enjoyed by everybody.
Conclusion and Evaluation
Re-thinking of Scripture as the source and the valuable force behind Christian Theology, it is very well advocated that Scripture is the message from God. It is not only the message but also the living source for the faith community. I am really inspired to get to know that Bible is not just ‘The Book’ or ‘Collection of Books’ but it is an anthology of books written over many centuries, each reflecting its own distinctive origin. Drawing the resources of scripture in the course of theological reflection it calls us to decide whether the texts relate to the whole or the contemporary multi-religious context. If scripture does not help us to relate ourselves with the people around us in good relationship, we lose our relativity. However, Scripture is the life-giving source for all living beings, no matter what religion we belong to.
After
looking into and understanding various Theological Epistemologies, their role
and
authority
in theology, I should come to a conclusion as to how we can improvise our
theological articulations. Since there are various theologies and ideologies
that have emerged (Dalit theology, Tribal Theology, Feminist Theology,
Transgender theology, Ecological theology) and are always emerging, we should
enter into a dialogue with all of them so that we can enrich our faith and theology.
We should inculcate the quality of openness to correct ourselves and also be
ready to accept the good from other theologies. This way we can equip ourselves
and our theological formulations to make it a way where Equality, Truth and
Justice prevails and God’s will may be fulfilled.
[1] John Stacy, Groundwork of Theology, (London: Epworth Press, 1977), 37.
[2] Karl Barth, Theology and Church, (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1962), 289.
[3] Ibid., 286.
[4] Ibid., 289.
[5] Hellmut Gollwitzer, Karl Barth Church Dogmatics, A Selection
with Introduction, (Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1961), 82-84.
[6] Howard W. Stone and James O.
Duke, How to think theologically (Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 1996), 44.
[7]Ibid., 45.
[8] Howard W. Stone and James O.
Duke, How to think theologically (Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 1996), 45, 46.
[9] David H. Kelsey, The Uses of Scripture in Recent Theology (London:
SCM Press, 1975), 97.
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