What Is Theology? ..............................................................................

Lecture 1

One of our problems as historians—whether we’re doing history of

politics or history of theology—is that it’s very hard to be neutral,

maybe impossible. Imagine trying to tell a neutrally objective story

about American politics. That doesn’t work. ... We’re all located in

a particular place within our traditions, and it’s important to be able

to be generous and fair to these other traditions that are not your

own traditions.

T

his course arose in part as a response to the many e-mailed questions
received as a result of previous Teaching Company courses on
Christian thought. Many Christians want to know where their
particular form of Christianity (Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc.) ¿ ts in
with or contrasts with others. By the same token, people from outside the
Christian tradition (Jews, Muslims, agnostics, atheists, etc.) want to know
what and how Christians think. In both cases, one ¿ nds out about oneself by
coming to a deeper understanding of others and how they are different.

Christian theology is the central intellectual activity of the Christian
tradition, consisting of critical reasoning about what should be taught in
the Christian community, the church. The major world religions are all
intellectual traditions, involving both the handing down of speci¿ c wisdom
and critical reasoning about that wisdom. “Tradition” means the “handing
down” of wisdom (both practical and theoretical) from one generation to
the next. Both sciences and religions are traditions in this sense—they are
intellectual traditions, in that what they pass on is a form of wisdom that
requires critical reasoning. Whereas sciences are oriented toward discovery
of new knowledge, religions are oriented toward ¿ delity, obedience, and
propagation of a message or revelation already received.

Christian theology is a tradition of critical reasoning about Christian
doctrine, that is, about what should be taught in the church about Jesus
Christ and life in him. Christian theology focuses on doctrine rather than
law, because Christianity is a faith more than a way of life, so the question