FROM SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY TO SYSTEMS THEOLOGY

These are the barest of bits of an idea; contributions and critiques welcome.

Systematic Theology is useful for looking at the parts that comprise the whole. But it is not as useful for looking at those characteristics that are located in the whole of theology, those properties that cannot be explained by the parts.

• sys·tem·at·ic (def 1, American Heritage Dictionary) Of, characterized by, based on, or constituting a system.
• re·duc·tion·ism ( American Heritage Dictionary) n. An attempt or tendency to explain a complex set of facts, entities, phenomena, or structures by another, simpler set

Systems Theology is useful for looking at the properties that properly belong to the whole of theology and cannot be attributed to the parts. But it is not as useful for looking at the parts themselves.

• sys·tem (def 1, American Heritage Dictionary) A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole.
• ho·lism (def 1, American Heritage Dictionary) The theory that living matter or reality is made up of organic or unified wholes that are greater than the simple sum of their parts.

I would propose that both are necessary. I would further propose that systematic theology has been running the show for a while now and that it is high time for systems thinkers to put their minds to the notion of systems theology. In my training-wheels fashion, I throw my hat into that ring.

Links to Consider
Introduction to Systems Theology
Comment on "Friends in Conversation" challenging a move from systematic to systems theology
Dr. Alex Tang on theology


Tag(s): systems theology systematic theology

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