NTT: THE DISCIPLINE OF THEOLOGY AND NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY

Theology is discipline that is very wide and covers many areas of study. No one can specialize in all areas of theology. Thus we talk of a Biblical theologian, Professor of Historical, Philosophical, Systematic theology. New Testament is related to the other branches of theology but particularly more to Biblical Theology. New Testament Theology deals with only one part of the Bible. It employs similar instruments with Biblical Theology. New Testament is based on the New Testament. One fact of the Christian life is that the Bible is prone to different interpretations. This openness to different interpretations is responsible for proliferation of churches. Equally, any study based on the Bible is subject to different structures and approaches.

• Branches of Theology

The word theology comes form two Greek words, Theos meaning – God and logos meaning word or study. Put together, it means the study of God. The object of theology is therefore the Triune God but also his creation, including especially human beings and their relation. That is how man relates to God and the creation. Sometimes people think that it is impossible to study God because God is greater and more mysterious than anything in the universe, and God is not like an object that can be researched in the laboratory. This not withstanding, we can know enough about God to study about him. It is important that in our study of God we should always be aware that what we know is smaller than what we do not know. The fact that God is not just the one we study but the one we worship puts a different tone in our project of theology.

The task of theology generally is:

To provide a clear and comprehensive description of the Christian Faith.

To translate Christian faith into terms that is intelligible to the wider culture.

To provide a reality of God and Christ.

To investigate the origin and the original content of the Christian faith and of the doctrine of the Church, or the changes they underwent in the course of history, and to determine the truth which is contained in that tradition.

We study God from different angles and it is because of this that we have different branches of theology.

Systematic Theology

Before the Reformation, all of theology was studied under Dogmatic theology. Systematic theology in close to what was called Dogmatic theology but also different in the sense that systematic theology is a more specialized field. This branch of theology is also called doctrinal or constructive theology. The subject ventures a faithful, coherent, timely and a responsible articulation to the Christian faith. It states the meaning of the Bible for the present using theological and philosophical knowledge. It involves a continuous interpretation and practices in the light of the teaching and life of Christ. The base of systematic theology is God’s self-revelation as it is found in the Bible. The Systematic theologian develops his doctrines directly from the Bible

Historical Theology

Historical theology traces the many ways and circumstances in which Christian faith and practices have come to expression in different times and places. It establishes the reality that theology has developed through the centuries of the history of the Christian Church. It is concerned with what theologians held and taught concerning a particular subject throughout the history of the church. It may choose to deal with the theology of a given period or particular theologians or a school of theological thought with respect to key areas of doctrine. It may also take another dimension and examine the development of a particular doctrine throughout the life of the church.

The significant value of historical theology is that it makes us more self-conscious and self-critical of our teachings. Also we can learn to do theology by studying how others in the past have done. Historical theology also provides us with the tools that help us evaluate a particular idea or subject. Courses in Church History are under the branch of theology.

Philosophical Theology

According to David Migliore, this is an area of theology that “employs the resources of Philosophical inquiry to examine the meaning and truth of the Christian faith in the light of reason and experience” (9). Philosophical theology helps us to defend and establish the truth of a given theology and scrutinize its concepts and arguments.

Related Philosophical theology is Moral Theology. Most seminaries have them in one department; others however, associate it with Systematic theology. Roman Catholics and Protestants differ slightly on the technical meaning of Moral Theology. However, Moral Theology is commonly called Christian Ethics. It simply means to live as a Christian, to a responsible moral agent and is about moral actions. It deals with issues such as moral discernment, the definition of good and evil, right and wrong, and sin and virtue. Under moral theology, one studies specific issues such as abortion, justice, sexuality, swearing and oath taking, homosexuality, euthanasia etc. Moral theology helps the church and its individual members respond to the challenge of the secular world.

4  Practical Theology

As the name implies, practical theology deals with the practical aspects of the ministry of the church which are helpful in building and strengthening the life of the church and Christians in general. It looks at and analyses the present needs of the church and its members the present needs of the church members in the light of the Bible message. Its aim is to bring or lead people to the comfort and peace of God in their joy and sufferings. Practical theology is concerned with things like preaching, education, counseling, caring for the poor, visiting the sick, the dying and the bereaved. This is highly a specialized area operated by specialized persons or professionals. For example, the person involved in Church education receives training in theology and Christian Education or Educational Ministries. The person counseling need training in Counseling and Psychology, person working with the aged and the poor needs training in Social Work

Biblical Theology

Biblical Theology is the expounding of the theology found in the Bible taking into consideration its own historical settings, terms, categories, and thought forms. It is a descriptive discipline in that it studies the messages of the Bible in their historical setting. The intension of Biblical theology is to make known what God has done and how that affects human existence.

Biblical theology is based on God’s self-revelation and the redemption plan for man. In summary, Biblical theology is the historical and theological science that studies the revelation of God within the pages of the Old and New Testaments. Biblical theology is divided into Old and New Testament Theology which is our concern in this course.

Definition of New Testament Theology

New Testament is a branch of Biblical theology that studies the twenty seven books of the New Testament or the New Covenant as called by others. Specifically, New Testament theology traces or studies various themes through different authors or books of the New Testament and then amalgamates those individual motifs into a single comprehensive whole. It may also deal with the theology of the different authors separately

The aim of this discipline is to set forth the theological thoughts of the New Testament writings and unfold the history of the early Christian religion. In New Testament theology, the biblical content and the significance of Jesus’ mission are central. The theology and interpretation of the New Testament must centre upon the historical Christ. It is through Christ that God made himself known. In this context, New Testament explores the meaning or the message of the passage for its own day and not so much on the application for modern needs. New Testament theology is therefore, both descriptive and historical. In summary, New Testament theology is the history of the early Christian religion and theology, and it deals with what was taught, believed, hoped for and striven at

• Nature and Structure of New Testament Theology

New Testament theology is not easily noticed on the pages of New Testament Bible, yet it is based on the New Testament Bible, on the life and work of Jesus Christ. Through research one can derive New Testament theology from the New Testament. There is a single theology of the New Testament and it is based on the life, work, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and their place in the redemption plan of God for humanity. These form the foundation and basis of New Testament. The apostles built on these themes and expounded them. New Testament can be found in the genealogy of Jesus which shows that he did not come directly from heaven but through human being. Gentiles and woman occupy a prominent position in the genealogy and testify to the universality of salvation.

In essence, the whole of the New Testament is theology, each book or passage in the New Testament has a divine purpose, guidance and protection. The New Testament and New Testament theology cannot be separated. According to Stephen Neill, “separating New Testament theology from the New Testament is like separating the soul from the body.”

The New Testament which is the source material for the study of New Testament theology is divided into many narrative accounts. The synoptic gospels form the first unit. This unit has Matthew, Mark and Luke. These three evangelists present similar narrative accounts on the life, death and resurrection of Christ. The second one which is close to the synoptic is the gospel of John. The Apostle John presents extended speeches of the revelation of Christ mission to the world. The next unit deals with the extension of the church into the gentile world. It covers the story of the early church in Jerusalem and the surrounding villages as well as Paul’s missionary Journeys in the gentile world. This is found in Acts of the Apostles. The fourth unit is made up of the letters of Paul, Peter, James and John. This section deals with pastoral concerns and doctrinal issues. The last is the book of Revelation. This is written in figurative language and it deals with the catastrophic events of the history of the end of the world. John wrote to encourage the faithful to stand steadfast in difficult times.

• Approaches to New Testament Theology

It has already been established that New Testament theology is about what God has done in Jesus Christ who was a historical figure and walked on the streets and roads of Palestine. The study of New Testament theology is thereby a historical project. As a historical project it uses historical and linguistic tools to understand the message of the New Testament. The intent is to study the content as well as the context of the New Testament stories. New Testament theology describes the original historical meaning of the concepts, events and the message. This helps to achieve the aim of New Testament theology which is to make sense of the New Testament message.

In the field of biblical studies, scholars have adopted different approaches to the study of New Testament theology. Rudolf Bultmann, for example, believes that it is only the theologies of John and Paul that are important and this is what should be studied as New Testament theology. Werner Kummel on the other hand gives preference to Paul. He reiterates that there is a single theology of the New Testament and it is the theology of Paul. Christ is important only because he did the preliminary work which Paul used.

New Testament theology does not exist in isolation. It is part of God’s total revelation to humanity. The revelation of God is progressive. It is the unfolding of God’s plan of man’s salvation which becomes explicitly clear through the coming of Christ. This started in the Old Testament and has its climax in the New Testament. For this reason, references and an understanding of the Old Testament is necessary for the study of New Testament theology.

New Testament theology also makes references to Jews and Greek literature that were written before, during and after the New Testament. These are useful for the study of New Testament theology because they influenced the concepts, stories, culture and practices found in the New Testament or shade light on what happened in the New Testament.

However, these writings must not be considered as part of New Testament or word of God because their purpose not redemptive history as the biblical books. They do not reveal a holy history

• CONCLUSION

Theology is the study of God. The object of theology is the Triune God and his creation, including especially human being and who they relate to God and the entire creation. God is not like an object that can be researched in the laboratory. In our study of God we must confess that God is greater and more mysterious than anything in the universe. What we know about him, is what he has revealed to us. This is to say our knowledge of God is limited. God has revealed himself through general and special revelation. General revelation is the self disclosure of God through nature, history and human conscience while special revelation is the man infestation of God through miraculous events, divine speeches and of course his son Jesus Christ. The source of this is the Bible. All the branches of theology seek to provide a clear and comprehensive redemption of the Christian faith in terms that one intelligible to the wide culture and to present the reality of God and Christ.

More on this unit can be researched here