Theological Term of the Week

Systematic Theology
The theological discipline that seeks to summarize what the whole Bible teaches us on any particular subject.

• From Biblical versus Systematic Theology? by Donald Macleod:

The premise of Systematic Theology …  is the unity of Scripture: what the Westminster Confession (1:5) calls ‘the consent of all the parts’. This in turn rests on the premise that all Scripture was breathed out by God, and while he may breathe out variety he will not breathe out contradiction. Precisely because Scripture in its entirety is the word of God it is the revelation of one saving will and of one plan of salvation. Systematic Theology assumes this unity, takes the whole of divine revelation as its field, and seeks to collate all that God has told us so far, striving towards the point where it can say to the church, ‘This is the whole counsel of God. This is what you are to preach.’ 

Learn more:

1. Theopedia: Systematic Theology
2. GotQuestions.org: What is systematic theology?
3. S. Lewis Johnson: The Ideal, Material, and Method of Systematic Theology (audio and transcript)
4. Michael S. Horton: Who Needs Systematic Theology?
5. Monergism.com: What is the difference between Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology?
6. Donald Macleod: Biblical versus Systematic Theology?; Biblical and Systematic Theology: Speaking from Different Premises
7. Dr. Richard L. Pratt, Jr.: What Is Systematic Theology and Why? Part 1, Part 2 (video).

Related terms:

• Biblical Theology

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