We’ve so far concluded that theology concerns
the speech of God and our speech about Him, as well as the various experiences
that are said to derive from Him. We’ve suggested a variety of reasons why
theological study is important. Now we turn to consider how Christian theology
is done. What do theologians use to ply their trade? What are the sources of
theology? [1]
Of course, theology is free to use any resource that proves helpful. The tools of psychology, sociology, philosophy, media and literary theory have all been used to craft theological conclusions. [2] However, you’ll often hear theologians refer to the “sources” of theology. [3] In this post I will briefly explain what these are.
First, revelation – God’s disclosing of Himself. We may further divide this into God’s ‘natural’ and ‘special’ revelation. The former refers to God’s ordinary methods. This may include the beauty and order of creation, the processes of human society as well as the events of our everyday lives. The latter, on the other hand, refers to God’s particular revealing of Himself, secondarily in Scripture and primarily in Jesus Christ. Special revelation in particular constitutes the very essence of theology, namely, the speech of God.
