Is theology a science?

The excerpt below was extracted with permission from the book Eu Sou?Volume 3, by Heber Carlos de Campos, Editor Fiel.

In general, in the lists of modern science, theology is no longer part of the fields of science, until the arrival of modern times, when the worldview was closer to Christianity, theology was considered the queen of science. industrial and philosophical revolutions, as well as scientificism, theology has been excluded from the list.

• The things of religion do not go into the things of science.
• Because God is outside of scientific research.
• Because he is in the sphere of what Kant called the digital world.
• And not in the sphere of the phenomenal world.
• The world is verifiable.
• But not those of the digital world.
• So theology cannot be a science.
• This vision allows us to study religiosity.
• But not that of God.
• 5.

However, if we take Harold Brown’s idea of science as true and analyze it quickly, we can see theology as a science; if theology is a science, we will have to apply the same principles adopted for the verification of other sciences. science, let’s apply more slowly the same four principles to theology, which we have already briefly discussed:

Theology is only a science if it has a real object of study, we can know a lot about Zeus, the famous Greek deity, because the Greeks believed in it, it existed in the mind and subjectivity of many Greeks, but it cannot be investigated. scientifically because, in fact, it does not exist as a real personality, as a concrete object.

If the object of study is something real, available to be physically measured, something that really exists, something that can be sought and objectively verifiable, then God, the true God, in himself, cannot be investigated either. . Although God is outside the researcher and his subjectivity, existing regardless of his thinking, he cannot be verifiable, observable, measurable, as are the other objects of scientific research. God is beyond scientific verification. It cannot be proved, although it exists objectively, that is, it exists outside the subjectivity of the researcher, even if the researcher does not believe in it, exists.

God can only be observable and knowable in his own words, according to his own established rules, but he himself is not the object of study.

So what is the purpose of scientific research in theology?Oh, God, no! The most common definition of theology is “the science of God”. Many definitions tend to literally interpret the term “theology” and conclude that God must be the object of man’s scientific study. This idea is, in fact, Unsatisfactory, because God is not subject to the indagation of a inferior being, because He called all things to existence. He is the ultimate reality of everything, and He is the one who commands and systematizes all things.

Abraham Kuyper challenged this definition of theology as “the study of God”, arguing that God cannot be investigated, that is, under the microscope, 6 like other fields of inquiry. In a science, the researcher is always interested in the object studied. But that does not happen with God. It is beyond the human capacity to investigate. Man is incapable of investigating God because he is far beyond his reach, because his nature is infinitely superior and inaccessible to man. If so, how can you know anything about God? For his self-disclosure. God exists by himself, not verifiable in himself, but he is a personal being that communicates and becomes accessible, leaving traces in history, being knowable through revealing propositions that are recorded in Scripture. This is indeed the object of man’s investigation. Man studies God through what God reveals about himself. Therefore, theology must be understood as the? Science of revelation? or the “science of Scripture. ” On the contrary, within the scientific study of theology, the researcher is under the? Object? investigated, because it depends on him to obtain the necessary information. In other sciences, the researcher works with elements that do not have a voluntary response, reacting only to stimuli governed by natural laws. But this is not so in the scientific investigation of theology. In this document, the researcher has no control over the? Object? investigated, as in other sciences. In this sense, theology is a unique science. The seeker must submit to the information that God gives of himself in his revelation, becoming dependent and under the authority of Scripture.

Theology is very interested in the “pistic aspect”, which, as a general rule, must be linked to the only source of revelation and authority, which, for the reformed, is Scripture, as indicated in its denominational symbols.

Scientific study of any subject requires the availability of adequate resources. Science is not scientifically studied as physics or chemistry. The media should be in line with the nature of the “objects” studied.

The God of Sacred Scripture is not an impersonal being, nor is he?First Engine? Or the First Cause, or one?Cosmic Force? For all things, as philosophies generally teach, but he is a perfectly personal God.

Because God is personal, we should seek to know Him in a way that is appropriate for people. Things can be studied by observing, measuring, and calculating. People can only be known when two conditions are met: first, the person must communicate, usually in an intelligible language, and secondly, the recipient of the communication must respond with some confidence At this point, it is of the utmost importance to emphasize that trust is not a substitute for personal knowledge, even if we have to trust because we do not know. Trust is the right way to gain people’s knowledge; without this trust, can’t we know another person intimately, and without the theological equivalent, which we usually call faith?just another word for the same thing: we cannot know God.

The pistic element (element of faith) is extremely important for the knowledge of God. There is no possibility of having a true knowledge of him without believing what he says. This is true of all personal beings. If we don’t trust what people say, we won’t know anything about them or the truth. In the study of personal beings, there must be an element of communication and an element of trust in what is said. If there is no such communication, there will be no knowledge, and if there is no element of trust in what has been communicated, the knowledge will not be subjectivized. And when it is not subjective, it is not real knowledge for the researcher. The element of trust in a patient’s information in the study of psychology, for example, is critical. Thus, we can say with certainty that the element of trust in communication is something to be considered scientific. It would be unscientific to reject this kind of behavior. If this is true in the study of the humanities, it is also true in the study of the Divine Being in how it reveals itself and how we react in response to its revelation.

The God in whom he does not believe is not really known. The unbelievers may know things about God when they hear about him, but that doesn’t mean they really know Him. True knowledge implies communication and faith reflects. Brown says:

If a scientific theologian does not bring confidence or faith in his work, he does not behave scientifically, because he deprives himself of the necessary and appropriate means to obtain knowledge, and therefore has nothing to systematize.

Therefore, theology can only scientifically make those who truly trust in the communication received, this means that a theologian will not present valid research if he does not personally trust in Christ, who is the revelator of God, this communicates, as being personal and scientific theologian. works, with confidence, with the information received, systemtaining it.

When researchers do not trust divine revelation, we can say with certainty that their knowledge is imperfect, since the mystical element is absent, fundamental to theological science.

There is no way to systematize if there is no data to systematize, that is, we cannot use any method for a science if we do not have?Purpose? To study, nor the right means to study it.

If we have the first two criteria, we can start applying the third one, which is the systematization of the data we receive. There is no science without systematizing information. ” But the method will not produce worthwhile results unless support is available and used. “

The researcher must use all sources of information to develop his concepts. In theology, it is not very different. The scientific theologian must use all the resources for the systematic development of his work.

The goal of every scientist is to reach true and precise conclusions, but in this search for truth, the scientist must be honest and not let his hypotheses control the outcome of the research, although the scientific theologian goes to sources with assumptions, because it is impossible to be a scientist without some kind of budget, he should not allow the search for truth to be hindered by his own feelings towards the sought “Object”. The goal of his work is to get to the truth. In this research, you must have important and fundamental elements: divine revelation and faith to work properly with the information you have.

It is consistent among evangelical Christians that divine revelation is the central point of the study of theologians; without this there is no material for the study of theology; there is no truth, objectively speaking, without God’s self-re-unveiling; however, we cannot forget that theology is a science and, as such, must work scientifically with data.

Theology is an intellectual discipline, a science, and unlike other sciences, it must begin with faith; without faith it is impossible to do theology; thus understood, faith precedes theology, because theology is elaborated in faith in the data available to us. Submission by faith to revelation produces theology, the more faithful God’s revelation is, the closer theology will be to truth; in this sense, a theologian should be something of a physicist, a chemist, a biologist, because each of them must treat reality as it is, not as he would like it to be.

The search for truth must be the primary and ultimate goal of the theologian who deals scientifically with God’s revelation. And he has to do it by believing in what God says about himself, about men and his dealings with the world, believing in something that is, in fact, trustworthy.

In the third volume of this five-book series on the doctrine of God’s revelation, Dr. Heber Campos presents and develops biblical teaching on the characteristics of verbal revelation.

Written in a unique style and bringing together decades of research and teaching experience at the Christian Academy, this series is aimed at academics, professors and students of theology and Christians interested in understanding the notion that the Almighty God, creator of the universe, revealed himself in love. and grace to the human being.

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