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'''Theology''' is a term first used by [[Plato]] in The [[Republic]] (book ii, chap 18). The term is compounded from two Greek words <i>theos</i> (god) and <i>logos</i> (rational utterance). It has been defined as [[reason]]ed [[discourse]] about God or the [[gods]], or more generally about [[religion]] or [[spirituality]].  

'''Theology''' is a term first used by [[Plato]] in The [[Republic]] (book ii, chap 18). The term is compounded from two Greek words <i>theos</i> (god) and <i>logos</i> (rational utterance). It has been defined as [[reason]]ed [[discourse]] about God or the [[gods]], or more generally about [[religion]] or [[spirituality]].  

** Some Latin authors, such as [[Tertullian]] and [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] followed Varro's threefold usage, described above.<ref>See Augustine reference above, and Tertullian, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.viii.ii.i.html ''Ad Nationes'', Book 2], ch.1.</ref>

** Some Latin authors, such as [[Tertullian]] and [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] followed Varro's threefold usage, described above.<ref>See Augustine reference above, and Tertullian, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.viii.ii.i.html ''Ad Nationes'', Book 2], ch.1.</ref>

** In [[Church Fathers|patristic]] Greek sources, ''theologia'' could refer narrowly to devout and inspired knowledge of, and teaching about, the essential nature of God.<ref>[[Gregory of Nazianzus]] uses the word in this sense in his fourth-century [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-42.htm#P4178_1277213 ''Theological Orations'']; after his death, he was himself called 'the Theologian' at the [[Council of Chalcedon]] and thereafter in [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] - either because his ''Orations'' were seen as crucial examples of this kind of theology, or in the sense that he was (like the author of the Book of Revelation) seen as one who was an inspired preacher of the words of God.  (It is unlikely to mean, as claimed in the [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-41.htm#P4162_1255901 ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers''] introduction to his ''Theological Orations'', that he was a defender of the divinity of Christ the Word.)  See John McGukin, ''Saint Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography'' (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001), p.278.</ref>

** In [[Church Fathers|patristic]] Greek sources, ''theologia'' could refer narrowly to devout and inspired knowledge of, and teaching about, the essential nature of God.<ref>[[Gregory of Nazianzus]] uses the word in this sense in his fourth-century [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-42.htm#P4178_1277213 ''Theological Orations'']; after his death, he was himself called 'the Theologian' at the [[Council of Chalcedon]] and thereafter in [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] - either because his ''Orations'' were seen as crucial examples of this kind of theology, or in the sense that he was (like the author of the Book of Revelation) seen as one who was an inspired preacher of the words of God.  (It is unlikely to mean, as claimed in the [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-41.htm#P4162_1255901 ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers''] introduction to his ''Theological Orations'', that he was a defender of the divinity of Christ the Word.)  See John McGukin, ''Saint Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography'' (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001), p.278.</ref>

** In some [[medieval]] Greek and Latin sources, ''theologia'' (in the sense of "an account or record of the ways of God") could refer simply to the [[Bible]].<ref>[[Image:AlbertusMagnus.jpg|thumb|right|[[Albert the Great]], patron saint of Roman Catholic Theologians]]See e.g., [[Hugh of St. Victor]], ''Commentariorum in Hierarchiam Coelestem'', Expositio to Book 9: 'theologia, id est, divina Scriptura' (in [[Jacques Paul Migne|Migne's]] ''[[Patrologia Latina]]'' vol.175, 1091C).</ref>

** In some [[medieval]] Greek and Latin sources, ''theologia'' (in the sense of "an account or record of the ways of God") could refer simply to the [[Bible]]. See e.g., [[Hugh of St. Victor]], ''Commentariorum in Hierarchiam Coelestem'', Expositio to Book 9: 'theologia, id est, divina Scriptura' (in [[Jacques Paul Migne|Migne's]] ''[[Patrologia Latina]]'' vol.175, 1091C).</ref>

** In [[scholasticism|scholastic]] Latin sources, the term came to denote the rational study of the [[doctrine]]s of the Christian religion, or (more precisely) the academic [[discipline]] which investigated the coherence and implications of the language and claims of the Bible and of the theological tradition (the latter often as represented in [[Peter Lombard]]'s ''[[Sentences]]'', a book of extracts from the Church Fathers).<ref>See the title of [[Peter Abelard]]'s [http://individual.utoronto.ca/pking/resources/abelard/Theologia_christiana.txt ''Theologia Christiana''], and - perhaps most famously, of [[Thomas Aquinas]]' ''[[Summa Theologica]]''</ref>

** In [[scholasticism|scholastic]] Latin sources, the term came to denote the rational study of the [[doctrine]]s of the Christian religion, or (more precisely) the academic [[discipline]] which investigated the coherence and implications of the language and claims of the Bible and of the theological tradition (the latter often as represented in [[Peter Lombard]]'s ''[[Sentences]]'', a book of extracts from the Church Fathers).<ref>See the title of [[Peter Abelard]]'s [http://individual.utoronto.ca/pking/resources/abelard/Theologia_christiana.txt ''Theologia Christiana''], and - perhaps most famously, of [[Thomas Aquinas]]' ''[[Summa Theologica]]''</ref>

* It is the last of these senses (theology as the rational study of the teachings of a religion or of several religions) that lies behind most modern uses (though the second - theology as a discussion specifically of a religion's or several religions' teachings about God - is also found in some academic and ecclesiastical contexts; see the article on [[Theology Proper]]).

* It is the last of these senses (theology as the rational study of the teachings of a religion or of several religions) that lies behind most modern uses (though the second - theology as a discussion specifically of a religion's or several religions' teachings about God - is also found in some academic and ecclesiastical contexts; see the article on [[Theology Proper]]).

== Theology and religions other than Christianity ==

== Theology and religions other than Christianity ==

In academic theological circles, there is some debate as to whether theology is an activity peculiar to the Christian religion, such that the word 'theology' should be reserved for [[Christian theology]], and other words used to name analogous discourses within other religious traditions.<ref>See, for example, the initial reaction of Dharmachari Nagapriya in his [http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol3/buddhisttheology.html review] of Jackson and Makrasnky's ''Buddhist Theology'' (London: Curzon, 2000) in ''Western Buddhist Review 3''</ref> It is seen by some to be a term only appropriate to the study of religions that worship a [[deity]] (a ''theos''), and to presuppose belief in the ability to speak and [[reason]] about this deity (in ''logia'') - and so to be less appropriate in religious contexts which are organized differently (i.e. religions without a deity, or which deny that such subjects can be studied logically).  ([[Hierology]] has been proposed as an alternative, more generic term.)

In academic theological circles, there is some debate as to whether theology is an activity peculiar to the Christian religion, such that the word 'theology' should be reserved for [[Christian theology]], and other words used to name analogous discourses within other religious traditions.<ref>See, for example, the initial reaction of Dharmachari Nagapriya in his [http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol3/buddhisttheology.html review] of Jackson and Makrasnky's ''Buddhist Theology'' (London: Curzon, 2000) in ''Western Buddhist Review 3''</ref> It is seen by some to be a term only appropriate to the study of religions that worship a [[deity]] (a ''theos''), and to presuppose belief in the ability to speak and [[reason]] about this deity (in ''logia'') - and so to be less appropriate in religious contexts which are organized differently (i.e. religions without a deity, or which deny that such subjects can be studied logically).  ([[Hierology]] has been proposed as an alternative, more generic term.)

Theology is generally distinguished from other established [[academic disciplines]] that cover similar subject material (such as [[intellectual history]] or [[philosophy]]). Much of the debate concerning theology's place in the university or within a general higher education curriculum centers on whether theology's methods are appropriately theoretical and (broadly speaking) scientific or, on the other hand, whether theology requires a pre-commitment of faith by its practicioners.  

Theology is generally distinguished from other established [[academic disciplines]] that cover similar subject material (such as [[intellectual history]] or [[philosophy]]). Much of the debate concerning theology's place in the university or within a general higher education curriculum centers on whether theology's methods are appropriately theoretical and (broadly speaking) scientific or, on the other hand, whether theology requires a pre-commitment of faith by its practicioners.  

While theology often interacts with and draws upon the following, it is generally differenciated from:

While theology often interacts with and draws upon the following, it is generally differentiated from:

* [[Comparative religion]]/[[Religious studies]]

* [[Comparative religion]]/[[Religious studies]]

* "What makes anyone think that "theology" is a subject at all?" - [[Richard Dawkins]]

* "What makes anyone think that "theology" is a subject at all?" - [[Richard Dawkins]]

* "The notion that religion is a proper field, in which one might claim expertise, is one that should not go unquestioned. That clergyman presumably would not have deferred to the expertise of a claimed "fairyologist" on the exact shape and colour of fairy wings." - [[Richard Dawkins]]

* "The notion that religion is a proper field, in which one might claim expertise, is one that should not go unquestioned. That clergyman presumably would not have deferred to the expertise of a claimed "fairyologist" on the exact shape and colour of fairy wings." - [[Richard Dawkins]]

== External links ==

== External links ==