Our English word ‘Theology’ is a word that is made up of two Greek words: theos and logos. Theos is the Greek term for ‘God’. Logos is a term which means ‘word’ or ‘study’. At its heart, therefore, Theology is simply the task of studying the character and nature of God.
This is a big and noble task. Endeavouring to build belief systems and use human words to explain and understand God is like doing the impossible. But it is something that we are invited into; the pursuit of knowing God (Ephesians 3:14-19).
When embarking on this journey, one of the most important questions to ask is, how do we get our theology? What are the sources of our theology? In other words, how do we arrive at our theological beliefs? Historically, the church has recognised four major sources of theology, sometimes known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. The 4 sources are Scripture, experience, tradition and reason.
Scripture (or the Bible) is the main source of our theology. The Bible is a collection of texts which talk about God. Through a variety of genres, these sacred texts contain descriptions of God, narratives of God’s character and deeds, and they document people’s experiences with God. Another word for Scripture is Canon, which comes from the Greek word κανόνας (kanonás) and means plumbline or standard. Scripture is, therefore, the gold standard and the foundational source for constructing our theological beliefs.
Scripture is commonly understood by Christians as being the primary source for theology, as it doesn’t just speak about God, but it speaks for God. Scripture doesn’t just talk about God, but it also claims to be from God. It is God’s self-revelation in written form.
Scripture is a detailed, reliable and trustworthy revelation of God. While other sources of theology can be useful, Scripture is a solid rock for much of our theology. As such, it is best placed at the base of our theological endeavours and is the compass that guides all other sources to build our theology.
For more on what the Bible is, read our past blog entries ‘What is the Bible?’ and ‘The Bible: A Source of Theology and A Mirror’
Experience is another source of theology. For each of us, the lives that we live and the events that take place in our day-to-day lives contribute to our understanding and beliefs about God and ourselves. Our experiences have a significant impact on what we believe about God; both positively and negatively.
Our experience is, by nature, unique to each of us as individuals. We all live very different lives, we have very different experiences and, as a result, we come to different conclusions about how our experience impacts on what we believe about God. In our faith journeys, experience can be one of the key building blocks of our walk with God.
Experience must be built upon the foundational source of Scripture. While experience can be a helpful tool, our experiences are often fickle and they can take us away from the truth of God’s Word. God’s promises are eternally true and our experience must always be built on the firm foundation of Scripture.
The third source of theology is tradition: the customs, ways and practices passed on by those who have gone before us which shape our understanding of who God is.
In the New Testament Paul talks about a handing over of traditions in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 where he says:
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
(emphasis mine)
Many of our traditions are experienced through the church, whether it be Scripture reading, the singing of songs, communion or prayer. Traditions are important for connecting our own theological beliefs with those who have gone before. They help us to obtain a wider perspective on who God is and they allow us to benefit from the wisdom of those who have gone before.
At its best, tradition is that which guarantees our faithfulness to Scripture and the apostolic teaching, and it is an important source in our journey of theological understanding.
The fourth source of Theology is reason; our cognitive capacity to reflect upon the character and nature of God.
As human beings we are, in part, rational beings. Reason is hard-wired into our make-up and, along with our emotions, we use reason to make moral judgements and life choices. As a result, it makes sense that reason has a role to play in the construction of our theology.
The role of reason as a source of theology has, at times, been somewhat controversial. Some have, in the past, over-spiritualised the Christian faith to such an extent that reason was looked down upon as being un-spiritual, fleshly, and second nature. At other times, we can emphasise reason above any other source of theology and, in doing so, theology becomes a clinical, academic exercise completely divorced from any spiritual, emotional or experiential lens.
Just like with the other sources of Theology, reason can be a useful source when built upon the foundation of Scripture. We can both over and under-rationalise the Christian faith, and it is by the guidance of Scripture that we can maturely use the gift of our minds to construct our theological beliefs.
While the Wesleyan Quadrilateral consists of four sources of theology, for many Christians creation is another important source. It is one which has, for generations played an important role in the construction of Christian Theology.
The natural world can contribute to our understanding of God in a way that no other source can. Whether it be marvelling at a night sky, a sprawling mountain range or the beauty of sunset, creation can show us something of the beauty of God.
Scripture itself gives us this insight into creation as a contributing factor to our understanding of God. As we read in Romans 1:20:
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.
God’s nature and character are, in a small way, communicated through His creation. When this source is utilised in relationship with experience, tradition, reason and Scripture, we can develop biblical and mature theological convictions and beliefs.