Shepherds College: Systematic Theology, Fall 2025, Session 1

Session 1: Prolegomena On January 7th, 1855, the minister of New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, opened his morning sermon as follows: It has been said by someone that 'the proper study of mankind is man'. I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God's elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can compass and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, 'Behold I am wise'. But when we come to this master-science, finding that our plumb-line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass's colt; and with solemn exclamation, 'I am but of yesterday, and know nothing'. No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God ... But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe ... The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity. And, whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead. It is to that subject that I invite you this morning ... These words, spoken over a century ago by C. H. Spurgeon (at that time, incredibly, only twenty years old) were true then, and they are true now. They make a fitting preface to a series of studies on the nature and character of God.1 The Biblical Warrant for Christian Doctrine Eph 4:14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 1 Ti 4:6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Tt 1:9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. 1 Ti 6:3-5 3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 1 Ti 1:9-10 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 1 Ti 3:16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. The Beginning of Systematic Theology Essential Terms 1. Prolegomena 2. Worldview A comprehensive perspective that encompasses an individual's beliefs and values about the world and life. 3. Theism The belief that God or gods of some sort exist. 4. Theology An approach to the Bible that seeks to draw biblical teachings and themes into a self-consistent, coherent whole, in conversation with the history of Christian theological reflection and contemporary issues confronting the church. This is distinct from-yet related to-the approach of biblical theology, which focuses on the development of theological themes within individual books of the Bible or across one or both Testaments. 5. Systematic Theology: An approach to the Bible that seeks to draw biblical teachings and themes into a self-consistent, coherent whole, in conversation with the history of Christian theological reflection and contemporary issues confronting the church. This is distinct from-yet related to-the approach of biblical theology, which focuses on the development of theological themes within individual books of the Bible or across one or both Testaments. 6. Biblical Theology The study of the Bible that seeks to understand its themes, narratives, and doctrines as they develop throughout the scriptures. 7. Dogmatics The holding of religious beliefs that are in harmony with the accepted views of the community of faith. Right belief is to show itself in right practice. 8. Orthodoxy (Gk. Ortho = "correct" + doxa = "rightly, plainly": Orthodoxy is adherence to a correct, original, or mainstream doctrine and tradition, especially in a religious context, meaning "correct belief" or "right opinion". It emphasizes maintaining established beliefs and practices passed down from founders or leaders. 9. Orthopraxis (Gk. Ortho= "correct" + praxis = "deed or action"): Orthopraxis is the belief and emphasis that correct, or right, action and practice are just as important as, or even more important than, correct belief (orthodoxy). 10. Doctrine The body of teachings of the Christian faith concerning its central beliefs. Doctrine is grounded in Scripture and aims to maintain the integrity of Christianity by distinguishing it from non-Christian beliefs. Doctrine is of central importance in Christian preaching and teaching in that it equips the people of God for effective and faithful service in his world. 11. Reformed Theology Reformed theology is a distinct theological tradition that emerged from the Protestant Reformation, primarily associated with Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin, and emphasizing God's action and grace in Christ as the foundation of theology and faith. 12. The Five Solas The five solas (Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria) of the Protestant Reformation are a foundational set of Christian theological principles held to be central to the doctrines of justification and salvation as taught by most branches of Protestantism. 13. Systematic Theology An approach to the Bible that seeks to draw biblical teachings and themes into a self-consistent, coherent whole, in conversation with the history of Christian theological reflection and contemporary issues confronting the church. This is distinct from-yet related to-the approach of biblical theology, which focuses on the development of theological themes within individual books of the Bible or across one or both Testaments. 14. Presuppositions/Assumptions A branch of Christian apologetics that asserts faith in the truth of Christian theism is the only basis upon which human knowledge can be meaningful or coherent. 15. Apologetics A theological discipline concerned with the defense and explanation of Christian faith and doctrine. a. Laws of Logic i. Law of noncontradiction. ii. Law of the excluded middle Sources 1. Bible 2. Texts a. 1689 b. Calvin's Institutes c. Bavinck i. Reformed Dogmatics 1. The Doctrine of God. 2. The Wonderful Works of God. 3. Our Reasonable Faith d. Allison: 50 Core Truths. e. Packer: 18 Words. f. R. C. Sproul: Everyone's a Theologian. g. James Sire: The Universe Next Door. Names 1. Paul (see Romans) 2. Calvin 3. Luther 4. Augustine 5. Van Til 6. Francis Schaeffer 7. Abraham Kuyper 8. Bahnsen Senses of Theology Scripture God Biblical studies Biblical theology Man Theological studies Historical studies Doctrinal studies Historical theology Systematic theology Sin Christ Practical studies Philosophical theology/Philosophy of Religion Apologetics Salvation Church Last things Our Prolegomena: 1. Assumptions about truth/fact. a. The universe is created by God. b. God is not a part of the universe, but outside the universe. c. Man is unique in creation On worldview: 1. What is prime reality-the really real? To this we might answer: God, or the gods, or the material cosmos. Our answer here is the most fundamental.10 It sets the boundaries for the answers that can consistently be given to the other questions. This will become clear as we move from worldview to worldview in the chapters that follow. 2. What is the nature of external reality (that is, the world around us)? Here our answers point to whether we see the world as created or autonomous, as chaotic or orderly, as matter or spirit; or whether we emphasize our subjective, personal relationship to the world or its objectivity apart from us. 3. What is a human being? To this we might answer: a highly complex machine, a sleeping god, a person made in the image of God, a naked ape. 4. What happens to a person at death? Here we might reply: personal extinction, or transformation to a higher state, or reincarnation, or departure to a shadowy existence on "the other side." 5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? Sample answers include the idea that we are made in the image of an all-knowing God, or that consciousness and rationality developed under the contingencies of survival in a long process of evolution. 6. How do we know what is right and wrong? Again, perhaps we are made in the image of a God whose character is good, or right and wrong are determined by human choice alone or what feels good, or the notions simply developed under an impetus toward cultural or physical survival. 7. What is the meaning of human history? To this we might answer: to realize the purposes of God or the gods, to make a paradise on earth, to prepare a people for a life in community with a loving and holy God, and so forth.. . . 8. What personal, life-orienting core commitments are consistent with this worldview?2 Creeds, Confessions, and Catechism 1. Creed: A formal statement of beliefs used to articulate the doctrines of a faith community. 2. Confessions of Faith, may be defined as authorized formularies of Christian doctrine, generally as official documents employed to make the doctrinal individuality of a branch or branches of the Christian Church, although the three earliest creeds, the Apostles', the Athanasian and the Nicene are accepted by Christendom at large. a. Three Forms of Unity i. The Canons of Dort 1638-19 ii. The Belgic Confession 1561 iii. The Heidelberg Catechism 1563 b. Westminster Confession 1642-49 i. Westminster Catechism ii. Westminster Shorter Catechsim c. London Baptist Confession 1644 and 1689 3. Catechism: A summary of doctrine in the form of questions and answers. a. Heidelberg Catechism b. Luther's Small Catechism c. Spurgeon's Catechism Summary. In order to do systematic theology, we must: 1. Believe that the God of Scripture exists. a. He speaks. b. He is person. c. He is completely separate from His creation. d. He is triune: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit e. He can be understood within the limits of the human mind. 2. Believe that reality exists. a. Reality is knowable because God is knowable. b. Humans are created in the image of God and are not animals or machines. 3. There is a knowable meaning in the universe. a. A beginning and an end. b. A purpose. The Purpose of Systematic Theology is to know God. 1 J. I. Packer, Knowing God (Westmont, IL: IVP Books, 2011), 14-16. 10 Sire, Naming the Elephant, chap. 3. 2 James W. Sire, The Universe next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog, Sixth Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020), 8-9. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2