2. Nature of Theology
Theology is necessary for Christian life because it is a natural consequence of faith. Faith has an intellectual dimension, and it makes the saving truth available to humanity. Through theology, man probes deeper into this truth. Thus, theology is an instrument for cooperating with God in one’s own salvation.
Born from a life of faith, theology can be described as the science of Christian faith. Since faith is the beginning of salvation, theology is also the science of salvation. But what is the nature of this science? What is its object, purpose, and relation to other sciences?
4. Definition of Theology
The term theology comes from the Greek theos-logos, which means “word, teaching, doctrine, or science of God.”
Theology is different from the philosophical science of God (natural theology or philosophical theology). Here, we refer to the science of revelation: the scientific knowledge of divine revelation. The fruits of this science—that is, the truths about God deduced by Christian theologians—are also part of theology.
“Theology,” John Paul II says, “is a cognitive process through which the human mind, illuminated by faith and stimulated by love, advances in the immense territories that divine Revelation has thrown wide open before it.” Theology can thus be defined as “a science through which the Christian’s reason, which receives certitude and light from faith, by reasoning strives to understand what it believes, that is, the revealed mysteries and their consequences.”[1]
Christian theologians aim at partaking of the divine science, that is, of God’s knowledge of himself and of all things; theology is like an imprint of divine science. The theologian strives to understand the divine word, which is God’s intimacy, and to get closer to the very source of all truth: God himself. The theologian shares in a most excellent way of the very knowledge of God.[2]
5. A Short History of Theology
The first recorded use of the term theology is found in Plato.[3] He applied it to poetical myths about the gods and to the scientific discoveries of the philosophers who sought the truth about God. Aristotle used the term theological philosophy to refer to the study of the final causes of being, that is, the core of metaphysics or “first philosophy.”[4] This natural theology or philosophical theology reached very few, but very valuable, truths about a distant, far-away God.
Christianity completely changed that situation. Through Christian faith, God gave us clear knowledge of his personality and transcendence with respect to the world. Our faith announces God’s decision of making us his children.[5]
The early Christian writers used the term theology with caution because of its pagan connotations at that time. In the fourth century, St. Athanasius and the historian Eusebius of Caesarea were the first to apply that term to the knowledge of the main mysteries of the faith (especially the mystery of the Blessed Trinity). Dionysius the Areopagite applied the term to the spiritual knowledge of God (mystica theologia). In the fifth century, St. Augustine denounced the opposition of the pagan theologies (or rather theogonies) to the true theology, which is Christian doctrine; the only true knowledge about the intimacy of God is what the Church possesses and teaches.
Among the first Christian theologians of the second century, St. Justin (a converted professional philosopher), St. Irenaeus of Lyons, and St. Clement of Alexandria are worthy of note. St. Clement taught in the first theological school of ancient times, the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Origen, the most important theologian of the third century and the writer of De Principiis (the first systematic theological treatise) belonged to this school. The most outstanding theologians of the fourth and fifth centuries were St. Athanasius and, above all, St. Augustine.
In the Middle Ages, schools of theology emerged in the main cathedrals and religious houses; the main theologians of this period were St. Anselm, Peter Lombard, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, and Bl. John Duns Scotus. Universities grew up around the chief schools of theology.
During the transition into modernity, theology underwent gradual fragmentation into specialized studies, just as fields of concentration in universities diverged and separated. Some outstanding modern theologians are Francisco Suarez (sixteenth–seventeenth centuries), M.J. Scheeben, and J.H. Newman (nineteenth century). In the last two centuries, the Church had to correct the following misconceptions of the nature of theology: semirationalism, modernism, fideism. We will study each of these later on.
6. The Object of Theology
Theology, like any other science, can be defined by identifying its unique object:
6a) Material Object of Theology
Theologians always refer to the reality of God. They aim at a science that is proper of God; thus, the subject matter of theology is always God.[7] Theology is a strictly theocentric science; everything is referred to God as to its principle.[8]
By focusing on God, theology does not leave out created beings. Every being can be a subject of theological inquiry, since all that exists has been created by God. Since the created bear the mark of his creative power, they necessarily refer to God: They are instruments for the knowledge of God. Thus, theology is the science of God and of creatures insofar as they are related to God as their principle and end. Theology considers everything sub ratione deitatis—from the point of view of divinity—relating everything to God.
The theologian’s interest in God’s creations is different from that of other scientists. A physicist, for example, will study fire as a state of matter whose properties can be described and explained within the framework of a general theory of the universe. The theologian will also be interested in fire, but from a different point of view. The theologian studies it as a creature of God that expressly reflects some aspects of his nature and human salvation.
Among creatures, man deserves special attention from the point of view of theology. Man not only bears the mark of God; he is made in the image and likeness of God, and is destined for eternity. “Theology itself,” John Paul II says, “imposes this question of man in order to understand him as the recipient of grace and the Revelation of Christ.”[9]
Theology, the science of salvation, is also the science of revelation, whose purpose is the salvation of mankind. Only in Christ—in revelation—can man find the definitive answer to the meaning of life: the divine vocation to the supernatural end.[10]
6b) God, the Proper Object of Theology
The proper object, or formal object quod, of theology is, as Pope John Paul II has declared, “the mystery of God, of the Trinitarian God who in Jesus Christ has been revealed as God-Love.”[11] In other words, theology studies things in their relation to God, from the point of view of God, sub ratione deitatis. That is the formal object quod of theology.
Faith tends toward the beatific vision. The Lord taught us, “And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (Jn 17:3). It is only natural that theology is specifically interested in knowing Yahweh, the living God.
Since God revealed himself in Jesus Christ, in whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9), theology is also the science of Christ. There is no other way through which mankind could get to know the Father and reach God with confidence (cf. Jn 1:18; 14:6, 8–11, 16). Christ is, therefore, the special object of theology. Sound theological reasoning must always bear reference to Christ and to the Kingdom of God; theology is necessarily Christological and Christocentric.[12]
The words of the Christmas preface come to mind: “In the mystery of the incarnation your eternal Word has brought to the eyes of our faith a new and radiant vision of your glory. In him we see our God made visible and so are caught up in love of the God we cannot see....” Christ is the true way or method--methodos—of every theological research because he is the Way (Jn 14:16) through which God has come to us and through which we can reach God. He sustains your studies; he is the center of your life and of your prayer. Follow this “way” with enthusiasm, sustained by faith and love![13]
6c) Formal Object quo of Theology
The specific viewpoint of theology is a synthesis of faith and reason. The formal object quo of theology is the believing reason: reason enlightened and supported by faith--ratio fide illustrata, reason that desires to be guided and led to God by faith.
Only faith leads to the revealed God (cf. Heb 11:6); faith is, thus, the characteristic trait of the theological viewpoint. On the other hand, reason probes into revealed doctrine through study and human effort.[14] Theology is the science of faith because faith is the soul of theology. At the same time, theology is the work of reason because it must be configured and framed by reason.
Theological subjects should be taught in the light of faith, under the guidance of the magisterium of the Church, in such a way that students will draw pure Catholic teaching from divine revelation, will enter deeply into its meaning, make it the nourishment of their spiritual life, and learn to proclaim, explain, and defend it in their priestly ministry.[15]
St. Paul reminds us that without faith, the Gospel cannot appear to the human mind as what it really is: the revelation of God and the announcement of the only salvation (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).
Human intellect is open to all truth, including the divine truth (transcendence). Therefore, the proponents of a self-enclosed reason—cold and self-sufficient—fall into an error called rationalism in theology. They approach religion by trying to confine the grandeur of God within human limits.
Then reason, the cold, blind reason that is so different from the mind imbued with faith and even from the well-directed mind of someone capable of enjoying and loving things, becomes irrational in a person’s attempt to reduce everything to his cramped human experience. Thus is superhuman truth impoverished, and man’s heart develops a crust that makes it insensitive to the action of the Holy Spirit. Our limited intelligence would be completely at a loss then if the merciful power of God did not break down the barriers of our wretchedness. “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ez 36:26).[16]
Thus, theology cannot be defined as merely “reason applied to the data of faith.” For the theologian, faith is not just a set of data, pieces of information like any others. Above all, it is the motor of his or her research and the light that will make it possible. Faith is not just the “raw material” for the theologian; it is his instrument as well. Faith, organically united to reason, is necessary for understanding divine revelation.
Here, we should make a distinction between the content of faith (the revealed truths, or fides quae) and the light of faith (the virtue of faith--fides qua—that makes the act of faith possible). It is not enough for the theologian to know the revealed truths; he also needs the light of faith in order to understand and interpret them properly. For example, a nonbeliever could scientifically study Christianity and revealed truth in order to establish its differences with other religions. However, this would not be theology, but one of the sciences of religion (history, phenomenology, or philosophy of religion). Without the virtue of faith, it is not possible to learn true theology. The scholar without faith can only grope in the dark, unable to penetrate or appreciate the word of God.
7. Functions and Limits of Theology
In order to get a more precise idea of the nature of theology, we will outline some ideas that will be studied later more in detail.
7a) Functions of Theology
The First Vatican Council, by affirming that faith does not conflict but harmonizes with reason, affirmed these functions.[18] Theology is thereby at the service of faith. It reveals the treasures of truth, goodness, and beauty contained in our faith.
7b) Limits of Theology
Theology can never reach a perfect understanding of the faith. Thus, the theologian can never abandon the guidance of faith. He or she cannot attempt to demonstrate the revealed truths, that is, to make them evident to human reason. The Magisterium of the Church has explicitly declared that such pretense (called semirationalism) is seriously opposed to the teachings of revelation.[19]
Some of the truths revealed by God are natural truths, therefore accessible to human reason. Others, however, are mysteries of faith, that is, supernatural truths that transcend the intellect of creatures. We cannot know these truths without revelation; even with revelation, we can never understand them completely. As the First Vatican Council solemnly teaches:
Divine mysteries of their own nature so excel the created intellect that even when they have been given in Revelation and accepted by faith, that very faith still keeps them veiled in a sort of obscurity, as long as “we are exiled from the Lord” in this mortal life, “for we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:6ff.).[20]
Sacred Scripture often refers to such mysteries of faith. St. Paul, for example, describes faith as a paradoxical knowledge that the wise of this world find strange and even scandalous (cf. 1 Cor 2:6–10).
Faith must be as present in the theologian as it is in any other faithful. The theologian must not cease to believe; the more he gets to know about the faith, the more conscious he must be of the fathomless depth of wisdom contained in it. The deeper he probes the revealed mysteries, the more aware he must be of our intellect’s limitation to understand and express the faith.
The theologian is not a believer who has gone beyond the attitude of mere faith, who can say that he now sees what before he could only believe. The theologian is a Christian who can explain the contents of his faith with greater detail and scope. Like any other Christian, the theologian trusts in God and, acknowledging his supreme authority, thanks him for the gift of faith. We should not forget that faith, though presupposing humility, does not humiliate but raises the believer, since it makes him participate in the very knowledge of God.[21]
8. Theology as Science and Wisdom
The importance and dignity of theology is shown in the fact that it is rigorously scientific in nature and able to guide human culture and behavior; it is true supernatural wisdom.
8a) Theology, a Science
Supernatural theology is properly a science. Peter Abelard, a twelfth-century theologian, hinted at this fact. St. Thomas Aquinas was the first to establish that the Aristotelian concept of science, “knowing with certitude through causes,” strictly and properly applies to theology. Science is an explanatory knowledge of things through their real causes that allows us to know why things are the way they are, and it allows us to know the truth of our statements about them.[22] This definition of science applies perfectly well to theology. The statements of theology:
Still, theology is a science not only on account of the correct use of logic in its proceedings. Theology is a science primarily because the revealed truths are real truths. Through them, the theologian can know the deep reality of man, the world, and God. The scientific character of theology hangs on the truth of its principles—the truths revealed by God.
St. Thomas observed that the principles of theology, though not evident for us, are evident for other persons—the saints in heaven. He affirmed that theology is related to the science of the saints, who see God face to face (this is the scientia beatorum).
Theology, as the science of faith, shares in the light of faith, and also in its relative imperfection; in heaven, faith will give way to vision.[23] Therefore, the theologian holds the principles of this science within the humility and strength of faith; faith brings to the theologian the very principle of divine knowledge.
Schools of thought that deny the scientific value of the sciences of the spirit also reject the scientific character of theology. Among these are positivism (which erroneously limits the scope of certainty to sensible, experimental evidence) and fideism (which rejects the value of reason as a source of knowledge).
8b) Theology as Wisdom
Wisdom is the knowledge of all things through their ultimate causes. These two elements—maximum scope and depth—are also found in theology:
Theology is not just one more wisdom among the human lore; it is Wisdom. It is knowledge through the highest cause, through the very principle of the order of history and the world.
8c) Theology, Culture, and Life
Aristotle pointed out that it is proper for a wise man to have the capacity of effectively directing others. Thus, theological knowledge should enable man to give the proper orientation to all human sciences and activities. As St. Thomas Aquinas writes:
This doctrine is wisdom above all human wisdom, in an absolute manner. We call wise one who judges according to the highest principles of his discipline or science. Thus, in a building, he who plans the form of the house is called wise and architect, in opposition to the laborers who merely trim the wood and fit the stones. St. Paul says: “As a wise architect I have laid the foundation” (1 Cor 3:10).
Again, in human life, a prudent man is called wise, because he directs his acts to a fitting end: “Wisdom is prudence to a man” (Prv 10:23).[24]
Theology should be held as the highest of all sciences, not as an encyclopedic science that covers all human knowledge, but because of its foundation: the revealed truth. Only faith and theology provide the fundamental criteria to judge the certainty and dignity of every human knowledge, and the meaning and value of every ideal or undertaking.
Sacred Scripture attests: “The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one” (1 Cor 2:14–15).
All human activities and sciences can be aimed toward salvation through theology. For this reason, the Church encourages all the faithful to acquire theological formation:
Christian wisdom, which the Church teaches by divine authority, continually inspires the faithful of Christ to endeavor zealously to relate human affairs and activities to religious values in a single living synthesis. Under the direction of these values, all things are mutually connected for the glory of God and the integral development of the person, a development that includes both corporal and spiritual well-being.[25]
8d) The Defense of the Faith
Being supernatural wisdom, theology can intellectually defend itself against those who challenge its principles, that is, against those who attack the faith. Mysteries of faith cannot be demonstrated, but they can be defended in an indirect way. A theologian can show that those attacking the faith contradict themselves; thus, he protects the truth by a reduction to the absurd. Theology functions in this defense because it:
(i) shows that faith is a reasonable and legitimate element in human life, and a source of true and proper knowledge. It also emphasizes the credibility of Christian revelation; that is, it demonstrates the preambles and credibility of faith.
(ii) defends the Magisterium against those who would deny its relation with the apostolic teachings; it shows that the teachings of the Church are contained in the sources of revelation.
(iii) argues, in ecumenical dialogue, against those who deny some truths of faith while accepting others. Theology shows that, given the intimate relationship among the articles of faith, accepting one implies accepting all.
(iv) analyzes attacks against the truths of faith and exposes their inconsistencies. It shows that the truths of revelation, although not evident, are in no way contradictory.
(v) gives reasons of congruence or fittingness for the revealed truths.[26] These do not demonstrate the revealed truths, but show the intimate connection they keep—in spite of their transcendence—with natural knowledge, and provide a powerful motive of credibility.[27]
Footnotes:
[1] John Paul II, “Homily to the Roman Pontifical Universities.” L’Osservatore Romano, Nov. 9, 1981.
[2] Cf. J.L. Illanes, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Teología,” 22:233.
[3] Plato, Republic, 379a5.
[4] Aristotle, Metaphysics E 102a19; K 1064b3.
[5] Cf. J.L. Illanes, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Teología,” 22:233.
[6] Like faith, theology does not study ideas, but realities: “The symbol mentions the things about which faith is, insofar as the act of the believer is terminated in them, as is evident from the manner of speaking about them. Now the act of the believer does not terminate in a proposition, but in a thing. For as in science we do not form propositions, except in order to have knowledge about things through their means, so it is in faith” (St. Thomas Aquinas, ST, II-II, q. 1, a. 2, ad 2).
[7] Cf. ST, I, q. 1, a. 7; I, q. 14, aa. 5–8, 11.
[8] Cf. St. Bonaventure, In IV Sententiarum, 1, proemium, q. 1.
[9] John Paul II, “Address to Spanish Theologians.” L’Osservatore Romano, Dec. 20, 1982.
[10] Cf. GS, 22.
[11] John Paul II, “Address to Spanish Theologians.” L’Osservatore Romano, Dec. 20, 1982.
[12] Cf. J.L. Illanes, “Teología y método teológico en los documentos del Concilio Vaticano II,” Scripta Theologica, 12 (1980): 783.
[13] John Paul II, “Address in the Pontifical Gregorian University.” L’Osservatore Romano, Jan. 21, 1980.
[14] Cf. ST, II-II, q. 45, a. 1, ad 2.
[15] OT, 16.
[16] St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, 165.
[17] Cf. J.L. Illanes, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Teología,” 22:237.
[18] Cf. DS 3016.
[19] Cf. Gregory XVI, Brief Dum Acerbissimas: DS 2738–40; Pius IX, Brief Eximiam Tuam: DS 2828–31; Letter Gravissimus Inter: DS 2850–61.
[20] DS 3016.
[21] J.L. Illanes, El Saber Teológico (Madrid, 1978), 49.
[22] Cf. Antonio Millan Puelles, Léxico Filosófico (Madrid, 1986), 129; J.G. Colbert, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Ciencia,” 5:597.
[23] Cf. J.L. Illanes, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Teología,” 22:241.
[24] ST, I, q. 1, a. 6.
[25] John Paul II, Ap. Const. Sapientia Christiana, May 25, 1979: L’Osservatore Romano, June 4, 1979; cf. GS, 43ff.
[26] Cf. ST, I, q. 32, a. 1, ad 2.
[27] Cf. J.L. Illanes, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Teología,” 22:248–49.
Born from a life of faith, theology can be described as the science of Christian faith. Since faith is the beginning of salvation, theology is also the science of salvation. But what is the nature of this science? What is its object, purpose, and relation to other sciences?
4. Definition of Theology
The term theology comes from the Greek theos-logos, which means “word, teaching, doctrine, or science of God.”
Theology is different from the philosophical science of God (natural theology or philosophical theology). Here, we refer to the science of revelation: the scientific knowledge of divine revelation. The fruits of this science—that is, the truths about God deduced by Christian theologians—are also part of theology.
“Theology,” John Paul II says, “is a cognitive process through which the human mind, illuminated by faith and stimulated by love, advances in the immense territories that divine Revelation has thrown wide open before it.” Theology can thus be defined as “a science through which the Christian’s reason, which receives certitude and light from faith, by reasoning strives to understand what it believes, that is, the revealed mysteries and their consequences.”[1]
Christian theologians aim at partaking of the divine science, that is, of God’s knowledge of himself and of all things; theology is like an imprint of divine science. The theologian strives to understand the divine word, which is God’s intimacy, and to get closer to the very source of all truth: God himself. The theologian shares in a most excellent way of the very knowledge of God.[2]
5. A Short History of Theology
The first recorded use of the term theology is found in Plato.[3] He applied it to poetical myths about the gods and to the scientific discoveries of the philosophers who sought the truth about God. Aristotle used the term theological philosophy to refer to the study of the final causes of being, that is, the core of metaphysics or “first philosophy.”[4] This natural theology or philosophical theology reached very few, but very valuable, truths about a distant, far-away God.
Christianity completely changed that situation. Through Christian faith, God gave us clear knowledge of his personality and transcendence with respect to the world. Our faith announces God’s decision of making us his children.[5]
The early Christian writers used the term theology with caution because of its pagan connotations at that time. In the fourth century, St. Athanasius and the historian Eusebius of Caesarea were the first to apply that term to the knowledge of the main mysteries of the faith (especially the mystery of the Blessed Trinity). Dionysius the Areopagite applied the term to the spiritual knowledge of God (mystica theologia). In the fifth century, St. Augustine denounced the opposition of the pagan theologies (or rather theogonies) to the true theology, which is Christian doctrine; the only true knowledge about the intimacy of God is what the Church possesses and teaches.
Among the first Christian theologians of the second century, St. Justin (a converted professional philosopher), St. Irenaeus of Lyons, and St. Clement of Alexandria are worthy of note. St. Clement taught in the first theological school of ancient times, the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Origen, the most important theologian of the third century and the writer of De Principiis (the first systematic theological treatise) belonged to this school. The most outstanding theologians of the fourth and fifth centuries were St. Athanasius and, above all, St. Augustine.
In the Middle Ages, schools of theology emerged in the main cathedrals and religious houses; the main theologians of this period were St. Anselm, Peter Lombard, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, and Bl. John Duns Scotus. Universities grew up around the chief schools of theology.
During the transition into modernity, theology underwent gradual fragmentation into specialized studies, just as fields of concentration in universities diverged and separated. Some outstanding modern theologians are Francisco Suarez (sixteenth–seventeenth centuries), M.J. Scheeben, and J.H. Newman (nineteenth century). In the last two centuries, the Church had to correct the following misconceptions of the nature of theology: semirationalism, modernism, fideism. We will study each of these later on.
6. The Object of Theology
Theology, like any other science, can be defined by identifying its unique object:
- The specific realities it studies. This is the subject (subiectum) or topic, which some authors call the material object.[6]
- The kind of objects it studies, and the aspect of reality in which it is interested (formal object quod).
- The point of view from which the scholar approaches reality (formal object quo).
6a) Material Object of Theology
Theologians always refer to the reality of God. They aim at a science that is proper of God; thus, the subject matter of theology is always God.[7] Theology is a strictly theocentric science; everything is referred to God as to its principle.[8]
By focusing on God, theology does not leave out created beings. Every being can be a subject of theological inquiry, since all that exists has been created by God. Since the created bear the mark of his creative power, they necessarily refer to God: They are instruments for the knowledge of God. Thus, theology is the science of God and of creatures insofar as they are related to God as their principle and end. Theology considers everything sub ratione deitatis—from the point of view of divinity—relating everything to God.
The theologian’s interest in God’s creations is different from that of other scientists. A physicist, for example, will study fire as a state of matter whose properties can be described and explained within the framework of a general theory of the universe. The theologian will also be interested in fire, but from a different point of view. The theologian studies it as a creature of God that expressly reflects some aspects of his nature and human salvation.
Among creatures, man deserves special attention from the point of view of theology. Man not only bears the mark of God; he is made in the image and likeness of God, and is destined for eternity. “Theology itself,” John Paul II says, “imposes this question of man in order to understand him as the recipient of grace and the Revelation of Christ.”[9]
Theology, the science of salvation, is also the science of revelation, whose purpose is the salvation of mankind. Only in Christ—in revelation—can man find the definitive answer to the meaning of life: the divine vocation to the supernatural end.[10]
6b) God, the Proper Object of Theology
The proper object, or formal object quod, of theology is, as Pope John Paul II has declared, “the mystery of God, of the Trinitarian God who in Jesus Christ has been revealed as God-Love.”[11] In other words, theology studies things in their relation to God, from the point of view of God, sub ratione deitatis. That is the formal object quod of theology.
Faith tends toward the beatific vision. The Lord taught us, “And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (Jn 17:3). It is only natural that theology is specifically interested in knowing Yahweh, the living God.
Since God revealed himself in Jesus Christ, in whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9), theology is also the science of Christ. There is no other way through which mankind could get to know the Father and reach God with confidence (cf. Jn 1:18; 14:6, 8–11, 16). Christ is, therefore, the special object of theology. Sound theological reasoning must always bear reference to Christ and to the Kingdom of God; theology is necessarily Christological and Christocentric.[12]
The words of the Christmas preface come to mind: “In the mystery of the incarnation your eternal Word has brought to the eyes of our faith a new and radiant vision of your glory. In him we see our God made visible and so are caught up in love of the God we cannot see....” Christ is the true way or method--methodos—of every theological research because he is the Way (Jn 14:16) through which God has come to us and through which we can reach God. He sustains your studies; he is the center of your life and of your prayer. Follow this “way” with enthusiasm, sustained by faith and love![13]
6c) Formal Object quo of Theology
The specific viewpoint of theology is a synthesis of faith and reason. The formal object quo of theology is the believing reason: reason enlightened and supported by faith--ratio fide illustrata, reason that desires to be guided and led to God by faith.
Only faith leads to the revealed God (cf. Heb 11:6); faith is, thus, the characteristic trait of the theological viewpoint. On the other hand, reason probes into revealed doctrine through study and human effort.[14] Theology is the science of faith because faith is the soul of theology. At the same time, theology is the work of reason because it must be configured and framed by reason.
Theological subjects should be taught in the light of faith, under the guidance of the magisterium of the Church, in such a way that students will draw pure Catholic teaching from divine revelation, will enter deeply into its meaning, make it the nourishment of their spiritual life, and learn to proclaim, explain, and defend it in their priestly ministry.[15]
St. Paul reminds us that without faith, the Gospel cannot appear to the human mind as what it really is: the revelation of God and the announcement of the only salvation (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).
Human intellect is open to all truth, including the divine truth (transcendence). Therefore, the proponents of a self-enclosed reason—cold and self-sufficient—fall into an error called rationalism in theology. They approach religion by trying to confine the grandeur of God within human limits.
Then reason, the cold, blind reason that is so different from the mind imbued with faith and even from the well-directed mind of someone capable of enjoying and loving things, becomes irrational in a person’s attempt to reduce everything to his cramped human experience. Thus is superhuman truth impoverished, and man’s heart develops a crust that makes it insensitive to the action of the Holy Spirit. Our limited intelligence would be completely at a loss then if the merciful power of God did not break down the barriers of our wretchedness. “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ez 36:26).[16]
Thus, theology cannot be defined as merely “reason applied to the data of faith.” For the theologian, faith is not just a set of data, pieces of information like any others. Above all, it is the motor of his or her research and the light that will make it possible. Faith is not just the “raw material” for the theologian; it is his instrument as well. Faith, organically united to reason, is necessary for understanding divine revelation.
Here, we should make a distinction between the content of faith (the revealed truths, or fides quae) and the light of faith (the virtue of faith--fides qua—that makes the act of faith possible). It is not enough for the theologian to know the revealed truths; he also needs the light of faith in order to understand and interpret them properly. For example, a nonbeliever could scientifically study Christianity and revealed truth in order to establish its differences with other religions. However, this would not be theology, but one of the sciences of religion (history, phenomenology, or philosophy of religion). Without the virtue of faith, it is not possible to learn true theology. The scholar without faith can only grope in the dark, unable to penetrate or appreciate the word of God.
7. Functions and Limits of Theology
In order to get a more precise idea of the nature of theology, we will outline some ideas that will be studied later more in detail.
7a) Functions of Theology
- Theology delineates a list or catalog of the truths of faith (catechism or symbol of faith), specifying all the aspects and details that Holy Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium attest about each truth of the faith.
- It studies the content of each revealed truth and explains it through analogies and examples in order to penetrate its meaning.
- It reflects on the whole set of revealed truths in order to show their harmony and unity. This implies comparing the truths to reveal their interrelations, so the intellect can see the revealed truths as a structured body.
- It critically analyzes the objections that, in each historical period, have been brought against the truths of faith in order to show their fallacy.
- It studies culture and life from the viewpoint of faith in order to judge them with the knowledge about creation given by revelation. Thus, we can incorporate the positive elements of culture in Christian wisdom and denounce the antihuman corruptions that may have crept into them.[17]
The First Vatican Council, by affirming that faith does not conflict but harmonizes with reason, affirmed these functions.[18] Theology is thereby at the service of faith. It reveals the treasures of truth, goodness, and beauty contained in our faith.
7b) Limits of Theology
Theology can never reach a perfect understanding of the faith. Thus, the theologian can never abandon the guidance of faith. He or she cannot attempt to demonstrate the revealed truths, that is, to make them evident to human reason. The Magisterium of the Church has explicitly declared that such pretense (called semirationalism) is seriously opposed to the teachings of revelation.[19]
Some of the truths revealed by God are natural truths, therefore accessible to human reason. Others, however, are mysteries of faith, that is, supernatural truths that transcend the intellect of creatures. We cannot know these truths without revelation; even with revelation, we can never understand them completely. As the First Vatican Council solemnly teaches:
Divine mysteries of their own nature so excel the created intellect that even when they have been given in Revelation and accepted by faith, that very faith still keeps them veiled in a sort of obscurity, as long as “we are exiled from the Lord” in this mortal life, “for we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:6ff.).[20]
Sacred Scripture often refers to such mysteries of faith. St. Paul, for example, describes faith as a paradoxical knowledge that the wise of this world find strange and even scandalous (cf. 1 Cor 2:6–10).
Faith must be as present in the theologian as it is in any other faithful. The theologian must not cease to believe; the more he gets to know about the faith, the more conscious he must be of the fathomless depth of wisdom contained in it. The deeper he probes the revealed mysteries, the more aware he must be of our intellect’s limitation to understand and express the faith.
The theologian is not a believer who has gone beyond the attitude of mere faith, who can say that he now sees what before he could only believe. The theologian is a Christian who can explain the contents of his faith with greater detail and scope. Like any other Christian, the theologian trusts in God and, acknowledging his supreme authority, thanks him for the gift of faith. We should not forget that faith, though presupposing humility, does not humiliate but raises the believer, since it makes him participate in the very knowledge of God.[21]
8. Theology as Science and Wisdom
The importance and dignity of theology is shown in the fact that it is rigorously scientific in nature and able to guide human culture and behavior; it is true supernatural wisdom.
8a) Theology, a Science
Supernatural theology is properly a science. Peter Abelard, a twelfth-century theologian, hinted at this fact. St. Thomas Aquinas was the first to establish that the Aristotelian concept of science, “knowing with certitude through causes,” strictly and properly applies to theology. Science is an explanatory knowledge of things through their real causes that allows us to know why things are the way they are, and it allows us to know the truth of our statements about them.[22] This definition of science applies perfectly well to theology. The statements of theology:
- are extraordinarily certain, since they share in the supreme certainty of faith;
- explain things through their real causes: the divine will and God’s nature;
- respect all the rules of logic, which enables the theologian to account for his knowledge and allows others to verify his conclusions.
Still, theology is a science not only on account of the correct use of logic in its proceedings. Theology is a science primarily because the revealed truths are real truths. Through them, the theologian can know the deep reality of man, the world, and God. The scientific character of theology hangs on the truth of its principles—the truths revealed by God.
St. Thomas observed that the principles of theology, though not evident for us, are evident for other persons—the saints in heaven. He affirmed that theology is related to the science of the saints, who see God face to face (this is the scientia beatorum).
Theology, as the science of faith, shares in the light of faith, and also in its relative imperfection; in heaven, faith will give way to vision.[23] Therefore, the theologian holds the principles of this science within the humility and strength of faith; faith brings to the theologian the very principle of divine knowledge.
Schools of thought that deny the scientific value of the sciences of the spirit also reject the scientific character of theology. Among these are positivism (which erroneously limits the scope of certainty to sensible, experimental evidence) and fideism (which rejects the value of reason as a source of knowledge).
8b) Theology as Wisdom
Wisdom is the knowledge of all things through their ultimate causes. These two elements—maximum scope and depth—are also found in theology:
- As the science of God (who is the beginning and end of all things and the most radical of all causes), theology studies the deepest causes of being and the destiny of man and cosmos.
- Like philosophical theology (theodicy), theology studies God. Unlike the former, however, theology obtains all the truths it teaches from that same God, who revealed himself. Based on the revelation of the divine intimacy, theology partakes of divine science and thus reaches the eternal reasons of all things.
Theology is not just one more wisdom among the human lore; it is Wisdom. It is knowledge through the highest cause, through the very principle of the order of history and the world.
8c) Theology, Culture, and Life
Aristotle pointed out that it is proper for a wise man to have the capacity of effectively directing others. Thus, theological knowledge should enable man to give the proper orientation to all human sciences and activities. As St. Thomas Aquinas writes:
This doctrine is wisdom above all human wisdom, in an absolute manner. We call wise one who judges according to the highest principles of his discipline or science. Thus, in a building, he who plans the form of the house is called wise and architect, in opposition to the laborers who merely trim the wood and fit the stones. St. Paul says: “As a wise architect I have laid the foundation” (1 Cor 3:10).
Again, in human life, a prudent man is called wise, because he directs his acts to a fitting end: “Wisdom is prudence to a man” (Prv 10:23).[24]
Theology should be held as the highest of all sciences, not as an encyclopedic science that covers all human knowledge, but because of its foundation: the revealed truth. Only faith and theology provide the fundamental criteria to judge the certainty and dignity of every human knowledge, and the meaning and value of every ideal or undertaking.
Sacred Scripture attests: “The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one” (1 Cor 2:14–15).
All human activities and sciences can be aimed toward salvation through theology. For this reason, the Church encourages all the faithful to acquire theological formation:
Christian wisdom, which the Church teaches by divine authority, continually inspires the faithful of Christ to endeavor zealously to relate human affairs and activities to religious values in a single living synthesis. Under the direction of these values, all things are mutually connected for the glory of God and the integral development of the person, a development that includes both corporal and spiritual well-being.[25]
8d) The Defense of the Faith
Being supernatural wisdom, theology can intellectually defend itself against those who challenge its principles, that is, against those who attack the faith. Mysteries of faith cannot be demonstrated, but they can be defended in an indirect way. A theologian can show that those attacking the faith contradict themselves; thus, he protects the truth by a reduction to the absurd. Theology functions in this defense because it:
(i) shows that faith is a reasonable and legitimate element in human life, and a source of true and proper knowledge. It also emphasizes the credibility of Christian revelation; that is, it demonstrates the preambles and credibility of faith.
(ii) defends the Magisterium against those who would deny its relation with the apostolic teachings; it shows that the teachings of the Church are contained in the sources of revelation.
(iii) argues, in ecumenical dialogue, against those who deny some truths of faith while accepting others. Theology shows that, given the intimate relationship among the articles of faith, accepting one implies accepting all.
(iv) analyzes attacks against the truths of faith and exposes their inconsistencies. It shows that the truths of revelation, although not evident, are in no way contradictory.
(v) gives reasons of congruence or fittingness for the revealed truths.[26] These do not demonstrate the revealed truths, but show the intimate connection they keep—in spite of their transcendence—with natural knowledge, and provide a powerful motive of credibility.[27]
Footnotes:
[1] John Paul II, “Homily to the Roman Pontifical Universities.” L’Osservatore Romano, Nov. 9, 1981.
[2] Cf. J.L. Illanes, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Teología,” 22:233.
[3] Plato, Republic, 379a5.
[4] Aristotle, Metaphysics E 102a19; K 1064b3.
[5] Cf. J.L. Illanes, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Teología,” 22:233.
[6] Like faith, theology does not study ideas, but realities: “The symbol mentions the things about which faith is, insofar as the act of the believer is terminated in them, as is evident from the manner of speaking about them. Now the act of the believer does not terminate in a proposition, but in a thing. For as in science we do not form propositions, except in order to have knowledge about things through their means, so it is in faith” (St. Thomas Aquinas, ST, II-II, q. 1, a. 2, ad 2).
[7] Cf. ST, I, q. 1, a. 7; I, q. 14, aa. 5–8, 11.
[8] Cf. St. Bonaventure, In IV Sententiarum, 1, proemium, q. 1.
[9] John Paul II, “Address to Spanish Theologians.” L’Osservatore Romano, Dec. 20, 1982.
[10] Cf. GS, 22.
[11] John Paul II, “Address to Spanish Theologians.” L’Osservatore Romano, Dec. 20, 1982.
[12] Cf. J.L. Illanes, “Teología y método teológico en los documentos del Concilio Vaticano II,” Scripta Theologica, 12 (1980): 783.
[13] John Paul II, “Address in the Pontifical Gregorian University.” L’Osservatore Romano, Jan. 21, 1980.
[14] Cf. ST, II-II, q. 45, a. 1, ad 2.
[15] OT, 16.
[16] St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, 165.
[17] Cf. J.L. Illanes, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Teología,” 22:237.
[18] Cf. DS 3016.
[19] Cf. Gregory XVI, Brief Dum Acerbissimas: DS 2738–40; Pius IX, Brief Eximiam Tuam: DS 2828–31; Letter Gravissimus Inter: DS 2850–61.
[20] DS 3016.
[21] J.L. Illanes, El Saber Teológico (Madrid, 1978), 49.
[22] Cf. Antonio Millan Puelles, Léxico Filosófico (Madrid, 1986), 129; J.G. Colbert, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Ciencia,” 5:597.
[23] Cf. J.L. Illanes, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Teología,” 22:241.
[24] ST, I, q. 1, a. 6.
[25] John Paul II, Ap. Const. Sapientia Christiana, May 25, 1979: L’Osservatore Romano, June 4, 1979; cf. GS, 43ff.
[26] Cf. ST, I, q. 32, a. 1, ad 2.
[27] Cf. J.L. Illanes, Gran Enciclopedia Rialp, s.v. “Teología,” 22:248–49.