What is Theology?

Short Definition of Theology

Do you know anything about Theology? Does it sound strange for you? Theology has become a scholarship today. It comes from two Greek words: theos which means Gods and logos which means knowledges, words, reason, or things. So Theology is a scholarship that learns about God. It sounds weird since God’s existance is not emphirical. Besides, some says that God is bigger and wider than human so it is impossible to understand about God wholly. But actually, we can still learn about God because we know from the history that God always gives signs of His existence. After all, every single thing in the universe is the creation of God. We can learn about God by checking His creations and signs.

Branches of Christian

Primarily, Theology has three major branches. Those are Biblical Study, Sistematic Theology, and Practical Theology. Biblical Study focuses on The Bible; for instance its context, its languages, its stories. Meanwhile, Sistematic Theology  concentrate on Christian’s Doctrines. Practical Theology concerns about the applications of Christianity. But today, there are two addition: Liturgy and Church History. Liturgy was branch of Practical Theology and it has become major branch because it has special focus. So does Church History. Since Christianity developed and its development is not written in The Bible, it is separated with Biblical Study. In fact, a few people assume Ethics as major branch too. But it is a branch of Sistematic Theology.

Theology vs Science

There are so many things to be discussed about Theology, but it is important to talk about the relation between Theology and Science. For most things in both Theology and Science usually seem like feuding each other. It is actually started just by another contradiction between east and west. Formerly, those two were from the same scholarship called philosophy. They began with curiousity and thoughts of how had things been created and what were the purpose. But eastern and western people have different ways of thinking.  It made philosophy splited into eastern and western. Eastern philosophy tended to become Theology while the other one tended to be Science.

What is the different between their ways of thinking so they were separated? Both western and eastern people learned about things around them through philosophy. But the western made separation between God and their lives meanwhile the eastern considered God as part of theirs. The western agglomerated thoughts about God in Theology and another emphirical knowledge, for example physics, chemistry, psychology, etc. in Science.

Theology talks about unemphirical divine. In contrast, Science focuses on facts and emphirical things. That’s why they both can never be mixed up. The history recounted how the two were competing each other and dominated in rotation at the age of Renaissance and Enlightenment. However, Theology and Science can walk together as long as one does not interfere the other.

Science cannot say God does not exist because there must be someone who creates even the oldest, simplest substance. And Theology can not block the development of Science because everything in this universe should be developed for the sake of welfare and humanity.