Theology . I literally study about experience in our relationship with God and things related to Him. Theology is the investigative discipline that attempts to present religious truths in the form of rational propositions. It is distinguished from the philosophy of religion because it does not study the religious phenomenon from sensible experience, but from what religion calls Revelation. The person who is professionally engaged in the study of theology is called a theologian .
Summary
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- 1 As a science
- 2 The constitution of Catholic theological knowledge
- 3 Protestant theology
- 1 Points in common with the Catholic Church:
- 2 But it differs from the Catholic in the following aspects:
- 4 Apologetics
- 5 Sources
As science
Throughout Western history there has been debate as to whether theology can be considered as a science. The difficulty is that although deductive and inductive reasoning is used in theology, as in all other sciences, its end of study (God and Revelation) cannot be empirically tested .
However, this does not necessarily disqualify theology as a science, but only clarifies that the positive-naturalistic method could not be used in it, since its data, being transcendent, do not belong to sensible experience.
The constitution of Catholic theological knowledge
In the constitution of Catholic theological knowledge, its object, its sources and its place can be indicated. The “object” of theology is God — directly — and the world and man in the light of God. The “sources of theological knowledge” and its criteria of truth are human reason and divine revelation, in a privileged way. The “place” of theology is the Church as a community of faith and Christianity.
From this it derives that the Church must be able to establish in an authorized way criteria for theological reflection. According to the Catholic Church, research and theological work are inscribed within a rational knowledge, the object of which is given by the “revelation” – that is, the Word of God – transmitted and interpreted by the Church under the authority of the Magisterium – already that it is impossible to avoid the mediation of the Church – and accepted by faith (importance of the assent of the community). Theology in some cases reached a high level of speculation and elaboration. This rational knowledge has been considered science by theologians and by non-theologians in the medieval past and in contemporary times, [2] although for others from the past or contemporary it is not a science. To a large degree,
Protestant theology
From Luther, traditional Catholic theology evolved into Protestant; Luther’s 95 theses became the reformist foundation that led to the construction and consolidation of Protestant theology that differs from Catholic theology on doctrinal issues that we consider fundamental, we will start with the common points.
Points in common with the Catholic Church:
The Bible is considered the Word of God, so it is infallible and the most important text of all the books in the world. Worship of any kind of image or even human person is not accepted (although we were created in his image: “And God created man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Recognizes Mary as Virgin and as the Mother of Jesus, that being God is the Mother of God and that at the Wedding Feast at Cana thanks to her saying “do everything that He (Jesus) tells you” did the first miracle before its time comes. they believe that only Jesus leads the Father and no one else.
A singularity of the Protestant faith is the belief in the Trinity of God, since it focuses on the God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, as expressed in the Gospel according to Matthew (28:19: Therefore, go and teach all Gentiles, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost).
But it differs from the Catholic in the following aspects:
There are no documents other than the Bible that are accepted as infallible. Prostration in front of an image is not accepted, even if it is only a means that represents a human or divine person. They do not recognize the Virgin Mary as intercessor before God (Jesus is God) because Jesus said that He was the only way to reach God. (“Jesus said to him: I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”)
Apologetics
Main article: Apologetics
(from the Greek a1pologhtikóç : that defends). Branch of theology. Its objective is to defend and justify the fundamental principles of religion through arguments aimed at understanding.
Apologetics is included in the system of Catholic and Orthodox theology; the Protestantism rejects, based on the primacy of faith over reason. They enter into apologetics: the proofs of the existence of God and of the immortality of the soul , the doctrine concerning the signs of divine revelation (including miracles and prophecies), the study of objections directed against religion and its dogmas, as well as the theological analysis of the other religious confessions.
The internal defect of apologetics is that when addressing reason, it affirms that fundamental religious dogmas are inaccessible, that is, that apologetics, rationalist in form, are irrationalist in content. Characteristics of apologetics are refined sophistry, extreme prejudice and dogmatism , obscurantism, and an unscientific stance. Modern religious apologetics is closely linked to bourgeois social apologetics.
