BST-01 What Is Systematic Theology?

Do you know someone who just can’t stand to be in a messy room? I once had a college roommate who was like that. I’d often leave a mess on my desk when I’d go to class, but he would always clean up behind me. I’d leave things in disarray again the next day and he’d clean up again. One day he stopped me as I walked out of our dorm room and he said to me, “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know how to put things where they belong?”

“Yeah,” I admitted to him, “I know how to put things where they belong but I just have so many other things to do that I don’t have time to do it.”

I can still remember his reply: “If you’ll just take a few minutes to put things where they belong, you’ll be surprised at how many more things you’ll get done.”

Well, in many ways my friend’s idea also applies to Christian theology. There are lots of Christians who think that there is just too much to be done for the cause of Christ to take time out to get their theology straight. Winning the lost, planting churches, teaching the Scriptures… There are so many things to be done. But the reality is that if we take the time to arrange our theology in a systematic way, we’ll actually be able to get much more done in service to Christ and his kingdom.

This is the first lesson in our series Building Systematic Theology. In this series we’ll explore systematic theology or “systematics.” Systematic theology is one of the main ways the Holy Spirit has led the Christian church to put its theology in order. We’ve entitled this lesson, “What is Systematic Theology?” In this introductory lesson, we’ll explore a number of foundational issues related to the study of systematic theology.

Our lesson will touch on three main topics: first, we’ll compare New Testament theology with systematic theology. How are they similar and different? Second, we’ll look into the historical developments that led to systematic theology. Where did it come from? And third, we’ll look into the values and dangers of systematic theology. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this discipline? Let’s begin by exploring the relationship between the theology of the New Testament and systematic theology.