SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, HISTORY OF

Systematic *theology seeks to organize doctrines comprehensively according to locus

!e Patristic period
Systematic theology began as catechesis for new Christian converts. Following the trinitar-
ian structure of the baptismal commission (Ma". 28:19), the earliest churches expounded
the meaning of the *gospel. !ese catechetical exercises were encapsulated in the bap-
tismal *creeds, which were delivered to the baptizand (traditio) and recited back to the
bishop prior to baptism (redditio). An example of this systematic form may be found in the
catechetical lectures of Cyril of Jerusalem. A widely accepted baptismal creed was codified
for general use through the ecumenical *councils of Nicaea ( 325) and Constantinople (
381), establishing boundaries between orthodoxy and heresy.
*Origen has o#en been identified as the first systematic theologian. Although he did
not a"empt a complete systematization of doctrines, his Peri Archon (or, in Latin, de Prin-
cipiis, Concerning First !ings) began with a trinitarian exposition of the creed and pro-
ceeded to consider the doctrines of creation, humanity and sin, as well as angels, Scripture
and eschatology. His affirmation of the unity of the Son with the Father alongside an
affirmation of the Son’s ontological subordination became the critical issue during the
fourth and fi#h centuries. A#er Origen, theologians such as *Athanasius and the Cap-
padocian Fathers debated central theological loci, especially the relationship of the Son
and the Holy Spirit to God the Father. !is resulted in the formulation of the central con-
fession of the church’s *trinitarian faith in the Nicene Creed, but produced no comprehen-
sive systematic compendia.
Although *Gregory of Nyssa contributed a preliminary collection of theological topics
in his Catechetical Oration (or Address on Religious Instruction), it was not until *John of
Damascus wrote De Fide Orthodoxa (Exposition of the Orthodox Faith) that an exhaustive
explanation of the Christian doctrines as defined by the councils was a"empted. John
brought together the teachings of Scripture and the Church Fathers in 100 chapters, orga-
nized according to important theological terms. !e chapters, subsequently divided into
four books, treated the doctrines of God, creation and salvation in the first three books.
!e final book considered the doctrines of Christ’s two natures, the sacraments and escha-
tology.

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!e Middle Ages
A!er the barbarian invasions in the West, scholarship was preserved within the monaster-
ies. Western theologians looked primarily to the writings of *Augustine of Hippo for their
understanding of orthodoxy, but the African’s works, though seemingly exhaustive, were
not systematic. Although rooted in the cathedral schools established under Charlemagne,
it was with the rise of the universities that systematic theology became a sustained disci-
pline. Disputes over various controversial doctrines, for instance, the filioque clause, pre-
destination and the Mass (see *Eucharist), initially dominated the landscape.
Peter *Lombard was the first Western theologian to organize Christian doctrines into a
comprehensive system. Drawing upon the recent translation of John of Damascus from
Greek into Latin, Lombard organized his Sententia in IV Libris Distinctae (Four Books of
Sentences) by arranging the subjects of the Damascene into a tighter format. He collected
authoritative citations by the Fathers and added his own arguments. In book one, Lom-
bard considered God as Trinity, proofs for God’s existence, and divine a"ributes. Book two
assembled arguments regarding creation, angels, humanity and sin. Book three consid-
ered the doctrines of Jesus Christ and the redemption of humanity. Book four contained
Lombard’s treatise on the sacraments, of which he concluded there were seven, and a trea-
tise on eschatology. Lombard’s Sentences were required for subsequent students, and ‘did
more than any other text to shape the discipline of medieval *scholastic theology’ (Marcia
L. Colish, ‘Peter Lombard’, in Evans [ed.], Medieval !eologians, p. 182).
Lombard’s coherent and comprehensive organization encouraged theologians to write
extensive commentaries on the Sentences as a means of expositing doctrine. His structure
still provides a typical, though by no means universally uniform, order for systematic the-
ology: God, unity, Trinity; creation, angels, man, sin; Christology, redemption, virtues (or
Christian life); sacraments (or ecclesiology) and eschatology. #is pa"ern is followed, not
only by medieval dogmaticians such as *#omas Aquinas, in his Summa !eologiae (Sum-
mary of !eology) and Summa contra Gentiles (Summary against the Nations), or Gabriel
*Biel, in his Collectorium circa Qua"or Libros Sententiarum (Collections around the Four
Books of Sentences), but also by Protestant theologians.

!e Reformation
Martin *Luther’s revolt against medieval theology was not concerned with the structure of
systematic theology, but with its content. He expressed himself primarily in occasional
writings rather than systematic works. Luther’s contribution to theology has been
described as an ‘event of word and faith’, an event which later Protestant theologians

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sought to codify. Gerhard *Ebeling questioned whether placing Luther’s discovery into
‘the framework of a traditional dogmatic outline’ is possible without the event being ‘taken
apart and torn asunder by being cast into a sequence’ (Ebeling, Study, p. 135). Proponents
of Protestant scholasticism (see *Orthodoxy/Scholasticism) deny that systematization
transformed Luther’s theology.
!e only systems of doctrine Luther bequeathed to posterity are found in his large and
small *catechisms, in which he followed the format of the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Com-
mandments and the Lord’s Prayer. Luther’s catechisms were collected into the Lutheran
Church’s Book of Concord, providing an example of how Protestant confessional literature
functions as official dogma. Philipp *Melanchthon, the first systematic theologian within
the Protestant traditions, revised and expanded a scholastic theology, Loci Communes !eo-
logici (!eological Commonplaces), beginning in 1521. He also contributed a systematic the-
ology based upon the *Augsburg Confession. Melanchthon’s works, however, focused
primarily on those doctrines in dispute between Roman Catholics and Reformers, and
were thus not intended to be comprehensive. A catechism wri#en for a particular tradition
provided the pa#ern for other Reformation systematic theologies, too. For instance, Cas-
par *Olevianus and Zacharias *Ursinus authored extensive treatments of the *Heidelberg
Catechism.
Unlike Luther, Melanchthon and the Heidelberg theologians, however, most *Reforma-
tion systematic theologians followed a scholastic model rather than a catechetical form.
Ulrich *Zwingli, Martin *Bucer and Peter Martyr *Vermigli offered preliminary a#empts
for codifying Reformation theology, but John *Calvin’s Institutio Christianae Religionis
(Institutes of the Christian Religion) exercised the most influence. Working through several
revisions from 1536 to 1559, Calvin intended the Institutes to prepare students for biblical
interpretation. Calvin followed a four-book format based on the Apostles’ Creed, but
reflecting a Reformation emphasis, he brought an extensive discussion of Scripture and
revelation to the forefront.
As the successors of the early Reformers debated with opponents, they focused less
upon interpretation and reformation, and more upon preserving and expositing an estab-
lished faith. With regard to content, !eodore *Beza helped make predestination founda-
tional for some post-Reformation Protestant systems. With the rise of such *!omist the-
ologians as Jerome Zanchi, the style became scholastic. A comparison of Zanchi’s Opera
!eologica (Work of !eology) shows a structural and philosophical correspondence with
Aquinas’s Summa !eologiae (Summary of !eology). !e structures of systematic theology
in Protestant orthodoxy demonstrate a continuing dependence upon earlier and contem-
porary Roman Catholic theologians, both with regard to logical structure and philosophi-

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cal content.

!e modern period
In the modern period, there were two major challenges to systematic theology as codified
in Protestant orthodoxy: *Pietism and *rationalism. Philip Jacob Spener led a pietist reac-
tion against scholasticism out of a desire to return to the simple piety of Luther, thus pre-
senting a heartfelt challenge to the rigid structuring of theology. !e *Enlightenment,
with its optimistic rationalism, presented a comprehensive intellectual challenge to Chris-
tian theology. While Pietism deplored ‘dead orthodoxy’, rationalism had a profound effect
upon both the content and structure of systematic theology. !e major question present-
ing itself to theologians from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries was: ‘What
is the relation between the classical [orthodox] and the humanist [rationalist]
traditions?’ (Tillich, Perspectives, p. 4). David Ford and Hans Frei offer a fivefold spectrum
for classifying the answers to this question, ranging from the rejection of modernity to
assigning ‘complete priority to some modern secular philosophy or worldview, [so that]
Christianity in its own terms is only valid in so far as it fits in with that’ (Ford, Modern !e-
ologians, pp. 2–3).
Systematic theology continued to set forth the loci of Christian theology, even as ten-
sion developed between Christian identity and its modern relevance. !is creative tension
manifested itself early in the system of Friedrich *Schleiermacher, the father of theolog-
ical *liberalism. In order to reconcile Christianity with modernity, Schleiermacher made
the concept of religious feeling fundamental (see *Religious experience). While represent-
ing major doctrines according to human self-consciousness, he significantly removed the
Trinity from its leading place, relegating the doctrine to an appendix. Emphasizing
humanity and creativity, liberalism encouraged a complex variety of theologies catering
to various publics, ranging from *existentialism to *liberation theology. Evangelical
orthodox theologies have maintained a presence, mostly in secondary academies, but Karl
*Barth ably reintroduced the Trinity and divine grace as priorities within academic the-
ology through his Die Kirchliche Dogmatik (Church Dogmatics). Barth’s magnum opus was
structured according to a fourfold paradigm of God, creation, reconciliation and redemp-
tion, following a prolegomena upon the word of God. *Ecumenical theology now domi-
nates many discussions, even as the *Eastern Orthodox, *Roman Catholic and Protestant
churches continue to field systematic proponents.

Bibliography
G. Ebeling, !e Study of !eology, tr. Duane A. Priebe (Philadelphia, 1978); G. R. Evans

Davie, Martin et al., eds. New Dictionary of !eology: Historical and Systematic 2016 : n. pag. Print.
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(ed.), Medieval !eologians: An Introduction to the Medieval Period (Oxford, 2001); idem,
!e First !eologians: An Introduction to !eology in the Early Church (Oxford, 2004); D.
Ford, !e Modern !eologians: Introduction to Christian !eology in the Twentieth Century
(Oxford, 21997); J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds (London, 3 1972); C. Lindberg, !e
Reformation !eologians: An Introduction to !eology in the Early Modern Period (Oxford,
2002); R. A. Muller, Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: !e Rise and Development
Reformed Orthodoxy, ca. 1520 to ca. 1725, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, 22003); P. Tillich, Perspectives
on 19th and 20th Century Protestant !eology, ed. Carl E. Braaten (London, 1967).

M. B. YARNELL III

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