INTRODUCTION TO

THEOLOGY

ALPHA INSTITUTE OF THEOLOGY AND SCIENCE

Thalassery, Kerala, India - 670 101
Ph: 0490 2960027, 8086312826
Web: www.alphathalassery.org, Email: [email protected]
 INTRODUCTION TO THEOLOGY

Title: Introduction to Theology

Published by: The Director, Alpha Institute,
Tellicherry, 670101, Kannur, Kerala
Ph: 0490 - 2960027
Published on: 3rd July 2021 (St. Thomas Day)

Editorial Board: Rev. Dr. Joseph Pamplany

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Rev. Dr. Tom Olikkarottu
Rev. Dr. Jisi Maria CMC

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 Contents

1. Concept of Theology: An Overlook? .................................... 5

2. Definitions of Christian Theology ....................................... 15
3. Theology and other Sciences .............................................. 29
4. Goals of the Theologizing .................................................... 37
5. Foundations and Sources of Theology ................................ 41
6. Characteristics of Theology ................................................ 68
7. Branches of Theology ........................................................ 71
8. History of Christian Theology ............................................. 75
9. Important Mordern Day Theologians ................................. 91
10. Theologizing in the Indian Context .....................................105
General Conclusion .............................................................119
Introduction to Theology

Published for the use of the students of Alpha Institute of Theology and Science

4
 Introduction to Theology

Chapter 1

Concept of
Theology: An Overlook?

Introduction
Knowledge without devotion is futile. Devotion
without knowledge is irrational. But true knowledge
of God includes understanding everything from His
perspective and that is vivid, personal and worthy.
Theology is an art of learning to think God’s thoughts
after him. It is to learn what God loves and hates, and
to see, hear, think, and act the way God wishes.
Knowing how God thinks is the first step in becoming
godly. Hebrews 5:11–6:3 teaches that deepening
theological understanding equips one to be able to
differentiate good from evil, and it exhorts believers to
mature in their knowledge of God and His ways:
For though by this time you ought to be
teachers, you need someone to teach you

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Introduction to Theology

again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need

milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is
unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their
powers of discernment trained by constant practice to
distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the
elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity.
(Hebrews 5:12–6:1).
In this introductory chapter the basic questions about God and
his existence, the possibility of any God talk, and the nature of
knowledge of God, the possibility of God experience and religious
language etc. are briefly explained.
1.1. The God - Question
Theology is generally understood as the discourse on God or
God-talk. But in the present world of secularism, agnosticism and
atheism, God’s existence cannot be taken for granted. Does God
exist? Even if God exists, can we know anything about God? Can
we speak of God meaningfully as we speak about other subjects
and objects?
1.2. The Existence of God
On the existence of God there are normally three views: Theism,
agnosticism and atheism within each of these views there are
innumerable schools and divisions of opinions. Atheism is a position
that rejects the existence of God. The term theism, first introduced
by Ralph Cudworth (1617-1688), derives from the Greek
word theos meaning “god”. It refers to any belief system that
incorporates the existence of a deity. A deity is a supernatural being
thought of as holy, divine or sacred. Theism refers to any kind of
belief in any god or gods, so it is difficult to make any other
generalizations about it. Two people may both say they believe in

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God, so they’re both theists; but what they mean by “God” could
be completely different. Belief in God is also normally attached to
other beliefs, such as belief in an afterlife or the soul. However,
theism can also refer to religions with extremely different beliefs,
such as reincarnation.
A. Types of Theism
One can subdivide theism in many ways. For example, it can be
divided into separate historical / cultural traditions, such as Judaism,
Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam (and each of these could be
subdivided still further).
You can also define types of theism by number of God:
· Monotheism: one god
· Polytheism: many gods
· Ditheism: two gods, usually one good and one evil
· Henotheism: one main god with many minor gods
Alternatively, you can divide it in terms of different ideas about
the nature of the god or gods:
· Pantheism: God = everything or the universe
· Deism: God created the whole universe but does not
interfere in events
· Autotheism: God = the self or is within the self
· Eutheism: God is entirely merciful and just
· Misotheism / Dystheism: God is evil

B. Quotes about Theism

Quote 1
· “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could
only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent
and powerful Being.” (Isaac Newton)

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· Isaac Newton was a theist and one of the greatest scientists of

all time. Newton’s vision of the universe was extremely orderly
and rational, like an elaborate and beautiful machine. His ideas
gave rise to the view of God as a cosmic watchmaker who
designed the universe and then left it alone to unwind according
to its own laws.
Quote 2
· “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to
change the nature of the one who prays.” (Søren Kiergkegaard)
· Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, and a Christian, who
tried to argue philosophically for monotheism. He argued that
faith alone was not a reason to believe in something, and tried to
develop a more philosophically rigorous understanding of God
and Christian practice. Part of his argument was that we should
give up on the idea of asking God for help and instead take
responsibility for our own lives and actions.
St. Thomas Aquinas gave five proofs for the existence of God.
They are cosmological arguments, drawn from the cosmology of
the time. From effects one is led to the cause and thus finally one
arrives at the Ultimate Cause and the Prime Mover. These arguments
may be helpful to those who believe, but to the non-believers these
proofs seem to be not convincing. As Cardinal John Henry Newman
had correctly pointed out, these proofs are abstract and philosophical
and they can only provide a ‘convergence of diverse probabilities’.
In principle, we can say that human person can come to the
knowledge of God with the light of reason. “Our holy mother, the
church, holds and teaches that God, the first principle and last end
of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by
the natural light of human reason (Vatican I, Dei Filius, no,2; Vatican

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II, Dei Verbum no.6). Without this capacity, man would not be able
to welcome God’s revelation. Man has this capacity because he is
created ‘in the image of God’ (Gen.1: 27)’ (CCC. no.36).1
C. Theism vs. Atheism vs. Agnosticism
The opposite of theism is atheism, or the belief that there are no
gods. Atheism was once rare in the Western world, but it has grown
rapidly over the past two centuries since traditional theistic beliefs
and organized religions have been threatened both by science and
by exposure to alternative belief systems from around the world.
Atheists deny the existence of God, but often embrace other religious
teachings, especially regarding morality and compassion; and atheists
argue that true morality springs from reason and compassion rather
than the will of God or the fear of disobeying God.
Although atheism is relatively new in the west, various atheistic
belief systems have been popular in Asia for thousands of years.
While some forms of Buddhism (from India) and Taoism (from
China) are theistic, other forms have no gods, and can be considered
atheistic. And Indian and Chinese atheism are very different from
Western atheism in their rituals, traditions, and general philosophical
outlook.
Agnosticism is quite different from either atheism or theism; it is
not a belief, but rather an acknowledgement that we don’t know
whether gods exist or not; or at least the agnostic claims that he or
she doesn’t know! Most reasonable people are at least a
little agnostic: some theists acknowledge that they don’t know for
a fact that God exists, even though they have faith; and some atheists,
conversely, acknowledge that they can’t be certain there is no God.
However agnostics consider both theism and atheism to be
irrationally based on faith.

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1.3. Is God Talking Possible?

Even though God exists and we can know about his existence,
can we speak about God meaningfully as he ineffable, infinite and
inexhaustible? The classical Hindu tradition says that we can only
say what God is not: neti, neti.2 The mystical traditions and the
classical Negative Theology too deny the possibility of positively
speaking about God. But the biblical tradition and the mainline
Christian tradition affirm that we can speak about God and we can
have a positive understanding of God, though our knowledge of
God is very limited. “Since our knowledge of God is limited, our
language about him is equally so. We can name God only by taking
creatures as our starting point, and in accordance with our limited
human ways of knowing and thinking. All creatures bear a certain
resemblance to God, most especially man, created in the image and
likeness of God. The manifold perfections of creatures-their truth,
their goodness, their beauty - all reflect the infinite perfection of
God. Consequently we can name God by taking his creatures
perfections as our starting point, ‘for from the greatness and beauty
of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator’
(Wis. 13:5).
Human persons can have some knowledge of God, but their
knowledge of God is limited. God is not an object to be experienced
like other objects. Human persons cannot fully comprehend the
Mystery of God as it transcends human capacities. As God is the
source and destiny of the whole creation, there is a certain similarity,
though very imperfect between the Creator and the created. It is by
studying the created world and its qualities and eliminating its
imperfections and limitations that we arrive at an understanding of
God and divine mysteries. The history and the realities of the time
also influence human knowledge and perspective. All these mean
that human knowledge and perspective. All these mean that human

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knowledge of God and its articulation need continuous revision and

reformulation.
1.4. The Knowledge of God as Analogical
The kind of knowledge of God is called in classical theology
‘analogical knowledge’.3 ‘Analogical ‘is contrasted with ‘univocal’
and ‘equivocal’. Univocal means that a particular word or language
is used with the same meaning. For God and creatures the same
term or same language cannot be used with the same meaning
because God belongs to the order of ‘infinite’ whereas the creatures
belong to the order of ‘finite’. There is infinite gulf between the two.
So the language used for the created order cannot be predicated to
God. Hence no theological language, or God-talk, in the univocal
sense is possible. Equivocal means that the same word or language
may be used for entirely different things with the consequence that
they do not signify anything. Hence the only alternative is an analogical
knowledge of God and an analogical way of talking about God.
The whole theological enterprise is possible only with the role of
analogy.
The theory of analogy was developed by Aristotle and further
refined by the Scholastic theologians, especially Thomas Aquinas.
Analogy is used to explain the ontological relationship between the
creator and the created and for the possibility of knowing God by
reason. ‘Being’ can be predicated in the proper sense, only to God,
absolutely. But all ‘beings’ share or participate in the Being of God.
Analogical predication is possible due to this participation of beings
in God. If there is no such ‘correspondence’ between God and
humans, we cannot know God. Jesus taught us to call God ‘our
Father’. This predication is neither univocal nor equivocal, but
analogical. Purifying the concept of the earthly ‘father’ by removing
all its imperfections and limitations, we apply it to God in an eminent
way.4 In God perfection exists in total wholeness in an infinite manner.
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Creation is the expression of the love of God; it reflects the rays of

God’s perfection and beauty. Hence from the created order we can
know something about God and we can speak of God.
1.5. God - Experience
If we want to speak of God, we must experience and know God
in some way. The fact that humankind has some kind of God
experience or religious experience is attested in human history in the
various religious traditions among peoples of all nations and cultures
of all times and all places. The reality of religion and religious
experience is a very complex one, which has been the object of
study by various sciences such as, history of religion, anthropology
of religion, sociology of religion, psychology of religion,
phenomenology of religion, philosophy of religion and theology of
religion. Every one of these sciences deals with the subject of religion
from its own particular point of view. They have their own different
definitions of religion and religious experience. Psychology,
Phenomenology, philosophy and theology have identified different
types of religious experience5. In general one may define religious
experience as that intimate and immediate awareness of being touched
or grasped by the divine. It is the experience of an encounter with a
tremendous and fascinating mystery (R. Otto), the experience of
something very strange like the ‘burning bush’ (Ex 3:2-6), the
experience of the glory and brightness of the Sun (Transfiguration
episode, Mat 17:1-13), the experience of hearts burning (Emmaus
Experience, Lk. 24:13-35). This experience can be expressed only
in a symbolic language. Hence God-talk or religious and theological
language is not ordinary language. It is a language of its own. We
may call it faith-language as symbolic language. As God or Divine is
totally the other, absolutely incomprehensible and transcendent, God
cannot be fully understood, and God-experience cannot be
articulated in ordinary day-today language; “Theology uses ordinary

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language in an extraordinary way” (I.T Ramsey, Religious Language

1957).
1.6. Religious Language as Symbolic Language
We have mentioned that religious language or God-talk is a
symbolic language. Human beings who are embodied can experience
the spiritual and transcendental reality of God only through the
medium of visible realities, which we call symbols, and it is only
through symbols such experience can be further mediated. A religious
symbol is the meeting-point between the human and the divine. God’s
self-disclosure and human response meet together in the symbol.6
The characteristics of religious symbols may be described as follows:
a) they are pointers to something beyond themselves; b) they contain
or participate in that to which they point. Hence God is really what
we call Him in faith language. c) Religious symbols cannot be
artificially created. They function or cease to function corresponding
to their ability or inability to give expression to and to mediate for
the human community the reality which they point to.
Every religion is a system or set of such symbols, images, stories,
narratives, beliefs and rituals. It is the mutual participation in these
symbols, which gives coherence, unity, continuity and solidarity to
the community. Two examples of symbols may be given: Jesus Christ
is the supreme symbol of Christianity. In Jesus the divine and the
human met together and united in the supreme way. In the person of
Jesus we find the fullness of God’s revelation and the fullness of
human response. In Jesus we meet God, experience God and he is
the medium of God’s self-communication or self-gift to humankind.
Jesus Christ is the Sacraments of God. Jesus not only points to
God, he is God-incarnate.
Another example is the Eucharist, which is the sacrament and
symbol of Christ’s presence in the Church, in the Christian
community. In the Eucharist the Christian believers meet Christ and
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experience Christ as the Eucharist is Christ, while at the same time it

contains or participates in Christ; it is his Body. Christ’s presence in
the Christian community is expressed, experienced and mediated
by the Eucharist. But Christ’s presence in the Church and in the
world is already there; it is a reality, even prior to the Eucharist is the
symbol of this presence.7
Christian theology does not simply deals with proving God’s
existence and human being’s capacity to know God and speak of
God. But on the other hand, it presupposes faith, and it is a faith-
reflection. However, what we have discussed above provides a solid
rational foundation to Christian theology. What we have said above
establishes that God’s revelation or God’s self-communication and
human response in faith are based on a strong philosophical and
anthropological foundation. After all, God’s revelation or self-gift
reaches us only through our mind, reason, body and sense perception,
either of the individual or of the community, mediated through
symbols, and we can understand, express, articulate ad mediate it
only through symbols and by means of symbolic language. Hence,
not only natural theology, but also Christian theology has a symbolic
function.8

End Notes
1
Kuncheria Pathil and Dominic Veliath, An Introduction to Theology,
Bangalore: TPI, 2005.
2
Ibid.
3
Kuncheria Pathil and Dominic Veliath, An Introduction to Theology,
Bangalore: TPI, 2005.
4
Kuncheria Pathil and Dominic Veliath, An Introduction to Theology,
Bangalore: TPI, 2005.
5
William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, 1902, Martin Buber,
I and Thou, 1937, Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy 1950.
6
Kuncheria Pathil and Dominic Veliath, An Introduction to Theology,
Bangalore: TPI, 2005.
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid.

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Chapter 2

Definitions of
Christian Theology

By natural reason man can know God and the basis

of his works. But there is another wonder, which is the
knowledge, that man cannot possibly arrive at by own
powers: the order of divine revelation through an utterly
free decision, God has revealed himself and given
himself to man (Vatican 1, De Fila). This he does by
revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness
formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all
men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending and
his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Spirit” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no 50).
God creates, conserves and provides everything
and from the crested realities humans can know God,
But from the very begin God also revealed himself and
invited humans to la communion with him.”At various
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Introduction to Theology

times in the past and in different ways God spoke to our ancestors
through the prophet in our own times, the last days, he has spoken
to us through his Son” (Heb 1: 1-2) And humankind responded to
God’s invitation through faith. God’s revelation and its counterpart,
human faith, and their rational understanding constitute the subject
matter of Christian theology.1 And yet, within this basic framework
itself, there have been various understandings, emphases, and
definitions of Christian theology. The different definitions of theology
derive from divine and different perspectives, such as, etymological
origins, conventional usage in the past, ideological standpoints,
different systems and thought patterns and different goals and
objectives.
2.1. Theologia
The term theology derives from the Greek words, (Èåïò-theos-
God and Ëïãïò-logos -word, discourse, science) which literally
means, “discourse on God’, ‘science of God, God-talk etc. Plato
and his master Socrates (5-4 B.C.) used the term theologia to
point out some of the statements and discussions in the Greek poets
on gods’ in order to criticize them as unbefitting divine beings.
Aristotle used the term for his metaphysics or ‘First Philosophy’,
which explained the whole of reality in terms of the ‘Absolute
Principle’ or ‘Supreme Mind’ The Fathers of the Church, starting
with Clement of Alexandria and Origen, began to use the term
theology for the Trinitarian and Christological discussions of the time,
and subsequently for the interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures.
Christian theology in its beginnings was simply the study and
interpretation of Sacred Scriptures. With the ‘Scholastics’ and the
establishment of the system and institution of ‘universities’ theology
became a specialized academic discipline along with arts, medicine
and law. During this period theology meant the entire gamut of
Christian doctrines and Scriptures and their rational and systematic
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explanations. The classical definition of theology derives from this

period. It was the definition of St. Anselm, which is widely used by
all even today.
2.2. Faith Seeking Understanding
St. Anselm defined theology as fides quaerens intellectum, ‘faith
seeking understanding’.2 This definition is self-explanatory. By
theological activity Christian faith tries to understand itself in rational
terms. In other words, rational activity is called in to understand and
explain faith. Hence theology is not a mere rational activity, not a
human search or quest or investigation on God, based on reason
alone, but a search to understand God’s Words and action revealed
in human history for the salvation of humankind.! That is to say,
theology is primarily an activity of faith; it is a science of faith. Faith
experience is the starting-point of theology. Theological activity can
be carried out only with a living experience and practice of faith. On
the one hand, it starts with faith, is guided by faith, and on the other
hand, it enhances faith. Anselm would say therefore, credo ut
intelligam. ‘I believe in order to understand’ Faith alone can lead
to real understanding; God’s Word alone can be the ultimate answer,
Human intellect, left to itself, is unable to understand the mystery of
God and his activity.
Hence, practically speaking, the guidance for the theologian is
the Word of God attested in Sacred Scripture and Tradition.
Therefore, all discussions on God or religion will not fall into the
category of theology, Philosophy of God, Philosophy of Religion,
Sociology of Religion, Anthropology of Religion, Phenomenology
of Religion, Psychology of Religion and similar sciences may deal
with the Absolute Reality and religious experience But they cannot
be called theology, as they are not explicitly and formally guided by
faith or ‘God’s revealed Word’. In other words, their starting-point
is not faith, but the empirical, observable, scientific data and they
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draw conclusions according to the principles and norms of each of

these sciences.
In spite of the emphasis on faith, for Anselm and the Scholastics
in general, theology also has a rational dimension. Human intellect
and reason critically examine faith and its practice, analyze, organize,
explain, articulate and spell out its implications and consequences,
and apply them to life. Here reason is guided and enlightened by
faith in its understanding of the mysteries of faith, though not in any
exhaustive way. Thus rational and critical activities save faith from
falling into irrational superstition and dogmatism. Theological and
rational activities move spontaneously from faith-experience to its
expressions in doxology, witness, worship, beliefs, doctrines and
other intellectual and rational articulations and elaborations. Fides
quae (believe in) implies and leads to fides quae (believe that). This
means that faith-experience or our response to the self-gift of God
(fides quae) implies a rational content and involves consequences
that need to be expressed or articulated in beliefs and doctrines
(fides quae).
The definition of Anselm tries to strike a balance between fideism
and rationalism. Fideism accepts everything revealed by God without
any attempt to scrutinize it by reason. Rationalism rejects everything
that is not clearly understood by reason. Avoiding both extremes,
this understanding holds that “theology’s source and starting point
must always be the word of God revealed in history. While its final
goal will be an understanding of that word, which increases with
each passing generation. Yet, God’s word is Truth (cfr. John 17,17),
the human search for truth-philosophy, pursued in keeping with its
own rules - can only help to understand God’s word better.” (Fides
et Ratio n. 73).
This definition, ‘faith seeking understanding’, however, needs
further refinement and clarification what is the meaning of faith here?
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It was very often understood as a set of truths and doctrines revealed

by God, and the task of theology was seen just to understand and
explain them, examine the relationship among these truths and draw
conclusions from those truths. But God’s revelation is primarily God’s
self-communication and the invitation to share God’s life and
salvation, and not the mere revelation of a set of truths or doctrines.
Faith is an existential attitude rooted in a fundamental option, which
permeates the believer’s whole existence in response to God’s call
and gift. By faith humans freely commit themselves entirely to God
who reveals or gives Himself. Of course, free human response is
inspired, moved and assisted by God’s grace. God’s grace is first
(Vatican II, Dei Verbum, no.5). If faith involves an existential attitude
and absolute commitment to God, and not merely a set of truths,
then faith is never a finished product, just to be understood and
handed over intact as something ready-made. Faith as an orientation,
a fundamental option, an activity and commitment, is never perfect,
but often feeble and lukewarm, and yet always dynamic. Faith needs
growth and development. It must be also pointed out here that time
and culture always situate understanding’.3
A pilgrim character belongs to the very nature of the Church.
The Church will be only gradually led to the understanding of faith
and to the fullness of truth. Hence the task of theology is not simply
to hand over or to communicate a particular ‘understanding’ of faith,
held at a particular point in history. The task of theology is a
continuous seeking for new understanding’ of faith and its implications
for life. Every new generation has to struggle and give an account of
their faith in their own times, an account we must give ourselves and
others of the truth of our hope (1 Pet.3: 15). No one can ever resolve
completely the tension between faith and reason, between theology
and the mystery. This polarity is healthy and fruitful, and is the source
of””all theological creativity and newness.

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2.3. Eastern Approach: Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi

The approach of the Eastern Churches to theology was quite
different from the Scholastic approach of the West. The emperor
Diocletian in the 4th century divided the Roman Empire into East
and West, and with the sons of Theodosius I, East and West became
two empires and two different groups of Churches with their own
different customs, disciplines, liturgies and theologizing methods.4"In
the investigation of revealed truth, East and West have used different
methods and approaches in understanding and proclaiming divine
things. It is hardly surprising then if sometimes one tradition has come
nearer than the other to an apt appreciation of certain aspects of a
revealed mystery, or has expressed them in a clearer manner. As a
result these, various theological formulations are often to be
considered as complementary rather than conflicting. With regard
to the authentic theological traditions of the Orientals, we must
recognize that they are admirably rooted in holy Scripture, fostered
and given expression in liturgical life, and nourished by the living
tradition of the Apostles and by the writings of the Fathers and
spiritual authors of the East” (Vatican II, Unitatis Redintegratio
no. 17).
Indeed, theological reflections must flow from faith-experience,
and liturgy is one of the primary sources or a unique source of faith
experience. The Liturgy and the Sacraments not only express but
also mediate the faith-experience. But the dictum can be used also
in the reverse order lex credendi lex orandi which would mean
that the “law of faith or belief is the law of prayer”. It means that
prayers and liturgies are the products of faith-experience. On the
one hand the faith-experience expresses itself in forms of prayers
and worship and on the other hand; prayers and liturgies mediate
the faith experience. Liturgy also needs a strong theological
foundation, lest it falls into superstition and sheer emotionalism.

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Moreover, when we say that liturgy is the source of faith-experience

and thus the locus theologicus is an invitation to make our liturgies
real celebrations of faith-experience and thus to make them real
sources of theological reflection. The East equally rejects a sterile
liturgy lacking in faith experience. The source of theological reflection
is the liturgical experience, not merely any particular liturgical text or
rubrics however ancient they are.
2.4. Theology as Faith-Reflection on Reality5
Scholastic theology, as it entered into universities and academic
circles, led to speculative philosophical theology and arid
intellectualism. The Protestant reformers reacted to this and
proposed the sola scriptura principle. Later, the Enlightenment and
Rationalism dismissed all authorities, whether Bible or the Church
and theology became once again pure philosophical and national
discourse on God, human being and world. Romanticism emerged
during this period as a reaction to Rationalism, and reasserted the
role of human experience, Christianity was seen not as a set of
doctrines and systems but as a sharing in the religious experience of
Christ. The task of theology was understood as identifying analyzing
and articulating this experience in order to draw its consequences
for the life of the community. Romanticism stressed the role of the
individual in the community and for the community. Socialism and
Marxism overemphasized society and community at the expense of
the individual. The pendulum swung to the other side once again
with Capitalism and some of the modern philosophies like
Existentialism, which emphasized the person and the individual. The
role of theology was perceived as the understanding of the Reality
of which humans are part and parcel. Political theologies and
Liberation theologies emphasized the role of theology not mainly as
‘understanding the reality, but as ‘changing the reality with special
focus on the society rather than on the individual. This historical

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perspective of the general theological scenario is, indeed, too

simplistic. However, a few modern definitions of theology may be
very briefly introduced in this overall historical background.
Christian theology was never understood as an exclusive treatment
on God. Thomas Aquinas had brought everything under the sun into
theology. Theology used to discuss everything, including God,
humankind and world; of course, everything from the perspective
of faith or under the light of faith. Hence theology was generally
understood as ‘faith-reflection on reality’. With the emergence of
the awareness of historical consciousness and the human character
of all theological language, a theology ‘from below’ beginning with
human experience was recommended to complement the theology
‘from above’. Within the anthropological and existentialistic
philosophical framework, Karl Rahner called theology ‘Theological
Anthropology’.
2.5. Theology as Theological Anthropology6
Karl Rahner remarked that whatever we say about God says
something about us, and whatever we say about ourselves says
something about God and humanity are correlative terms. “ soon as
man is understood as the being who is absolutely transcendent, in
respect to God, anthropocentricity and these centricity in theology
are not opposites but strictly one and the same thing, seen from two
sides” (K. Rahner, Theological Investigations, Volume 9. p.28).
The object of theology is not God as such, but man as related to
God. What theology discusses is God’s plan of human salvation as
revealed by God. Therefore theology deals formally not with God,
but with human beings in relation to God, their fundamental openness
to God, about the mystery of God’s plan for human salvation.
The God of theology is a God related to the humans, understood by
them only because of their transcendental horizon. Theology, in fact,

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 Introduction to Theology

speaks more about humans than about God. Hence theology can
be rightly understood as Theological Anthropology.
‘Human beings’ are not one theme among many in theology.
All theological questions are part of humanity’s theological
understanding of itself. Revelation is the revelation of the salvation
of humankind, not revelation of God in Himself. All questions of
theology, Trinity, Christology etc have to be read and understood
anthropologically, i.e. what is their meaning for the human person
and human salvation? What are the roles and relations of the Three
Persons in God for human salvation? Christology cannot be
conceived without the transcendental openness of human beings to
God, their potentia oboedientialis for “hypostatic union”. Similarly
all theological topics have to be rightly seen from the anthropological
side. This is the theology from below that is necessary for our time
so argued Rahner. Only such an understanding of theology and such
treatment of theology are acceptable to modern women and men.
They feel that many of the statements of theology are forms of
mythology and are not to be taken seriously. Simply by appealing to
the mystery, which God has revealed is equally unacceptable
Theological statements are to be formulated in such a way that what
is meant by them is to be connected to our own human self
understanding as manifested in our experience. Only then theology
will become relevant and meaningful. It should not be seen as
reductionism, i.e. reducing everything to human experience. We can
only speak about a God as known to us, as revealed to us, and as
received by faith. It does not mean that God is simply our creation,
or only an object of our experience.
2.6. Theology as Critical Reflection on Christian Praxis7
As we have indicated above, in the early centuries theology was
just the meditation on the Sacred Scriptures and their interpretation.

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Introduction to Theology

is whole purpose was the enhancement of sanctity, spiritual

perfection, spiritual nourishment and contemplation. Here theology
was viewed as Wisdom and Intuitive Knowledge rather than a rational
reflection or rational knowledge. Although this sapiential and spiritual
dimension of theology remains always one of its permanent
characteristics, in our own times ‘Liberation Theology made a shift
in the emphasis from knowledge and theory to praxis’. Gustavo
Gutierrez defined “theology as a critical reflection on Christian praxis
in the light of the Word8” Theology has to deal with human beings
and the realities of this world and not exclusively with the supernatural
realities. The Church and all Christians have to be involved in the
social, political and cultural movements of the time by reading the
signs of the time and thus to be at the service of both the world and
of the Kingdom of God. The Church is not to be centered upon
itself, but upon the Kingdom of God. The Church has to find itself
by loosing itself by living “the joys and the hopes, the grieves and
the anxieties of men of this age” (Gaudium et Spes, no.1). Christian
faith is, therefore, not simply a set of truths to be understood and
formulated by theology. but it is the call for a praxis and commitment
for the transformation of the world into the Kingdom of God.
Theology is a critical reflection on Christian praxis. In this view,
the emphasis is not merely on correct understanding (orthodoxy),
but on correct or right practice (orthopraxis). Critical reflection on
praxis means that the concrete life of faith and the historical praxis
of faith in society, including economic, socio cultural, and political
issues of life in the world, have to be critically examines in the light of
the Word of God Theology has to open to the totality of human
history and deal with the real issues and questions of the modern
world, and to respond to them. Such critical reflection must
necessarily accompany concrete pastoral action in view of the total
liberation of the whole of humankind from all oppressive forces and

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 Introduction to Theology

structures. Such theology, linked to praxis. has a prophetic role, to

interpret the historical events, revealing and proclaiming their
profound meaning, challenging Christians for a radical and clear
commitment to make this world a better place for all people. Such a
liberation theology is not a special branch of theology, but a new
way of doing theology. It is a praxis-centered theology that does
not stop with merely offering reflections and creating new
understanding, but it becomes part of the whole process of
transforming the world into a new, just and equitable society, which
may be called ‘this-side of the Kingdom of God’ or ‘the penultimate
of the Kingdom of God’. For a critique of this approach see Chapter
IV, section G.
2.7. Theology as Hermeneutics9
“Theology is the interpretation of Christian faith in the context of
contemporary existential realities and the interpretation of
contemporary realities in the light of the Word of God.”10
Theologizing is the continuous dialogue and interaction between the
Gospel or Christian message and the new realities of the time. It is
the interpretation of the meaning of human life and of the totality of
reality in the light of the Gospel, and at the same time it reinterprets
the Gospel and faith itself. On the one hand, the Gospel or Christian
faith puts questions to the actual situation and, on the other hand the
present realities put questions to faith so that faith itself may be
reinterpreted. The content of Christian faith needs continuous
interpretation and re-interpretation, so that it may become
understandable and relevant for every new age. Such interpretation
or re-reading is needed both to distinguish between the core of the
message and its historical and cultural expressions, and also to
safeguard authentic faith. It is the task of theology to scrutinize, criticize
and if necessary, to reform the Church’s teachings, its understanding
and formulations of faith and even to change its historical praxis.

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Introduction to Theology

Theologizing is therefore an ongoing, continuous process of

hermeneutics or interpretation.
2.8. Theology as Interpretation of the Christian Story
Christian theology is not a theoretical and speculative system of
thought or a set of doctrines. Rather, it begins with the Christian
Story, the story of God’s entry into human history, the story of God
becoming man in Jesus Christ in order to save the whole of humankind
from sin and death. This story is recorded in the Bible, especially in
the New Testament and attested in Christian tradition. There are
also other stories’ among other peoples, nations and cultures, the
Jewish story, the Hindu story, the Islamic story, the Buddhist story
etc. By ‘story’ we do not mean here a mere imaginative creation by
the human mind. God’s entry into human history is not like other
physical events; they are very special events that can be grasped
only by “faith, only by the human spirit the spiritual faculty of the
human person. God’s revelation and action in history can be
responded to by a human person only in faith for which the initiative
(grace) should come from God himself. Some people prefer the
term ‘story’ rather than faith, as faith is an abstract term, which may
very often be misunderstood as a set of truths revealed by God and
accepted by a human person. Human experience of the Divine can
be expressed only in symbolic language, as we had mentioned
elsewhere. Story, myth, narrative and poetry are part of this symbolic
language. Thus the term story (narrative, myth) indicates the mystery
aspect of the event or reality and its symbolic character.
Hence Christian theology may be also defined as the interpretation
of the world and human life in the light of the Christian Story. Some
theologians prefer the term ‘mythos’ to story faith, narrative’ and
‘world-view According to this view the terms ‘story and narrative’
are used also for non-sacral and ordinary events and imaginative

26
 Introduction to Theology

creations. The terms, “faith and world-view’ have an intellectualistic

and privatistic base. Hence, the term “mythos is introduced. Mythos
is used to designate that set of symbols, rituals, narratives and beliefs
which taken together announce and mediate the presence and action
of the Divine in the life a community of persons.”11 Theology may
he thus defined as reflection upon Christian mythos. However, the
tem mythos’ can be misunderstood if not properly explained.
2.9. A functioning Definition of Theology
Drawing inspiration from the many definitions of theology given
above, we would propose a working definition of theology as follows:
Christian theology is a systematic and critical interpretation
on the meaning of human life and reality in general from
the perspective of the Revelation in Jesus Christ on the
one hand, and a reinterpretation of Christian Faith on the
other, in the light of the new experience and context of the
changing realities of the world, in and by the believing
community.12
This working definition of theology is self-explanatory in the light
of the other definitions. It is a systematic reflection and interpretation
because theology tries to present a coherent view in which, all the
different elements become parts of an integrated whole. The meaning
and truth of one part is derived and verified from its integral relation
with the other parts and the whole in its unity and coherence.
Theology is a critical discipline in its prophetic character as it
challenges the present Christian faith and praxis to become what it
ought to be and to constantly purify and reform itself, and thus to
unfold itself until the eschatological fulfillment. It goes without saying
that theological reflection and interpretation deal with the ultimate
meaning and mystery of human life and of reality in its totality, including
the human, the cosmic and the Divine, from the perspective of
Christian revelation, as enshrined in the Bible and the Christian

27
Introduction to Theology

Tradition. On the other hand, in theological interpretation, Christian

faith and praxis themselves are constantly challenged by the human
sciences and scientific developments and new experiences derived
from the changing realities of the world. It means that Christian faith
itself, while maintaining certain continuity, needs continuous
reinterpretation, reformulation and reform both in theory and praxis.
Finally the whole process of theologizing takes place within the
believing Christian community, of course, led by the individual
theologians and the authentic teachers of the Church or the
Magisterium. Christian theology is not simply produced by the
creative minds of individual theologians independent of the Christian
community or the Church. Theologians are called to be the
spokespersons of the community even in their prophetic criticism.
Further elaboration of some of these points will be given later in the
next chapter.

End Notes
1
Kuncheria Pathil and Dominic Veliath, An Introduction to Theology,
Bangalore: TPI, 2005.
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
A Theology of Liberation, 1974, 6-15.
9
Kuncheria Pathil and Dominic Veliath, An Introduction to Theology,
Bangalore: TPI, 2005.
10
Ibid.
11
Theodore W. Jennings, Jr. Introduction to Theology, London, 2ff.
12
Kuncheria Pathil and Dominic Veliath, An Introduction to Theology,
Bangalore: TPI, 2005.

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 Introduction to Theology

Chapter 3

Theology
and other Sciences

Science (scientia) means knowledge, a system of

clear, precise and valid knowledge. There are many
sciences or scientific disciplines. Physics, chemistry,
geology, biology etc. are called natural sciences. Then,
there are the so-called human sciences, such as, history,
anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics,
politics etc. Philosophy is yet another discipline.
Religious sciences form another category, such as,
history of religion, sociology of religion, psychology of
religion, phenomenology of religion, philosophy of
religion etc. Theology may be also called a science. It
is the systematic study of Christian faith, or the science
of Christian faith. Similarly there are sciences of Jewish
faith, Hindu faith, Islamic faith etc. In all these different
sciences, the meaning of ‘science’ is not exactly the
same. Each science has its own concept of science, its
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Introduction to Theology

own method, principles and system. The term ‘science’ can be used
for any discipline, which has an object or area of study, method,
principles, unity and systematization.
3.1. Theology as a Science
Christian Theology can be called a science, as it deals with the
Christian faith, the study of its content, its implications for life and its
interpretation in a systematic way, with its own methodology and
principles.1 In Christian theology God’s revelation given to human
persons and received in faith is rationally or reasonably understood,
explained, its meaning for life interpreted in a coherent manner and
applied to actual life in community. Hence theology can be called a
science and it is a human and rational discipline with a consistent
language, meaning and method.
3.2. Relationship among Sciences2
How is Christian theology related to other scientific disciplines?
First of all, all sciences explain one and the same reality, but from
different perspectives, from the point of view of each science. Hence
naturally, all sciences understand and explain reality in comprehensive
and coherent way. Secondly, all truth and reality come from God.
Therefore reality and our knowledge about it form an integral whole,
and they have a certain ontological coherence whether we know it
or not. Thirdly, it is the same human mind and intellect which tries to
understand reality, and inevitably, the human mind will attempt to
integrate every branch of knowledge into a whole in a coherent
manner. Therefore, all sciences are related to one another in the
unity of human consciousness. The natural conclusion is that no
science can work in an exclusive way, but all sciences have to be
related to one another, while respecting the legitimate autonomy of
each science. The claim of absolutism on the part of individual
sciences is rejected today. Each science today realizes its limitation

30
 Introduction to Theology

and has become aware of the mystery of reality, of life, especially

the mystery of human life and of this universe.
3.3. Theology and Philosophy
Biblical theologies, spiritual and mystical theologies, and some of
the early Oriental theologies like that of the Syrian Fathers, were
more poetic, narrative and symbolic in type or style. But gradually
due to the close similarity between philosophy and theology,
philosophical categories and systems were more and more used to
express, articulate and communicate the Christian faith, especially
beginning with the Greek Fathers, as we have indicated above. Thus
Christian theology in the West became mainly philosophical theology.
Philosophy was called the ‘handmaid of theology (ancilla
theologiae). Both philosophy and theology deal with the ultimate
questions, namely, the ultimate meaning of human life and of the
world. Hence both are very much related. There is no one
philosophy, but many philosophies, with different starting points,
categories, methods and systems. Each philosophy organizes and
interprets the data of human experience in the light of some key-
category or organizing principle, such as, matter, nature, life, organism,
process, energy, mind, spirit etc. This key-category is chosen by
the philosopher by his/her own choice or intuition or experience,
and the first task of the philosopher is to explain the key-category
as the basis of his/her system.3
In all philosophies reason alone is the guiding principle. But
theology while dealing with the same ultimate questions is guided by
the revealed Word of God and faith. Hence the source of theology
and its approach are quite different from that of philosophy. But for
understanding, explaining and interpreting the Christian faith, any
philosophical category or system can be used with its own strength
and weakness. However, theology need not depend on any one
particular philosophy as an exclusive medium of communication of
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Introduction to Theology

faith. Some of the Fathers of the Church like Origen, Clement of

Alexandria, Augustine and Bonaventure used Platonic and Neo-
Platonic philosophy to explain and communicate Christian faith. For
example, the Platonic philosophy of ‘logos’ was used to explain the
Christian doctrine of creation, incarnation and redemption. Other
medieval scholastics like Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great and
others used Aristotelian philosophy for explaining Christian faith.
For example, categories of nature’ and ‘person’ were used to
understand and explain Christology, the union of divinity and humanity
in Christ. Some modern theologians like Rudolf Bultmann, Karl
Rahner and others used Existentialist philosophy for understanding,
explaining and interpreting Christian faith. A clear example is Christian
anthropology in existentialist categories. Similarly some Indian
theologians like Brahmabandab Upadhyaya, Swami
Abhishiktananda, Raimundo Pannikar and others made attempts to
use Indian philosophical systems like the Vedanta for theologizing
in India. The understanding of the Christian Trinity in terms of
Saccidananda is just one example.
3.3.1 Role of Philosophy in the Historical Development of
Theology
It is clear that, from its beginnings, the Christian message
contained in the New Testament does not avoid but rather seeks an
encounter with the philosophical reflection of the Greeks. The severe
pronouncements of Christians against pagan religion never included
philosophy (with some exceptions). Intellectuals among the believers
presented themselves to pagan society and culture as followers of
the “true philosophy.”
Saint Augustine was a staunch defender of this attitude, which
he accepts and practices with due circumspection. Philosophy in
itself does not lead to despise revealed truth. In fact, it is the only

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 Introduction to Theology

solid path that allows us to understand it. Undoubtedly, theology

uses concepts that come from philosophy, but it has adapted and
perfected them to help us understand revealed truth.
Saint Anselm received the Augustinian heritage and offered a
more elaborate vision of the relations between reason and faith. For
St Anselm, reason is not a competitor of the faith (or vice versa): the
two can talk in a common language. He called philosophy as Ancilla
theologie- hand maid of theology. It means that divine Wisdom is
higher than human wisdom, but it also indicates that philosophy is
indispensable for theological work.
For Saint Thomas Aquinas, philosophy and theology converge
in one rational construction and explanation of the Christian faith.
For him, it is impossible that what belongs to philosophy be contrary
to what belongs to the faith. Philosophy does not play an external or
marginal role in the sacred science, but rather imparts a pattern of
rationality to theology. This [pattern of rationality] permits theology
to put in order, interpret and express the contents of Revelation.
With Descartes and Kant, philosophy becomes an autonomous
science, leading to the disappearance of any significant link it has
with theology. Sacred science is required to submit its conclusions
to philosophy. The crisis in the relations between the two disciplines
become more acute with the spread of Kantian thought and idealism,
which many Catholic theologians espoused (with little fruit) in the
first decades of the 19th century.
In contemporary theology, aside from the dialectical
opposition between the two disciplines defended by Karl Barth,
the ideas of Paul Tillich (1886-1965) have become widespread in
theological circles. He applied the basic idea of his system — the
“principle of correlation” — to the relationship between theology
and philosophy. According to Tillich, theology and philosophy have

33
Introduction to Theology

to be thought out together because they have a relation of mutual

dependence since both have the same object, which (Tillich says) is
being. This object is considered by philosophy in an abstract way
and by theology in a concrete way.
The relationship between theology and philosophy is a central
issue in the thought of Karl Rahner (1904-1984), who spoke
about hermeneutic circularity to explain his point. Between the
two sciences (he said) there exists a bilateral relation, which translates
into a double “servant hood”: there is a fundamental relation of service
of philosophy with respect to theology, and an analogous subsidiary
relation of theology with respect to philosophy. A central point in
Rahner is to defend the need for theology to count on philosophy
for its work as the only way to overcome the dangers of dogmatic
positivism and of Biblicism. The methodological intent of W.
Kasper says that the discourse about God presupposes the
metaphysical question about being. Thus, in so far as theology is a
discourse about God, it becomes an associate and guarantor of
philosophy.
3.4. Theology and Social Sciences
Traditional theologies in the West used mainly philosophical
categories and systems to explain the mysteries of faith, and thus
constructed speculative theological systems in order to understand”
reality and to explain the ultimate meaning of reality and human life.
Their emphasis was on ‘understanding the meaning of life and reality.
The contemporary contextual theologies, such as, Political Theology,
Theology of Hope, and Liberation Theology, on the other hand,
began to use social sciences, their categories and methods of analysis
in the theologizing process and activity. Human and social sciences,
such as, sociology, anthropology, psychology, economics, and politics
study the human phenomena, both individual and social, from different
perspectives and by using different methods. The studies by these
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 Introduction to Theology

various sciences and their results, though partial, are really

complementary. They contribute to human self understanding. These
sciences have enormous bearing on theology. Theological reflections
should take into consideration the data and findings of these sciences.
The contemporary contextual theologies, especially Liberation
Theology, made a departure and used mainly the social sciences as
the tool of theologizing. For the main objective of Liberation Theology
was not simply to understand reality but to transform the reality. In
order to transform reality, they started with the analyses of the situation
or reality, for which they used the social sciences, such as, sociology,
anthropology, economics, politics etc. Critical reflections on the basis
of the Word of God were followed in order to inspire, support and
mobilize the social process of change. Thus in Liberation Theology
the social sciences played a very significant role.
3.5. Theology and Religious Science
Christian theology can also use the results and findings of ‘religious
sciences, such as, sociology of religion, anthropology of religion,
psychology of religion, phenomenology of religion etc. These sciences
study the religious phenomena from an empirical point of view, from
the particular point of view of each science, analyze them, examine
their structures and explain how they function and their role in the
lives of individuals and society. Christian theology can use the findings
and results of these sciences for the scientific analysis of theological
data and for their comprehensive interpretation. Even the discoveries
of natural sciences and developments of technology can contribute
to theological reflection No area of human experience can be
excluded from theological reflection. Theology, therefore, needs
today an interdisciplinary methodology in order to fully understand
reality and to draw insights and inspiration from all sciences and
disciplines.

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Introduction to Theology

Theology does not interfere with the internal laws and

consistencies of other sciences and it does not make any judgment
on them, but remains open to all sciences and disciplines. However,
there cannot be really any opposition between theology and other
disciplines. “Methodological research in all branches of knowledge,
provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not
override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the
things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God.
The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is
being led, as it were, by the hand of God, in spite of himself, for it is
God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are”
(Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, no.36).

End Notes
1
Kuncheria Pathil and Dominic Veliath, An Introduction to Theology,
Bangalore: TPI, 2005.
2
Ibid.
3
Owen C. Thomas, Introduction to Theology, 1989, 5.

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 Introduction to Theology

Chapter 4

Goals
of the Theologizing

The different definitions of theology given in the

previous chapters have already shown that they have
a different emphasis with regard to the goals of theology.
In the definition of theology as faith seeking
understanding, the specific goal of theology has
understood the mysteries of faith and understanding
the meaning of life and of this world. Awakening the
faith-experience or encountering the Divine and thus
enhancing our divinization or holiness were the main
goals of theology in the formula of lex orandi, lex
credendi. In the notion of theology as theological
anthropology the goal of theology is conceived as
authentic human existence by the right understanding
of the human person in relation to God and to other
humans and to the entire universe. In liberation
theology’s understanding, the goal of theologizing is to
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Introduction to Theology

transform the social reality and human society. In the different methods
and models of theologizing, the goals also are different, especially in
their emphasis. However, at the very outset of this discussion on the
goals of theologizing, we would like to affirm that the different goals
of theologizing belong together; they are complementary and they
cannot be strictly separated.
The theology of the early Fathers of the Church, both apostolic
and post-apostolic, was apologetic and polemical. They wanted to
defend and protect the Apostolic faith against the attacks both from
by the heretics and from outside by the enemies and opponents of
it. In the process, they also explained the faith, its content, implications
and pastoral applications. Later, theology was directed to the
instruction and faith-formation. The medieval period, in the context
of the universities and academic studies saw the emergence of
speculative and philosophical theologies. Bur understanding the
mysteries of faith or the divine plan of human salvation and promotion
of authentic human existence and salvation both of individuals and
of human community were always integral parts of the goal of
theology. The contemporary contextual theologies are responses to
the specific problems like injustice to the poor, discrimination of the
women, the dalits, the tribals etc. Their goals were restoration of
justice to all, abolition of inequality, discrimination, promotion of
freedom for all and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. With
this general introduction on the goals of theology, we would like just
to list the different goals of theologizing.
1. The origin and core of Christianity is the Christ-event and the
Christ-experience. It was the Christ-experience, which held together
the disciples of Christ, gave existence to the Christian community
and constituted the Christian faith. In Jesus Christ they saw the face
of God and in him they found their saviour and salvation. This faith-
experience is transmitted from generation to generation by the Church

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 Introduction to Theology

through the mediation of Scriptures, tradition, worship, liturgy,

prayers, doctrines, beliefs, disciplines, and catechesis and by their
rational as well as symbolic articulations in theology. Theology’s
primary task is, therefore, to awaken, strengthen and communicate
the faith-experience.
2. Theology also explains analyses, elaborates and systematizes
the faith and thus helps to understand and assimilate it better and
better. Every experience naturally tends to its expression and
articulation by which the experience is understood rationally and
deepened. This is also true with regard to faith-experience. Hence
theologizing is an ongoing and continuous process, which leads so
ever new understanding of faith.
3. The Word of God or God’s revelation is always communicated
by the human word. Theology interprets the Scriptures and unveils
the Word of God and its message for us today. Theology can do
this only in the context of contemporary realities and experience of
today. One of the important goals of theologizing is, therefore, to
understand the Word of God and its authentic meaning and
implications for life today.
4. Theology has both an interpretative and prophetic role. It has
to help the Church in its process of discernment as regards the
practices of the Christian community. In short, one of the goals or
objectives of theology is to make the faith relevant and meaningful
for today.
5. One of the primary roles of theology is the systematic exposition
of the Christian faith showing its unity and the interconnectedness of
its constituent elements. Ordinary believers perceive the unity of
faith and its various elements by an intuition. Theology shows the
unity and coherence of faith by deeper analysis, by moving from the
centre to the periphery and from the periphery back to the centre. It

39
Introduction to Theology

is the task and goal of theology to show this relationship to the core
or foundation and its coherence to the whole.
6. The pastoral role of strengthening the faith and empowering
Christian life is another important goal of theology. Theologians are
to be believers, men and women of deep faith, and they should
exercise their role of theologizing with great responsibility. They
should not be involved in sterile criticism and irresponsible ways of
theologizing. Their role is both pastoral and prophetic. Theological
creativity should be coupled with the pastoral responsibility to the
community and fidelity to the original and authentic Christian faith.
All theologizing is to protect, safeguard, deepen and strengthen the
faith of ordinary Christian believers.
7. The goal of theologizing is not only the transformation of
individual Christians and the renewal or reform of the Church, but
also the transformation of the whole world into the Kingdom of
God. Jesus preached the coming of the Kingdom of God and the
mission he entrusted to his disciples is the proclamation and the
realization of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God will be realized
on this earth, though not in its full and final form, when the whole
humankind will be able to live together as one community or a
‘Community of communities’ based on the values of the Kingdom,
that is, with the values of love, justice, peace, equality and harmony.
The final goal of theologizing is to enhance, promote and realize the
Kingdom of God on this earth and beyond it.
We conclude this treatment on the goals of theologizing with the
affirmation once again that these different goals shall not be looked
upon as separate or unrelated. All of them are closely related to one
another, one complementing the other. All the same, a particular
method of theologizing in a particular context may have to emphasize
one specific goal more than others.

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 Introduction to Theology

Chapter 5

Foundations
and Sources of Theology

After having described what theology is, in the present

chapter we are reflecting on the sources of theology?
If theology is the interpretation of faith or the Word of
God in the context of the contemporary realities and
vice-versa, what are the sources of faith and the Word
of God? What is the source of Christian revelation?
We begin this chapter by underlining the foundations
of theology- faith and revelation. It will be followed by
a brief history of the debate on the sources of theology.
There are several kinds of sources for theology. The
primary source of theology is the faith experience of
the early Christian community, as attested in the Sacred
Scripture and the entire Tradition embodied in the liturgy
and the sacraments, the creeds and the teachings of
the Church, especially of the Apostolic Fathers etc.
God’s word revealed in the whole of creation and in
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Introduction to Theology

the entire history of humankind and in the lives, cultures, and religions
of all peoples should be also attended to as resources of theology.
5.1. Foundations of Theology
The foundations of Christian theology are Faith and Revelation.
We have seen in the previous chapter that the starting point of
theology is faith-experience, and that theology is the understanding
and interpretation of the faith-experience. Christianity began with
the Abba experience of Jesus Christ and the experience of the
disciples of Jesus who found in Jesus their God and Savior. This
faith experience presupposes God’s revelation in Jesus Christ directed
towards humankind in view of human salvation. Thus Faith and
Revelation, though they are distinct, cannot be separated. Revelation
is God’s self-communication, which can be realized or terminated
only when it is received and responded to by human persons in
faith. Hence Faith and Revelation are two sides of the same process,
and they are the foundations of theology.
5.1.1. Faith
The attitude of faith is a universal human phenomenon. Every
human person has some sort of faith, whether they are aware of it or
not. The human person is a free and spiritual being who realizes
himself/herself by one’s own decisions and actions in history. Human
experience shows that no finite object can really or ultimately satisfy
the human quest. In every decision and action every human person
in the quest for final self-realization or ultimate salvation tends to the
infinite and transcendent, whatever way they may conceive it. This
transcendental object or supreme value or ultimate meaning to which
a person clings and which guides and inspires our whole life and
action, and to which we have an absolute commitment, can be called
‘faith’. Paul Tillich, the famous Protestant theologian, in his book,
Dynamics of Faith (1958) defined faith as ‘ultimate concern, the

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state of being ultimately concerned. We are concerned with so many

things, physical health, food, occupation, family, friends, spiritual
goods etc. But what proceeds from the center of our being and
what absorbs the energy of our whole heart and mind may be called
‘ultimate concern. It is true that people can make passing values
their gods. A person may not be even explicitly aware of their faith
or ultimate concern. The object of faith may be varied according to
persons and communities, and one can discuss what kind of faith is
more relevant or meaningful or worthy of absolute commitment.
Abraham is called the father of faith”, “the father of all who
believe” (Rom 4:3). “By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called
to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and
he went out, not knowing where he was to go”(Heb 11:8; ef. Gen
12:1-4). By faith he lived as a stranger and pilgrim in the Promised
Land, and by faith he offered his only son in sacrifice. Three major
religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, share the faith of Abraham.
Here faith means obedience to God’s word and deep commitment
to God’s call. It is faith in God’s activity in history God can be
experienced in the world and in history. It is the deep conviction that
God is present in history leading his people to freedom. This
conviction can overcome all obstacles in our lives and provide us
great courage and confidence. In the midst of failures, strophes and
utter hopelessness this conviction can give us new hope and inspire
us to make new beginnings. Amidst sin and death, which will give us
strength, serenity and peace to set out towards the future trusting
absolutely in God.
Christian faith has its own specificity and uniqueness. It is faith in
Jesus Christ that in him God has fully manifested and spoken
definitively. In Jesus not only God revealed himself, but also in him
God has revealed what a human person and humanity is. In Jesus
God revealed his plan of human salvation and the way to establish

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the Kingdom of God’, i.e. liberation here on earth and eternal

salvation hereafter. According to Christian faith Jesus Christ is Word
of God-incarnate’ who by his incarnation, ministry, death and
resurrection inaugurated the Kingdom of God, showed and effected
human salvation. In Jesus Christ the promises made to Abraham
and Israel was fulfilled, and salvation is now offered to all peoples
and nations. Jesus still abides in the world, especially in the Christian
community or the Church and guides both the Church and the world
through his Spirit. God’s decisive and definitive action in Jesus Christ
in history and his abiding presence and action here and now gives
confidence to the Christian believer to face all challenges both
personal and societal.
Christian faith is the total response and commitment of the whole
person to God as revealed in Jesus Christ. It is not merely the
intellectual acceptance of some truths revealed by God or taught by
Christ. All the same, faith has its rational, cognitive, ethical, mystical
and emotional and other dimensions, which are expressed in various
ways, in creeds, beliefs, dogmas, rites and rituals, moral behavior
and codes of conduct etc. Hence faith and beliefs are not the same.
Beliefs are doctrines, which are the rational and cognitive dimensions
and conceptual expressions of the content of faith. Any
conceptualization of faith will be in a sense one-sided, partial, limited,
inadequate and imperfect. Hence in the conceptualization of faith in
beliefs and doctrines, while there are aspects of truth, there can be
changes, development and pluralism according to time, culture and
categories of thought patterns. Hence, in the course of the history of
Christianity, there has been clear dogmatic development. There is
one Christ and one faith in Christ, but there have been different
Christologies. There is one and the same faith in the salvation given
by Christ, but there had been different soteriologies. There has been
one and the same faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist,

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but there have been different doctrines and theories to explain it. It
means that one and the same faith can be expressed in different
beliefs and doctrines; faith may be one, but beliefs and doctrines
can be, to some extent, different and diversified. Although beliefs
and doctrines are partial and inadequate, they are necessary for
understanding, communicating, stimulating and mediating faith. So
we cannot dismiss beliefs and doctrines as unimportant. Theology
as we have seen in chapter one, functions in this realm of
conceptualization and rational reflection on faith. Naturally, theology
is not identified with faith. Theology only makes an attempt to
understand and justify faith and applies it to life.
Can there be changes in the understanding and elaboration of
faith? First of all, if faith is a personal relationship and commitment
to God, there can be differences and changes in its depth and
intensity on the part of any human person, especially in the course of
one’s physical, psychic and mental development. We are reminded
here of the faith development theories of Piaget, Eriksson and others
who have tried to classify the stages in the development of faith and
its different patterns in the lives of human individuals. Secondly, with
regard to the content of faith and its understanding and expression
there will be differences according to time, history, culture and the
thought patterns. Thirdly, faith itself is a perilous journey between
faith and unfaith, belief and unbelief in one’s own life. Often our faith
is challenged and questioned by doubts in every new situation and
experience. In fact, doubt can help deepen any faith that is living
and growing; it clarifies and consolidates faith. Fourthly if faith is a
personal relationship and commitment, there is need of passing from
conventional faith to real faith. Children receive faith from their parents
and community, and it is only gradually they personally appropriate
and make it personal. In Europe today many people can only be
called ‘Christian; they are just baptized, receive fed communion are

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married and buried in the Church. Many do not have any personal
faith. This phenomenon is often called “Cultural. Christianity From
cultural Christianity one has to change oneself personal Christianity.
Faith is not merely the assent of the intellect to a set of truths: it is
a personal encounter and experience, which transforms the whole
person. We see this from the lives of those who have really
encountered Jesus. Their total lives were radically changed by the
love of God and the love of neighbor. Faith is to be manifested in
life, action, praxis, and ethical life. The New Testament has ample
references to this. Love of God has to be manifested in the love of
the neighbor. Faith is to be manifested in one’s behavior, not in what
one says, but in what one does. Liberation theology has emphasized
this point. Theology’s task according to them is not merely
understanding reality but changing or transforming it. Jon Sobrino
has put it beautifully as follows: “To know the truth is to do the truth;
to know Jesus is to follow Jesus”.
Above all, faith is a free gift of God. “When St. Peter confessed
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus declared to
him that this revelation did not come from flesh and blood but from
my Father who is in heaven” (Catechism of the Catholic Church,
no. 153). But we receive it normally through our parents and
community, the Church. The Church sustains, nourishes and hands
over the faith entrusted to it. But faith is never imposed upon anybody.
It is to be received as a human free act. It is a free response to
God’s self-gift. Faith, therefore, implies and anticipates God’s
revelation. The analysis of faith will point to God’s self-revelation to
the humans.
5.1.2. Revelation
Faith and Revelation, though distinct and distinguishable, are
inseparably united. They are two sides of the same event. One cannot

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exist without the other. The object of faith is God, transcendentally

ultimate, which can be known only when God reveals himself.
Revelation is God’s self-communication to humans and faith is the
response on the human side. Revelation becomes a concrete historical
reality only when human persons receive it. God’s self-revelation
becomes complete only when it is actualized and concretized by the
human response. Any communication and self-gift presupposes two
persons and two simultaneous actions, giving and receiving Revelation
is to be received, perceived, grasped and responded to As there is
another full treatise to deal with the details of faith and revelation,
here we only want to introduce the concepts of faith and revelation
since they are the foundation of theology and its sources.
On the subject of revelation Vatican II practically repeats the
teachings of Vatican I; but gives it a personalistic flavor. God in his
goodness chose to reveal or give himself to humankind: “In His
goodness and wisdom. God chose to reveal Himself and to make
known to us the hidden purpose of His will by which through Christ
the Word made flesh, man has access to the Father in the Holy
Spirit and comes to share in the divine nature” (DV, 2). God created
all things by the Word, and the created realities reveal the glories of
God. God revealed himself and his plan of human salvation in history
by calling Abraham, by liberating Israel from Egypt and by promising
to humankind a Savior. The Council teaches further:
“Then after speaking in many places and varied ways
through the prophets, God last of all in these days has
spoken to us by his son’ (Heb.1: 1-2), For He sent His Son
eternal Word, who enlightens all men, so that He might
dwell among men and tell them the innermost realities about
God... Jesus perfected revelation by fulfilling it through his
whole work of making himself present and manifesting
himself: through his words and deeds, his signs and

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wonders, but especially through his death and glorious

resurrection from the dead and final sending of the Spirit
of truth. Moreover, He confirmed with divine testimony
what revelation proclaimed that God is with us to free us
from the darkness of sin and death and to raise us up to
life eternal” (DV, 4).
Jesus Christ commissioned his Apostles and disciples to proclaim
and communicate this revelation or gift of God or good news to the
whole of humankind. The Church has received this heritage and
tradition and proclaims it today. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth,
bequeathed to the Church by Christ, leads her to the fuller
understanding of this revelation (DV, 4-5).
God’s revelation is an utterly gratuitous self-gift of God. God
speaking to the humans is a human way of expressing this reality.
God’s message and the gift of divine life is what it signifies. God’s
word explains his actions in history and his actions witness to his
word. God’s word and deed belong together. God speaking,
therefore, means the communication of his message and life by his
dynamic presence in the heart of reality and of every person and by
his special intervention in history. Edmund J. Dunn has given a
comprehensive definition of revelation. Revelation is “God’s gracious
self-disclosure reaching out to humans as an invitation, as well as
promise, to participate in God’s own life of unfathomable love,
mediated to us through persons, nature, history, everyday experience,
and, in an ultimate way, in and through God’s very Word, Jesus
Christ” (What is Theology? 1998, p.42).
According to traditional Christian teaching, Jesus Christ is the
fullness of God’s revelation. There will be no further public revelation:
Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father’s one,
perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him He has said

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everything; there will be no other word than this one...

The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and
definitive Covenant, will never pass away: and no new
public revelation is to be expected before the glorious
manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet even if
Revelation is already complete, it has not been made
completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually
to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church. 65-66).
The teaching on the definitive and full revelation in Christ is very
often misunderstood as if we already know the whole truth and
everything about God’s plan of salvation. We do not know yet in
any comprehensive way the mystery of Christ. It has to be gradually
unfolded by the work of the Spirit who alone will lead the Church
into the fullness of truth. Revelation is closed’ with Christ does not
mean that God is no more present and acting in history. With the
resurrection of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit salvation
history has already entered into a new and definitive period with the
eruption of the Kingdom God into this world. God through the risen
Christ and His Spirit is all the more dynamically present in the created
world and in human history leading the whole creation to its final
fulfillment.
In our age of pluralism and relativity of history, cultures and
religions, naturally, any claim to monopoly of revelation by Christianity
will be challenged. How can a single historical revelation mediate
God’s self-communication universally? Has not God revealed himself
also to other peoples in other cultures, civilizations and religions?
What about the claim made by other religions about God’s revelation
to them? Christian theology has not yet seriously grappled with this
question. The documents of Vatican II, however, have affirmed God’s
presence and action in other cultures and religions:

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God’s presence and action, of course, means his revelation

by his dynamic presence and deed. The task of theology
then will be to explain the relationship of God’s revelation
in Christ and in other religions. Revelation is, after all, not
God merely revealing a set of truths, but an existential
experience of transcendence and mediation, which is
universal, as God wills to save all people. God’s revelation
among other peoples and religions is made more explicit
and definitive in His revelation in Christ. In Christ God
fully revealed who and what a human person that He loves
the whole humankind as His sons and daughters and that
He is fully present and active in history liberate humankind
from injustice, oppression, sin and finally from death. God’s
dynamic presence in the heart of reality and his se
communication within every person and human community
mean universal revelation, which is not a threat to Christian
revelation. On the contrary, pluralism of religions and of
revelations calls for dialogue and mutual relatedness,
searching for a community of communities or the Kingdom
of God. (Nostra Aetate:2, Gaudium et Spes: 22 and Ad
Gentes:7).
It is true that Christianity does not deal with a revelation, which is
general, universal and existential experience of transcendence, but
with the concrete historical revelation in Jesus Christ, which is
mediated by the Church. But a universal existential experience of
transcendence is the basis of historical revelation, and at the same
time, historical revelation reaches human persons through the
subjective existential experience. Hence historical revelation and
subjective experience have to be related in their polarity.
As social beings all of us belong to a society and community. We
receive many things from the community. Revelation, more precisely
historical revelation, is not given to each person directly by God,

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but we receive it in and through the community. Every religious

experience here in our case, faith and revelation, is mediated to us in
and by the community through signs and symbols, objects, events
and persons. Christian revelation is, above all, a personal encounter
with Jesus Christ, not simply some knowledge, wisdom, or cognitive
truths. It is an experience of its own kind with a holistic character,
which is totally engaging one’s whole person, not only one’s intellect
and will.
Revelation is thus a very complex reality and so is its concept. It
has various components, which are often singled out and emphasized,
and thus various models of revelation are presented. Revelation as
doctrine is one model. Here the cognitive contents of revelation as
propositions or deposit of truth are understood as revelation. They
are either contained in the Sacred Scripture or passed on as tradition
by the living Magisterium of the Church. Another model conceives
revelation as the presence within the believer as a personal encounter
with God. It is not a mere communication of some knowledge, but
the presence of the living and life-giving God. A third model conceives
revelation as experience, the personal existential experience, which
is universal and possible for all human persons. Revelation as history
is a fourth model. It is not merely an event, which takes place in the
inner subjectivity of the human person, rather it is an event of history,
a universal and public historical event that can be historically
established by its analysis and interpreted as an act of God in human
history. These models do not exclude each other; rather they must
be interrelated. All these aspects constitute the different dimensions
of revelation.1 Revelation experience is distinct from its expressions,
interpretations and conceptualization. For example, what we have
in the New Testament is not revelation as such; it is the expressions
and interpretations of the original revelation experience of the
Apostles and Disciples of Christ.

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5.2 Sources of Christian Theology

Revelation and faith are integral to theology, as they form together
the foundations and sources of theology; however, they never mean
uncritical acceptance and blind faith. Revelation is God’s gracious
self-disclosure inviting people for participation in the Divine love
and plan for the world. Faith is a response to the self-revealing God
and theologizing is an interpretation of this faith-experience or God
experience. The OT is the description of the faith-experience of
Israel, and the NT is the Jesus experience of the Apostles and early
Christian community. It is the record of how the humanity responded
the perfect and complete divine revelation that happened in the person
of Jesus of Nazareth.
5.2.1. Revelation
Revelation is a revealing or disclosing, or making something
obvious through active or passive communication with God. It can
originate directly from God, or through an agent, such as an angel
or heavenly figure. One who has experienced such contact is often
called a prophet. Christianity considers the Bible as divinely
or supernaturally revealed or inspired. Thomas Aquinas first
described in two types of revelation in Christianity as general
revelation and special revelation. General revelation occurs through
observation of the created order. Such observations can be logically
led to the important conclusions, such as the existence of God and
some of God’s attributes. General revelation is also an element
of Christian apologetics. Certain specifics, such as the Trinity and
the Incarnation, are revealed in the teachings in the Scriptures and
cannot otherwise be deduced except by special revelation.
5.2.2. Scripture
Bible is the collected work of faith, which the Church proclaimed
as canonical with her divine authority. II Vatican Council pointed
out the importance of Scripture in the Christian life as follows:
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“The sacred synod earnestly and specifically urges to all the

Christian faithful… to learn by frequent reading of the divine scriptures
the excelling knowledge of Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:8). For ignorance of
the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” (St. Jerome). The Bible is
word of God only to those who believe in God, because it is not
merely a literature or document of scientific observations, or historical
demonstration. Its human authors were neither scientists nor
historians; they were all men of God who were moved with deep
faith. They tried to interpret Gods intervention in the history in the
light of faith and by the power of Holy Spirit. They aimed to convey
how God loved so immensely the world and humankind.
Scriptures are a normative source of faith and theological
reflections. In fact Scriptures are the norma Normans (a norm that
norms) and norma non-normata (a norm not normed by other
norms). It is because the entirety of Scriptures is written under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Dei Verbum (11, 12, 21-24) explains
the nature and authority of the Scriptures. God’s word, is a promise
in the form of a saving word given to humanity. Such promises have
to be accepted in the living conditions in a living manner. The Word
of God is made alive in the community by the Church through
Scriptures, Catechesis, Sacraments, Prayer, Liturgy, Doctrine, and
devotions, customs and above all through the living faith.
5.2.3. Tradition
Sacred tradition or holy tradition is a theological term used in
some Christian traditions, primarily in the Catholic, Anglican, Eastern
Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions, to refer to the
fundamental basis of church authority. The word “tradition” is taken
from the Latin trado, tradere meaning to hand over, to deliver, or
to bequeath. The teachings of Jesus and his Apostles are preserved
in writing in the Bible as well as word of mouth and are handed on.
This perpetual handing-on of the Tradition is called a living Tradition;
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it is the transmission of the teachings of the Apostles from one

generation to the next (in this sense there is only one single tradition,
i.e., the Apostolic Christian Tradition). The term “deposit of faith”
refers to the entirety of Jesus Christ’s revelation, and is passed to
successive generations in two different forms: sacred scripture (the
Bible) and sacred tradition (through apostolic succession).
In the theology of these churches, sacred scripture is the written
part of this larger tradition, recording (albeit sometimes through the
work of individual authors) the community’s experience of God or
more specifically of Jesus Christ. Hence the Bible must be interpreted
within the context of sacred tradition and within the community of
the church. Sacred tradition and thus sacred scripture as well, are
“inspired”, another technical theological term indicating that they
contain and communicate the truths of faith and morals God intended
to make known for mankind’s salvation. This is in contrast to
many Protestant traditions, which teach that the Bible alone is a
sufficient basis for all Christian teaching (a position known as sola
scriptura).
5.2.4 Reason
Although some people - both Christians and non-Christians -
consider reason to be the opposite of faith, many Christians
emphasize that it is an essential aspect of their theological approach.
They often use reason, like tradition, to help determine how to
understand the Bible. However, most Christians do not believe that
reason is infallible. Therefore, there will be times that Scripture and
tradition conflict with reason, and in those cases most Christians will
argue that reason is wrong.
Reason is the processing, or coordinating, factor. We have brains;
and we think about what God has revealed, if not consciously, then
unconsciously. Of course those of us who do theology must

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consciously think our way through what God has revealed in

Scripture, what we have received from tradition, and what we have
experienced.
5.2.5 Experience
Most Christians also consider experience, which includes people’s
five senses as well as their thoughts and feelings, to be an important
source of theological understanding. Although people’s understanding
of their experience is subjective, what happens to them is still real,
and so Christianity must be able to explain it. However, experience
should be used in combination with the other sources of Christian
theology, rather than as its only source.
If the Bible is the objective, normative factor, experience is the
subjective, personal element. Experience varies from individual to
individual. And of course, those who subordinate the other factors
to experience become a law unto themselves. Their experience
becomes the model for all. Truth is what they perceive it to be.
5.2.6 The Sensus Fidei
“The sensus fidei refers to the instinctive sensitivity and
discrimination which the members of the Church possess in matters
of faith.”The holy People of God shares also in Christ’s prophetic
office: It spreads abroad a living witness to him, especially by a life
of faith and love and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit
of lips praising his name. The whole body of the faithful who have an
anointing that comes from the holy one cannot err in matters of belief.
This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of the
faith (sensus fidei) of the whole people, when “from the bishops to
the last of the faithful” they manifest a universal consent in matters of
faith and morals. By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and
sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the
sacred teaching authority (magisterium), and obeying it, receives
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not the mere word of men, but truly the word of God, the faith once
for all delivered to the saints. The People unfailingly adhere to this
faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it
more fully in daily life (LG 12).
5.2.7 Magisterium
The sacred deposit, Scripture and Tradition, were entrusted by
the apostles to the whole Church. The responsibility for interpreting
the sacred deposit, however, lies with the Magisterium - the bishops
headed by the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. The bishops and the
Pope are formally considered to be the apostles’ successors. by all
the faithful, and, proceeding undeviatingly with this same undertaking,
it proposes to proclaim publicly and enunciate clearly the doctrine
concerning bishops, successors of the apostles, who together with
Peter’s successor, the Vicar of Christ and the visible head of the
whole Church, direct the house of the living God (LG, 18).
“That divine mission [the spread of the Gospel], which was
committed by Christ to the apostles, is destined to last until the end
of the world (cf. Mt. 28:20), since the Gospel, which they were
charged to hand on, is, for the Church, the principle of all its life for
all time. For that very reason the apostles were careful to appoint
successors in this hierarchically constituted society” (LG 20). “In
order to fulfill such exalted functions [those ecclesiastical functions
of the bishops], the apostles were endowed by Christ with a special
outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming from them (cf. Acts 1:8; 2:4;
Jn. 20:22-23), and, by the imposition of hands (cf. 1 Tim. 4:14; 2
Tim. 1:6-7), they passed on to their auxiliaries the gift of the Spirit,
which is transmitted down to our day through Episcopal consecration”
((LG 21). Hence, the Roman Catholic Church is said to be apostolic
“because she is founded on the apostles,” and “continues to be taught,
sanctified, and guided by the apostles ...through their successors.”
(CCC. 857).
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The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word

of God, whether in its written form or in the form of
Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office
of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised
in the name of Jesus Christ. Yet this Magisterium is not
superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches
only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command
and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this
devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it
faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely
revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith (DV.
10).
This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to
the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop
of Rome. Theologian Avery Dulles adds:
Since revelation is public, the church requires a way of
publicly proclaiming the doctrine that expresses or
safeguards that revelation. Catholics find evidence in the
New Testament that Christ commissioned Peter and the
apostles with the responsibility of overseeing the life and
witness of the church. The pope and the other bishops are
regarded as successors, respectively, of Peter and the other
apostles. One of their most important tasks is to keep the
church in the truth of the Gospel by proclaiming sound
doctrine and condemning doctrinal deviations. In this
function the hierarchy constitutes the church’s official
teaching body, or magisterium.
The Pope, a word which comes from a Latin term meaning father,
is the Bishop of Rome and the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
According to Boettner, at his coronation, the Pope is triple crowned
as the Father of Princes and Kings, Ruler of the World, and Vicar of
our Savior Jesus Christ. Later documents (i.e. Vatican II) emphasize

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the Pope’s title as Vicar of Christ and his supreme ecclesiastical

authority. ...the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of
Christ, namely, and as pastor of the entire Church, has full, supreme,
and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can
always exercise unhindered.
The Lord made Peter alone the rock-foundation and the holder
of the keys of the Church (cf. Mt. 16:18-19), and constituted him
shepherd of his whole flock (cf. Jn. 21:15 ff.). It is clear, however,
that the office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter (Mt.
16:19), was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its
head (Mt. 18:18; 28:16-20). According to the Catechism, The
“power of the keys” designates authority to govern the house of
God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed
this mandate after his Resurrection: “Feed my sheep.” The power
to “bind and loose” connotes the authority to absolve sins, to
pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions
in the Church.
5.2.8 Liturgy
Liturgy is another most important source of theology. Two key
patristic phrases are consistently employed to defend the reunion of
liturgy and theology with a foundational emphasis on liturgy. The
primary dictum, set forth in the fifth century by St. Prosper of
Aquitaine (and source of endless debate), asserts that the law of
prayer establishes the law of belief. The second phrase, promulgated
much earlier in the second century by St. Irenaeus (probably the
oldest use of the principle), suggests that one’s theological opinion
should be established by the Eucharist. Liturgical experience for the
Fathers was thus both a source and a canon for their theological
thought. In other words, the hermeneutical foundation for patristic
theology associated in the Church’s liturgical tradition, the lex orandi,

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described as “the epiphany and the experience of the Church of

herself and of her faith.”
Theology seeks to understand and interpret the tradition of the
Church through the liturgy. However, to do so requires theology to
turn to the liturgy not only as the source of theology but also as its
object. Schmemann’s “Orthodox hermeneutic” thus places the liturgy
as its object strictly as a means to the ultimate end of discovering the
liturgy as the source of theology, as the “real ‘key’” of both the
liturgy and tradition. If liturgy must be the source of theology, then
theology must first show how liturgy can be this source. How does
liturgy function as source? This is the fundamental hermeneutic
question.
An example of theology demonstrating how the liturgical tradition
functioned as a source in the early Church by observing that during
the early centuries of the Church a “theologian” would have been a
bishop with two primary duties: 1) in his church presiding over his
community’s liturgical celebration, i.e. preaching and administering
the Eucharist; and 2) in his community caring for the members of his
flock. A theologian in the early church was primarily a pastoral liturgist.
The bishop and his flock regularly encountered the Word of God
in the homily and in the Eucharist. Theology was simply a description
of that encounter. Discerning the dynamic lex orandi-lex credendi
[“law of prayer-law of belief”] is not simply a question of asserting
that what the Church believes is already somehow expressed in
liturgical texts and rites, but more fundamentally that what the Church
believes is an articulation of what is accomplished by God in the
liturgy and experienced and first known there by the Church.
This is an important distinction that is a clear echo in two ways.
First, theology is not so much an explanation of God as it is a finite
attempt to find the right words to describe the faith of the Church,

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i.e. what one experiences in its liturgical gathering. In other words,

the lex credendi of the Church that is established by the lex orandi
of the Church is a feeble attempt to articulate what God’s work has
done in the lives of His people within the context of the Church
gathered around the Eucharistic altar. And second, the lex orandi-
liturgical texts and rites-cannot merely be plumbed for lex credendi
as theological doctrine. This is why many did not place much hope
in the movement of a “return to the Fathers.” They worried that
such a movement would merely be a return to texts instead of an
acquisition of the mind of the Fathers. When disconnected from the
liturgical and ecclesial experience that is grounded in apostolic
tradition, texts can be interpreted in any number of ways to prove
any number of biases.
The emergence of Christian dogma is also from liturgy. When
early Christians first began developing an intellectual foundation for
the one true faith, Driscoll suggests that the need for such an enterprise
was initially only recognized intuitively:
There was a massive “something” on which thinking rested,
to which efforts at articulation continually referred. This
“something” was the absolutely new reality entrusted to
and experienced by the Apostles. Indeed, it was a Presence,
a somebody filled with divine glory: Jesus Christ risen from
the dead.
Their descriptions and defenses of the one true faith, then, did
not primarily appeal to liturgical texts or biblical sources such as the
gospel accounts of Christ or the Pauline epistles, though the scriptures
(i.e. the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms) certainly were
foundational for them. Instead, they consistently turned to “a
Somebody”, the ongoing presence of the crucified and risen Christ.
And His presence was particularly perceptible, or rather, based on

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Christ’s promises, most certainly available in two places: baptism

and Eucharist.
Both baptism and Eucharist were commanded by the Lord. And
both commands included a promise. When Christ sent His disciples
out to all the nations to make disciples and to baptize them in the
name of the Trinity, he promised them He would always be with
them to the end of the age (Mt. 28:20). When He commanded them
to take the cup and the bread, He promised them His presence
once again through His body and blood (Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-
26). As commands of Christ, baptism and eucharist thus became
the two key components of the lex orandi from the very beginning.
And “On the foundation of what God accomplishes in these
celebrations and from the community’s experience of them there
developed a history of thought, a history of theology. Some ways of
understanding things eventually became normative themselves: lex
credendi.”
5.2.9 Teachings of the Fathers of the Church
Fathers of the Church were instrumental in living, teaching and
giving shape to the Christian life and practices, hence they are called
Church Fathers (1 Cor 4:15). The term is used of writers or teachers
of the Church not necessarily ordained and not necessarily “saints.”
The period of the Fathers of the Church falls in between 1-7/8
centuries of Christian era. They were the pioneers in interpreting the
scriptures, instituting Christian practices, teaching correct doctrines
(orthodoxy), fighting against false doctrines, etc. The vast amount
of literature of the Fathers of the Church is a source of enlightenment
and paradigm for theologizing for all later ages of Christians.
5.2.10 Papal Documents
Official documents of the Catholic Church have evolved and
differentiated over time, but commonly come from four basic sources:
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1) Papal documents, issued directly by the Pope under his own

name; 2) Church Council documents, issued by ecumenical councils
of the Church and now promulgated under the Pope’s name, taking
the same form as common types of papal documents; 3) Curial
documents, issued by offices of the Holy See but authorized by the
Pope; and 4) Bishops documents, issued either by individual bishops
or by national conferences of bishops. The types of each are briefly
explained below.
5.2.10.1. Decretal letter (Litteras decretals)
Once a common papal document, decretals are now restricted
to dogmatic definitions and (more commonly) proclamation of
canonizations and beatifications.
5.2.10.2. ApostolicConstitution (Constitutio apostolic)
Apostolic constitutions are considered the most solemn kind of
document issued by a pope in his own name. Constitutions can define
dogmas but also alter canon law or erect new ecclesiastical
structures. An example is John Paul II’s apostolic constitution Ex
Corde Ecclesiae, defining the role and responsibility of Catholic
institutions of higher education.
5.2.10.3. Encyclical Letter (Litterae encyclicae)
Encyclicals are the second most important papal documents,
exhorting the faithful on a doctrinal issue. Its title taken from its first
few words in Latin, an encyclical is typically addressed to the bishops
but intended for instruction of Catholics at large. Most of the best
known social teaching documents have been encyclicals. Examples
include Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, first introducing Catholic social
teaching, and John Paul II’s Centesimus Annus, expanding on the
application of the social teaching of Rerum Novarum in the post-
Cold War world.

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5.2.10.4. Apostolic Letter (Litterae apostolicae)

Apostolic letters are issued by popes to address administrative
questions, such as approving religious institutes, but have also been
used exhort the faithful on doctrinal issues. Apostolic letters do
notypically establish laws, but rather should be thought of an exercise
of the Pope’s office as ruler and head of the Church. Paul VI issued
Octogemisa adveniens in 1971 as an apostolic letter because it
was addressed to one person, Cardinal Maurice Roy.
5.2.10.5. Declaration (declamatio)
A declaration is a papal document that can take one of three
forms: 1) a simple statement of the law interpreted according to
existing Church law; 2) an authoritative declaration that requires no
additional promulgation; or 3) an extensive declaration, which
modifies the law and requires additional promulgation. Declarations
are less common now as papal documents, but were resorted to
several times by the Vatican II Council. An example is Dignitatis
Humanae, the Declaration on Religious Liberty.
5.2.10.6. Motu Proprio
Either an administrative or doctrinal document written by the pope
and addressed to a particular portion of the clergy, Magisterium,
the faithful or to the Church as a whole. These documents are
generally quite brief and address a specific issue, which pertains to
the Church in a particular time in history. A motu proprio can enact
administrative decisions, or alter Church law (but not doctrine). An
example is Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum, which relaxed
restrictions on celebration of the traditional mass.
5.2.10.7. Apostolic Exhortation (Adhortatio apostolica)
An apostolic exhortation is a formal instruction issued by a pope
to a community, urging some specific activity. Lower in import than

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an encyclical or apostolic letter, an exhortation does not define

doctrine. An example is John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio,
affirming the meaning and role of marriage and the family.
5.2.10.8. Allocutions
An allocution is an oral pronouncement by a pope, with pastoral,
not doctrine, import. Increasingly common in the modern age,
allocutions are a way for popes to exhort the faithful both within and
outside the context of homilies. An example is John Paul II’s 2003
homily in Rijeka, The Family Requires Special Consideration.
5.2.10.9. Papal Bull
Papal Bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued
by a Pope. It is named after the lead seal (bulla) that was appended
to the end in order to authenticate it. In terms of content, the bull is
simply the format in which a decree of the Pope appears. Any subject
may be treated in a bull, and many were and are, including statutory
decrees, Episcopal appointments, dispensations, excommunications,
apostolic constitutions, canonization and convocations. The bull was
the exclusive letter format from the Vatican until the 14th century,
when the papal brief began to appear. The brief is the less formal
form of papal communication and is authenticated with a wax
impression (now a red ink impression) of the Ring of the Fisherman.
There has never been an exact distinction of usage between a bull
and a brief, but nowadays most letters, including encyclicals, are
issued as briefs.
5.2.10.10. Conciliar Documents
Traditionally, Church councils have issued documents only in the
form of decrees or constitutions. The Fathers of Vatican II, however,
intended a pastoral rather than a strictly doctrinal council, and as a
result issued a number of different kinds of documents, all

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promulgated under the Pope’s name and therefore taking the same
name and form as papal documents. The highest form of document
was the constitution, of which there were four (eg.: Gaudium etpes,
the Pastoral Constitution on the Modern World). Ten other
documents were issued as decrees, addressing specific issues within
Church life (eg.: Unitatis Redintegratio, the Decree on Ecumenism).
Finally, three documents were issued as declarations, fairly brief
documents (eg.: Dignitatis Humanae, the Declaration on Religious
Liberty).
5.2.10.11. Curial Documents
i) Instruction
Instructions are statements issued by a Congregation, always
with the approval of the pope. Instructions are usually intended to
explain or clarify documents issued by a Council or decrees by a
Pope. An example of an instruction is Donum Vitae, an instruction
issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, clarifying
Church teaching on the respect due in law for human life in its earliest
stages.
ii) Recognitio
A recognitio supplies the acceptance by the relevant office of
the Holy See of a document submitted to it for review by a local
conference of bishops. Such acceptance is required for such
conference documents to modify universal law. A recognitio thus
gives conference documents legislative effect.
iii) Replies to Dubia
Dubia are official responses to questions (dubia) of bishops
addressed to the Holy See seeking clarification on statements of
doctrine or discipline. Dubia are addressed to congregations having
jurisdictions. An example is the Letter Concerning the Congregation

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for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) Regarding Ordinatio

Sacerdotalis, confirming that the latter document’s affirmation that
the Church does not have the authority to ordain women to the
priesthood belongs to the deposit of the faith.
iv) Bishops Documents
National bishops’ conferences were formally established by the
Vatican II (Christus Dominus 38). Bishops conferences issue
pastoral letters, explaining how Church teaching is to be put into
effect in the relevant country. To have authority, however, such letters
must be consistent with the teaching of the universal Church; they
must also receive official confirmation from the Holy See by means
of a recognitio from the relevant curial office. Statements issued by
an individual bishop only have authority within that bishop’s diocese,
and only provided that such statements do not conflict with the
Church’s universal law and teaching.
5.2.11. Dogmas of Christianity
What is dogma? Dogma in its defined form is a truth or proposition
of truth taught by the Church as revealed or as evident in the deposit
of faith given to Christians in the scriptures or tradition. Dogmas are
definitive proclamations of God’s definitive revelation in Christ
enacted by the Church in the form of a proposition of truth. God’s
revelation in Jesus Christ is a historical event. That faith-experience
of the disciples of Christ and the early Church had to be mediated
to all generations. This is done through Scriptures, traditions, liturgy,
sacraments, dogmas and doctrines. Through dogmas the Church
fixes the belief systems and expressions of faith in order to keep the
unity of faith as well as to distinguish the true faith from false faith
and heretical teachings. The Church through its magisterial authority
and by the sensus fidei (sense of faith) of the Christian communities
fixes the faith-expressions, its language and doctrines through the

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dogmas. Dogmatic definitions are contextualized by the historical,

cultural and linguistic factors.
Hierarchy of Dogmas: In the Catholic Church there is a hierarchy
of dogmas. This is set by the strength of the relationship a dogma
has to the foundations of Christian faith: i.e., mystery of Christ, and
the salvific activities of the Christ. Those dogmas that are closely
related to these foundations of faith will be valued higher and others
lower. For example: dogmas on Blessed Virgin Mary stand after
those on the mysteries of Christ: dogma of Immaculate Conception
th
approved by Pope Pius IX on 8 December 1854. Dogmas are
thus reliable sources and norms of reliable theology and theological
reform. On the other hand even dogmas need to be theologically
interpreted and when needed reformulated by advanced theological
reflections.

End Notes
1
A. E. Mcgrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction, (2001), 202-208.

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Chapter 6

Characteristics of Theology

After making an enquiry into the sources of theology,

now we discuss the salient features of theology, or the
criteria by which we can distinguish an authentic
theology or theologian. Also in this chapter we deal
with the aberration of authentic theology- heresy.
6.1 Salient Features of an Authentic Theology
6.1.1Biblical: Theology should be fashioned out of
Scripture and should go in accordance with the
Scriptures. Theology is born from the Bible, lives with
the Bible and finds its end in the Bible. There for
authentic theological reflection finds its source in the
Bible.
6.1.2 Trinitarian: We call theology Trinitarian because
the doctrine of the Trinity is not a side point, or just
one of many other doctrines. Authentic theology should

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focus always on the mystery of most Holy Trinity. Giving glory to

the triune God is the purpose of theologizing.
6.1.3 Ecclesial: Any kind of theologizing should aim at edifying of
the Ecclesia.
6.1.4 Liturgical: Worshiping community is the basic unit of the
Church. Scripture and theology was born in the heart of the
worshiping community. Forming a true worshiping community is the
distinguishing mark of the true theology.
6.1.5 Based on the Patristic pedagogy: Fathers of the Church
are the champions of faith who paved the way for theology and laid
foundation of the faith.
6.1.6 Ecumenical: aim of theology is to realize Jesus’ desire that
“one flock and one shepherd.”
6.2 Theology and Heresy
It is important here to establish the difference between theology
in its pure form and heresy, which is its corruption. A heresy is a
corruption of dogma and departure from biblical faith through invalid
argumentations on scripture. The Apostles warned against heretics
who usually corrupt truth because of sensual mindedness and illogical
twisting of scriptures (2Peter 3:16). Again, “But you, beloved,
remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of
our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers
in the last time that would walk according to their own ungodly
lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having
the Spirit” (Jude 17-19). For instance, in the third century, a priest
called Arius began to teach that Jesus was not God but was a created
being. A proper and systematic study of the Bible helped the Church
Fathers to oppose his teaching, which in turn resulted in the
formulation of the doctrine of Trinity.

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There were heretical teachings all time in the Church. During the
apostolic period there were people who adamantly argued for
circumcision, adherence to Judaic customs etc. Later, Arianism (The
Son is distinct from the Father, therefore subordinate to him),
Apollinarism(Jesus had a normal human body but a divine mind
instead of a regular human soul), Docetism (Christ did not have a
real or natural body during his life on earth but only an apparent or
phantom one), Gnosticism (doctrine of salvation by knowledge),
Monophysitism (in Jesus there were not two-divine and human
natures but only one – divine nature), Nestorianism(in Christ there
are two persons- one divine and one human. Mary was not the
Mother of God –Theotokos- but only the mother of the human
Christ-Christotokos).There are many heretical groups exists in
Christianity. For instance, Pentecostal groups, new age churches,
end day groups- Emmanuel emperor, Spirit in Jesus, Adventists etc.
Schism is another term that has caused deep wounds in the heart
of the Universal Church.In the early church, “schism” was used to
describe those groups that broke with the church and established
rival churches. The most significant medieval schism was the East-
West schism that divided Christendom into Western (Roman
Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) branches (1054).The greatest of
the Christian schisms was that involving the Protestant
Reformation and the division from Rome (16th Century). Rational
and critical approach saves faith from falling into irrational superstition
and dogmatism.

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Chapter 7

Branches of Theology

One can rightly say that theology is a compound term

which includes variety of disciples within it. It covers
all most all areas of human life. Christian theology
according to its involvement is divided into the following
branches:
7.1. Biblical Theology: It is both exegetical and
theological study of the Old Testament and the New
Testament involving also a study of Hebrew, Aramaic,
and Greek. It involves exegetical studies of the biblical
texts in the original languages. There are two great
divisions:
a) Old Testament Theology: It is usually divided into
six periods: Theology of the i) Edenic Era; ii)
Noahic Era; iii) Patriarchal Era; iv) Mosaic Era;
v) Monarchial Era and; vi) Prophetic Era

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b) New Testament Theology: It is usually divided into seven

thoughts: Theology of i) the Synoptics; ii) Acts ; iii) James; iv)
Paul; v) Hebrews; vi) Peter and Jude; vii) John.
According to the Second Vatican Council: “the ‘study of the
sacred page’ should be the very soul of theology” (DV §11). Pope
Benedict XVI opines that “Dogma is by definition nothing other
than an interpretation of Scripture”.
7.2. Historical Theology: It is a study of Church History and the
historical development of the theological concepts, teaching, and
confessions. The main divisions arei) Ancient Theology (1st Century-
A.D. 590), ii) Medieval Theology (A.D. 590-1517), iii) Reformation
Theology (1517-1750), iv) Modern Theology (1750-1960) v) study
of Contemporary theologies such as Liberal Theology (which usually
does not accept the infallibility of Scriptures, sin, atonement, and
the Second Return), Neo-Orthodox Theology (which emphasizes
on personal faith above propositional theology and does not regard
historicity and infallibility of the Bible as important), Radical Theology
(treats Biblical accounts as mythological and assumes an atheistic
texture), Liberation Theologies (Black, Feminist, Dalit, etc. that look
for socio-economic emancipatory themes in Biblical Theology).
7.3. Systematic Theology: It is a systematic and logical presentation
of the content of Christian faith (dogmas) and the foundation of the
Christian way of life (ethics). It deals with, i) Prolegomena (first
principles) ii) Theology Proper; iii) The existence of God; iv) The
attributes of God; v) The Trinity; v) Creation; vi) Divine Providence;
vii) Doctrine of Man (theological anthropology); viii) Christology ix)
Pneumatology (doctrine of the Holy Spirit); x) Ecclesiology (doctrine
of the Church); xi) Eschatology.
7.4. Pastoral Theology: Pastoral Theology focuses closely on the
pastoral tasks of the church and its members (not just on the tasks

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of the pastor or pastoral team). This is sometimes called “practical

theology,” but, again, I think this is a mistake. Properly understood,
all Christian theology is rooted in the practices of the church and
serves them and is thereby “practical.” “Impractical theology” would
be theology cut off from church life and would, christianly speaking,
be useless. It reflects on the Christian life and practice both within
the Church and within the wider society. Therefore it makes explicit
the link between teachings of the Church and its application in the
wider society. Pastoral theology presupposes other branches of
theology such as i) Moral theology (Christian ethics) ii) Ecclesiology
iii) Pastoral theology iv) Liturgics v) Homiletics vi) Christian education
vii) Christian counseling viii) Missiology.
The above mentioned four departments can also usefully be
subdivided in the following way:1
1. Exegetical Theology:
v Biblical studies which focus on the analysis of the contents
of Scripture
v General introduction of the origins of the Bible.
v Canonical inquiry into how the shaping of different books of
the Bible
v Biblical theology (inquiry into how divine revelation
progressed over the course of the Bible).
2. Historical Theology (study of how Christian theology
develops over time):
v The Patristic Period (1st through 8th centuries)
v The Ante-Nicene Fathers (1st to 3rd centuries)
v The Nicene Fathers (4th century)
v The Post-Nicene Fathers (5th to 8th centuries)
v The Middle Ages (8th to 16th centuries)
v The Reformation and Counter-Reformation (16th to 18th
centuries)
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Introduction to Theology

v The Modern Period (18th to 21st centuries)

3. Systematic Theology:
v Prolegomena (first principles)
v Theology Proper
v The existence of God
v The attributes of God
v The Trinity
v Creation
v Divine Providence
v Doctrine of Man (theological anthropology)
v Christology
v Pneumatology (doctrine of the Holy Spirit)
v Ecclesiology (doctrine of the Church)
v Eschatology and the theology of afterlife.
4. Practical Theology:
v Moral theology (Christian ethics and casuistry)
v Ecclesiology
v Pastoral theology
v Liturgics
v Homiletics
v Christian education
v Christian counseling
v Missiology

End Notes
1
Avery Dulles, Faith and Revelation in Systematic Theology: Roman
Catholic Perspectives, Francis Schussler Fiorenza and John P. Galvin,
eds., (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991), p. 121.

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Chapter 8

History of
Christian Theology

Theology as the present form is a result of great

evolution and progress. Men of all times tried to seek
and define god, but until God himself had taken the
initiative it was remained in futile. Here we try to
disclose the different phases in the development of
Christian theology.
8.1. Evangelists and Hagiographers
The Sacred writers are the first theologians. The
Bible is a collection of books and consequently of
theologies. The Old Testament is a collection of different
theologies (for example, Yahwist Theology, Elohist
Theology, Priestly Theology, Deutronomist Theology,
Wisdom Theology etc.) which reflect different concerns
and even different cultures. Likewise, the New

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Testament is a collection of different theologies. One can note the

development of the understanding of the Christ event in the different
books of the New Testament. The focus of the New Testament is
always the proclamation of the Christ event. But in elaborating this
proclamation we find a legitimate pluralism of expression, depending
both on the personality and cultural identity of the New Testament
authors and the circumstances of the communities they were
addressing. Consequently, it is reasonable to speak of a Matthean
theology, a Marcan theology, a Lucan theology, a Johannine theology,
a Pauline theology etc. in the New Testament The New Testament
is not only the source of theology but also the theology itself. It
witnesses how the apostles and early church understood the Mystery
of Jesus. The New Testament writers are the first interpreters of
divine mystery and therefore NT is called as “Normative Theology”.
Prominent Catholic Biblical Theologians in the contemporary
period include Raymond E. Brown (1928–1998), Rudolf
Schnackenburg (1914–2002), Roland E. Murphy (1917– 2002),
Carlo Maria Martini (1927–2012), J. Murphy-O’Connor (1935–
2013), Joseph Fitzmyer (1920-2016) and John J. Collins (born
1946).
8.2. Apostolic Period:
Apostles and their direct disciples preaching, period of oral
transmission [nucleus of first century kerygma – Jesus is the foretold
Messiah and Son of God, who offered himself as a sacrifice on the
Cross for the redemption of humanity from the reign of sin, now in
his name salvation is announced to all, repent and believe in him as
the sole Lord and God]. This is the period near to the day of the
Lord, the molding time of Scripture and theology, period when
Scripture began to separate from Tradition and period of the
formation of Creed of the Apostles

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8.3. Patristic Period (A.D. 100-800)

The Church Fathers come under three groups: Greek, Latin and
Syriac. Prominent Greek Fathers include Athanasius (c. 296-373),
Basil the Great (c. 329-379), Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329- 390),
and John Chrysostom (347-407). Ambrose of Milan (c.340-397),
Jerome (347-420), Augustine of Hippo (354-430) and Gregory
the Great (c. 540–604) are the prominent Latin Fathers. Prominent
Syriac Fathers include Aphraat (c. 270–c. 345), Mar Aprem (306–
373), Babai the Great (c. 551–628) and Narsai of Nisibis (399–c.
502). Catholic Church considers their teaching next to Bible. As St.
John Paul II would say “They are the Pillars of the Church.” The
Great Fathers of the Church and the ecclesiastical writers of the first
800 years rendered important services by their positive demonstration
and their speculative treatment of dogmatic truth.
It is the Fathers who are honored by the Church as her principal
theologians, excelling as they did in purity of faith, sanctity of life,
and fullness of wisdom, virtues which are not always to be found in
those who are known simply as ecclesiastical writers, For instance,
Tertullian (b. about 160) and Origen, (d. 254), St. Cyprian (d. 258)
and St. Gregory of Nyssa. The characteristic of the patristic literature
were apologetical and polemical, parenthetical and ascetic, with a
wealth of exegetical wisdom on every page. Their theology was
rooted in the Bible, especially in the Gospels and in the Epistles of
St. Paul. Although it was not the intention of the Fathers to give a
methodical and systematic treatise of theology, nevertheless, so
thoroughly did they handle the great dogmas from the positive,
speculative, and apologetic standpoint that they laid the permanent
foundations for the centuries to follow? The following were the key
theological developments of the period of the Church Fathers:

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1. It was during the patristic period that the fixing of the canon of
the New Testament took place.
2. During this period the role of Tradition was emphasised. The
Fathers of the Church strongly insisted on the role of tradition
in helping the Church to remain faithful to the apostolic witness.
3. The development of the creeds was another important element
in the theology of this period. Creeds ranged from the baptismal
professions of faith to the formalized creeds articulated by
ecumenical councils.
4. This period also saw a better understanding of the person of
Jesus Christ. Dogmatic teachings about Christ were done in
the first ecumenical councils. An important dogmatic framework
was done in the council of Chalcedon (451).
5. The doctrine of the Trinity was clarified during this period. The
Trinitarian faith was fundamentally the same both in the East
and in the West. But there were differences in the theological
articulation of the mystery.
6. A more integral understanding of the Church was done in this
period. This period also saw the rise of the five patriarchates:
Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople and Jerusalem.
7. We can note the beginnings of the science of biblical
interpretation in this period. For example, Origen made an
attempt to formulate the principles for interpreting the Bible.
8. We find the emergence of the first schools of theology during
this age: The School of Alexandria, the School of Antioch and
the School of Nisibis. These schools were the formation centers
of Christian theology, seats of liturgical and biblical spirituality
and research centers. There were mutual intellectual

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collaboration and merging of ideas between these different

theological schools.
8.3.1 Augustine (354-430 A. D.):
Augustine was probably the greatest theologian that the church
has ever known since Paul. He was the great summarizer of the
Patristic era, and the great motivator of the Reformed, Protestant
era. He remains a figure of intense interest in the fields of History,
Philosophy and Theology. He shaped Christian doctrine in every
major category, but especially the doctrines of Revelation, God,
Trinity, Sin, Soteriology, and Ecclesiology. For Augustine, theology
was not only a faithful interpretation of the Scriptures, or a speculative
task within culture, but also a faithful representation of the Apostolic
Tradition. It included apologetics, instruction, preaching, and
systematic investigation of the church’s doctrine. - His apologetic
theology is best seen in his works against the Donatist and the
Pelagians. His speculative work is best seen in his City of God
and his systematic investigation of theology can be seen in his Trinity,
perhaps his most important work. Here the issue of 4 the relationship
between reason and revelation finds its first full treatment as a problem
for Christian theology.For Augustine, theology was not only a faithful
interpretation of the Scriptures, or a speculative task within culture,
but also a faithful re-presentation of the Apostolic Tradition. It included
apologetics, instruction, preaching, and systematic investigation of
the church’s doctrine.His apologetic theology is best seen in his works
against the Donatist and the Pelagians. His speculative work is best
seen in his City of God and his systematic investigation of theology
can be seen in his Trinity, perhaps his most important work. Here
the issue of the relationship between reason and revelationfinds its
first full treatment as a problem for Christian theology.
Major 7 Ecumenical Councils of Patristic Period are listed below:

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Council Date Topics of discussion
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First Council of 325 Arianism, the nature of Christ, celebration
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Nicaea (May 20-June 19) of Passover(Easter), ordinationof eunuchs,
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prohibition of kneeling on Sundays and
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from Easter to Pentecost, validity of
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baptism by heretics, lapsed Christians,
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sundry other matters.
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First Council of 381 Arianism, Apollinarism, Sabellianism,
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Constantinople (May-July) dininity of Holy Spirit, successor to
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Meletius
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Council of 431 Nestorianism, Theotokos, Pelagianism
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Ephesus
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(June 22-Jul.31)
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Council of 451 The judgments issued at the Second
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Chalcedon (Oct.8-Nov.1) Council of Ephesus in 449, the alleged
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offences of Bishop Dioscorus of
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Alexandria, the definition of the Godhead
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and manhood of Christ, many disputes
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involving particular bishops and sees.
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Second Council of 553 Nestorianism
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Constantinople (May 5 - June 2) Origenism
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Third Council of 680-681 Monothelitism, the human and divine wills
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Constantinople of Jesus
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(Nov.7 - Sept.16)
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787
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Second Council of (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23) Iconoclasm
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Nicaea
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8.4. The Middle Age, Scholasticism (800-1500)

The terms ‘scholastic’ and ‘scholasticism’ derive from the Latin
word scholasticus (Greek: ó÷ïëáóôéêüò) which means ‘that (which)

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belongs to the school’. The beginnings of Scholasticism may be traced

back to the days of Charlemagne1 (d. 814). Charlemagne (742–
814)1, by a decree in AD 787 established schools in every abbey in
his empire and attracted the scholars of England and Ireland. Then
it progressed in ever-quickening development to the time of Anselm
of Canterbury, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Peter the Lombard, and
onward to its full growth in the Middle Ages (first epoch, 800-1200).
The most brilliant period of Scholasticism embraces about 100 years
(second epoch, 1200-1300), and with it are connected the names
of Alexander of Hales, Albertus Magnus, Bonaventure, Thomas
Aquinas, and Duns Scotus. From the beginning of the fourteenth
century, owing to the predominance of Nominalism and to the sad
condition of the Church, Scholasticism began to decline (third epoch,
1300-1500). We will analyze three great important figures of
Scholasticism Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas (354-1275 A. D.).
8.4.1 Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)
Anselm of Canterbury was born in Aosta; North Italy. Anselm
was deeply influenced by Augustine, whom he absorbed through
every pore. Anselm saw theology as the church’s response to situation
requiring theological clarity. He also made famous Augustine’s
statement that theology is “faith seeking understanding” (“fides
quarens intellectum”). Anselm also thought that the task of theology
must include reason as a secondary source for its propositions. Still
his insistence is that theology is faith, seeking understanding. Almost
all of Anselm’s theological works are occasional. Anselm’s most
famous works were The Proslogion, a work on the ontological
argument for the existence of God, and Cur Deus Homo – which
tries to answer the question “Why God became man?” The latter
work is where he lays out his famous and influential theory of the
atonement known as the “satisfaction theory”.

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8.4.2. Thomas Aquinas (1231-1274)

Thomas Aquinas is unanimously considered to be the greatest of
the Medieval Theologians. He was born near Naples 1224/5, of
Italian nobility. He was a Benedictine oblate at Monte Cassino
until1239. He consumed the vast majority of the western intellectual
tradition in a space of 1-½ years, (1252-54.). His teaching career
began in 1256 and continued until death. He wrote some 9 million
words, the greatest collection of which is contained in the Summa
Theologica. This becomes the standard reference work for theology
for hundreds of years.
For Aquinas, theology was the orderly synthesis and systematic
exposition of the church’s cardinal doctrines In the light of revelation
and creation, through reason. His own theology followed the question/
answer method and saw as its task the inclusion of all other branches
of learning including philosophy. Theology is, according to Aquinas,
the “queen of the Sciences” and therefore the ultimate source for
meaning. As a result the Summa was a synthesis of Scripture,
Theology, Philosophy, Law and Nature. Theology is not just the
study of the revelation contained in Scripture, but the study of
everything, with the starting point being God. “Theology is also the
sacred teaching itself, still active, in the mode of developing and
explicating the seeds in the soil of human reason”. It attempts, in
terms somewhat different than Anselm, a” faith seeking
understanding”. But with the accent on understanding, so that reason
threatens to usurp faith as the starting point.
8.5 Period of Reformation
The Protestant Reformation, a religious movement that began in
the sixteenth century, brought an end to the ecclesiastical unity of
medieval Christianity in Western Europe. Originally, the word
reformation (from the Latin reformare, “to renew”) suggested the
removal of impurities and corruption from church institutions and
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people, rather than separation from the unified Roman Catholic

Church. The Reformation generally is recognized to have begun in
1517, when Martin Luther (1483–1546), a German monk and
university professor, posted his ninety-five theses on the door of the
castle church in Wittenberg. Luther argued that the church had to be
reformed. He believed that individuals could be saved only by
personal faith in Jesus Christ and the grace of God. He thought the
Catholic Church’s practices focusing on works (such as pilgrimages,
the sale of indulgences to obtain forgiveness, and prayers addressed
to saints) were immoral. Lutheranism framed by its three famous
solas: sola scriptura, sola fides and sola gratia. Martin Luther
envisioned a move back to the Patristic emphasis on the explication
and interpretation of Scripture as the substance of theology. Luther
clearly joins hands with Augustine in stating that theology was “faith
seeking understanding”, but the emphasis is just as clearly on the
text of Scripture as the point of departure for this faith. In his first
lectures on the Psalms he writes, “No one arrives at knowledge of
the Godhead if he is not first brought low and has descended to
knowledge of himself. For here he also arrives at knowledge of
God.”
Thus, Luther distances himself from the Mediaeval Scholastic
approach to theology, which conceived of it as the task of confirming
the reasonableness of revelation. Justification by faith is the point of
departure; the rest is worked out from there. But the knowledge of
God and the self are to be gained only in mutual relation. The starting
point, and only authority for this knowledge is the Scripture, where
God has revealed Himself and ourselves. Luther’s theology is
centered on a close reading of Scripture and oriented towards the
preaching and pastoral life of the church. Reformation movements
can be positively evaluated as an effort to free theology from
scholasticism. Luther tried to bring back Christian theology to its
Biblical sources.
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8.5.1Counter-Reformation (Catholic Reformation)

The Roman Catholic Church responded with Counter-
Reformation (Catholic Reformation) to the protestant reformation.
One of the important agencies of the Catholic Counter-Reformation
was the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola (1491–
1556). We can also find a renewal in the religious life during this
period. Important religious reformers were St. Peter Canisius
(1521-1597), St. Charles Borromeo (1538–1584), St. Teresa of
Avila (1515–1582), St. John of the Cross (1542–1591), St. Philip
Neri (1515-1595) and St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622).
The Church defended the traditional faith through the Council of
Trent. The Council of Trent met over a period of eighteen years
(1545-47, 1551-52, 1562-63). It met the challenge of the Protestant
Reformation by clarifying doctrine and by instituting reforms that
improved the quality of the clergy. The Council condemned the
teachings of the Protestant Reformers and defined the traditional
Church teachings in the areas of Scripture and Tradition, Original
Sin, Justification, the Sacraments, the Eucharist and the veneration
of saints. The council abolished the abuses and introduced
disciplinary reforms affecting the sale of indulgences and the
education of the clergy. Council of Trent issued condemnations of
what it defined to be heresies committed by proponents
of Protestantism, and also issued key statements and clarifications
of the Church’s doctrine and teachings, including scripture,
the Biblical canon, sacred tradition, original sin, justification,
salvation, the sacraments, the Mass, and the veneration of saints.
The first Vatican council was convened by Pope Pius IX. It was
declared in 1868 and was convoked in December 1869. The
discussions started with a scheme of Faith (De Fide) and later a
revised constitution on faith, Dei Filius, was promulgated on 24th
April 1870. It has four chapters on God the Creator, Revelation,
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Faith, Faith and Reason, respectively. The council wanted to discuss

and promulgate teachings on Papal Infallibility and Papal Primacy.
But there were extreme positions in the council members and
nocomprehensively acceptable formula was achieved. Finally the
document Pastor Aeternus (Eternal Pastor), was accepted in which
Papal Infallibility was restricted to specific issues regarding faith and
morals on which the Pope teaches ‘ex chathedra’ (out of his chair
of official teaching capacity). Soon due to the outbreak of war
between France and Prussia as well as the Italian occupation of the
papal territories of Rome on 19th July 1870 compelled the council
fathers to close the process without successfully attaining the goals
of the council.
20th century is known as the century of the Church. Theology,
from its scholastic hangings freed itself. Richness of Scripture, Liturgy
and Tradition regained. New concept of ecclesiology- Church as
people of God developed. Scripture, got predominance in the
theological process. Emergence of contextual theologies is something
very special to the 20th century. Theology in the modern period has
suffered great attacks from philosophical trends and isms such as
Rationalism, Idealism, Empiricism, Existentialism, Marxism,
Humanism, Pragmatism, Liberalism, Personalism, and Feminism etc.
Risk of a 20th century theologian is to address these isms and maintain
the Catholic faith amidst their invation alive.
8.5.2 Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council 1962-65- an epoch making event in the
modern history of theology. 21st ecumenical council of the Roman
Catholic Church, announced by Pope John XXIII, as a means of
spiritual renewal for the church and as an occasion for Christians
separated from Rome to join in a search for Christian unity. It sought,
in the words of Pope John XXIII, aggiornaménto, “to bring the
church up to date,” and many of the council’s decrees did bring the
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Introduction to Theology

church into the modern world. Biblical studies got predominance in

the Catholic theological circles (Providentissimus Deus 1893, Divino
afflante Spiritu (1943) Dei Verbum (1964), Interpretation of the
Bible in the Church (1993), Verbum Domini (2010).
Some Unique Features of the Council
1. The council was convened not for condemnations but for
updating the Church for the sake of its own spiritual vitality,
Christian unity and world peace.
2. By virtue of the number of the participants the Second Vatican
Council was the greatest of all the councils held by the Church.
The council had more than 2600 bishops from all over the
world and the number of participants approached 3000,
including the theologians and other experts.
3. The Second Vatican Council was the most representative
council in the history of the Church with its bishops drawn from
every major continent and culture.
4. The Second Vatican Council was also more representative
than earlier councils in terms of non-Catholic and lay observers.
Almost every major Christian Church was represented in the
Council. 52 Lay observers were there in the second session of
the council, 29 of whom were men and 23 women, including
10 nuns.
5. The Second Vatican Council was the first ecumenical council
to have available to it the modern means of communication. It
was the first to be covered by newspapers and magazines as
well as by radio and television.
8.6 Theology in the Contemporary Period
The most important event in the history of the Church during this
period after the Second Vatican Council we find the emergence of
many contextual theologies. Contextual theology means theology in
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 Introduction to Theology

a particular context. Contextual theologies can be continental (Asian

Theology, African Theology etc.) or even national (Indian Theology,
Filipino Theology etc.) or it can be a theology based on the particular
situation of a group of people (Black Theology, Feminist Theology,
Liberation Theology etc.).
8.6.1. Liberation Theology
Liberation theology is a movement in theology which interprets
the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of liberation from unjust
economic, political, or social conditions. It is an interpretation of
Christian faith through the poor’s suffering, their struggle and hope,
and a critique of society and the Christian faith through the eyes of
the poor. It began as a movement within the Roman Catholic Church
in Latin America in the 1950s–1960s. Although liberation theology
arose principally as a moral reaction to the poverty caused by social
injustice in Latin America, it has grown into an international and
inter-denominational movement. Prominent Liberation Theologians
include Juan Luis Segundo (1925–1996), Leonardo Boff (born
1938), Gustavo Gutiérrez (born 1928), Jon Sobrino (born 1938)
Liberation theology focuses on the human being in need of
liberation. The preferential option for the poor has become the slogan
of the theology of liberation. Preference implies the universality of
God’s love, which excludes no one. It is only within the framework
of this universality that we can understand the preference, that is,
what comes first. Liberation theologians assert that God is revealed
as having a preference for those people who are “insignificant,”
“marginalized,” “unimportant,” “needy,” despised” and “defenseless”.
8.6.2 Feminist Theology
Feminist theology is an approach to theology developed largely
in USA since 1968, but now spread to all over the world. It seeks
to advance and understand the equality of men and women morally,
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Introduction to Theology

socially, spiritually, and in leadership from a Christian perspective. It

tries to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies
from a feminist perspective. Some of the goals of feminist theology
include increasing the role of women among the clergy and religious
authorities, reinterpreting male-dominated imagery and language
about God, and studying images of women in the Scriptures. Feminist
theology regards women, their bodies, perspectives and experiences
as relevant to theology. It demands the use of a language that does
not reflect a male power structure. Prominent Feminist Theologians
are Mary Daly (1928–2010), Rosemary Radford Ruether (born
1936) and Elizabeth Schuessler Fiorenza (born 1938).
Some feminist theologians try to reconcile Christianity and
feminism by arguing that Christianity read in the right way, advocates
equality and justice in the same way that feminism does. For example,
the American theologian Leonard Swidler argues that Jesus was a
feminist. Some other feminist theologians advocate a radically new
reading of Christian theology. According to them, women and the
experiences of women are the criteria by which all theology has to
be judged. Only some texts within the tradition are regarded as
usable. The most prominent writers of this second group are
Rosemary Radford Ruether and Elizabeth Schuessler Fiorenza.
8.6.3 Political Theology
Political theology is a new trend in theology that began during the
latter part of the 20th century. It was a theological response to
existentialism that stressed the public significance of Christian
eschatology. Political theology investigates the ways in which
theological concepts are related to the politics, society, and
economics. Two important proponents of political theology are Jürgen
Moltmann and Johann Baptist Metz. The connections between
Political theology and liberation theology are clear.

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 Introduction to Theology

Metz explored the concept of political theology throughout his

work The Vocabulary of Political Theology. In contrast to what it
takes to be the traditional concentration of theology on the individual
and on personal holiness, Metz sees ‘the deprivatising of theology
as the primary critical task of political theology’. Orthopraxy becomes
the mark of true discipleship more than the traditional orthodoxy.
He argued for the concept of a ‘suffering God’ who shared the pain
of his creation. He criticizes what he terms ‘bourgeois Christianity’
and believes that the Christian Gospel has become less credible
because it has become entangled with bourgeois religion. His work
Faith in History and Society develops fundamental theology from
this perspective.
8.6.4 Dalit Theology
The term ‘Dalit’ derived from the Sanskrit root dal means broken,
cracked, trodden down, crushed or destroyed. Dalit theology is a
branch of Christian theology that emerged among the Dalit castes in
India in the 1980s.13 It shares a number of themes with liberation
theology. Dalit theologians have seen passages in the gospels, such
as Jesus’ sharing a common drinking vessel with the Samaritan
woman in John 4, as indicating his embracing of Dalitness. The
parable of the Good Samaritan is also seen as significant, providing
a life-giving message to the marginalized Dalits and a challenging
message to the non-Dalits. A major proponent of Dalit theology
was Arvind P. Nirmal (1936–1995), a Dalit Christian in the Church
of North India. Nirmal criticised Brahminic dominance of Christian
theology in India, and believed that the application of liberation
theology to India should reflect the struggle of Dalits, who make up
about 70% of Christians in India.
The emphasis of Dalit theology is on the reign of God.
Consequently, the stress is not only on Jesus’ option for the poor
and the outcasts, but also on his call to everyone to a new fellowship
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Introduction to Theology

in which all are equal and there is no discrimination. Such a

community must first of all be a community that struggles against any
form of injustice and oppression.
8.6.4 Black Theology
Black Theology tries to understand and interpret the Word of
God in the historical, religious, cultural and social life of the Black
communities especially the injustice done towards Blacks in American
and South African contexts. Black theology makes use of some of
the elements of the liberation theology. In Black Theology
philosophical views of God are largely ignored in preference for the
concerns of the oppressed. The focus is given to God’s actions, and
his delivering of the oppressed because of his righteousness.
Proponents of black theology are concerned specifically with
the social and political aspects of salvation more than the spiritual.
In other words, salvation is physical liberation from white oppression
rather than freedom from the sinful nature and acts of each individual
person. According to them, a white man who is in power cannot be
a Christian, unless he gives up that power and give it to the black
man. James Cone is a proponent of Black Theology in America.
Black theologies were popularized in Africa in the early 1970s by
Basil Moore, a Methodist theologian in South Africa. In the United
Kingdom, Dr. Robert Beckford is a prominent black theology
practitioner.

End Notes
1
Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great or Charles I, was King of
the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman
Emperor from 800. He united much of western and central Europe during
the early Middle Ages. He was the first recognized emperor to rule from
Western Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire three centuries
earlier. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded is called
the Carolingian Empire. Charlemagne has been called the ‘Father of Europe’
as he united most of Western Europe for the first time.
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 Introduction to Theology

Chapter 9

Important
Mordern Day Theologians

9.1. Henri-Marie de Lubac SJ (1896-1991). He

was a French Jesuit priest who became a Cardinal of
the Catholic Church, and is considered to be one of
the most influential theologians of the 20th century.
A peritus at the Second Vatican Council, he was made
a cardinal in 1983. His vast literary output covers a
range of subjects, including the Church, grace and the
supernatural, the history of exegesis in the middle Ages,
Pico della Mirandola, and Joachim of Fiore. He
helped to create the intellectual climate that made the
Second Vatican Council possible, largely by opening
up the vast spiritual resources of the Catholic tradition
which had been cramped by post-Tridentine ‘baroque’
theology. He was one of the founders of ‘Sources
Chrétiennes’, a series of patristic and medieval texts,

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with French translation, now involving scholars from all over the
world. He died on September 4, 1991, Paris and is buried in a
tomb of the Society of Jesus at the Vaugirard cemetery in Paris.
Important works:
Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man,
The Drama of Atheist Humanism,
The Splendor of the Church, Medieval Exegesis 2 Vol.s.
The Mystery of the Supernatural etc.
9.2. Yves-Marie-Joseph Cardinal Congar, (1904- 1995, Paris),
was a French Dominican priest who was widely recognized in his
lifetime as one of the most important Roman Catholic theologians
of the 20th century. Best known for his work in ecclesiology
(theology of the church itself as an institution or community), Congar
drew from biblical, patristic, and medieval sources to revitalize
the discipline. An early advocate of ecumenism, he was a major
influence at the Second Vatican Council (1962–65). Important
works:
The Meaning of Tradition
I Believe In The Holy Spirit
Lay people in the church; a study for a theology of the laity
Tradition & Traditions
My Journal of the Council
Diversity and Communion
Jesus Christ
The Word and the Spirit
True and False Reform in the Church
I Believe in the Holy Spirit: Lord and Giver of Life, 3 Vols.
Power and poverty in the church
The Mystery of the Church, etc.

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8.3. Karl Rahner, (1904- 1984), a German Jesuit priest who is

widely considered to have been one of the foremost Roman Catholic
theologians of the 20th century. He is best known for his work
in Christology and for his integration of an existential philosophy of
personalism with Thomistic realism, by which human self-
consciousness and self-transcendence are placed within a sphere in
which the ultimate determinant is God. He was known as well for
his defense of Edward Schillebeeckx in 1968, when the Flemish
theologian was under attack for heresy as a result of his calls for
more freedom of theological research within the church and for
theological pluralism.
In 1962 Rahner was appointed as a peritus (expert advisor) by
Pope John XXIII for the Second Vatican Council. Cardinal Koenig
in Vienna selected Rahner as his private adviser on the Council
documents. During the Council, Rahner worked with Joseph
Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) to prepare an alternate text on the
issue of the relationship between Scripture and Tradition that was
accepted by the German bishops. Other topics discussed during
Vatican II that showed Rahner’s influence included the divine
inspiration of the Bible, the relationship of the Church to the modern
world, and the possibility of salvation outside the Church even for
nonbelievers. Rahner’s many books emphasize the continuity of
modern and ancient interpretations of Roman Catholic doctrine. His
works include:
Geist in Welt (1939; Spirit in the World),
Hörer des Wortes (1941; Hearers of the Word),
Sendung und Gnade, 3 vol. (1966; Mission and Grace),
Grundkurs des Glaubens (1976; Foundations of Christian Faith),
Die siebenfältige Gabe:über die Sakramente der
Kirche (1974; Meditations on the Sacraments).
Theological Investigations 23 vols. (1961–92).

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9.4. Jean-Guenolé-Marie Daniélou S.J. (1905-1974) was a

French Jesuit and cardinal, an internationally well
known patrologist, theologian and historian and a member of
the Académie française. He spent most of his time on research
in patristics, and became, with Henri de Lubac one of the founders
of the Sources Chrétiennes book series. Thoroughly grounded in
the Fathers of the Church, who worked from Scripture, Daniélou
generally avoided the neo-Thomistic terminology and approach and
used a more relational vocabulary, emphasizing our self-gift in
response to God’s gift in Jesus Christ, with the gradual unveiling of
the Trinitarian life in history. Pope John XXIII appointed Daniélou
a peritus of the Second Vatican Council.[4] In 1969 Pope Paul
VI made him a cardinal. One of the best citations from his works is-
[T]he sacraments constitute the events of a time which is the tension
between the Resurrection and the Parousia . . . Thus during the
delay of the Parousia, the Eucharist prevents humanity, in this foretaste
of celestial food, from tiring of waiting and from returning to terrestrial
food . . . And the Eucharist is the sacrament of unity which gathers
about the Christ of glory, present in the community, all nations in
order to offer them through His hands to the Father.” (Daniélou, in
“Marxist History and Sacred History,” 508–509). In an age filled
with scientific discoveries and technological developments, Church
historian Jean Daniélou dedicated the majority of his writings and
teaching to the promotion of the Gospel’s message of joy and hope.
Major works:
The Bible and the Liturgy,
God and the Ways of Knowing;
The Dead Sea Scrolls and Primitive Christianity.
9.5. Karl Barth (1886–1968) is generally considered as one of
the most outstanding Protestant theological thinkers of the twentieth
century. As the founder of neo-orthodoxy, he is one of the most

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influential theologians in contemporary Christian theology. Thus, it is

essential to have an overview of Barth’s theology in order to have
an accurate grasp of the trend of modern Christian theology. In the
first section, as a background necessary for an understanding his
theology, the study surveyed the life and the major works of Karl
Barth. He was born under the context of the conservative Reformed
Church tradition, but was educated under the influence of liberal
theologians, such as Adolf von Harnack and Wilhelm Herrmann.
However, through experiences of ministering for the local church,
Barth found out the importance and the priority of the Bible in the
theology and in the practice of Christianity. His two prominent works
include (1) The Epistle to the Romans, his first publication, and (2)
Church Dogmatics, his most famous work. Barth’s theology covers
three major areas: The doctrine of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
First, Barth understood God as the transcendent God and the
unknown God. He also emphasized the revelation of God in Jesus
Christ. For Barth, God is not the same God as understood by liberal
theologians and the proponents of natural theology. Rather, God is
the incomprehensible and unapproachable God by man himself. In
this sense, there is a sharp contrast between Barth’s theology and
liberal theology. Second, Barth’s theology is Christ-centered. For
Barth, all theology should find its focal center in Jesus Christ, as well
as all knowledge of God is obtainable only through Jesus Christ. In
other words, Jesus Christ, who is the Revelation of God, is the
foundation of theology and the knowledge of God. Essentially, Barth’s
Christology is built upon the tradition of the Nicene-Constantinople
Creed, and following in the Chalcedonian formula setting forth two
natures united in the one person of Jesus Christ.
Regarding the relationship of Jesus Christ (the living Word) and
to the Bible (the written word), and to the church (the proclaimed
word), Barth is clear that Jesus Christ is the Lord of both the Bible

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and the church. All other elements of the divine revelation and even
of theology should be centered upon Jesus Christ. Third, Barth not
only believes in the deity of the Holy Spirit, according to the
NiceneConstantinople Creed, but also places emphasis upon the
Holy Spirit as the (1) Creator, (2) Reconciler, and (3) Redeemer.
Barth’s understanding of the importance of the Holy Spirit in the
Trinity as well as his explanation of the work of the Holy Spirit is of
significance for believers. He sees the Holy Spirit as gatherer of the
believers as a community as well as the binder of the believers in
Christ. In relation to the event which is called revelation, Barth adds
three dimensions of the work of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit (1)
ensures man what he can’t ensures himself, his personal participation
in revelation; (2) gives man instruction and guidance he can’t give
himself; and (3) helps man to experience God’s revelation in Jesus
ChristBarth’s works, which are significant in modern contemporary
Christian theology, include: 1. Epistle to the Romans (1919); 2. Die
Christliche Dogmatik in Entwurf [Church Dogmatics in Draft] (1927);
3. The Word of God and the Word of Man (1928); 4. Church
Dogmatics (1932); 5. The Knowledge of God and the Service of
God According to the Reformation (1938); 6. ‘No!’ in Natural
Theology (1946); 7. Dogmatics in Outline (1949); 8. Anselm: Fides
Quaerens Intellectum [Anselm’s Proof of the Existence of God in
the Context of His Theological Scheme] (1960); 9. The Humanity
of God (1961); and 10. Evangelical Theology (1963).
9.6. Edward Schillebeeckx
Edward Schillebeeckx, a prominent member of a wave of Roman
Catholic theologians who helped reshape Catholicism during the
Second Vatican Council. Schillebeeckx argued that although the task
of theology is to speak of God, all theological language is shaped by
its time and context. Therefore, the task of theologians is to translate
the gospel into language which is understandable to contemporary

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audiences. Schillebeeckx balanced his concern for the world with

scholarly attempts to recapture the central message of the gospel -
the truth that God in Jesus is reconciling the world - through critical
studies of scripture and Church tradition. In connecting the truths
of tradition with the concerns of the present, Schillebeeckx stressed
the importance of salvation, a theological term which he broadly
defined as ‘whenever the good is furthered and evil is defeated.’ On
the basis of this definition, Schillebeeckx emphasized orthopraxis
(correct-action) over orthodoxy (correct-belief). The central task
for Christians is to follow Jesus’ example in making salvation known
by working to transform injustices. He published and lectured widely
on basic theological matters like the nature of revelation and salvation,
and on issues of church discipline he argued for democratic
procedures in church governance. Schillebeeckx had reacted against
the neo-scholastic theology that the church adopted in the 19th
century as a bulwark against hostile modern ideas. Distilled from
the thought of Thomas Aquinas but frequently handed on without
any examination of Aquinas’s writings or their medieval context.
Schillebeeckx found alternative intellectual resources in modern
phenomenology, with its meticulous attention to the actual experience
of consciousness. And by studying Aquinas in his medieval context,
he recovered a Thomism that expounded the presence and mystery
of God in far less rationalistic and conceptual ways than did its neo-
scholastic versions. Strong emphases on human experience and on
the importance of examining church teaching in historical context
became hallmarks of Father Schillebeeckx’s work. His early writing
on the sacraments, for example, portrayed them as personal
encounters with God rather than mechanisms for the distribution of
grace. In two books — “Jesus: An Experiment in Christology” (1974)
and “Christ: The Christian Experience in the Modern World” (1977)
— he recast classical Catholic teachings about Christ around the

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experiences that gave rise to his followers’ faith in Jesus as messiah

and the son of God.
His Major works:
· De sacramentele heilseconomie, (1952)
· Revelation and theology, (1979)
· The Church with a human face: a new and expanded
theology of ministry, (1985)
· Church. The human story of God, (1990).
· I Am a Happy Theologian, (1994).
· The Eucharist, (2005/1948).
9.7. Hans Urs Von Balthasar
Hans Urs von Balthasar (12August 1905–26June 1988) was a
Swiss theologian and Catholic priest who is considered an important
Roman Catholic theologian of the twentieth century. Joseph Cardinal
Ratzinger said in his funeral oration for von Balthasar that “he is
right in what he teaches of the faith” and that he “points the way to
the sources of living water.” With Ratzinger and Henri de Lubac, he
founded the theological journal Communio. Over the course of his
life, he authored eighty-five books, over five hundred articles and
essays, and almost a hundred translations. However, his theology is
exceptionally complex and is difficult to summarize or encapsulate.
This complexity is due to the very nature of Balthasar’s theological
method which is a mystical, contemplative meditation on the overall
aesthetic “wholeness” of God’s revelation in Jesus.
He is known for his fifteen-volume trilogy on beauty (The Glory
of the Lord), goodness (Theo-Drama), and truth (Theo-Logic).
Along with Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan, Balthasar sought
to offer a response to Western modernity, which posed a challenge
to traditional Catholic thought. While Rahner offered a progressive,
accommodating position on modernity and Lonergan worked out a
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philosophy of history that sought to critically appropriate modernity,

Balthasar resisted the reductionism and human focus of modernity,
wanting Christianity to be more challenging toward modern
sensibilities. Balthasar authored more than 60 books on
such diverse topics as the theology of history, the early
Christian Church Fathers, classical literature, and modern
aestheticism.
Major works include:
Balthasar was better known for his sixteen-volume systematic
theological “trilogy”, published between 1961 and 1987, with a
concluding Epilog (Epilogue). It is called a trilogy because it is
divided into three parts: Herrlichkeit (The Glory of the
Lord), Theodramatik (Theo-Drama), and Theologik (Theo-
Logic). They follow the threefold self-description of Jesus
in John 14:6 (“I am the way, the truth, and the life”) and therefore
the transcendentals bonum, verum, and pulchrum (the good, the
true, and the beautiful),[67][68] although the trilogy begins
with Herrlichkeit, a study of the pulchrum, the beautiful.
· Prolegomena (Prolegomena) (1973)
· Die Personen des Spiels: Der Mensch in Gott (Dramatis
Personae: Man in God) (1976)
· Die Personen des Spiels: Die Personen in Christus (Dramatis
Personae: Persons in Christ) (1978).
· Die Handlung (The Action) (1981
9.8. Avery Dulles
The most distinguished American theologian, a man who
combined the virtues of scholarly inquiry with faithfulness to Christ
and the Church. Dulles’ theological vision pivots on two unwavering
axes. The first is his deeply Catholic imagination that endeavors to
take account of every possible position, consolidating widely diverse
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views into an authentic unity. The second is his commitment to the

Second Vatican Council. Always he sought to display the continuity
of that momentous event with the rich biblical, doctrinal, and spiritual
heritage of the Catholic Church, even while embracing the council’s
significant reforms and invigorating theological developments. At
Vatican II, Catholicism confronted the innovations of natural science,
historical scholarship, and the secular state. Like the council itself,
Dulles aspired to remain entirely faithful to the principles embedded
within the Christian tradition, while applying those principles creatively
and imaginatively to a new world. His theological research was
dedicated primarily to the nature of the Church and to the Christian
understanding of revelation. His study of ecclesiology, Models of
the Church, remains Dulles’ best-known work. Translated into many
languages and still used as an important text, Models of the
Church effectively displayed Dulles’ greatest strengths as a theologian
Being the author of over 750 articles on theological topics,
Cardinal Dulles has published twenty-three books including, Models
of the Church (1974), Models of Revelation (1983), The
Catholicity of the Church (1985), The Craft of Theology: From
Symbol to System (1992), The Assurance of Things Hoped For:
A Theology of Christian Faith (1994), The Splendor of Faith:
The Theological Vision of Pope John Paul II (1999), The New
World of Faith (2000), Newman (2002). His latest books are, a
revised edition of- The History of Apologetics, (revised edition,
2005), and Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the
Faith (2007).
9.9. Gustavo Gutiérrez
Few theologians have shaped the course of history in the way
that Gustavo Gutiérrez has. His life of service and dedication to the
poor has inspired millions of people. Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino,
O.P. is a Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest regarded as one
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of the principal founders of liberation theology in Latin America. In

September 1984, a special assembly of Peruvian bishops was
summoned to Rome for the express purpose of condemning
Gutiérrez, but the bishops held firm. Gutiérrez’s ground-breaking
work, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics,
Salvation (1971), explains his notion of Christian poverty as an act
of loving solidarity with the poor as well as a liberatory protest against
poverty.
According to Gutiérrez, true ‘liberation’ has three main dimensions.
First, it involves political and social liberation, the elimination of the
immediate causes of poverty and injustice. Second, liberation
involves the emancipation of the poor, the marginalized, the
downtrodden and the oppressed from all ‘those things that limit their
capacity to develop themselves freely and in dignity.’Third, it involves
liberation from selfishness and sin, a re-establishment of a relationship
with God and with other people. We have all of his works published
in English up in the ‘Victor Jara Liberation Theology Library’, but I
highly recommend Sharing the Word through the Liturgical
Year (1995) which distills much of Gutiérrez’s wisdom through his
inspiring weekly homilies.
9.10. Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI 1927- ). Many
refer to Pope Benedict XVI as “the Mozart of Theology.” Who are
the personalities and thinkers who have informed his theology? What
events, and which religious devotions, have shaped his personality?
What are the central themes of his complex scholarship
encompassing more than 1500 titles? This study attempts to shed
light on the unifying melody of the policies and positions of a pontificate
charged with spiritual and theological depth. Especially in the 1970s
an anthropocentric shift had occurred. Emery de GalÌ argues that,
amid a general lack of original, secular ideas stirring public opinion,
Benedict XVI inaugurates an epochal Christocentric shift; by

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rekindling the Patristic genius, he provides Christianity with Joseph

Ratzinger’s voluminous writings manage to cover virtually every
aspect of contemporary theology. Trinitarian thought, Christology,
revelation, tradition, theological method, hermeneutics, the
relationship between faith and reason, theological anthropology,
prayer, catechesis, Mariology, ecclesiology, priesthood, the
theological virtues and liturgy all come into play in this
evangelical homage to one of Catholicism’s finest living theologians.
Both intellectual legitimacy and the scholarship needed to propel it
into the twenty-first century”—Provided by publisher.
The theology of Pope Benedict XVI, as promulgated during his
pontificate, consists mainly of three encyclical letters
on love (2005), hope (2007), and ”charity in truth” (2009), as well
as apostolic documents and various speeches and interviews.
Benedict’s theology underwent developments over the years, many
of which were characterized by his leadership position in
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is entrusted
with preserving the Catholic faith in its entirety. His theology
originated in the view that God speaks to us through
the Church today and not just through the Bible. The Bible does
not teach natural science but rather it is a testimonial to God’s
revelation
In his first Encyclical as Pope, Deus caritas est, Benedict XVI
describes God as love, and talks about the love which God lavishes
upon us and which we in turn must share with others through acts of
charity. His letter has two parts. A theological speculative part in
which he describes; “the intrinsic link between that Love and the
reality of human love”. The second part deals with practical aspects,
and calls the world to new energy and commitment in its response
to God’s love. And Benedict develops a positive view of sex
and eros in this first encyclical, which would do away with the

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Victorian view of the human body. Love between man and woman
is a gift of God, which should not be exploited:
In his second encyclical, Spe Salvi, Benedict XVI explains the
concept of faith-based hope in the New Testament and the early
Church. He suggests a redirection of often short-sighted hopes. Real
hope must be based on faith in God who is love. Christ, the most
manifest expression of God’s love, dies on the cross not to end
slavery, miseries or other temporal problems. Benedict argues in his
letter against two mistaken notions of hope: 1.) Christians who may
have focused their hopes too much on their own eternal salvation,
and 2.) those who have placed their hope exclusively on science,
rationality, freedom and justice for all, thus excluding any notion of
God and eternity. Christians find lasting hope by finding their loving
God, and this has real consequences for everyday life.
In a special letter on the Eucharist and the Church, Benedict
describes the Eucharist as the causal principle of the Church. Through
the sacrament of the Eucharist Jesus draws the faithful into his “hour;
“ he shows us the bond that he willed to establish between himself
and us, between his own person and the Church (Sacramentum
Caritatis, 14). According to Benedict, the Eucharist, which is union
with Christ, has a profound impact on our social relations, because
“union with Christ is also u nion with all those to whom he gives
himself. I cannot possess Christ just for myself; I can belong to him
only in union with all those who have become, or who will become,
his own.
Role of the Church: To comprehend God’s ongoing revelation
is why the Church is important at all ages. Benedict’s view of
the church, ecclesiology, places much emphasis on the Catholic
Church and its institutions, as the instrument by which God’s
message manifests itself on Earth: a view of the Church’s

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universal worldwide role which tends to resist local pressure to

submit to external social trends in specific countries or cultures.
Major works:
· Theological Highlights of Vatican II. New York: Paulist
Press. 1966
· Introduction to Christianity. London: Burns & Oats. 1968
· Faith and Future. Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press. 1971
· The God of Jesus Christ: Meditations on the Triune God.
1978.
· Daughter Zion: Meditations on the Church’s Marian Belief.
1983
· Principles of Christian Morality. San Francisco: Ignatius
Press. 1986
· Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy.
San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 1986
· Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a
Fundamental Theology. 1987.
· The Spirit of the Liturgy. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2000
[2000].
· God and the World. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2002.
· Jesus of Nazareth. New York: Doubleday. 2007.
· Light of the World: The Pope, The Church, and the Signs of
the Times.2010.

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Chapter 10

Theologizing
in the Indian Context1

In the land of Palestine, which is marked by inequality

and injustice, Jesus proclaimed “the good news” to
the poor and the downtrodden. The predicament and
call of Jesus’ disciples in India is almost the same. We
should know our country, our people and our problems
if we want to bring the good news to them. As in
Palestine at the time of Jesus, inequality and injustice
are the key words to characterize the socio-economic
and political realities of our country. Poverty, illiteracy,
unemployment and lack of health care are glaring
realities. The vast majority of the people is affected by
them, and still worse is the case if women, the Dalits

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and the tribals, who are marginalized. We need a closer look at

these realities and see how attempts were made to do theology in
this context.
10.1. The Socio-Economic Scenario
On the one side, our country has made tremendous industrial
and economic progress in the last 70 years. India is the tenth most
industrialized country in the world with in three decades. The GNP
has grown, quality consumer goods are available everywhere, and
have a rich middle class whose percentage has increased from 10%
to about 30%. On the other side, poor people have become poorer
and their number has increased. Among 174 countries, India’s place
is 128 from the point of view of social development (UN Human
Development Report, 1997).
Reasons for this glaring contradiction are many. We followed
a ”Mixed Economy”, which is a choice between socialism and
capitalism. In this system, the capital-intensive heavy industry is
undertaken by the Government with the taxpayers’ money, and the
production of profit-making consumer goods is in the hands of the
private sector to their own huge profit. It resulted in the emergence
of a rich middle class and the consequent widening gulf between the
rich and the poor, causing greater inequalities. Though the caste
system has been constitutionally and legally abolished, the system
remains practically unchanged. Lower castes, including the dalits
and tribals, are both socially e and economically discriminated against.
Most of the middle class people come from the upper castes, and
thus there is a linkage between class and caste discrimination.
Economic liberalization, free e markets and globalization are the
new factors for the the widening split between the rich and the poor.
The poor and the uneducated become unwanted aunt unemployed
due to mechanisation ant computerization. Globalisation, free market

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and over consumption also lead to the exploitation of the natural

resources and the consequent destruction of nature and pollution
atmosphere, water and the whole environment.
10.2. The political situation
In India we have a democratic government, elected by the people,
and the government functions under a written Constitution. The
Executive has to function in accordance with the Constitution and
the laws made by the Legislature. If the Executive and the Legislature
function against the provisions of the Constitution, the Judiciary will
intervene and correct it. Thus we have a system of government with
sufficient checks and balances. The Preamble to the Constitution of
India declares that our country is a sovereign, socialist, secular and
democratic Republic and it will secure for all its citizens liberty of
thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship. The word ‘secular ‘
does not mean neutral or against religion, Article 25 of the Constitution
guarantees to all persons, not only the right to freedom of conscience
and the right freely to profess and practice religion, but also the right
to propagate one’s religion.
The secular character of our nation is today threatened by the
Hindutva movement, started by some Hindu fundamentalist groups
and Islamic extremists. The alarming thing is that several political
parties have allied with the religious fundamentalist groups in order
to win vote banks and gain political power and thus capture the
government. The Hindutva is a very dangerous ideology which claims
legitimacy exclusively for the majority religion, the Hindu religion,
and to a monolithic culture, and calls for the creation of a Hindu
Rashtra, where the minorities who belong to other religions and
cultural traditions are caricatured as ‘foreigners’ and they are to be
either eliminated or reduced to second class citizens.

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Religious fundamentalism and fanaticism, the harassment and

persecution of religious minorities, the Ayodhya conflict, the attempts
to rewrite the Construction of India and Indian history, the
manipulation of our educational policies and rewriting of text books
etc are not the only problems we are facing today. Coalition
governments coupled with defection and split of political parties and
consequent political instability, rampant corruption in the government
and in the political parties, pro-rich policies of governments and the
neglect of the poor and the marginalized, especially in the aftermath
of globalization and liberal economic policies are serious problems
in the political scene.
10.3. Discrimination against women
Women in India do not get equal justice. On the contrary, they
are discriminated by the male chauvinists. Women are subjected to
unimaginable forms of violence and discrimination: female foeticide,
infanticide, gender discrimination in education, food and health care,
restriction of freedom in movement, forced marriages, wife battering,
bride burning and dowry deaths, sexual abuse, rape, prostitution
and denial of equal democratic rights. Half of the Indian population
is women. And yet in the 13th parliament out of 543 members only
47 are women, that is, only about 8.5%. Yet when the women got a
chance of 33% reservation in the local Panchayat elections according
to the 73rd amendment of the Constitution, they proved their mettle
by their committed action. Many women Panchayat Presidents
became well known by their courageous action to meet the basic
and essential needs of the people.
The case of dalit, tribal and backward class women is worse.
The upper caste men treat them in an inhuman manner. Most of
them are victims of the technological and computer revolution and
that of globalization. They have lost their jobs and livelihood mainly

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in agriculture, fishing, and cottage industries, as they are uneducated

and unskilled workers. Will the Church and theological fraternity
listen to the voice of Indian women and respond to their plight?
10.4. The Cry of the Dalits, Tribals and Other Marginalized
Groups
Adivasis, Tribals and Dalits are part of the original indigenous
people of India with their own history, traditions and religion. Among
them the Dalits are the most humiliated lot. They are called by different
names, untouchables, panchamas (fifth caste), chamdalas, scheduled
castes, harijans, (the name given by Gandhiji) etc. As they are
‘outcastes’, they are thrown out of the residential areas of the four
castes of the Hindu community and are treated with content as
untouchables, and are segregated socially, religiously and culturally.
Dalits and the tribals together form 22.5% of the total population.
Most of the dalits are landless and economically very poor. Many
of them are agricultural labourers or they do other menial jobs. The
upper caste people dictate to them, control them and exploit them.
The term ‘Dalit’ (from the root Dal which means ‘to break’, ‘to
cut’, ‘to oppress’), means ‘the oppressed people’, and became
very popular with their liberation movement, started by Mahatma
Jotirao Phule in the 19th century and Babasaheb Ambedkar in the
20th century. Today the Dalits are being organized and educated,
and they are beginning to fight for their legitimate rights and equal
justice. Some Dalits embraced Christianity in search of liberation,
but unfortunately they are doubly discriminated, both by the State
and the Church. The state denies them the rights and privileges given
to the normal dalits because they embraced Christianity. In certain
sections of the Church also they are still striving to get equal treatment
and justice.

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The scheduled Tribes constitute 8% of the total population. They

are of two categories, frontier tribes and non-frontier tribes. The
frontier tribes are the inhabitants of the North-East Frontier States,
and the non-frontier tribes are distributed in the most of the other
States. Most of the North-East tribes embraced Christianity before
and after independence. In Central India also many tribals joined
Christianity as part of mass movement in search of a new identity to
fight against the oppressive forces and the feudal landlords. Many
of the non-frontier tribals are today threatened as they have been
uprooted from their habitats due to industry, mining, construction of
dams, deforestation, lack of work and migration to the cities.
Of the four Hindu castes, the fourth caste is called sudras, and
they are divided into innumerable sub castes or groups. Most of
them are classified under the other scheduled classes (OBC). Their
situation is equally “deplorable both socially and economically. Under
our Constitution, the Dalits, Tribals and backward classes are offered
several rights and privileges for education, employment and special
quotas for seats in the electoral bodies of the government. These
steps are meant to enhance their social and economic status. In the
Bible we see that the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized
people are the ‘beloved of God’ and those favoured by Christ. What
is the special mission of the Church towards them? How should
theology be oriented to their liberation?
10.5. Critique against a Purely Cultural, Philosophical and
Religious Approach
The earlier attempts of the pioneers of Indian theology were often
along the line of a translation model. They tried mainly to translate
the Christian doctrines and western theology into Indian cultural,
philosophical and religious categories, so that they may be
understood and received by the Indian mind. For this mostly they

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had recourse to the religion, scriptures and philosophies of the upper

layers of the Hindu caste order. However, the vast majority of the
Indian people belong to the sudras, the lowest caste, the Dalits and
the Tribals. The relevant question is, therefore, whom theology should
address itself to.
Moreover, many other relevant questions are raised: Is theology
merely wisdom, an esoteric knowledge, for another worldly and
purely spiritual salvation? Has theology anything to do with the
concrete socio-economic and political problems of the people and
their concrete lives here and now? After the political independence,
our country is now in the struggle for socio-economic freedom and
development and for the building up of a welfare nation. Have Christ,
his Gospel and the Church anything to contribute to the building up
of our nation? Has the Gospel something to do with the socio-
economic and political questions and problems of our people? Is
the salvation proclaimed by Christ a purely otherworldly and spiritual
reality? By all evidences of the New Testament and by what Christ
did in his time, it is very clear that the salvation which Christ preached
begins here, and it affects, reforms and renews radically the socio-
economic and political structures of human lives and creates a new
human society, based on justice, freedom and equality. Of course, it
should be remembered that salvation transcends all these and even
the socio-economic and political structures need a firm spiritual
grounding for their own continuous renewal.
10.6. Christ and Our Search for New Humanity
Many Indian theologians have begun to realize that the God’s
revelation in Jesus Christ and the Gospel contain answers and
powerful resources for the socio-economic, political, cultural and
religious questions and aspirations of the nation. They have seen a
link between the Gospel of Christ and the social and religious

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movements of the country. As very many Christians and missionaries

began to be involved in the struggles of the people and to identify
with the poor and the marginalized, they realized that they are
proclaiming Christ in a new way and found the relevance of the
Gospel for the country and for the lives of the people. Increasing
number of Indian Christians and theologians realized that
evangelization is much more than merely baptizing people and
planting the Church. They saw evangelization as proclaiming God’s
love manifested in Christ calling for communion and humanization.
Authentic humanization is at the same time divinization.
India’s rich religious experience, our time-old tradition of harmony
among the plurality of religions, the nation’s resolve to construct a
new society based on equal justice and freedom for all, and our
strong commitment to eliminate poverty and misery, and solidarity
with the poor and the marginalized, all these are seen as constituent
parts of the new humanity’ given in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the
prototype of the new humanity and the new creation. The Church’s
main task is to proclaim the arrival of the new humanity in Christ’
and to be at its service. This new theological trend emphasized the
hidden presence of Christ and His Spirit in all cultures and religions
and in all human societies calling for communion and authentic human
development or humanization. Christ is seen here not merely as the
centre of the Church, but as the centre of the whole humankind and
that of the whole creation. The transformation of human life and
human societies in all its dimensions is the goal of the mission of the
Church. It is not only the task of the Church and of the Christians,
but also the task of all believers as well as of non-believers. Hence
the Christian mission needs the collaboration and cooperation with
the people of all religions and ideologies, and thus the necessity of
dialogue. All these call for the redefining of Christian mission and a
different style of missionary praxis.

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The Protestant theologian Paul D. Devanandan (1901 - 1962)

was, perhaps, the first Indian theologian who powerfully presented
such a trend of thought, and identified the link between Christ and
the search for ‘new humanity’ in India. For Devanandan, the Kingdom
of God and the New Creation is not merely a transtemporal and
purely spiritual reality, but a new reality that has erupted with the
coming of Christ and something to be realized here and now, though
not completely. M. M. Thomas, the lay theologian of the Mar Thoma
Church followed the thought of Devanandan and he is, perhaps, the
most articulate theologian who elaborated the links among Christ,
salvation, humanization, Indian renaissance and modern secularity.
Some other Indian theologians like, Raimundo Panikkar, John B.
Chethimattam, and D. S. Amalorpavadass though their major
approach to theology was from the cultural, philosophical and
religious context of India, in their later works showed increasing
interest in the human and secular problems and in development and
humanization.
10.7. Indian Theology of Liberation
South American Liberation theology emerged in the 1960s and
70s. Liberation theology is the attempt to discern the action of God
in history and to collaborate with it by transforming the world. Here
theology is not an intellectual pastime, but a praxis-oriented
programme. It starts with the experience of poverty, misery,
oppression and injustice and a new awareness that such human
situations can be changed by the analysis and exposure of their root
causes and consequently their elimination. The process is guided,
strengthened and supported by the rereading and interpretation of
the Word of God in the Bible and thus affirms our faith-commitment.
Theology is here reconceived as a tool and service to our liberation
struggles in view of creating a new society.

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Almost parallel to the South American liberation theology, we

can see similar theological developments in other Continents like
Asia and Africa. We cannot, therefore, say that all Liberation
theologies were directly influenced by the South American Liberation
theology (See, M. Amaladoss, Life in Freedom: Liberation
Theologies from Asia, 1997). Among those who tried to articulate
an Indian theology of liberation, three names are outstanding,
Sebastian Kappen, Samuel Rayan and George M. Soares-Prabhu.
The latter two are well-known Bible scholars, who tried to interpret
the Word of God in the Bible from the actual Indian context. The
poverty and misery of the people, the social problems like the caste
system and the marginalization of Dalits, Tribals and women, and
the basic religiosity of the Indian people were the context in which
they made their biblical reflections and exegesis.
It is Sebastian Kappen, who made a unique contribution towards
an Indian theology of liberation, critical study of Marxism, involvement
in the lives and struggles of the marginalized people, constant
interaction with the social activists, dialogue with people of other
faiths and ideologies and familiarity with the various streams of
western philosophies and theology provided him with the necessary
tools for the exploration and articulation of an Indian theology of
liberation. His firm conviction was that all resources belonging to all
religions, cultures, ideologies, sciences and technology are to be
channeled and harnessed for the social transformation and
humanization of our world. Kappen pointed out that an Indian
theology of liberation would be unique as we have a religiously
pluralistic context which calls for collaboration with the people of all
faiths and ideologies and the adequate use of all their resources, and
not merely Christian resources. A new Indian Christology or
Jesesology is his starting point, where he introduced Christ and His
prophetic protest in continuity with the history of socio-religious

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movements of dissent, contestation and revolt in India, along the

line of Buddha and the Bhakti tradition, in opposition to the sterile
Brahmanic ritualism of Hinduism: hence the relevance of Jesus and
the Gospel in our struggles for freedom and a new humanity.
10.8. Dalit Theology
We have mentioned above that many Dalits in India embraced
Christianity as a mass protest movement against the Hindu caste
system by which they were oppressed and discriminated against.
Christianity provided them a new identity. But the tragic thing is that
even after becoming Christians; their situation did not improve much.
Many Churches continued the caste discrimination. Therefore, the
Dalit Christians were gradually alienated from their own Churches.
As they adopted Christian faith, they also had lost their special
privileges, rights, free education, reservation of jobs etc that their
non-Christian counterparts enjoyed. Dalit Christians thus lost their
identity and human dignity and they became non persons.
Dalit theology is the cry of the Dalit Christians by which they try
to express their faith in the midst of their agonies. It is a Dalit version
of liberation theology. Christian Dalits rejected the theology couched
in the classical Indian philosophical and religious categories which
are the language and perspective of the upper castes by which they
wanted to maintain their superiority and to control all others. Instead,
Dalit Christians began to discover their own history and their little
traditions and to theologize in their own language and categories.
There is an implicit theology of liberation underlying many of their
myths, stories, poems, narratives, folklore and rituals. The Christian
Dalits began to discover and develop their liberative meanings in the
light of their faith-experience. The Crucified and Risen Jesus stood
at the centre of their faith. It is the Crucified Jesus who gives meaning
to their miserable and wretched life: it is the Crucified Jesus who

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gives them the power both to suffer and to revolt. It is the Risen
Jesus who gives them hope in the midst of hopelessness; hope in a
new life and for a new world, which they dream. For Jesus, death
was not the end, but the beginning of a new life already on the third
day, and not at the end of history. Suffering and hope is, thus, the
texture of Dalit theology.
Israel was an oppressed people, a Dalit group; and the Old
Testament is the story of this Dalit people and the saga of their victory.
God himself came to liberate them. The New Testament is the
continuation of this story, the story of Jesus who was the leader and
the prophet of the little ones of Israel, the oppressed and the
marginalized. He was crucified by the powerful of society. But on
the third day this Jesus was raised and glorified by God the Father.
The Church at its origins was a Jesus Movement, the Movement of
Jesus’ People who were the community of the little ones, the poor
and the oppressed to whom the mystery of Kingdom of God was
revealed. Where do we find the God of the Bible today? Is He not
with the Dalits? Yes, He is the God of the Dalits The Risen Lord
Jesus is with his people, the little ones, the oppressed and the
marginalized. The Dalits are the People of God and God wants their
liberation.
10.9. Women’s Voice in Indian Theology
Theologies of the past and present are by and large the product
of a male dominated society. Naturally these theologies express,
more often unconsciously, the male perspectives, concerns and
domination with the tragic consequence of the subordination,
exploitation and oppression of women. In patriarchal societies and
cultures women are often treated as commodities for men, simply to
be used and abused. Theologies made exclusively by me a naturally
one sided and to some extent distorted and they need the corrective

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from a female perspective that theology may become more balanced

and integral. If God created ‘man’ (homo human being) as male and
female, they are constitutive and complementary parts of being
‘human’. Man and woman, and consequently male and female
perspectives are, left to themselves, incomplete, one-sided and liable
to distortions. Hence they need to be related and complemented in
order to be authentically and genuinely human. The experience of
women, their perspectives, insights and intuitions are, therefore,
indispensable for an authentic theology. The potentialities, talents
and the possible contributions of women are unique and irreplaceable.
Theology must be penetrated by the warmth, intuitions, and the
sharing and caring nature of women.
Along with the principle of complementarity, the principle of
equality must be also seriously taken. We are entering into an
egalitarian society and culture where the equality of men and women
is being accepted both in theory and practice. Equality of men and
women in politics and in the socio-economic and cultural realm is
already established in many countries. Women are half of the world
population and of Church membership. How unfair and unjust to
deny them equal partnership! What a tremendous loss ifthe resources
and talents of half of the world population are not properly utilized
or channeled but simply drained off!
There are a number of theologically trained women in India, and
they have formed an organization too for mutual encouragement
and support. But their voice is very feeble. Among the women
theologians Vandana Mataji and Sara Grant have made some
significant contributions from the Ashram-life point of view. Their
writings are experience-based with a contemplative slant. They often
call for a theology from the heart. There are indeed many theologically
trained women who are social activists and who live among the

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ordinary village folk, especially among the oppressed and

marginalized women, and try to articulate the thoughts, insights,
feelings and emotions of women. Indian theology is badly in need of
more substantial contribution from the part of women.

End Notes
1
This chapter is taken with the consent of Fr. Kuncheria Pathil from the
book: Kuncheria Pathil and Dominic Veliath, An Introduction to Theology,
Bangalore: TPI, 2005. And, Kuncheria Pathil, “Theological Reflection on
the Church from India,”in Asian Horizons, (2012), 677-706.

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GENERAL CONCLUSION

Knowing God is nothing other than the beginning of loving Him.

Theology enables one to know God more and more thus to be able
to love Him ardently and adamantly. By studying theology, we
understand who God is and how God is related to the world and
humanity. It is a discipline like no other because it often brings together
life, faith, thought, and study of the transcendent and immanent. The
study of theology is not the same as a devotional study of the Bible.
It encompasses interrelated sub-disciplines including Biblical Study,
Church History, Systematic Theology, and Practical Theology.
Therefore, studying theology is an adventure that is part discipline
and part exploration. The following are the major and the basic
texts that are to be used in theology: The Holy Bible; CIC – Code
of Canon Law (Latin Code); CCEO – Eastern Code of Canon
Law, Christian Faith, CCC. – Catechism of the Catholic Church, II
Vatican Council’s Documents; FEF – Faith of the Early Fathers etc.
To teach theology – to bring down the divine wisdom to the ordinary
people is the vision and mission of Alpha Institute and this text is the
beginning of this mission. It opens the doors to the amazing world of
Catholic theology.

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