Transcription
Hey man, what you up to? Just studying God? What, studying God? You know, the trilogy? Same thing, isn't it? You know, I don't actually know. Never thought about it. Hmm, I wonder. [Music]
Hello there. I'm Aiden, and welcome to A Pastor's Life. For me, I was thinking the other day, with which topic should I start off our new series, One-Minute Definitions? That's right, you can get excited. We're gonna take complex biblical ideas and words and explain them in simple terms in just one minute. That way, when you ever need to understand a word, you have a reference to go to that's quick and easy. As well, with each video, I'm gonna try and put a timestamp in the description so you have a quick reference to go back to where the definition actually starts in the video.
I was thinking I should probably start off with theology because most of our terms are gonna be theological words. But then I thought, well, maybe doctrine. Theology is defined as the study of God—i.e., our intro. Doctrine is defined as a system of teachings on a particular subject; in our case, biblical teachings. So what do I do? Do I do two videos, one on theology and one on doctrine, or do I combine them together as one topic? That led me to the question: What exactly is the difference? Is there a difference between theology and doctrine? Are they the same thing? Let me show you an example.
We tend to use the words doctrine and theology interchangeably. This here is my theology and doctrine bookshelf. It holds my books on theology and doctrine. In this case, I'm using the words interchangeably as one topic. Take Hodge here, for example. Hodge has a three-volume set called Systematic Theology, but each book is called something different: Theology, the study of God; Anthropology, the study of man; and Soteriology, the study of salvation. Now, you don't need to know the depths of what each of these topics are. My point is, the publishers use an overall title, Systematic Theology, but then they also use a specific title, Theology. They use the word theology in a broad sense of the term, but then they also use the word theology in a specific sense of the term.
I think Grudem gives us a better example. These two books are about theology and doctrine, as you can see by the titles. This here is Systematic Theology. This is Bible Doctrine. Now, as one of my professors would always say when I was in Bible College, this is little Grudem, and this is big Grudem. Now, this is somewhat of a joke; the size difference between the two is an explanation—this one being 500 smaller pages and this one being 1,200 larger pages. But I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: This book is actually a condensed version of this book. Now, there is no sneaky business going on here; it tells you that in the beginning of this book. This one—it was designed as a manageable course textbook, whereas this one's a little bit thick. My point is, again, the words doctrine and theology are used interchangeably. In fact, the subtitle of this book is An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. This one's 1,200 pages, and it's an introduction to biblical doctrine, and that just begins to show you the vastness of the infinite God.
So does this answer the question: Is theology and doctrine the same thing? Yes and no. It depends on how you define theology. If something is categorized as systematic theology, generally it's considered the same thing as doctrine. The information that you find in a systematic theology book is systematized doctrine. But if you're using theology as it is defined, then that's a different case. Theology is doctrine, but so is anthropology and soteriology. If you look through the table of contents in a doctrine book and in a theology book, you'll see that they both have subjects on the study of God, study of man, angels, demons, Jesus, salvation, end times, etc. These are all technically different than theology; thus, they have their different names. However, they will all, in nature, possess some theology. Let me explain.
When you study doctrines on man, angels, salvation—any doctrine—you will also learn about God. What you learn about the created tells you something about the Creator. Or if you know that mankind is in desperate need of salvation, that tells you that a standard has been missed, and that standard is defined by God. God has also provided the means of salvation to humanity through Christ's death on the cross. Now, individually, you need to have faith in order to be saved. This all tells us that God is perfect and holy, and we are not, but God is rich in grace and mercy that He paid the debt that we have made that we could never have paid off, as Ephesians 2 tells us. So you see, theology has its own doctrine category, but it is also found in every other doctrine. This is the reason why we use the words doctrine and theology interchangeably, because all of God's creation tells us something about Him. You cannot separate God from His creation; He has designed it to reflect Himself. Now, sin has clouded that reflection, but it is still there. Romans 1 tells us that all of humanity is accountable to their sin, for His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have clearly been perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made, so they are without excuse. So though our sin has clouded that reflection of God in creation, it is still there, and we are still without excuse for our sin.
So are our doctrine theology the same thing? Pretty much. More often than not, people mean the same thing when they use both of these terms. Now, technically, this is a one-minute definition video, even though we've gone far longer than one minute. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. This isn't how every definition video is going to be, just this one. So start the timer. Theology is the study of God, His nature, His character—who He is. This is all found in the Bible, which is how God has primarily chosen to reveal Himself. We do see God through the complexity of creation and know Him through our personal relationship with Him, but doctrine and theology are only to be found in what the Bible teaches. Doctrine is the biblical word that is used to describe what the Bible teaches about God and His creation, and all forms of doctrine fall into one of these two categories. These are then broken down into smaller categories and are generally referred to as doctrines or theology. Doctrine and theology can be additionally defined as what the Bible teaches on every matter of life and godliness. This is for all of humanity, which will either condemn them for their unbelief or bring them to saving faith through the gospel. And as Second Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
I am really excited about this series, and I want to know what words you think I should define next. Leave a comment below with what you think and give this video a like as well. Subscribe to the channel and ding that bell so you don't miss our next episode, which is 5 Hacks to Help You Read Your Bible More. Until then, remember: Know the word, do the word, and share them. But as always, do it in love. [Music]