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Good Systematic
Theology
MP3
Systematic theology is the study of Christian theology organized
thematically or doctrinally.
The word "theology" comes from two Greek words meaning "God" and "word."
Combined, the word "theology" means "study of God." Systematic refers to
something being put into a system. Systematic theology is, therefore, the
division of theology into systems that explain its various areas. For
example, many books of the Bible give information about the angels. No
one book gives all the information about the angels. Systematic theology
takes all the information about angels from all the books of the Bible,
and organizes it into a system - angelology. That is what systematic
theology is all about - organizing the teachings of the Bible into
categorical systems.
Systematic theology is how we created our doctrines. In fact, we
call our doctrines the "STP" or "Systematic Theology Project"
[Now posted as our Correspondence Course]
Beyond major doctrines, such as "God," "Jesus Christ" and "Healing," one would use systematic theology
to write papers on more minor or specific subjects. There is good
systematic theology and bad or inferior systematic theology.
I recently was directed to a paper on a single aspect of the Sabbath
written by someone outside of the ICG. Somehow this paper is
getting around the ICG and actually influencing some to embrace the main
contention of the paper. Without discussing the main point of the
paper, I can tell you that regardless of what side of the contention one
chooses, the paper uses bad systematic theology. The author of the
paper began with a belief regarding the Sabbath and then attempted to
write a piece of systematic theology that would support that belief.
This is bad systematic theology. Better is to take a subject,
gather all the Biblical information about that subject, letting the
Bible interpret the Bible and then writing a paper, or in the case of
the STP, a doctrinal statement which outlines what we know as truth
about this subject. In other words, God determines what is truth
and doctrine, not man with pet ideas and beliefs not specifically
founded in the Bible.
The doctrine of the ICG is the Word of God. Our doctrinal
statements [the STP] are our explanations of what we believe.
Generally, systematic theology is used for
trunk-of-the-tree, essential doctrines and not for contentions that come
under the heading of Personal Conviction and Conscience, such as we read
about in Romans 14. There we read the account of individuals in
the church who chose not to eat meat offered to idols. Paul says
that we should not judge a brother who has such a belief, for "whatever
is not of faith is sin" [Romans 14:23]. Such a person would be counter
productive to attempt to do systematic theology on the contention that
Christians should not eat meat offered to idols. This would be bad
systematic theology, as the person would be attempting to establish a
corporate belief for a single individual's matter of conscience.
Clearly some people who have a personal belief of conscience have
attempted to get others in the church, if not the whole congregation to
accept his belief as corporate policy for everyone in the congregation.
Good systematic theology does not make assumptions without proof.
It does not ask for leaps of spiritual logic. It does not use
reasoning that fails universal application of the reasoning. Let
me give you some examples from this paper on the Sabbath. The
paper contends that church members should not eat in restaurants on the
Sabbath or Holy Days.
Contention: I must be right in my
contention, for we never see Jesus eating in restaurants on the Sabbath.
Bad Systematic Theology [faulty reasoning]:
I never see Jesus driving a car. Should we
therefore conclude we should not be driving cars?
I never see Jesus painting a house. Should we
therefore conclude we should not paint houses?
I see no account of Jesus eating tuna fish sandwiches on
Tuesdays. Should we therefore conclude we should never eat tuna
fish sandwiches on Tuesdays?
The answer to all these questions, of course, is no. The gospel
accounts of Jesus do not cover each and everything He ever did on the
Sabbath. We cannot use Jesus to support a paper on a matter of
conscience or personal faith issues that are not clearly laid out in the
Word of God. Eating or not eating in restaurants on the Sabbath is
a personal belief. There is no, "thus saith the Lord" on this
subject.
Restaurants Did Not Exist in Jesus' Day
Further, and this is a side issue that happens to be right on point,
Jesus lived in a nation where all Jewish citizens were keeping the
Sabbath and refrained from conducting business. Even if there were
public eating establishments in His time, they would not have been open
on the Sabbath. Restaurants and the term "restaurant" did not
exist until the mid 16th century. Notice this from Wikipedia:
Restaurants:
The term restaurant (from the French restaurer, to restore) first
appeared in the 16th century, meaning "a food which restores", and
referred specifically to a rich, highly flavored soup. The modern sense
of the word was born around 1765 when a Parisian soup-seller named
Boulanger opened his establishment. The first restaurant in the form
that became standard (customers sitting down with individual portions at
individual tables, selecting food from menus, during fixed opening
hours) was the Grand Taverne de Londres, founded in 1782 by a man named
Beauvilliers.
Whilst inns and taverns were known from antiquity, these were
establishments aimed at travelers, and in general locals would rarely
eat there.
Inns:
Inns are establishments where travelers can procure food, drink, and
lodging. Found in Europe, they first sprang up when the Romans built
their famous system of highways two millennia ago.
Taverns:
A tavern is, loosely, a place of business where people gather to drink
alcoholic beverages and, more than likely, also be served food, though
not licensed to put up guests. The word derives from the Latin taverna
and the Greek Ταβερνα whose original meaning was a shed or workshop. The
distinction of a tavern from an inn, bar or pub varies by location, in
some places being identical and in others being distinguished by
traditions or by legal license.
Gathering in a tavern to drink beer or other alcoholic drinks is a
longstanding social tradition dating at least to Sumer (3500 BC); in
Sumer the tavern keeper was traditionally a woman but in other places
and times women could be completely excluded from tavern culture.
-end quote-
Nothing from the history of restaurants, inns and taverns would lead one
to believe the common citizen of Israel in Jesus' day would have been
customers of them, assuming any existed at the time. This all is a
further example of bad systematic theology. Even if they did
exist, they would have been closed on the Sabbath and the opportunity to
find Jesus eating in one on the Sabbath absolutely moot.
Contention: We should not eat in
restaurants on the Sabbath or Holy Days for this constitutes what the
Bible says is "buying and selling," something we read of in Nehemiah
10:31; James 4:13 and Revelation 13:17
Bad Systematic Theology [wrong definition or
applying erroneous definitions]:
Nehemiah 10:31: And if the people of
the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to
sell, that we would not
buy it of them on the sabbath,
or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the
exaction of every debt.
In the Bible Help, "Where to Find It In The Bible" we see a reference to
the subject of "Business":
Sabbath merchandising, Nehemiah 10:31; 13:15–18.
In other words, we see described the Jews going to the marketplace,
setting up stalls and carrying out business or merchandising or buying
and selling.
Notice a commentary:
10:31 Other
areas of life were included in the people’s dedication to God’s Law.
This verse deals with Sabbath
observance. Three particulars regarding the Sabbath
are mentioned. First, the people promised to stop all buying and selling
from foreigners on the Sabbath. Second, they pledged to observe the
Sabbatical year—that is, to leave their fields uncultivated during every
seventh year (Leviticus 25:1–7). Third, they decided not to collect debts
during the Sabbatical year (Deuteronomy 15:1–6). The people were dedicating
themselves to observe the Word of God in their business life.
–Nelson's
new illustrated Bible commentary
Notice this from another written commentary on the Sabbath and Nehemiah:
"Much later, after the captivity when the leaders
of Israel were anxious to restore obedience to God, a governor named
Nehemiah rendered some judgments about the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:15-22).
In those days some of the Jews were carrying on all their normal
activities on the Sabbath day including setting up farmers' markets in
Jerusalem. By means of a "city ordinance" he forbade the marketing of
produce in Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. There was little he could do
about work done elsewhere, but in Jerusalem, he was governor. Even when
they tried to set up markets outside of Jerusalem, he drove them away.
If you have ever been to that kind of market, you will realize how it
can shatter the peace of a Sabbath morning.
Some have taken this as proof that it is wrong to buy, sell, or even for
money to change hands on the Sabbath. There are four things to be
considered about this passage. First, there is nothing in the fourth
commandment to prohibit money or goods changing hands on the Sabbath.
The commandment is that you are not to do any work. Second, although it
is a small point, Nehemiah was the governor, and was establishing a
Sabbath-keeping society. Different judgments may be called for in a
non-Sabbath keeping society where you have no authority. Fourth, this is
a judgment of a governor to meet a specific situation. While it is a
precedent, it is a narrow precedent." ---end
quote---
What could be more clear? We are talking about work,
labor and conducting business and not the specific act of
buying something for money as an incidental action.
James 4:13: Go to
now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and
continue there a year, and buy and
sell, and get gain:
James 4:13
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a
city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
NT:1710
emporeuomai (em-por-yoo'-om-ahee); from NT:1722 and NT:4198; to travel
in (a country as a peddler), i.e. (by implication) to trade:
KJV - buy and sell, make merchandise. ~New
Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew
Dictionary
This verse is talking about business and even speaks to getting a profit
from that business. It is not denoting the specific action of
paying for something outside of a workplace or business that a member is
running.
Revelation 13:17
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the
name of the beast, or the number of his name.
NT:59 Buy
agorazo (ag-or-ad'-zo); from NT:58; properly, to go to market, i.e. (by
implication) to purchase; specially, to redeem:
KJV - buy, redeem.
NT:4453 Sell
poleo (po-leh'-o); probably ultimately from pelomai (to be busy, to
trade); to barter (as a pedlar), i.e. to sell:
KJV - sell, whatever is sold. ~New Exhaustive
Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary
Again this is denoting business, being busy doing trade, as a peddler
and doing work. We should not be operating a business on the
Sabbath.
It is bad systematic theology to infer definitions where they do not
exist in fact.
Contention: In Exodus 16,
the children of Israel are given instructions about the collection of
manna and its preparation before the Sabbath. These instructions
support a principle that would preclude eating in restaurants on the
Sabbath.
The author states in his paper...
"As we approach this subject, we must fully realize, first of all, that
God wants us to know and understand that He is our provider (Yahveh-Yireh).
When He was showing (reminding) the Israelites which day was His
Sabbath, after they had lost track of it during their many years of
slavery in Egypt, He commanded them: "Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a Holy
Sabbath to Yahveh. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will
boil, and lay it up for the morning." Then Moses said, 'Eat that today,
for today is a Sabbath to Yahveh, you will not find it in the field. Six
days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day which is the Sabbath,
THERE WILL BE NONE.' (Exodus16:23, 25-26).
"Now, I realize that this verse does not mention anything about buying,
but what is the principle here?"
Bad Systematic Theology [asking
the reader to make an impossible leap of logic in the name of principle]:
As stated earlier in this paper, the fourth commandment speaks
specifically to refraining from work and labor and nothing specifically
that would prohibit money passing one's hands. Notice:
Exodus 20:8-11
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou
shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that
is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that
in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the
sabbath day, and hallowed it.
This commandment is clear: for six days shall you do all your labor
and work. On the seventh, you will do no work. In Exodus 16,
Moses is issuing instructions that match this commandment in both letter
and spirit. Collecting manna took a certain amount of labor.
It was not an easy task. Eating in a restaurant is in no way labor
or work. It is not hunting or gathering. It is not baking or
boiling of food on the part of the restaurant customer. The
principle of commandment is to refrain from labor and work on the
Sabbath. The instructions of Moses in Exodus 16 match this
principle. The principle is about Working, not Buying. You
cannot jump from a principle about Working to the subject of Buying and
call it the same thing or the same principle. This is illogical
and bad systematic theology.
This one paper I have been using as an example uses bad systematic
theology throughout. Again, I care not how the reader feels about
eating in restaurants on the Sabbath. See my notebook piece, "Faith
Cannot Be Legislated!! [available upon request]" The point is not to accept bad
systematic theology for any reason. Learn all you can about it so
you know it when you see it. Keep yourself immersed in the Word of
God.
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