I. The word “Theology” means the Science of God. This science has God not only for its subject, but also for its source and its object; hence the Divine character of Theology cannot better be described than by the old formula: “Theology teaches about God, is taught by God, and leads to God.” Theology may be taken objectively as doctrine, or subjectively as knowledge. But it is not every knowledge of Divine doctrine, especially not the mere apprehension of it, that is called Theology. The term is restricted to scientific knowledge; and consequently Theology, in its technical sense, is the scientific exposition of the doctrine concerning God and things Divine.
The knowledge of God which can be obtained by means of Revelation is called Revealed Theology, in contra-distinction to Natural Theology, which depends on human reason alone. The “Natural Theology” of Paley and other English writers—that is, the knowledge of God obtainable by the study of Nature—is a branch of this more extensive Natural Theology.
II. Theology is usually divided into Dogmatic and Moral Theology. The former treats of dogmas—that is, rules of belief,—and is of a speculative character, while the latter deals with rules of conduct, and is practical. In this work we deal with Dogmatic Theology.
Theology may also be divided according to its various functions. When it demonstrates and defends the grounds of belief, it is called General or Fundamental Theology. This is more properly a vestibule or outwork of Theology, and may be considered as Applied Philosophy. It is also called the Treatise on the True Religion (Tractatus de Vera Religione), and sometimes Apologetics, because of its defensive character. When Theology expounds and coordinates the dogmas themselves, and demonstrates them from Scripture and Tradition, it takes the name of Positive Theology. When it takes the dogmas for granted, and penetrates into their nature and discovers their principles and consequences, it is designated Speculative Theology, and sometimes Scholastic Theology, because it is chiefly the work of the Schoolmen, and also because, on account of its abstruseness, it can only be acquired by scholars. Positive Theology and Speculative Theology cannot be completely separated. Hence the theological works of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were entitled Theologia Positivo-Scholastica, or Dogmatico-Scholastica. The present work likewise possesses this two-fold character.
A fuller account of these various distinctions will be found in the concluding sections of Book I.
I. The word “Theology” means the Science of God. This science has God not only for its subject, but also for its source and its object; hence the Divine character of Theology cannot better be described than by the old formula: “Theology teaches about God, is taught by God, and leads to God.” Theology may be taken objectively as doctrine, or subjectively as knowledge. But it is not every knowledge of Divine doctrine, especially not the mere apprehension of it, that is called Theology. The term is restricted to scientific knowledge; and consequently Theology, in its technical sense, is the scientific exposition of the doctrine concerning God and things Divine.
The knowledge of God which can be obtained by means of Revelation is called Revealed Theology, in contra-distinction to Natural Theology, which depends on human reason alone. The “Natural Theology” of Paley and other English writers—that is, the knowledge of God obtainable by the study of Nature—is a branch of this more extensive Natural Theology.
II. Theology is usually divided into Dogmatic and Moral Theology. The former treats of dogmas—that is, rules of belief,—and is of a speculative character, while the latter deals with rules of conduct, and is practical. In this work we deal with Dogmatic Theology.
Theology may also be divided according to its various functions. When it demonstrates and defends the grounds of belief, it is called General or Fundamental Theology. This is more properly a vestibule or outwork of Theology, and may be considered as Applied Philosophy. It is also called the Treatise on the True Religion (Tractatus de Vera Religione), and sometimes Apologetics, because of its defensive character. When Theology expounds and coordinates the dogmas themselves, and demonstrates them from Scripture and Tradition, it takes the name of Positive Theology. When it takes the dogmas for granted, and penetrates into their nature and discovers their principles and consequences, it is designated Speculative Theology, and sometimes Scholastic Theology, because it is chiefly the work of the Schoolmen, and also because, on account of its abstruseness, it can only be acquired by scholars. Positive Theology and Speculative Theology cannot be completely separated. Hence the theological works of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were entitled Theologia Positivo-Scholastica, or Dogmatico-Scholastica. The present work likewise possesses this two-fold character.
A fuller account of these various distinctions will be found in the concluding sections of Book I.
Seção 1% da obra, de A Manual of Catholic Theology (Wilhelm & Scannell, sobre a Dogmatik de Scheeben). Ver o original.