By Jeremy Myers Filed Under Theology Introduction Written on June 28, 2011

Divisions of Systematic Theology

The Bible College and Seminaries I attended used the traditional divisions or categories of Systematic Theology. Most often, these divisions are as follows:

Bibliology – Study of the Bible
Theology Proper – Study of God
Anthropology – Study of Mankind
Christology – Study of Christ
Soteriology – Study of Salvation
Pneumatology – Study of Holy Spirit
Ecclesiology – Study of the Church
Eschatology – Study of End Times

Yes, these are some of (but not nearly all) the big words of Theology.

Occasionally, I have also seen these divisions:

Israelology - Study of Israel
Hamartiology – Study of Sin
Angelology – Study of Angels and Demons
Misthology – Study of Rewards

I have written elsewhere why I think it is high time to update these categories, and eventually, I will jump into my attempt at doing so, but for now, I am just trying to summarize, reconsider, and redeem what I was taught in Bible College and Seminary.

So for this series (which is going to take a LONG time) on blogging through Seminary, I am going to use the traditional categories, but with simplified words. I will incorporate all twelve categories from above, but in the order they “appear” or are “emphasized” in the Bible.

So the order will be as follows:

Bible
God
Humanity
Sin
Israel
Jesus
Salvation
Holy Spirit
Church
End Times
Angels
Rewards

This is not a perfect order, and maybe I will change it as I go, but for now, it will have to do.

Any predictions on how long this is going to take? I wonder who will get bored of this first? Me or you? The good thing is that I won’t be doing this non-stop. We will intersperse it with posts about other topics and writing projects of mine.

Check out these related posts on Scripture, Theology, and Church:

What is Theology?

Introduction to Theology: A Reading List

The Different Types of Theology

Bibliology is Dangerous

Adding Love to Theology

Want to read more about Bible and Theology? Try one of these:

Elias Toscano on Facebook

For those of you with a Dispensational bent ( no pun intended) I would suggest Israelogy-The Missing Link In Systematic Theology by Dr. Arnold Fructenbaum, it gives a fair comparison of the significant milliennial,positions pre, post, amill. Very scholarly book, that sheds much light on Sys. Theo. at large hence the title Missing Link.

http://www.tillhecomes.org Jeremy Myers

Elias,
Yes, that is a fantastic book. I put it under “Israelology” but it could go under Introduction to Theology, Bibliology, Ecclesiology, or even Eschatology.

http://www.graceground.com Sam

I think you made a good point in your last paragraph. Sermons, lectures and lessons on theology don’t connect with everyone. Think of the classic “Mr. Bean Goes to Church” (the words of the sermon are unintelligible) where Mr. Bean keeps falling asleep.

Jeremy, you just gave me a great idea for the post I’m planning to write later today for Graceground on “Being The Church In The Community – Part 2″. I just finished “preaching” a three hour “sermon”. People paid attention, stayed awake and asked questions which indicated that they got the point and are thinking about it. If you get a chance to read it after I get it posted you can tell us what kind of theology you think it is.

http://www.tillhecomes.org Jeremy Myers

I LOVE that Mr. Bean classic. The way he parks his car is the best. Mr. Bean is great.

I will come over and check out the post at Grace Ground.

Mandy Daames on Facebook

These are some pretty big concepts,so thanx for putting it into plain simple english for all of us who love knowledge.
http://www.lifeofasteward.com Loren Pinilis

I really appreciate you blogging through your seminary notes from the past. I look forward to this!

http://www.tillhecomes.org Jeremy Myers

Loren,

How detailed do you think I should get? I don’t think I can really just “dupliate” the notes right here on the blog, since that would be quite boring. But I want to give enough information that makes them worth while. Any suggestions?