Theology

The past two weeks we have been introduced to systematic theology. Systematic theology is a collection of doctrines that cover every subject matter with all of scripture. It is not however, historical theology, which is concerned with the development of a belief. In order to fully understand systematic theology you have to know what a doctrine is and the difference between a major and minor doctrine. A doctrine is what all of scripture teaches us today on a specific topic. A major doctrine is one that has a significant impact on how we live our Christian life. An example of a major doctrine would be the deity of Christ. A minor doctrine is one that has very little impact on how we think about other doctrines and very little impact on how we live our Christian life. An example of a minor doctrine is baptism. On the topic of systematic theology we have studied five topics on scripture: authority, inspiration, clarity, necessity, and sufficiency. The authority of scripture means that the Bible has been vested with God's own authority. He speaks through scripture and instructs his people through it. "All scripture is God breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be completely equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The inspiration of scripture is painted perfectly in two different scriptures, 2 Peter 1:19-21 and Acts 27:13-15. In these two passages the phrases "driven along" and "carried along" are the same words. These passages describe how the scripture is spoken by God. The inspiration of scripture is a two point view called verbal-plenary, plenary meaning it is everything. Scripture is our number one authority, and every part of scripture is spoken by God. Acts 1:15-17, Matthew 4:1-4, Matthew 5:17-18, and 2 Timothy 3:16 are passages of scripture that describe verbal plenary. The clarity of scripture means that the Bible is written in such a