I am almost 50,000 words into writing a systematic theology, which has been a dream of mine since my seminary days. A systematic theology is an attempt to make an orderly, persuasive statement of one’s own faith. Perhaps the most famous is Thomas Aquinas’ Summa theologicae, written in the 1270s (he died in 1274). It is one of the most influential works in human history.
Here I want to run by you why I believe such an attempt is worth doing, even now, even by me.
Frances Young discusses the need to interpret the Faith — and the doctrines that express it:
On the one hand, any and every attempt at doctrinal definition is bound to be divisive and also mislead limited human minds into imagining that they can encompass the mystery of the divine in a series of propositions couched in human language and concepts. On the other hand, there are issues of truth and identity which matter and which belong to the whole corporate life of the Christian community through history, and which cannot appropriately be decided by discrete free-thinking individuals. It must therefore be the case that rejection or replacement of the traditional forms of creed and patterns of doctrine is improper, even though there is an unavoidable responsibility to interpret and reinterpret as culture and language change.[1]
