Teologia: diferenças entre revisões

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{{distinguir|Teleologia}}
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'''Teologia''' (do [[Língua grega|grego]] ''θεóς'' [''theos'']: precisamente divindade, mas no sentido de Verdade ou Essência da Verdade, Fé ou Caminho da Verdade da ou dessa ou ainda desta divindade; ''λóγος'' [''[[logos]]'']: palavra, no sentido preciso de Estudo sistemático da palavra, por extensão, estudo, análise, consideração, discurso sobre alguma coisa ou algo que tem existência), no sentido literal, o estudo sistemático acerca da [[divindade]] (sua [[essência]], [[existência]] e atributos). Pode também referir-se a um estudo de uma doutrina ou sistema particular de crenças religiosas - tal como a teologia judaica, a teologia cristã, a teologia islâmica.
'''Teologia''' é o estudo crítico da natureza do [[Divindade|divino]], seus atributos e sua relação com os homens. Em sentido estrito, limita-se ao [[Cristianismo]], mas em sentido amplo, aplica-se a qualquer religião.<ref name="Barsa - 1998">Nova Enciclopédia Barsa, 1998 - Volume 14 Isbn 85-7026-431-3, páginas 54-56</ref>. É ensinada como uma [[disciplina académica|disciplina acadêmica]], tipicamente em universidades, [[seminários|seminários e escolas de teologia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=theology&h=000&j=0#c |title=theology |publisher=Wordnetweb.princeton.edu |date= |accessdate=2012-11-11}}</ref><ref name="Infopédia"> teologia in Artigos de apoio Infopédia [em linha]. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003-2017. [consult. 2017-10-19 03:21:54]. Disponível na Internet: https://www.infopedia.pt/apoio/artigos/$teologia </ref>
<ref>[http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=theology&h=000&j=0#c WordNet:"theology" ]</ref>, "porém nunca como uma "ideologia"". Segundo consenso de teólogos das principais religiões "sob pena de formar-se uma "Seita" ou objeto de atrito ideológico, que é um considerado pecado contra o Espírito, da Alma contra o Espírito", isso é um tratado fundamental de Bíblia Cristã, Islamita e Judaica (pois Está - Escrito, nas diversas Bíblias no Apocalipse (Revelação), no Levítico e Gênesis).[4]
 
[[File:Sandro Botticelli 050.jpg|thumb|right|[[Santo Agostinho]] (354–430), um teólogo [[Latim|latino]]. Seus escritos sobre [[vontade livre]] e [[pecado original]] continua influente na cristandade ocidental.]]
[[File:AlbertusMagnus.jpg|thumb|right|[[Alberto o Grande]] (1193/1206–1280), [[santo padroeiro]] dos teólogos católicos romanos.]]
A origem do termo nos remete à [[Hélade]] - a [[Grécia Antiga]]. O termo "teologia" aparece em [[Platão]], mas o conceito já existia nos [[pré-socráticos]]. Platão o aplica aos [[mito]]s interpretando-os à luz crítica da [[filosofia]] considerando seu valor para a educação [[política]]. Nessa passagem do mito ao logos, trata-se de descobrir a verdade oculta nos mitos. Aristóteles, por sua vez, chama de "teólogos" os criadores dos mitos ([[Hesíodo]], [[Homero]], poetas que narraram os feitos dos deuses e heróis, suas origens, suas virtudes e também seus [[vício]]s e erros), e de "teologia" o estudo [[metafísico]] do [[ente]] em seu [[ser]] (considerando a metafísica ou "filosofia primeira", a mais elevada de todas as ciências).
 
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De acordo com a definição [[Hegel|hegeliana]], a teologia é o estudo das manifestações sociais de grupos em relação às divindades. Como toda área do [[conhecimento]], possui então objetos de estudo definidos. Como não é possível estudar Deus diretamente, pois somente se pode estudar aquilo que se pode observar e se torna atual, o objeto da teologia seriam as [[representações sociais]] do divino nas diferentes [[cultura]]s.
 
Assim, aO teologiatermo pode também referir-se a váriasum estudo de uma doutrina ou sistema particular de crenças religiosas - tal como a [[religião|religiõesteologia judaica]], a [[teologia cristã]], a [[teologia islâmica]]. Existem, portanto, a teologia [[Hinduísmo|hindu]], a [[Judaismo|teologia judaica]], a [[Budismo|teologia budista]], a [[Islamismo|teologia islâmica]], a [[teologia cristã]]<ref>[http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=theology&h=000&j=0#c WordNet:"theology" ]</ref> (incluindo a [[teologia católica|teologia católica-romana]], a [[Protestantismo|teologia protestante]], a [[A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias|teologia mórmon]] e outras), a [[Umbanda|teologia umbandista]] e outras. No Brasil, tramita-se uma lei em que regulamenta a profissão de teólogo. <ref>[http://www.metodista.br/fateo/noticias/tramita-no-senado-projeto-de-lei-que-regulamenta-a-profissao-de-teologo Tramita no Senado preocupante projeto de lei que regulamenta a profissão de teólogo] Universidade metodista de São Paulo.</ref>
 
 
== Evolução do termo ==
== Etimologia ==
A palavra provém do [[Língua grega|grego]] ''θεóς'' [''theos'']: precisamente divindade, mas no sentido de Verdade ou Essência da Verdade, Fé ou Caminho da Verdade da ou dessa ou ainda desta divindade; ''λóγος'' [''[[logos]]'']: palavra, no sentido preciso de Estudo sistemático da palavra, por extensão, estudo, análise, consideração, discurso sobre alguma coisa ou algo que tem existência)
 
=== Evolução do termo ===
No [[cristianismo]], isso se dá a partir da [[Bíblia]]. O teólogo [[Cristianismo|cristão]] [[Protestantismo|protestante]] [[Suíça|suíço]] [[Karl Barth]] definiu a Teologia como um "falar a partir de Deus". O termo "teologia" foi usado pela primeira vez por [[Platão]], no diálogo "[[A República]]", para referir-se à compreensão da natureza divina de forma racional, em oposição à compreensão literária própria da [[poesia]], tal como era conduzida pelos seus conterrâneos. Mais tarde, [[Aristóteles]] empregou o termo em numerosas ocasiões, com dois significados:
 
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Há no século XXI, há uma [[teologia pós-moderna]], engatinha-se uma sociedade de cultura pós-moderna, a teologia como “discurso”, “estudo”, tende a perder significado e importância. A [[teologia]] se vê ameaçada com as mudanças que incidem sobre ela e sobre a igreja cristã. O dogma fundamental da modernidade, que estabelecia o sujeito e a razão crítica como fonte de interpretação, conhecimento e aceitação das verdades, acaba ruindo por excesso dessa mesma razão moderna. Ela sofisticou-se de tal maneira que foge do controle da razão normal das pessoas, deixando em seu lugar a aceitação ou rejeição subjetiva, arbitrária. Quando se extrema a racionalidade, cai-se na irracionalidade, pois não sendo capaz de acompanhá-la, não nos resta senão aceitá-la ou rejeitá-la também sem razão.
 
==Definição==
[[Agostinho de Hipona]] definiu o termo [[Latino]] equivalente, ''theologia'', como "raciocínio ou discussão sobre a Deidade";<ref name="Cityof">''[[De Civitate Dei]]'' [http://logicmuseum.googlepages.com/civitate-8.htm Book VIII. i.] "de divinitate rationem sive sermonem" {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404123631/http://logicmuseum.googlepages.com/civitate-8.htm |date=4 April 2008 }}</ref> O termo pode, no entanto, ser usado para uma variedade de diferentes disciplinas ou campos de estudo.<ref>[[Alister McGrath|McGrath, Alister]]. 1998. Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. pp. 1–8.</ref>
 
A teologia começa com o pressuposto de que o [[divino]] existe de alguma forma, como na [[física]], no [[sobrenatural]], [[Fenomenologia (filosofia)|mental]] ou [[construção social|realidades sociais]], e essa evidência para e sobre isso pode ser encontrada através de experiências espirituais pessoais e / ou registros históricos de experiências como documentadas por outros. O estudo dessas suposições não faz parte da teologia propriamente dita, mas é encontrada na [[filosofia da religião]], e cada vez mais pela [[psicologia da religião]] e [[neuroteologia]]. A teologia então visa estruturar e compreender essas experiências e conceitos, e usá-los para derivar prescrições normativas para [[significado da vida|como viver nossas vidas]].
 
Os teólogos usam várias formas de análise e argumento ([[Espiritualidade | experiencial]], [[filosofia | filosófica]], [[etnografia | etnográfica]], [[história | histórico]] e outros) para ajudar [[entender | compreenda]], [[explicação | explique]], teste, [[crítica]], defenda ou promova qualquer uma das inúmeras [[Lista de tópicos religiosos | temas religiosos]]. Como em [[filosofia de ética]] e [[jurisprudência]], os argumentos geralmente assumem a existência de questões previamente resolvidas, e desenvolvem-se fazendo analogias com elas para extrair novas inferências em novas situações.
 
O estudo da teologia pode ajudar um teólogo a compreender melhor sua própria tradição religiosa,<ref>See, e.g., [[Daniel L. Migliore]], ''Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology'' 2nd ed.(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004)</ref> outra tradição religiosa,<ref>See, e.g., Michael S. Kogan, 'Toward a Jewish Theology of Christianity' in ''The Journal of Ecumenical Studies'' 32.1 (Winter 1995), 89–106; available online at [http://www.icjs.org/scholars/kogan.html [1]] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615100029/http://www.icjs.org/scholars/kogan.html|date=15 June 2006}}</ref> ou pode permitir que explorem a natureza da divindade sem referência a nenhuma tradição específica. A teologia pode ser usada para [[proselitismo]],<ref>See, e.g., Duncan Dormor et al (eds), ''Anglicanism, the Answer to Modernity'' (London: Continuum, 2003)</ref> reform, <ref>See, e.g., John Shelby Spong, ''Why Christianity Must Change or Die'' (New York: Harper Collins, 2001)</ref> ou [[apologética]] a uma tradição religiosa, ou pode ser usado para comparar religiões, <ref>See, e.g., David Burrell, ''Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions'' (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994)</ref> desafiar (por exemplo, [[crítica bíblica]]), ou oposição (por exemplo, [[irreligião]]) a uma tradição religiosa ou [[visão de mundo]]. A teologia também pode ajudar um teólogo a abordar alguma situação ou necessidade atual através de uma tradição religiosa,<ref>See, e.g., Timothy Gorringe, ''Crime'', Changing Society and the Churches Series (London:SPCK, 2004)</ref> ou para explorar possíveis formas de interpretar o mundo. <ref>See e.g., Anne Hunt Overzee's gloss upon the view of [[Paul Ricœur|Ricœur]] (1913–2005) as to the role and work of 'theologian': "Paul Ricœur speaks of the theologian as a hermeneut, whose task is to interpret the multivalent, rich metaphors arising from the symbolic bases of tradition so that the symbols may 'speak' once again to our existential situation." Anne Hunt Overzee ''The body divine: the symbol of the body in the works of Teilhard de Chardin and Rāmānuja'', Cambridge studies in religious traditions 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), {{ISBN|0-521-38516-4}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-38516-9}}, p.4; Source: [https://books.google.com/books?id=EiYEktsURVAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false [2]] (accessed: Monday 5 April 2010)</ref>
 
 
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==History==
Greek ''theologia'' (θεολογία) was used with the meaning "discourse on god" in the fourth century BC by [[Plato]] in ''[[The Republic (Plato)|The Republic]]'', Book ii, Ch. 18.<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057;query=entry%3D%2348216;layout=;loc=qeolo%2Fgia1 Liddell and Scott's ''Greek-English Lexicon']'.</ref> [[Aristotle]] divided theoretical philosophy into ''mathematike'', ''physike'' and ''theologike'', with the last corresponding roughly to [[metaphysics]], which, for Aristotle, included discourse on the nature of the divine.<ref>[http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/mirror/classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.6.vi.html Aristotle, ''Metaphysics'', Book Epsilon.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216173401/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/mirror/classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.6.vi.html |date=16 February 2008 }}</ref>
 
Drawing on Greek [[Stoicism|Stoic]] sources, the [[Latin]] writer [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]] distinguished three forms of such discourse: [[Mythology|mythical]] (concerning the myths of the Greek gods), rational (philosophical analysis of the gods and of cosmology) and civil (concerning the rites and duties of public religious observance).<ref>As cited by Augustine, ''[[City of God (book)|City of God]]'', [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120106.htm Book 6], ch.5.</ref>
 
''Theologos'', closely related to theologia, appears once in some [[biblical manuscript]]s, in the heading to the [[Book of Revelation]]: ''apokalypsis ioannoy toy theologoy'', "the revelation of John the ''theologos''." There, however, the word refers not to John the "theologian" in the modern English sense of the word but—using a slightly different sense of the root ''logos'', meaning not "rational discourse" but "word" or "message"—one who speaks the words of God, ''logoi toy theoy''.<ref>This title appears quite late in the manuscript tradition for the Book of Revelation: the two earliest citations provided in [[David Aune]]'s ''Word Biblical Commentary 52: Revelation 1–5'' (Dallas: Word Books, 1997) are both 11th century – Gregory 325/Hoskier 9 and Gregory 1006/Hoskier 215; the title was however in circulation by the 6th century – see Allen Brent ‘John as theologos: the imperial mysteries and the Apocalypse’, ''Journal for the Study of the New Testament'' 75 (1999), 87–102.</ref>
 
Some Latin Christian authors, such as [[Tertullian]] and [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], followed Varro's threefold usage,<ref>See Augustine, ''[[City of God (book)|City of God]]'', [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120106.htm Book 6], ch.5. and Tertullian, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.viii.ii.i.html ''Ad Nationes'', Book 2], ch.1.</ref> though Augustine also used the term more simply to mean 'reasoning or discussion concerning the deity'<ref name="Cityof" />
 
In [[Church Fathers|patristic]] Greek Christian sources, ''theologia'' could refer narrowly to devout and inspired knowledge of, and teaching about, the essential nature of God.<ref>[[Gregory of Nazianzus]] uses the word in this sense in his fourth-century [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-42.htm#P4178_1277213 ''Theological Orations'']; after his death, he was called "the Theologian" at the [[Council of Chalcedon]] and thereafter in [[Eastern Orthodoxy]]—either because his ''Orations''were seen as crucial examples of this kind of theology, or in the sense that he was (like the author of the Book of Revelation) seen as one who was an inspired preacher of the words of God. (It is unlikely to mean, as claimed in the [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-41.htm#P4162_1255901 ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers''] introduction to his ''Theological Orations'', that he was a defender of the divinity of Christ the Word.) See John McGukin, ''[[Gregory of Nazianzus|Saint Gregory of Nazianzus]]: An Intellectual Biography'' (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001), p.278.</ref>
 
The Latin author [[Boethius]], writing in the early 6th century, used ''theologia'' to denote a subdivision of philosophy as a subject of academic study, dealing with the motionless, incorporeal reality (as opposed to ''physica'', which deals with [[Matter|corporeal]], moving realities).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pvspade.com/Logic/docs/BoethiusDeTrin.pdf |title=Boethius, On the Holy Trinity |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=2012-11-11}}</ref> Boethius' definition influenced medieval Latin usage.<ref>G.R. Evans, ''Old Arts and New Theology: The Beginnings of Theology as an Academic Discipline'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980), 31–32.</ref>
 
In [[scholasticism|scholastic]] Latin sources, the term came to denote the rational study of the [[doctrine]]s of the [[Christian religion]], or (more precisely) the academic [[discipline]] which investigated the coherence and implications of the language and claims of the Bible and of the theological tradition (the latter often as represented in [[Peter Lombard]]'s ''[[Sentences]]'', a book of extracts from the Church Fathers).<ref>See the title of [[Peter Abelard]]'s [http://individual.utoronto.ca/pking/resources/abelard/Theologia_christiana.txt ''Theologia Christiana''], and, perhaps most famously, of [[Thomas Aquinas]]' ''[[Summa Theologica]]''</ref>
 
In the Renaissance, especially with Florentine Platonist apologists of [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s poetics, the distinction between "poetic theology" (''[[Theologia Poetica|theologia poetica]]'') and "revealed" or Biblical theology serves as steppingstone for a revival of philosophy as independent of theological authority.
 
It is in this last sense, theology as an academic discipline involving rational study of Christian teaching, that the term passed into English in the fourteenth century,<ref>See the 'note' in the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] entry for 'theology'.</ref> although it could also be used in the narrower sense found in Boethius and the Greek patristic authors, to mean rational study of the essential nature of God – a discourse now sometimes called [[Theology Proper]].<ref>See, for example, Charles Hodge, ''Systematic Theology'', vol. 1, part 1 (1871).</ref>
 
From the 17th century onwards, it also became possible to use the term theology to refer to study of religious ideas and teachings that are not specifically Christian (e.g., in the term [[natural theology]] which denoted theology based on reasoning from natural facts independent of specifically Christian revelation,<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', sense 1</ref>) or that are specific to another religion (see below).
 
"Theology" can also now be used in a derived sense to mean "a system of theoretical principles; an (impractical or rigid) ideology."<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1989 edition, 'Theology' sense 1(d), and 'Theological' sense A.3; the earliest reference given is from the 1959 ''Times Literary Supplement'' 5 June 329/4: "The 'theological' approach to Soviet Marxism ... proves in the long run unsatisfactory."</ref>
 
==In various religions==
The term theology has been deemed by some as only appropriate to the study of religions that worship a supposed [[deity]] (a ''theos''), i.e. more widely than [[monotheism]]; and presuppose a belief in the ability to speak and [[reason]] about this deity (in ''logia''). They suggest the term is less appropriate in religious contexts that are organized differently (religions without a single deity, or that deny that such subjects can be studied logically). ("[[Hierology]]" has been proposed as an alternative, more generic term.<ref>E.g., by Count E. Goblet d'Alviella in 1908; see Alan H. Jones, ''Independence and Exegesis: The Study of Early Christianity in the Work of Alfred Loisy (1857–1940), Charles Guignebert (1857 [i.e. 1867]–1939), and Maurice Goguel (1880–1955)'' (Mohr Siebeck, 1983), p.194.</ref>)
 
===Buddhism===
Some academic inquiries within [[Buddhism]], dedicated to the investigation of a Buddhist understanding of the world, prefer the designation [[Buddhist philosophy]] to the term Buddhist theology, since Buddhism lacks the same conception of a ''theos''. Jose Ignacio Cabezon, who argues that the use of "theology" ''is'' appropriate, can only do so, he says, because "I take theology not to be restricted to discourse on God ... I take 'theology' not to be restricted to its etymological meaning. In that latter sense, Buddhism is of course ''a''theological, rejecting as it does the notion of God."<ref>Jose Ignacio Cabezon, 'Buddhist Theology in the Academy' in Roger Jackson and John J. Makransky's ''Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections by Contemporary Buddhist Scholars'' (London: Routledge, 1999), pp. 25–52.</ref>
 
===Christianity===
[[File:Carlo Crivelli 007.jpg|200px|thumb|left|[[Thomas Aquinas]] was the greatest Christian theologian of the Middle Ages.]]
[[Christian theology]] is the study of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and the New Testament as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Theology might be undertaken to help the theologian better understand Christian tenets, to make comparisons between Christianity and other traditions, to defend Christianity against objections and criticism, to facilitate reforms in the Christian church, to assist in the propagation of Christianity, to draw on the resources of the Christian tradition to address some present situation or need, or for a variety of other reasons.
 
===Hinduism===
Within [[Hindu philosophy]], there is a solid and ancient tradition of philosophical speculation on the nature of the universe, of God (termed "[[Brahman]]", [[Paramatma]] and [[Bhagavan]] in some schools of Hindu thought) and of the [[atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (soul). The [[Sanskrit]] word for the various schools of Hindu philosophy is [[Darshana]] (meaning "view" or "viewpoint"). [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava theology]] has been a subject of study for many devotees, philosophers and scholars in [[India]] for centuries. A large part of its study lies in classifying and organizing the manifestations of thousands of gods and their aspects. In recent decades also has been taken on by a number of academic institutions in Europe, such as the [[Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies]] and [[Bhaktivedanta College]].<ref>See Anna S. King, 'For Love of Krishna: Forty Years of Chanting' in Graham Dwyer and Richard J. Cole, ''The Hare Krishna Movement: Forty Years of Chant and Change'' (London/New York: I.B. Tauris, 2006), pp. 134–167: p. 163, which describes developments in both institutions, and speaks of Hare Krishna devotees 'studying Vaishnava theology and practice in mainstream universities.'</ref> ''See also: [[Krishnology]]''
 
===Islam===
[[File:Abul ala maududi.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Allamah]] [[Abul A'la Maududi|Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi]] was the most influential Islamic theologian of the 20th century.<ref name=Lerman>{{Cite journal|last1=Lerman|first1=Eran|title=Maududi's Concept of Islam|jstor=4282856|publisher=JSTOR|journal=Middle Eastern Studies|volume=17|number=4 |date=October 1981|pages=492–509 |quote=it is hard to exaggerate the importance of its [Pakistan's] current drift toward's Maududi's version of Islam|doi=10.1080/00263208108700487}}</ref>]]
[[Islamic theology|Islamic theological]] discussion that parallels Christian theological discussion is named "[[Kalam]]"; the Islamic analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be the investigation and elaboration of [[Sharia]] or [[Fiqh]]. "Kalam ... does not hold the leading place in Muslim thought that theology does in Christianity. To find an equivalent for 'theology' in the Christian sense it is necessary to have recourse to several disciplines, and to the usul al-fiqh as much as to kalam." (L. Gardet)<ref>L. Gardet, '[http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ei2/kalam.htm Ilm al-kalam]' in ''The Encyclopedia of Islam'', ed. P.J. Bearman et al (Leiden: [[Brill Publishers|Koninklijke Brill NV, 1999]]).</ref>
 
===Judaism===
[[File:Maimònides.jpg|thumb|150px|left| Sculpture of the Jewish theologian [[Maimonides]]]]
In [[Jewish theology]], the historical absence of political authority has meant that most theological reflection has happened within the context of the Jewish community and [[synagogue]], rather than within specialized academic institutions, including though [[Rabbinical]] discussion of [[Jewish law]] and [[Midrash|Jewish Biblical commentaries]].<ref>Randi Rashkover, [https://archive.is/20120709141057/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2096/is_4_49/ai_58621576 'A Call for Jewish Theology'], ''Crosscurrents'', Winter 1999, starts by saying, "Frequently the claim is made that, unlike Christianity, Judaism is a tradition of deeds and maintains no strict theological tradition. Judaism's fundamental beliefs are inextricable from their halakhic observance (that set of laws revealed to Jews by God), embedded and presupposed by that way of life as it is lived and learned."</ref> Historically it has been very active, and highly significant for Christian and Islamic theology and well as for Judaism.
 
==Topics in theology==
See [[Outline of theology]]
 
==Theology as an academic discipline==
The history of the study of theology in institutions of higher education is as old as the [[University#History|history]] of such institutions themselves. For instance, [[Taxila]] was an early centre of Vedic learning, possible from the 6th century BC or earlier;<ref>Timothy Reagan, ''Non-Western Educational Traditions: Alternative Approaches to Educational Thought and Practice'', 3rd edition (Lawrence Erlbaum: 2004), p.185 and Sunna Chitnis, 'Higher Education' in Veena Das (ed), ''The Oxford India Companion to Sociology and Social Anthropology'' (New Delhi: [[Oxford University Press]], 2003), pp. 1032–1056: p.1036 suggest an early date; a more cautious appraisal is given in Hartmut Scharfe, ''Education in Ancient India'' (Leiden: Brill, 2002), pp. 140–142.</ref> the [[Platonic Academy]] founded in Athens in the 4th century BC seems to have included theological themes in its subject matter;<ref>John Dillon, ''The Heirs of Plato: A Study in the Old Academy, 347–274BC (Oxford: OUP, 2003)''</ref> the Chinese [[Taixue]] delivered Confucian teaching from the 2nd century BC;<ref>Xinzhong Yao, ''An Introduction to Confucianism'' (Cambridge: CUP, 2000), p.50.</ref> the [[School of Nisibis]] was a centre of Christian learning from the 4th century AD;<ref>Adam H. Becker, ''The Fear of God and the Beginning of Wisdom: The School of Nisibis and the Development of Scholastic Culture in Late Antique Mesopotamia'' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006); see also [http://www.nestorian.org/the_school_of_nisibis.html The School of Nisibis] at Nestorian.org</ref> [[Nalanda]] in India was a site of Buddhist higher learning from at least the 5th or 6th century AD;<ref>Hartmut Scharfe, ''Education in Ancient India'' (Leiden: Brill, 2002), p.149.</ref> and the Moroccan [[University of Al-Karaouine]] was a centre of Islamic learning from the 10th century,<ref>The Al-Qarawiyyin mosque was founded in 859 AD, but 'While instruction at the mosque must have begun almost from the beginning, it is only ... by the end of the tenth-century that its reputation as a center of learning in both religious and secular sciences ... must have begun to wax.' Y. G-M. Lulat, ''A History of African Higher Education from Antiquity to the Present: A Critical Synthesis'' (Greenwood, 2005), p.71</ref> as was [[Al-Azhar University]] in Cairo.<ref>Andrew Beattie, ''Cairo: A Cultural History'' (New York: [[Oxford University Press]], 2005), p.101.</ref>
 
The earliest universities were developed under the aegis of the [[Latin Church]] by [[papal bull]] as ''[[Studium Generale|studia generalia]]'' and perhaps from cathedral schools. It is possible, however, that the development of cathedral schools into universities was quite rare, with the University of Paris being an exception.<ref>Gordon Leff, ''Paris and Oxford Universities in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. An Institutional and Intellectual History'', Wiley, 1968.</ref> Later they were also founded by Kings ([[University of Naples Federico II]], [[Charles University in Prague]], [[Jagiellonian University|Jagiellonian University in Kraków]]) or municipal administrations ([[University of Cologne]], [[University of Erfurt]]). In the [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval period]], most new universities were founded from pre-existing schools, usually when these schools were deemed to have become primarily sites of higher education. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries.<ref>Johnson, P. (2000). The Renaissance : a short history. Modern Library chronicles (Modern Library ed.). New York: Modern Library, p. 9.</ref> Christian theological learning was therefore a component in these institutions, as was the study of Church or [[Canon law]]: universities played an important role in training people for ecclesiastical offices, in helping the church pursue the clarification and defence of its teaching, and in supporting the legal rights of the church over against secular rulers.<ref>Walter Rüegg, “Themes” in Walter Rüegg, ''A History of the University in Europe'', vol.1, ed. H. de Ridder-Symoens, ''Universities in the Middle Ages'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 3–34: pp. 15–16.</ref> At such universities, theological study was initially closely tied to the life of faith and of the church: it fed, and was fed by, practices of [[preaching]], [[prayer]] and celebration of the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]].<ref>See [[Gavin D'Costa]], ''Theology in the Public Square: Church, Academy and Nation'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005), ch.1.</ref>
 
During the High Middle Ages, theology was therefore the ultimate subject at universities, being named "The Queen of the Sciences" and serving as the capstone to the [[trivium (education)|Trivium]] and [[Quadrivium]] that young men were expected to study. This meant that the other subjects (including [[Philosophy]]) existed primarily to help with theological thought.<ref>[[Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard|Thomas Albert Howard]], ''[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/protestant-theology-and-the-making-of-the-modern-german-university-9780199266852?cc=us&lang=en& Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University]'' (Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 2006), p.56: '[P]hilosophy, the ''scientia scientarum'' in one sense, was, in another, portrayed as the humble "handmaid of theology".'</ref>
 
Christian theology’s preeminent place in the university began to be challenged during the European [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], especially in Germany.<ref>See [[Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard|Thomas Albert Howard]], ''[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/protestant-theology-and-the-making-of-the-modern-german-university-9780199266852?cc=us&lang=en& Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University]'' (Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 2006):</ref> Other subjects gained in independence and prestige, and questions were raised about the place in institutions that were increasingly understood to be devoted to independent reason of a discipline that seemed to involve commitment to the authority of particular religious traditions.<ref>See [[Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard|Thomas Albert Howard]]’s work already cited, and his discussion of, for instance, Immanuel Kant’s ''Conflict of the Faculties'' (1798), and J.G. Fichte’s ''Deduzierter Plan einer zu Berlin errichtenden höheren Lehranstalt'' (1807).</ref>
 
Since the early nineteenth century, various different approaches have emerged in the West to theology as an academic discipline. Much of the debate concerning theology's place in the university or within a general higher education curriculum centres on whether theology's methods are appropriately theoretical and (broadly speaking) scientific or, on the other hand, whether theology requires a pre-commitment of faith by its practitioners, and whether such a commitment conflicts with academic freedom.<ref>See [[Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard|Thomas Albert Howard]], ''[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/protestant-theology-and-the-making-of-the-modern-german-university-9780199266852?cc=us&lang=en& Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University]'' (Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 2006); Hans W. Frei, ''Types of Christian Theology'', ed. William C. Placher and George Hunsinger (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992); Gavin D'Costa, ''Theology in the Public Square: Church, Academy and Nation'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005); James W. McClendon, ''Systematic Theology 3: Witness'' (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 2000), ch.10: 'Theology and the University'.</ref>
 
===Theology and ministerial training===
In some contexts, theology has been held to belong in institutions of higher education primarily as a form of professional training for Christian ministry. This was the basis on which [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]], a liberal theologian, argued for the inclusion of theology in the new University of Berlin in 1810.<ref>Friedrich Schleiermacher, ''Brief Outline of Theology as a Field of Study'', 2nd edition, tr. Terrence N. Tice (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1990); [[Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard|Thomas Albert Howard]], ''[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/protestant-theology-and-the-making-of-the-modern-german-university-9780199266852?cc=us&lang=en& Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University]'' (Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 2006), ch.14.</ref>
 
For instance, in [[Germany]], theological faculties at state universities are typically tied to particular denominations, Protestant or Roman Catholic, and those faculties will offer denominationally-bound ''(konfessionsgebunden)'' degrees, and have denominationally bound public posts amongst their faculty; as well as contributing ‘to the development and growth of Christian knowledge’ they ‘provide the academic training for the future clergy and teachers of religious instruction at German schools.’<ref>Reinhard G. Kratz, 'Academic Theology in Germany', ''Religion'' 32.2 (2002): pp.113–116.</ref>
 
In the United States, several prominent colleges and universities were started in order to train Christian ministers. [[Harvard]],<ref>'The primary purpose of Harvard College was, accordingly, the training of clergy.’ But ‘the school served a dual purpose, training men for other professions as well.’ George M. Marsden, ''The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief'' (New York: [[Oxford University Press]], 1994), p.41.</ref> [[Georgetown University|Georgetown]],<ref>Georgetown was a Jesuit institution founded in significant part to provide a pool of educated Catholics some of whom who could go on to full seminary training for the priesthood. See Robert Emmett Curran, Leo J. O’Donovan, ''The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From Academy to University 1789–1889 (Georgetown: Georgetown University Press, 1961), Part One.</ref> [[Boston University]],<ref>Boston University emerged from the Boston School of Theology, a Methodist seminary. Boston University Information Center, 'History – The Early Years' [http://www.bu.edu/dbin/infocenter/content/index.php?pageid=923&topicid=13] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731010447/http://www.bu.edu/dbin/infocenter/content/index.php?pageid=923&topicid=13 |date=31 July 2012 }}</ref> [[Yale]],<ref>Yale’s original 1701 charter speaks of the purpose being 'Sincere Regard & Zeal for upholding & Propagating of the Christian Protestant Religion by a succession of Learned & Orthodox' and that 'Youth may be instructed in the Arts and Sciences (and) through the blessing of Almighty God may be fitted for Publick employment both in Church and Civil State.' 'The Charter of the Collegiate School, October 1701' in Franklin Bowditch Dexter, ''Documentary History of Yale University, Under the Original Charter of the Collegiate School of Connecticut 1701–1745'' (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1916); available online at [https://archive.org/stream/documentaryhisto00dextrich]</ref> and [[Princeton University|Princeton]]<ref>At Princeton, one of the founders (probably Ebeneezer Pemberton) wrote in c.1750, ‘Though our great Intention was to erect a seminary for educating Ministers of the Gospel, yet we hope it will be useful in other learned professions – Ornaments of the State as Well as the Church. Therefore we propose to make the plan of Education as extensive as our Circumstances will admit.’ Quoted in Alexander Leitch, [http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/founding_princeton.html ''A Princeton Companion''] (Princeton University Press, 1978).</ref> all had the theological training of clergy as a primary purpose at their foundation.
 
Seminaries and bible colleges have continued this alliance between the academic study of theology and training for Christian ministry. There are, for instance, numerous prominent US examples, including [[Catholic Theological Union]] in Chicago,<ref>See [http://www.ctu.edu/about/ctu-story 'The CTU Story'] at Catholic Theological Union website (Retrieved 16 March 2013): 'lay men and women, religious sisters and brothers, and seminarians have studied alongside one another, preparing to serve God’s people.'</ref> The [[Graduate Theological Union]] in Berkeley,<ref>See [http://www.gtu.edu/about 'About the GTU'] at The Graduate Theological Union website (Retrieved 29 August 2009): 'dedicated to educating students for teaching, research, ministry, and service.'</ref> [[Criswell College]] in Dallas,<ref>See [http://www.criswell.edu/news--events/about-us/ 'About Us'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426034342/http://www.criswell.edu/news--events/about-us/ |date=26 April 2010 }} at the Criswell College website (Retrieved 29 August 2009): 'Criswell College exists to serve the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ by developing God-called men and women in the Word (intellectually and academically) and by the Word (professionally and spiritually) for authentic ministry leadership.' {{cite web|url=http://www.criswell.edu/news--events/about-us/ |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-08-30 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426034342/http://www.criswell.edu/news--events/about-us/ |archivedate=26 April 2010 |df= }}</ref> The [[Southern Baptist Theological Seminary]] in Louisville,<ref>See the [http://www.sbts.edu/about/truth/mission/ 'Mission Statement'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329082518/http://www.sbts.edu/about/truth/mission/ |date=29 March 2015 }} at the SBTS website (Retrieved 29 August 2009): 'the mission of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is ... to be a servant of the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention by training, educating, and preparing ministers of the gospel for more faithful service.' {{cite web|url=http://www.sbts.edu/about/truth/mission/ |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-08-30 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329082518/http://www.sbts.edu/about/truth/mission/ |archivedate=29 March 2015 |df= }}</ref> [[Trinity Evangelical Divinity School]] in Deerfield, Illinois,<ref>See [http://www.tiu.edu/divinity/connect/whoarewe/ 'About Trinity Evangelical Divinity School'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830165955/http://www.tiu.edu/divinity/connect/whoarewe/ |date=30 August 2011 }} at their website (Retrieved 29 August 2009): 'Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is a learning community dedicated to the development of servant leaders for the global church, leaders who are spiritually, biblically, and theologically prepared to engage contemporary culture for the sake of Christ's kingdom.' {{cite web|url=http://www.tiu.edu/divinity/connect/whoarewe/ |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-08-30 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830165955/http://www.tiu.edu/divinity/connect/whoarewe/ |archivedate=30 August 2011 |df= }}</ref> [[Dallas Theological Seminary]],<ref>See [http://www.dts.edu/about/ 'About DTS'] at the Dallas Theological Seminary website (Retrieved 29 August 2009): 'At Dallas, the scholarly study of biblical and related subjects is inseparably fused with the cultivation of the spiritual life. All this is designed to prepare students to communicate the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God.'</ref> North Texas Collegiate Institute in Farmers Branch, Texas <ref>http://ntcollege.org/</ref> and The [[Assemblies of God Theological Seminary]] in Springfield, Missouri.
 
===Theology as an academic discipline in its own right===
In some contexts, scholars pursue theology as an academic discipline without formal affiliation to any particular church (though members of staff may well have affiliations to churches), and without focussing on ministerial training. This applies, for instance, to many university departments in the [[United Kingdom]], including the Faculties of Divinity at the [[University of Cambridge]] and [[University of Oxford]], the Department of Theology and Religion at the [[University of Exeter]], and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the [[University of Leeds]].<ref>
See the [http://huss.exeter.ac.uk/theology/undergrad/ 'Why Study Theology?'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809201252/http://huss.exeter.ac.uk/theology/undergrad/ |date=9 August 2009 }} page at the University of Exeter (Retrieved 1 September 2009), and the [http://www.leeds.ac.uk//trs/aboutus.htm 'About us'] page at the University of Leeds.
{{cite web|url=http://huss.exeter.ac.uk/theology/undergrad/ |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-09-01 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809201252/http://huss.exeter.ac.uk/theology/undergrad/ |archivedate=9 August 2009 |df= }}</ref> Traditional academic prizes, such as the [[University of Aberdeen]]'s [[Lumsden and Sachs Fellowship]], tend to acknowledge performance in theology (or [[Divinity (academic discipline)|divinity]] as it is known at Aberdeen) and in religious studies.
 
===Theology and religious studies===
In some contemporary contexts, a distinction is made between theology, which is seen as involving some level of commitment to the claims of the religious tradition being studied, and [[religious studies]], which by contrast is normally seen as requiring that the question of the truth or falsehood of the religious traditions studied be kept outside its field. Religious studies involves the study of historical or contemporary practices or of those traditions' ideas using intellectual tools and frameworks that are not themselves specifically tied to any religious tradition and that are normally understood to be neutral or secular.<ref>See, for example, Donald Wiebe, ''The Politics of Religious Studies: The Continuing Conflict with Theology in the Academy'' (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000).</ref> In contexts where 'religious studies' in this sense is the focus, the primary forms of study are likely to include:
* [[Anthropology of religion]]
* [[Comparative religion]]
* [[History of religion]]s
* [[Philosophy of religion]]
* [[Psychology of religion]]
* [[Sociology of religion]]
Sometimes, theology and religious studies are seen as being in tension,<ref>See K.L. Knoll, [http://chronicle.com/article/The-Ethics-of-Being-a/47442/ 'The Ethics of Being a Theologian'], ''Chronicle of Higher Education'', 27 July 2009.</ref> and at other times, they are held to coexist without serious tension.<ref>See David Ford, 'Theology and Religious Studies for a Multifaith and Secular Society' in D.L. Bird and Simon G. Smith (eds), ''Theology and Religious Studies in Higher Education'' (London: Continuum, 2009).</ref> Occasionally it is denied that there is as clear a boundary between them.<ref>Timothy Fitzgerald, ''The Ideology of Religious Studies'' (Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 2000).</ref>
 
== Criticism ==
{{see also|Criticism of religion}}
There is an ancient tradition of [[skepticism]] about theology, followed by a more modern rise in [[secularism|secularist]] and [[atheism|atheist]] criticism.
 
===Criticism by philosophers===
Whether or not reasoned discussion about the divine is possible has long been a point of contention.
[[Protagoras]], as early as the fifth century BC, who is reputed to have been exiled from Athens because of his agnosticism about the existence of the gods, said that "Concerning the gods I cannot know either that they exist or that they do not exist, or what form they might have, for there is much to prevent one's knowing: the ''obscurity of the subject'' and the shortness of man's life."<ref>Protagoras, fr.4, from ''On the Gods'', tr. Michael J. O'Brien in ''The Older Sophists'', ed. Rosamund Kent Sprague (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1972), 20, emphasis added. Cf. Carol Poster, [http://www.iep.utm.edu/protagor/ "Protagoras (fl. 5th C. BCE)"] in ''The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''; accessed: 6 October 2008.</ref>
 
[[Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke|Lord Bolingbroke]], an English politician and political philosopher wrote in his political works his views on theology, "Theology is in fault not religion. Theology is a science that may justly be compared to the [[Box of Pandora]]. Many good things lie uppermost in it; but many evil lie under them, and scatter plagues and desolation throughout the world."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=w25JAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA396&lpg=PA396&dq=theology+is+the+box+of+pandora+bolingbroke&source=bl&ots=qhYZzpliQS&sig=k5bTM79761fMV0JqzqYFqwuz6ng&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jJ4hUa05geryBN6EgcgI&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=theology%20is%20the%20box%20of%20pandora%20bolingbroke&f=false The philosophical works of Lord Bolingbroke] Volume 3, p. 396</ref>
 
[[Thomas Paine]] the American revolutionary, wrote in his two part work ''[[The Age of Reason]]'', "The study of theology, as it stands in Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion. Not anything can be studied as a science, without our being in possession of the principles upon which it is founded; and as this is the case with Christian theology, it is therefore the study of nothing."<ref>[[Thomas Paine]], [[The Age of Reason]], from "The Life and Major Writings of Thomas Paine", ed. [[Philip S. Foner]], (New York, The Citadel Press, 1945) p. 601.</ref>
 
[[Ludwig Feuerbach]], the atheist philosopher sought to dissolve theology in his work ''Principles of the Philosophy of the Future'': "The task of the modern era was the realization and humanization of God – the transformation and dissolution of theology into anthropology."<ref>[[Ludwig Feuerbach]], [[Principles of the Philosophy of the Future]], trans. Manfred H. Vogel, (Indianapolis, Hackett Publishing Company, 1986) p5</ref> This mirrored his earlier work ''[[The Essence of Christianity]]'' (pub. 1841), for which he was banned from teaching in Germany, in which he had said that theology was a "web of contradictions and delusions".<ref>[[Ludwig Feuerbach]], ''[[The Essence of Christianity]]'', trans. [[George Eliot]], (Amherst, New York, Prometheus Books, 1989) Preface, XVI.</ref>
 
[[A.J. Ayer]] the former logical-positivist, sought to show in his essay "Critique of Ethics and Theology" that all statements about the divine are nonsensical and any divine-attribute is unprovable. He wrote: "It is now generally admitted, at any rate by philosophers, that the existence of a being having the attributes which define the god of any non-animistic religion cannot be demonstratively proved... [A]ll utterances about the nature of God are nonsensical."<ref>[[A.J. Ayer]], [[Language, Truth and Logic]], (New York, Dover Publications, 1936) pp. 114–115.</ref>
 
[[Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)|Walter Kaufmann]] the philosopher, in his essay "Against Theology", sought to differentiate theology from religion in general. "Theology, of course, is not religion; and a great deal of religion is emphatically anti-theological... An attack on theology, therefore, should not be taken as necessarily involving an attack on religion. Religion can be, and often has been, untheological or even anti-theological." However, Kaufmann found that "Christianity is inescapably a theological religion".<ref>[[Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)|Walter Kaufmann]], [[The Faith of a Heretic]], (Garden City, New York, Anchor Books, 1963) pp. 114, 127–128, 130.</ref>
 
===Critics of theology as an academic discipline===
Critics dating back to the 18th century have questioned the suitability of theology as an [[academic discipline]] and in the 21st century criticism continues.<ref>{{cite web|author=Gerard Loughlin |url=http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol9780521871860_CCOL9780521871860A011 |title=Theology in the university |publisher=Cco.cambridge.org |date= |accessdate=2012-11-11}}</ref>
 
===General criticism===
[[Charles Bradlaugh]] believed theology prevented human beings achieving liberty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/bradlaugh.htm |title=Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891) |publisher=Positiveatheism.org |date= |accessdate=2012-11-11 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501025921/https://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/bradlaugh.htm |archivedate=1 May 2013 |df= }}</ref> Bradlaugh noted theologians of his time stated that modern scientific research contradicted sacred scriptures therefore the scriptures must be wrong.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/bradlo01.htm |title=Humanity's Gain from Unbelief |publisher=Positiveatheism.org |date= |accessdate=2012-11-11 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717060256/https://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/bradlo01.htm |archivedate=17 July 2012 |df= }}</ref>
 
[[Robert G. Ingersoll]] stated that when theologians had power the majority of people lived in hovels while a privileged few had palaces and cathedrals. In Ingersoll's opinion science rather than theology improved people's lives. Ingersoll maintained further that trained theologians reason no better than a person who assumes the devil must exist because pictures resemble the devil so exactly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/ingersoll.htm |title=Robert Green Ingersoll |publisher=Positiveatheism.org |date=1954-08-11 |accessdate=2012-11-11}}</ref>
 
[[Mark Twain]] stated that several mutually incompatible religions claimed to be the true religion and that people cut the throats of others for following a different theology.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.twainquotes.com/Religion.html |title=Directory of Mark Twain's maxims, quotations, and various opinions |publisher=Twainquotes.com |date=1902-11-28 |accessdate=2012-11-11}}</ref>
 
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
 
== External links ==
{{Library resources box|by=no|onlinebooks=no|about=yes|wikititle=theology}}
{{Wiktionary}}
{{WVS}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590855/theology "Theology"] on ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''
*http://www.theology.ie
*Chattopadhyay, Subhasis. [http://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=CHAROH-3&proxyId=&u=http%3A%2F%2Fphilpapers.org%2Farchive%2FCHAROH-3.pdf][http://philpapers.org/rec/CHAROH-3 Reflections on Hindu Theology] in [[Prabuddha Bharata|Prabuddha Bharata or Awakened India]] 120(12):664-672 (2014). ISSN 0032-6178. Edited by Swami Narasimhananda.
 
 
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{{referências}}
Linha 41 ⟶ 184:
* [[Teologia da prosperidade]]
* [[Teologia da libertação]]
.* [[Teologia pós-moderna]]
{{Religião}}
 
 
{{esboço-teologia}}