{{Short description|History of Christian doctrine}} {{related|[[History of Christian theology]]}} {{About|history of Christian doctrine|a methodology of liberation theology|Ignacio Ellacuría#Theology}} {{History of Christian theology|expanded=Background}} '''Historical theology''' is the study of the history of Christian doctrine. Alister McGrath defines historical theology as 'the branch of theological inquiry which aims to explore the historical development of Christian doctrines, and identify the factors which were influential in the formulation and adoption.'<ref>{{cite book |last1=McGrath |first1=Alister E. |title=Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought |date=2012 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |location=London |isbn=9780470672853 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I59Rasgj3SIC}}</ref> [[Stanley Grenz|Grenz]], Guretzki and Nordling describe it as, "The division of the theological discipline that seeks to understand and delineate how the church interpreted Scripture and developed doctrine throughout its history, from the time of the apostles to the present day. The twofold function of historical theology is to show the origin and development of beliefs held in the present day and to help contemporary theologians identify theological errors of the past that should be avoided in the present."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms|last=Grenz, Guretzki, and Nordling|publisher=InterVarsity Press|year=1999|location=Downers Grove, IL|pages=59}}</ref>
== Overview == According to [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]], historical theology is a historical discipline, one that approaches areas of theology using methods that are employed in the study of any other historical phenomena.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Theology and Society in Three Cities: Berlin, Oxford and Chicago, 1800-1914|last=Chapman|first=Mark D.|date=2014-10-30|publisher=James Clarke & Co|isbn=9780227902462|location=Cambridge|pages=33}}</ref> This is based on the notion that theology has a historical rather than a speculative starting point.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Theology in a Global Context: The Last Two Hundred Years|last=Schwarz|first=Hans|date=2005|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=9780802829863|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|pages=[https://archive.org/details/theologyinglobal0000schw/page/11 11]|url=https://archive.org/details/theologyinglobal0000schw/page/11}}</ref> For instance, the Bible and the writings of ecumenical councils are considered as historical sources and their contents are treated as witness accounts.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Catholicism: New Study Edition--Completely Revised and Updated|last=McBrien|first=Richard|date=2013|publisher=Harper Collins Publishers|isbn=978-0060654047|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/catholicism0002mcbr/page/52 52]|url=https://archive.org/details/catholicism0002mcbr/page/52}}</ref> It covers the bulk of what Schleiermacher termed as the true body of theology and could include [[Exegesis|exegetical theology]], [[dogma]]tics, and [[church history]].<ref name=":0" />
As a branch of [[theology]] it investigates the socio-historical and cultural mechanisms that give rise to theological ideas, statements, and systems. The field focuses on the relationship between theology and its contexts, as well as on the major theological or [[philosophical]] influences upon the figures and topics studied. Its methodological foundation and aims are similar to those used by [[intellectual historian]]s researching historical epistemology, particularly those such as Matthew Daniel Eddy, who investigate the cultural connections between theology and other disciplines that existed in the past.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eddy |first=Matthew Daniel |year=2016 |chapter=The Cognitive Unity of Calvinist Pedagogy in Enlightenment Scotland |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/28249746 |editor-last=Kovács |editor-first=Ábrahám |title=Reformed Churches Working Unity in Diversity: Global Historical, Theological and Ethical Perspectives |location=Budapest |publisher=L'Harmattan |pages=46–60 |archive-date=2022-02-15 |access-date=2016-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215100431/https://www.academia.edu/28249746 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{page range too broad|date=March 2019}}
An evangelical position maintains that historical theology must be aligned with the word of God or that it must always reference the Scripture.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0xLOCgAAQBAJ&dq=historical+theology&pg=PT2067|title=Systematic Theology/Historical Theology Bundle|last1=Grudem|first1=Wayne A.|last2=Allison|first2=Gregg|date=2015-10-27|publisher=Zondervan Academic|isbn=9780310530008|language=en}}</ref>
==See also== * [[History of Christianity]] * [[The Orthodox-faith Historiography]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last=Finlayson |first=R. A. |year=1969 |title=The Story of Theology |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Tyndale Press |isbn=978-0-85111-029-5 }} * {{cite book |last=Richardson |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Richardson (priest) |year=1979 |orig-year=1935 |title=Creeds in the Making: A Short Introduction to the History of Christian Doctrine |location=London |publisher=SCM Press |isbn=978-0-334-00264-2 }} *Noble, T. A. “Historical Theology.” Edited by Martin Davie, Tim Grass, Stephen R. Holmes, John McDowell, and T. A. Noble. New Dictionary of Theology: Historical and Systematic. London; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press; InterVarsity Press, 2016.
==External links== *{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20140524095530/http://www.historicaltheology.org/ HistoricalTheology.org]}} - a site dedicated to the study of historical theology *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090817232214/http://www.slu.edu/x14943.xml Doctoral Study in Historical Theology] at Saint Louis University
{{Christian theology}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:History of Christian theology| ]]