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{{short description|Study of the nature of deities and religious beliefs}}
{{Distinguish|Religious studies}}
{{About|the study of the nature of deities and religious beliefs|Sinéad O'Connor's album|Theology (album){{!}}''Theology'' (album)|the academic journal|Theology (journal){{!}}''Theology'' (journal)}}
{{God|expanded=related}}

'''Theology''' is the study of [[religious belief]] from a [[Religion|religious]] perspective, with a focus on the nature of [[divinity]] and the history behind [[Religion|religion]]. It is taught as an [[Discipline (academia)|academic discipline]], typically in universities and [[seminaries]].<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 |access-date=2012-11-11 |archive-date=4 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804180446/http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&s=theology&h=000&j=0#c |url-status=live }}</ref> It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the [[supernatural]], but also deals with [[religious epistemology]], asks and seeks to answer the question of [[revelation]]. Revelation pertains to the acceptance of [[God]], [[gods]], or [[deity|deities]], as not only transcendent or above the natural world, but also willing and able to interact with the natural world and to reveal themselves to humankind.

Theologians use various forms of analysis and argument ([[Spirituality|experiential]], [[philosophy|philosophical]], [[ethnography|ethnographic]], [[history|historical]], and others) to help [[understanding|understand]], [[explanation|explain]], test, [[critique]], defend or promote any myriad of [[List of religious topics|religious topics]]. As in [[philosophy of ethics]] and [[case law]], arguments often assume the existence of previously resolved questions, and develop by making analogies from them to draw new inferences in new situations.

The study of theology may help a theologian more deeply understand their own [[Religion|religious tradition]],<ref>See, e.g., [[Daniel L. Migliore|Migliore, Daniel L.]] 2004. ''Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology'' (2nd ed.) Grand Rapids: [[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Eerdmans]].</ref> another religious tradition,<ref>See, e.g., Kogan, Michael S. 1995. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060615100029/http://www.icjs.org/scholars/kogan.html Toward a Jewish Theology of Christianity]." ''[[Journal of Ecumenical Studies]]'' 32(1):89–106. Archived from the [http://www.icjs.org/scholars/kogan.html online] on 15 June 2006.</ref> or it may enable them to explore the nature of divinity without reference to any specific tradition. Theology may be used to [[Proselytism|propagate]],<ref>See, e.g., Dormor, Duncan, et al., eds. 2003. ''Anglicanism, the Answer to Modernity''. London: Continuum.</ref> reform,<ref>See, e.g., [[John Shelby Spong|Spong, John Shelby]]. 2001. ''Why Christianity Must Change or Die''. New York: Harper Collins.</ref> or [[Apologetics|justify]] a religious tradition; or it may be used to [[Comparative religion|compare]],<ref>See, e.g., Burrell, David. 1994. ''Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions''. Notre Dame: [[University of Notre Dame Press]].</ref> challenge (e.g. [[biblical criticism]]), or oppose (e.g. [[irreligion]]) a religious tradition or [[worldview]]. Theology might also help a theologian address some present situation or need through a religious tradition,<ref>See, e.g., [[Timothy Gorringe|Gorringe, Timothy]]. 2004. ''Crime'', (''Changing Society and the Churches Series''). London: [[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge]].</ref> or to explore possible ways of interpreting the world.<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."

Overzee, Anne Hunt. 1992. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=EiYEktsURVAC The Body Divine: The Symbol of the Body in the Works of Teilhard de Chardin and Ramanuja] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164811/https://books.google.com/books?id=EiYEktsURVAC |date=26 March 2023 }}'', (''Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions'' 2). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0521385169}}. Retrieved 5 April 2010. p. 4.</ref>

== Theology as the oldest academic discipline ==
{{Globalize section|the Western world|date=July 2025}}
Theology is often considered one of the oldest academic disciplines, rooted in early human attempts to understand the divine, moral order, and existence. In the Western tradition, theology held a central place in medieval intellectual life.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} Many of the first European universities, such as the University of Paris (established c. 1150), the University of Oxford (c. 1096), and the University of Bologna (1088), were founded primarily to educate clergy and focused initially on theological studies, with faculties in philosophy, law, and medicine developing later.<ref>Rüegg, Walter (ed.). ''A History of the University in Europe: Volume 1, Universities in the Middle Ages''. Cambridge University Press, 1992.</ref><ref>Leff, Gordon. ''Paris and Oxford Universities in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries: An Institutional and Intellectual History''. Wiley-Blackwell, 1968.</ref> Theology was traditionally regarded as the "queen of the sciences", with philosophy often described as its "handmaiden", due to its guiding role in the search for ultimate truth.<ref>Gilson, Étienne. ''The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy''. University of Notre Dame Press, 1991.</ref>

== Etymology ==
{{Main|History of theology}}
The term "theology" derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''theologia'' (θεολογία), a combination of ''theos'' (Θεός, '[[god]]') and ''[[logia]]'' (λογία, 'utterances, sayings, [[oracle]]s')—the latter word relating to Greek ''[[logos]]'' (λόγος, 'word, [[discourse]], account, [[reasoning]]').<ref>The [[Accusative case|accusative]] plural of the [[neuter noun]] λόγιον; [[cf.]] [[Walter Bauer|Bauer, Walter]], William F. Arndt, [[F. Wilbur Gingrich]], and [[Frederick William Danker|Frederick W. Danker]]. 1979. ''A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament'' (2nd ed.). Chicago: [[University of Chicago Press]]. p. 476.

For examples of λόγια in the [[New Testament]], cf. [[Acts 7]]:38; [[Romans 3]]:2; [[1 Peter 4]]:11.</ref><ref>[[Constantine B. Scouteris|Scouteris, Constantine B.]] [1972] 2016. ''Ἡ ἔννοια τῶν ὅρων 'Θεολογία', 'Θεολογεῖν', 'Θεολόγος', ἐν τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ τῶν Ἑλλήνων Πατέρων καί Ἐκκλησιαστικῶν συγγραφέων μέχρι καί τῶν Καππαδοκῶν'' [''The Meaning of the Terms 'Theology', 'to Theologize' and 'Theologian' in the Teaching of the Greek Fathers up to and Including the Cappadocians''] (in Greek). Athens. pp. 187.</ref> The term would pass on to Latin as {{Lang|la|theologia}}, then French as {{Lang|fr|théologie}}, eventually becoming the English ''theology''.

Through several variants (e.g., ''theologie'', ''teologye''), the English ''theology'' had evolved into its current form by 1362.<ref>Langland, [[Piers Plowman]] A ix 136</ref> The sense that the word has in English depends in large part on the sense that the Latin and Greek equivalents had acquired in [[patristics|patristic]] and [[history of theology#Medieval Christian theology|medieval]] Christian usage although the English term has now spread beyond Christian contexts.[[File:Sanzio 01 Plato Aristotle.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Plato]] (left) and Aristotle in [[Raphael]]'s 1509 fresco ''[[The School of Athens]]'']]

=== Classical philosophy ===
Greek ''theologia'' (θεολογία) was used with the meaning 'discourse on God' around 380 BC by [[Plato]] in ''[[The Republic (Plato)|The Republic]]''.
{{Verse translation
|head1= Greek
|lang1=grc
|… ὀρθῶς, ἔφη· ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο, οἱ τύποι περὶ '''θεολογίας''' τίνες ἂν εἶεν;<br/> τοιοίδε πού τινες, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ· οἷος τυγχάνει ὁ θεὸς ὤν, ἀεὶ δήπου ἀποδοτέον, ἐάντέ τις αὐτὸν ἐν ἔπεσιν ποιῇ ἐάντε ἐν μέλεσιν ἐάντε ἐν τραγῳδίᾳ.|attr1=Plato, ''Republic'' 379a. <ref name=politeia379a>[https://scaife.perseus.org/reader/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg030.perseus-grc2:2.379?right=perseus-eng2 Plato, ''Republic'', Book 2, Section 379 (2.379)]</ref><ref>Plato. ''Platonis Opera'', ed. John Burnet. Oxford University Press. 1903.</ref> (emphasis added)
|head2= English translation by Shorey (1969)
|lang2=en
|… Right, he said; but this very thing—the patterns or norms of '''right speech about the gods''', what would they be?<br/> Something like this, I said. The true quality of God we must always surely attribute to him whether we compose in epic, melic, or tragic verse.|attr2=Plato, ''Republic'' 379a. <ref name=politeia379a/><ref>Plato. ''Plato in Twelve Volumes'', Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.</ref> (emphasis added)}}

Plato develops his rational theology ([[natural theology]]) in Book 10 of ''[[Laws (dialogue)|the Laws]]''. In the dialogue, he opposes atheism and argues that the heavenly bodies are moved by the divine souls of the gods and their intelligence ([[nous]]). He also maintains that these gods care for humans and aim for the good of the universe as a whole.

[[Aristotle]] divided theoretical philosophy into ''mathematike'', ''physike'', and ''theologike'', with the latter 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:<ref name=":0">[[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120106.htm ''City of God'' VI] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213030350/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120106.htm |date=13 December 2006 }}, ch. 5.</ref>

# [[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.

=== Later usage ===
Some Latin Christian authors, such as [[Tertullian]] and [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], followed Varro's threefold usage.<ref name=":0" /><ref>[[Tertullian]], [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.viii.ii.i.html ''Ad Nationes'' II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513210420/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.viii.ii.i.html |date=13 May 2007 }}, ch. 1.</ref> However, Augustine also defined ''theologia'' as "reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity".<ref name="Cityof">[[Augustine of Hippo]]. ''[[City of God (book)|City of God]]'' [http://logicmuseum.googlepages.com/civitate-8.htm Book VIII. i.]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404123631/http://logicmuseum.googlepages.com/civitate-8.htm|date=4 April 2008}}: "de divinitate rationem sive sermonem."</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 |access-date=2012-11-11 |archive-date=7 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207050745/http://pvspade.com/Logic/docs/BoethiusDeTrin.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Boethius' definition influenced medieval Latin usage.<ref>Evans, G. R. 1980. ''Old Arts and New Theology: The Beginnings of Theology as an Academic Discipline''. Oxford: [[Clarendon Press]]. pp. 31–32.</ref>

In [[patristics|patristic]] Greek Christian sources, ''theologia'' could refer narrowly to devout and/or inspired knowledge of and teaching about the essential nature of God.<ref>McGukin, John. 2001. ''Saint Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography''. Crestwood, NY: [[St. Vladimir's Seminary Press]]. p. 278:

[[Gregory of Nazianzus]] uses the word in this sense in his 4th-century [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-42.htm#P4178_1277213 ''Theological Orations''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060807233004/http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-42.htm#P4178_1277213 |date=7 August 2006 }}. 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''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716140059/http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-41.htm#P4162_1255901 |date=16 July 2006 }} introduction to his ''Theological Orations'', that he was a defender of the divinity of Christ the Word.)</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]] that 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]]).{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

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 stepping stone for a revival of philosophy as independent of theological authority.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

It is in the last sense, theology as an academic discipline involving rational study of Christian teaching, that the term passed into English in the 14th century,<ref>"Theology." ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''. note.</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, e.g., [[Charles Hodge|Hodge, Charles]]. 1871. ''Systematic Theology'' 1, part 1.</ref>

From the 17th century onwards, the term ''theology'' began to be used to refer to the study of religious ideas and teachings that are not specifically Christian or correlated with Christianity (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 (such as below).

''Theology'' can also be used in a derived sense to mean "a system of theoretical principles; an (impractical or rigid) ideology".<ref>"Theology, 1(d)" and "Theological, A.3." ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''. 1989.</ref><ref>''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'' 329/4. 5 June 1959: "The 'theological' approach to [[Soviet Marxism]]...proves in the long run unsatisfactory."</ref>

==In religion==
The term ''theology'' has been deemed by some as only appropriate to the study of [[religion]]s 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 (i.e., religions without a single deity, or that deny that such subjects can be studied logically). ''[[Hierology]]'' has been proposed, by such people as [[Eugène Goblet d'Alviella]] (1908), as an alternative, more generic term.<ref>Jones, Alan H. 1983. ''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]]. p. 194.</ref>

=== Abrahamic religions ===
[[File:Moses Maimonides. Photogravure. Wellcome V0003789.jpg|thumb|upright|Illustration of the Jewish theologian [[Maimonides]].]]
====Judaism====
{{Main|Jewish theology}}
In Jewish theology, the historical absence of political authority after the destruction of the [[Second Temple]] has meant that most theological reflection has happened within the context of the Jewish community and [[synagogue]], including through [[rabbinical]] discussion of [[Jewish law]] and [[Midrash]] (rabbinic biblical commentaries). Jewish theology is also linked to [[ethics]], as it is the case with theology in other religions, and therefore has implications for how one behaves.<ref>Libenson, Dan and Lex Rofeberg, hosts. 5 October 2018. "[http://www.judaismunbound.com/podcast/judaism-unbound-episode-138-rachel-adler God and Gender – Rachel Adler] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011053734/http://www.judaismunbound.com/podcast/judaism-unbound-episode-138-rachel-adler |date=11 October 2018 }}." Ep. 138 in ''Judaism Unbound'' (podcast).</ref><ref>Rashkover, Randi. 1999. "[https://archive.today/20120709141057/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2096/is_4_49/ai_58621576 A Call for Jewish Theology]." ''[[CrossCurrents]]''. "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>

====Christianity====
[[File:St-thomas-aquinasFXD.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|[[Thomas Aquinas]], an influential 13th century theologian.]]
{{Main|Christian theology|Neoplatonism}}
{{Further|Diversity in early Christian theology|Great Apostasy|Nontrinitarianism|Son of God (Christianity)|Trinity}}
As defined by [[Thomas Aquinas]], theology is constituted by a triple aspect: what is taught by God, teaches of God, and leads to God ({{langx|la|Theologia a Deo docetur, Deum docet, et ad Deum ducit}}).<ref>{{cite book |last=Kapic |first=Kelly M. Kapic |title=A Little Book for New Theologians. Why and How to Study Theology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hg6X6d0n7NUC |year=2012 |publisher=[[InterVarsity Press]] |location=[[Downers Grove, Illinois]] |isbn=978-0830866700 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hg6X6d0n7NUC&dq=%22Theologia+a+Deo+docetur,+Deum+docet,+et+ad+Deum+ducit%22%22seem+to+be+a+gathered+summary+of+what+Thomas+says+in+Summa+Theologica%22&pg=PA36 36]}}</ref> This indicates the three distinct areas of God as [[theophany|theophanic]] [[revelation]], the systematic study of the nature of [[Divinity|divine]] and, more generally, of [[religious belief]], and the [[spiritual path]]. Christian theology as the study of Christian belief and practice 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.

====Islam====
[[File:Chester Beatty T 414 fol 130r Mālik.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Islamic scholar, jurist and theologian [[Malik ibn Anas]].]]
{{Main|Aqidah}}
{{Further|Kalam|List of Muslim theologians|Schools of Islamic theology}}
Islamic theological discussion that parallels Christian theological discussion is called ''[[Kalam]]''; the Islamic analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be the investigation and elaboration of ''[[Sharia]]'' or ''[[Fiqh]]''.<ref>Gardet, L. 1999. "[http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ei2/kalam.htm Ilm al-kalam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202100/http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ei2/kalam.htm |date=3 March 2016 }}." ''[[The Encyclopedia of Islam]]'', edited by [[P. J. Bearman]], et al. Leiden: [[Brill Publishers|Koninklijke Brill NV]].</ref>

{{Cquote|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.|author=translated by L. Gardet|title=|source=}}

Some Universities in Germany established departments of islamic theology (e.g., the {{ill|Deutsche Islamkonferenz|de}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deutsche-islam-konferenz.de/SharedDocs/Meldungen/EN/rede-kerber-festveranstaltung.html?nn=598848|title=Speech by State Secretary Dr Markus Kerber at the official opening ceremony for the Islamkolleg Deutschland|website=DIK – Deutsche Islam Konferenz|access-date=31 January 2023|archive-date=31 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131143038/https://www.deutsche-islam-konferenz.de/SharedDocs/Meldungen/EN/rede-kerber-festveranstaltung.html?nn=598848|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Indian religions===

====Buddhism====
{{Further|Buddhist philosophy|Trikāya}}
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 [[Creator in Buddhism|lacks the same conception of a ''theos'' or a Creator God]]. Jose Ignacio Cabezon, who argues that the use of ''theology'' is in fact 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 atheological, rejecting as it does the notion of God."<ref>Cabezon, Jose Ignacio. 1999. "Buddhist Theology in the Academy." pp. 25–52 in ''Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections by Contemporary Buddhist Scholars'', edited by R. Jackson and [[John Makransky|J. J. Makransky]]. London: Routledge.</ref> 

Whatever the case, there are various Buddhist theories and discussions on the nature of [[Buddhahood]] and the [[ultimate reality]] / highest form of [[divinity]], which has been termed "buddhology" by some scholars like [[Louis de La Vallée-Poussin]].<ref name=":4">de la Vallée Poussin, Louis. (1906). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/abs/xxxi-studies-in-buddhist-dogma1-the-three-bodies-of-a-buddha-trikaya/5E32D32D56482F9A1A5219F5E1EFDFC7 "XXXI. Studies in Buddhist Dogma. The Three Bodies of a Buddha (Trikāya).''"''] ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 38(4), 943–977.'' doi:10.1017/S0035869X0003522X</ref> This is a different usage of the term than when it is taken to mean the [[Buddhist studies|academic study of Buddhism]], and here would refer to the study of the nature of what a Buddha is. In [[Mahayana|Mahayana Buddhism]], a central concept in its buddhology is the doctrine of the three Buddha bodies (Sanskrit: [[Trikaya|Trikāya]]).<ref name=":4" /> This doctrine is shared by all Mahayana Buddhist traditions.  

====Hinduism====
{{See also|Vedanta|Vaishnavism|Shaivism|Shaktism}}
Within [[Hindu philosophy]], there are numerous traditions of philosophical speculation on the nature of the universe, of God (termed [[Brahman]], [[Paramatma]], [[Ishvara]], and/or [[Bhagavan]] in some schools of Hindu thought) and of the [[Ātman (Hinduism)|''ātman'']] (soul). The [[Sanskrit]] word for the various schools of Hindu philosophy is ''[[darśana]]'' ('view, viewpoint'), the most influential one in terms of modern Hindu religion is [[Vedanta]] and its various sub-schools, each of which presents a different theory of [[Ishvara]] (the Supreme lord, God).

[[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 the study of Hinduism has also been taken up by a number of academic institutions in Europe, such as the [[Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies]] and [[Bhaktivedanta College]].<ref>King, Anna S. 2006. "For Love of Krishna: Forty Years of Chanting." pp. 134–67 in ''The Hare Krishna Movement: Forty Years of Chant and Change'', edited by G. Dwyer and R. J. Cole. London: [[I.B. Tauris]]. p. 163:

Describes developments in both institutions, and speaks of Hare Krishna devotees "studying Vaishnava theology and practice in mainstream universities."</ref> 

There are also other traditions of Hindu theology, including the various theologies of [[Shaivism]] (which include dualistic and [[Nondualism|non-dualistic]] strands) as well as the theologies of the Goddess centered [[Shaktism|Shakta traditions]] which posit a feminine deity as the ultimate.

===Other religions===
====Shinto====
In Japan, the term ''theology'' ({{Langx|ja|神学|translit=shingaku|label=none}}) has been ascribed to [[Shinto]] since the [[Edo period]] with the publication of Mano Tokitsuna's {{Transliteration|ja|Kokon shingaku ruihen}} ({{Langx|ja|古今神学類編|lit=categorized compilation of ancient theology|label=none}}). In modern times, other terms are used to denote studies in Shinto—as well as Buddhist—belief, such as {{Transliteration|ja|kyōgaku}} ({{Langx|ja|教学|lit=doctrinal studies|label=none}}) and {{Transliteration|ja|shūgaku}} ({{Langx|ja|宗学|lit=denominational studies|label=none}}).

====Modern Paganism====
English academic [[Graham Harvey (religious studies scholar)|Graham Harvey]] has commented that [[Paganism|Pagans]] "rarely indulge in theology".<ref>{{cite book|last=Harvey |first=Graham|author-link=Graham Harvey (religious studies scholar)|title=Listening People, Speaking Earth: Contemporary Paganism|date=2007|publisher=London: Hurst & Company|isbn=978-1850652724|edition=2nd|page=1}}</ref> Nevertheless, theology has been applied in some sectors across contemporary Pagan communities, including [[Wicca]], [[Heathenry (new religious movement)|Heathenry]], [[Druidry (modern)|Druidry]] and [[Kemetism]]. As these religions have given precedence to [[orthopraxy]], theological views often vary among adherents. The term is used by Christine Kraemer in her book ''Seeking The Mystery: An Introduction to Pagan Theologies'' and by [[Michael York (religious studies scholar)|Michael York]] in [[Pagan Theology|''Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion'']].

==Topics==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2025}}
{{Further|Outline of theology}}[[Richard Hooker]] defines ''theology'' as "the science of things divine".<ref>{{cite web|title=''Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity'', 3.8.11|url=http://anglicanhistory.org/hooker/3/368-377.pdf|access-date=2012-11-11|archive-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304083921/http://anglicanhistory.org/hooker/3/368-377.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The term can, however, be used for a variety of disciplines or fields of study.<ref>[[Alister McGrath|McGrath, Alister]]. 1998. ''Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought''. Oxford: [[Blackwell Publishers]]. pp. 1–8.</ref> Theology considers whether the divine exists in some form, such as in [[physics|physical]], [[supernatural]], [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|mental]], or [[social construction|social realities]], and what evidence for and about it may be found via personal spiritual experiences or historical records of such experiences as documented by others. The study of these assumptions is not part of [[theology proper]], but is found in the [[philosophy of religion]], and increasingly through the [[psychology of religion]] and [[neurotheology]]. Theology's aim, then, is to record, structure and understand these experiences and concepts; and to use them to derive normative prescriptions for [[meaning of life|the right way to live life]].

==History of academic discipline==
{{see also|Divinity (academic discipline)}}
{{Specific|date=October 2024}}
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 [[Sanskrit and Vedic learning|Vedic learning]], possible from the 6th-century BC or earlier;<ref>An earlier date is provided in:

Reagan, Timothy. 2004. ''Non-Western Educational Traditions: Alternative Approaches to Educational Thought and Practice'' (3rd ed.). [[Lawrence Erlbaum]]. p. 185; and

Chitnis, Sunna. 2003. "Higher Education." pp. 1032–56 in ''The Oxford India Companion to Sociology and Social Anthropology'', edited by [[Veena Das|V. Das]]. New Delhi: [[Oxford University Press]]. p. 1036.</ref><ref name=":1">Scharfe, Hartmut. 2002. ''Education in Ancient India''. Leiden: Brill.</ref>{{Rp|140–142}}
* the [[Platonic Academy]] founded in Athens in the 4th-century BC seems to have included theological themes in its subject matter;<ref>Dillon, John. 2003. ''The Heirs of Plato: A Study in the Old Academy, 347–274 BC.'' Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]].</ref>
* the Chinese [[Taixue]] delivered [[Confucianism|Confucian]] teaching from the 2nd century BC;<ref>[[Xinzhong Yao|Yao, Xinzhong]]. 2000. ''An Introduction to Confucianism''. Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]]. p. 50.</ref>
* the [[School of Nisibis]] was a centre of Christian learning from the 4th century AD;<ref>{{cite book |first=Adam H. |last=Becker |title=The Fear of God and the Beginning of Wisdom: The School of Nisibis and the Development of Scholastic Culture in Late Antique Mesopotamia |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |year=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nestorian.org/the_school_of_nisibis.html |title=The School of Nisibis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231841/http://www.nestorian.org/the_school_of_nisibis.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |work=Nestorian.org}}</ref>
* [[Nalanda]] in India was a site of Buddhist higher learning from at least the 5th or 6th century AD;<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|149}} and
* the Moroccan [[University of Al-Karaouine]] was a centre of Islamic learning from the 10th century,<ref>Lulat, Y. G. 2005. ''A History of African Higher Education from Antiquity to the Present: A Critical Synthesis''. Greenwood. p. 71:

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."</ref> as was [[Al-Azhar University]] in Cairo.<ref>Beattie, Andrew. 2005. ''Cairo: A Cultural History''. New York: [[Oxford University Press]]. 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 school]]s. It is possible, however, that the development of cathedral schools into universities was quite rare, with the [[University of Paris]] being an exception.<ref>Leff, Gordon. 1968. ''Paris and Oxford Universities in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. An Institutional and Intellectual History''. [[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]].</ref> Later they were also founded by kings ([[University of Naples Federico II]], [[Charles University in Prague]], [[Jagiellonian University| Jagiellonian University in Kraków]]) or by 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>[[Paul Johnson (writer)|Johnson, Paul]]. 2000. ''The Renaissance: A Short History'', (''[[Modern Library Chronicles]]''). 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>Rüegg, Walter. 2003. "Themes." pp. 3–34 in ''A History of the University in Europe'', edited by W. Rüegg and H. de Ridder-Symoens, (''Universities in the Middle Ages'' 1). Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]]. 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|D'Costa, Gavin]]. 2005. ''Theology in the Public Square: Church, Academy and Nation''. Oxford: [[Blackwell Publishers|Blackwell]]. ch. 1.</ref>

During the High Middle Ages, theology was the ultimate subject at universities, being named "The Queen of the Sciences". It served 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|Howard, Thomas Albert]]. 2006. ''[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] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150615213212/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/protestant-theology-and-the-making-of-the-modern-german-university-9780199266852?cc=us&lang=en& |date=15 June 2015 }}.'' Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]]. p. 56: "philosophy, the ''scientia scientarum'' in one sense, was, in another, portrayed as the humble "handmaid of theology'."</ref>
In this context, medieval theology in the Christian West could subsume fields of study which would later become more self-sufficient, such as [[metaphysics]] (Aristotle's "[[first philosophy]]",<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1 = DeFilippo
 |first1 = Joseph G.
 |year = 1991
 |title = Theology and First Philosophy in Aristotle's "Metaphysics"
 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=x_V6nQEACAAJ
 |publisher = U.M.I., Dissertation Information Service
 |access-date = 16 October 2023
}} 
</ref><ref>
[https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-concepts/ontology Ontology] - "In the 13th century, appropriating Aristotle's threefold division of the speculative sciences (physics, mathematics, and what Aquinas variously calls 'first philosophy' or 'metaphysics' or 'theology'), Aquinas argues that primary being and being in general are the subject of the same science (''eadem enim est scientia primi entis et entis communis '') inasmuch as primary being (s) are principles of the others (''nam prima entia sunt principia aliorum''; cf. Aquinas' ''In Boeth. de Trin''. 5.1, ''In 10 meta''. 6 and 11, and the ''Proemium'' to the latter)."
</ref>
or [[ontology]] (the science of being).<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1 = Rutherford
 |first1 = J. Alexander
 |year= 2021
 |title = The Gift of Seeing: A Biblical Perspective on Ontology
 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0kU6EAAAQBAJ
 |series = Volume 3 of God's Gifts for the Christian Life – Part 1
 |publication-place = Airdrie, Alberta
 |publisher = Teleioteti
 |page = 3
 |isbn = 9781989560198
 |access-date = 16 October 2023
 |quote = [...] Scripture has implications for ontology [...]. [...] the theology we proclaim is deeply intertwined with ontology [...].
}} 
</ref><ref>
[https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-concepts/ontology Ontology] – "In the sixth book [of the ''Metaphysics''] (1026a16–32), Aristotle refers to a first philosophy that is concerned with being as being, but in contrast to physics and mathematics, precisely as the speculative science of what is separate from matter and motion. First philosophy in this context is labeled 'theology' inasmuch as the divine would only be present in something of this nature, i.e., some immutable being (''ousia akinetos'')."
</ref>

Christian theology's preeminent place in the university started to come under challenge during the European [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], especially in Germany.<ref name=":2">[[Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard|Howard, Thomas Albert]]. 2006. ''[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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615213212/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/protestant-theology-and-the-making-of-the-modern-german-university-9780199266852?cc=us&lang=en& |date=15 June 2015 }}.'' Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]].</ref> Other subjects gained in independence and prestige, and questions were raised about the place of a discipline that seemed to involve a commitment to the authority of particular religious traditions in institutions that were increasingly understood to be devoted to independent reason.<ref>See the 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) in [[Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard|Howard, Thomas Albert]]. 2006. ''[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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615213212/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/protestant-theology-and-the-making-of-the-modern-german-university-9780199266852?cc=us&lang=en& |date=15 June 2015 }}.'' Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]].</ref>

Since the early 19th 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 name=":2" /><ref>Frei, Hans W. 1992. ''Types of Christian Theology'', edited by [[William Placher|W. C. Placher]] and [[George Hunsinger|G. Hunsinger]]. New Haven, CT: [[Yale University Press]].</ref><ref>[[Gavin D'Costa|D'Costa, Gavin]]. 2005. ''Theology in the Public Square: Church, Academy and Nation''. Oxford: Blackwell.</ref><ref>[[James William McClendon Jr.|McClendon, James W.]] 2000. "Theology and the University." Ch. 10 in ''Systematic Theology 3: Witness''. Nashville, TN: Abingdon.</ref>

===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 [[Humboldt University of Berlin|University of Berlin]] in 1810.<ref>[[Friedrich Schleiermacher|Schleiermacher, Friedrich]]. 1990. ''Brief Outline of Theology as a Field of Study'' (2nd ed.), translated by T. N. Tice. Lewiston, NY: [[Edwin Mellen Press|Edwin Mellen]].</ref><ref name=":2" />{{Rp|ch. 14}}

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 Gregor Kratz|Kratz, Reinhard G.]] 2002. "Academic Theology in Germany." ''[[Religion (journal)|Religion]]'' 32(2):113–116.</ref>

In the United States, several prominent colleges and universities were started in order to train Christian ministers. [[Harvard]],<ref>[[George Marsden|Marsden, George M.]] 1994. ''The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief''. New York: [[Oxford University Press]]. p. 41:

"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."</ref> [[Georgetown University|Georgetown]],<ref>Curran, Robert Emmett, and [[Leo J. O'Donovan]]. 1961. ''The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From Academy to University 1789–1889'', Part 1. Georgetown: [[Georgetown University Press]]:

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.</ref> [[Boston University]], [[Yale]],<ref>[[Franklin Bowditch Dexter|Dexter, Franklin Bowditch]]. 1916. "[https://archive.org/stream/documentaryhisto00dextrich The Charter of the Collegiate School, October 1701]." In ''Documentary History of Yale University, Under the Original Charter of the Collegiate School of Connecticut 1701–1745''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press:

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."</ref> [[Duke University]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Duke University Libraries|title=Duke University: A Brief Narrative History|date=11 July 2013|url=https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/uarchives/history/articles/narrative-history|access-date=10 April 2020|publisher=Duke University Libraries|archive-date=6 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406170029/https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/uarchives/history/articles/narrative-history|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Princeton University|Princeton]]<ref>At Princeton, one of the founders (probably Ebeneezer Pemberton) wrote in {{circa|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''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150826054222/http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/founding_princeton.html |date=26 August 2015 }} (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 examples in the United States, including [[Phoenix Seminary]], [[Catholic Theological Union]] in Chicago,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ctu.edu/about/ctu-story |title=The CTU Story |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307174208/http://www.ctu.edu/about/ctu-story |archive-date=7 March 2013 |work=[[Catholic Theological Union]] |access-date=16 March 2013 |quote=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'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090819102908/http://www.gtu.edu/about |date=19 August 2009 }} 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>{{cite web |url=http://www.criswell.edu/news--events/about-us/ |title=The Criswell Vision |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426034342/http://www.criswell.edu/news--events/about-us/ |archive-date=26 April 2010 |work=[[Criswell College]] |access-date=29 August 2009 |quote=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}}</ref> The [[Southern Baptist Theological Seminary]] in Louisville,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sbts.edu/about/truth/mission/ |title=Mission Statement |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329082518/http://www.sbts.edu/about/truth/mission/ |archive-date=29 March 2015 |work=[[Southern Baptist Theological Seminary]] |access-date=29 August 2009 |quote=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}}</ref> [[Trinity Evangelical Divinity School]] in Deerfield, Illinois,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tiu.edu/divinity/connect/whoarewe/ |title=About Trinity Evangelical Divinity School |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830165955/http://www.tiu.edu/divinity/connect/whoarewe/ |archive-date=30 August 2011 |work=[[Trinity Evangelical Divinity School]] |access-date=29 August 2009 |quote=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}}</ref> [[Dallas Theological Seminary]],<ref>[http://www.dts.edu/about/ "About"] at the Dallas Theological Seminary website: "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." Retrieved 29 August 2009. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220083431/http://www05.dts.edu/about/ |date=20 February 2006 }}.</ref> North Texas Collegiate Institute in Farmers Branch, Texas,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ntcollege.org/|title=North Texas Collegiate Institute |website=ntcollege.org |access-date=23 November 2016|archive-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124125316/http://ntcollege.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Assemblies of God Theological Seminary]] in Springfield, Missouri. The only [[Messianic Judaism|Judeo-Christian]] seminary for theology is the 'Idaho Messianic Bible Seminary' which is part of the Jewish University of Colorado in [[Denver]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewish-university.org/|title=Jewish University of Colorado|website=jewish-university.org |access-date=31 October 2022|archive-date=8 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008093649/https://www.jewish-university.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===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 the Department of Theological Studies at [[Concordia University]] in [[Canada]], and to many university departments in the [[United Kingdom]], including the Faculty of Divinity at the [[University of Cambridge]], 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>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://huss.exeter.ac.uk/theology/undergrad/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809201252/http://huss.exeter.ac.uk/theology/undergrad/ |archive-date=9 August 2009 |access-date=1 September 2009 |title=Undergraduate Study – Why study Theology? |website=Department of Theology, University of Exeter, UK }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.leeds.ac.uk//trs/aboutus.htm |title=About us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505192238/http://www.leeds.ac.uk/trs/aboutus.htm |archive-date=5 May 2008 |website=University of Leeds – Department of Theology and Religious Studies }}</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.

===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, e.g., Wiebe, Donald. 2000. ''The Politics of Religious Studies: The Continuing Conflict with Theology in the Academy''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.</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>[[K. L. Noll|Noll, K. L.]] 27 July 2009. "[http://chronicle.com/article/The-Ethics-of-Being-a/47442/ The Ethics of Being a Theologian] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927145003/http://chronicle.com/article/The-Ethics-of-Being-a/47442/ |date=27 September 2009 }}." ''[[The Chronicle of Higher Education|Chronicle of Higher Education]]''.</ref> and at other times, they are held to coexist without serious tension.<ref>Ford, David. 2009. "Theology and Religious Studies for a Multifaith and Secular Society." In ''Theology and Religious Studies in Higher Education'', edited by D. L. Bird and S. G. Smith. London: Continuum.</ref>
Occasionally it is denied that there is as clear a boundary between them.<ref>Fitzgerald, Timothy. 2000. ''The Ideology of Religious Studies''. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]].</ref>

== Criticism<!--'Criticism of theology' redirects here--> ==
{{see also|Criticism of religion}}

===Pre-20th century===
Whether or not reasoned discussion about the divine is possible has long been a point of contention. [[Protagoras]], as early as the fifth century [[Before Christ|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]]. "On the Gods", translated by M. J. O'Brien. In ''The Older Sophists'', edited by R. K. Sprague. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. 1972. p. 20 (fr.4). (emphasis added).</ref><ref>Poster, Carol. "[http://www.iep.utm.edu/protagor/ Protagoras (fl. 5th C. BCE)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210135808/http://www.iep.utm.edu/protagor/ |date=10 February 2014 }}." ''[[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]''. Retrieved 6 October 2008.</ref>

[[File:Paul Heinrich Dietrich Baron d'Holbach.jpg|thumb|upright|Baron d'Holbach]]
Since at least the eighteenth century, various authors have criticized the suitability of theology as an academic discipline.<ref name="Loughlin2009">{{cite book|last=Loughlin|first=Gerard|author-link=Gerard Loughlin|date=2009|chapter=11 – Theology in the university|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=myz9IWlszzgC&pg=PA221|title=The Cambridge Companion to John Henry Newman|editor1-last=Ker|editor1-first=John|editor2-last=Merrigan|editor2-first=Terrance|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/CCOL9780521871860.011|pages=221–240|isbn=978-0521871860}}</ref> In 1772, [[Baron d'Holbach]] labeled theology "a continual insult to human reason" in ''Le Bon sens''.<ref name="Loughlin2009"/> [[Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke|Lord Bolingbroke]], an English politician and political philosopher, wrote in Section IV of his ''Essays on Human Knowledge'', "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&dq=theology+is+the+box+of+pandora+bolingbroke&pg=PA396 ''The Philosophical Works of Lord Bolingbroke''] 3. p. 396.</ref>

[[Thomas Paine]], a [[Deism|Deistic]] American political theorist and [[pamphleteer]], wrote in his three-part work ''[[The Age of Reason]]'' (1794, 1795, 1807):<ref>[[Thomas Paine|Paine, Thomas]]. [1794/1795/1807] 1945. "[[The Age of Reason]]." ''The Life and Major Writings of Thomas Paine'', edited by [[Philip S. Foner|P. S. Foner]]. New York: [[Citadel Press]]. p. 601.</ref><blockquote>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.</blockquote>The German [[atheism|atheist]] philosopher [[Ludwig Feuerbach]] 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|Feuerbach, Ludwig]]. 1986. ''Principles of the Philosophy of the Future'', translated by M. H. Vogel. Indianapolis, Hackett Publishing Company. p. 5.</ref> This mirrored his earlier work ''[[The Essence of Christianity]]'' (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|Feuerbach, Ludwig]]. [1841] 1989. "Preface, XVI." ''[[The Essence of Christianity]]'', translated [[George Eliot|G. Eliot]]. Amherst, New York: [[Prometheus Books]].</ref>

The American satirist [[Mark Twain]] remarked in his essay "[[The Lowest Animal]]", originally written in around 1896, but not published until after Twain's death in 1910, that:<ref name="Twain1896">{{cite web|last=Twain|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Twain|date=1896|title=The Lowest Animal|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/the-lowest-animal-by-mark-twain-1690158|website=thoughtco.com|access-date=10 July 2018|archive-date=10 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710101953/https://www.thoughtco.com/the-lowest-animal-by-mark-twain-1690158|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=1902-11-28|title=Directory of Mark Twain's maxims, quotations, and various opinions|url=http://www.twainquotes.com/Religion.html|access-date=2012-11-11|publisher=Twainquotes.com|archive-date=3 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603011818/http://twainquotes.com/Religion.html|url-status=live}}</ref><blockquote>[Man] is the only animal that [[Great Commandment|loves his neighbor as himself]] and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.... The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste.</blockquote>

===20th and 21st centuries===
[[A. J. Ayer]], a British former [[Logical positivism|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|Ayer, A. J.]], 1936. ''[[Language, Truth and Logic]]''. New York: Dover Publications. pp. 114–115.</ref>

[[Jewish atheism|Jewish atheist]] philosopher [[Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)|Walter Kaufmann]], in his essay "Against Theology", sought to differentiate theology from religion in general:<ref name=":3">[[Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)|Kaufmann, Walter]]. 1963. ''The Faith of a Heretic''. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books. pp. 114, 127–28, 130.</ref><blockquote>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. </blockquote>However, Kaufmann found that "Christianity is inescapably a theological religion."<ref name=":3" />

English atheist [[Charles Bradlaugh]] believed theology prevented human beings from achieving liberty,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/bradlaugh.htm |title=Charles Bradlaugh (1833–1891) |publisher=Positiveatheism.org |access-date=2012-11-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501025921/https://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/bradlaugh.htm |archive-date=1 May 2013 }}</ref> although he also noted that many theologians of his time held that, because modern scientific research sometimes contradicts sacred scriptures, the scriptures must therefore be wrong.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/bradlo01.htm |title=Humanity's Gain from Unbelief |publisher=Positiveatheism.org |access-date=2012-11-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717060256/https://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/bradlo01.htm |archive-date=17 July 2012 }}</ref> [[Robert G. Ingersoll]], an American agnostic lawyer, 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, it was science that improved people's lives, not theology. Ingersoll further maintained 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 |access-date=2012-11-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805171007/http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/ingersoll.htm |archive-date=5 August 2012}}</ref>

The British [[Evolutionary biology|evolutionary biologist]] [[Richard Dawkins]] has been an outspoken critic of theology.<ref name="Loughlin2009" /><ref name="Dawkins1993" /> In an article published in ''[[The Independent]]'' in 1993, he severely criticizes theology as entirely useless,<ref name="Dawkins1993">{{cite web|last=Dawkins|first=Richard|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letter-scientific-versus-theological-knowledge-1498837.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letter-scientific-versus-theological-knowledge-1498837.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Letter: Scientific versus theological knowledge|date=20 March 1993|work=The Independent}}{{cbignore}}</ref> declaring that it has completely and repeatedly failed to answer any questions about the nature of reality or the human condition.<ref name="Dawkins1993" /> He states, "I have never heard any of them [i.e. theologians] ever say anything of the smallest use, anything that was not either platitudinously obvious or downright false."<ref name="Dawkins1993" /> He then states that, if all theology were completely eradicated from the earth, no one would notice or even care. He concludes:<ref name="Dawkins1993" /><blockquote>The achievements of theologians don't do anything, don't affect anything, don't achieve anything, don't even mean anything. What makes you think that 'theology' is a subject at all?</blockquote>

==See also==
* [[Thealogy]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
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* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590855/theology "Theology"] on ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''
* Chattopadhyay, Subhasis. [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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[[Category:Theology| ]]