Whose Interpretation Is Correct? | 9 Major Theological Systems

Type of Doctrine: Debated (many disagreements between the systems are thought to be Secondary or Tertiary but some are Primary)

Why does it matter?

All Christians should value God's word. Christians throughout the ages have sought to study and interpret Holy Scripture. Over time, however, various ways of understanding God's word and applying it have developed (i.e., theological systems). Many of these theological systems have disagreements. Some of these disagreements are enormously significant (some of these systems have even adopted heresies!).

Even if one believes in the Bible alone, the question becomes: whose interpretation of the Bible will you accept? Therefore, the following question demonstrates the relevance of this issue: whose interpretation and application of Scripture is correct?

What is it?

Throughout the ages, Christians have sought to understand and apply the words of Holy Scripture. Various groups have developed which share similar theological beliefs. These groups can be called theological systems.

For approximately 1,000 years after the time of Christ, the church was mostly one group. Around this time, the church had a disagreement about the Holy Spirit and split into the Roman Catholic Church (West) and Orthodox Church (East). The Roman Catholic Church said that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son while the Orthodox Church said that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father alone (i.e., the filioque clause). These two groups have remained separated until today.

During the Reformation in the 1500s, the Lutheran and Reformed Theology (Calvinist) systems developed out of the Western Church (i.e., the Roman Catholic Church), largely out of concern that various unbiblical accretions had developed. Subsequently, the remaining five theological systems then emerged more recently. Below, each of these nine major theological systems will be summarized.

9 Major Theological Systems

Below are the nine major theological systems (adapted from pp. 239-469 in M. James Sawyer, The Survivor's Guide to Theology).

#1 - Orthodoxy

Most notable person: John Chrysostom (two runners up are: Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus)
Emphases:
- Mystery (they are comfortable with mystery and don't feel the same need to explain the details theologically as the Western church)
- The Trinity is prominent in Orthodoxy
- The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone (rather than the Father and the Son as Roman Catholics believe)
- Sacraments
  - Doctrine of the Lord's Supper: real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but how it happens is a mystery
  - Baptism mode: infant baptism
- Icons (artwork, typically a painting, that is used in devotion)
- Deification (Theosis) - becoming one with God / like God
- No Pope
- Priests can marry
- Authority: the internal witness of the Holy Spirit

#2 - Roman Catholicism

Most notable person: Augustine (a close second is Thomas Aquinas)
Emphases:
- God is transcendent (far surpassing / above us)
- Historic rootedness
- Justification by faith (which includes the sanctification process in contrast to justification by faith alone that Protestants believe; see this article for more info)
- The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (rather than the Father alone as Orthodoxy believes)
- Sacramentalism (God's grace comes to faithful Christians through the seven sacraments of the church: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist [or the Lord's Supper], penance, anointing the sick, holy orders, and matrimony)
  - Doctrine of the Lord's Supper: transubstantiation (see this article for more information)
  - Baptism mode: infant baptism
- Priests must be celibate and cannot be married (unless they are ordained after marrying)
- Authority: Scripture, the Pope, and Tradition

#3 - Lutheranism

Most notable person: Martin Luther
Emphases:
- Justification by faith alone
- Theology of the cross - God has revealed himself in the person of Jesus in his humiliation and suffering and we can only know him in this way (in contrast to what he called theology of glory which seeks to know God in an "abstract and detached" way [M. James Sawyer, The Survivor's Guide to Theology, 292])
- Strong emphasis on using law and gospel to interpret Scripture
- Sacraments are a means of grace (there are two: baptism and the Lord's Supper)
- Saving faith is monergistic (i.e., God's work alone while humans are still his enemy)
- Election (single predestination [that is, predestined to eternal life but not predestined to eternal punishment])
  - Doctrine of the Lord's Supper: consubstantiation or sacramental union (see this article for more information)
  - Baptism mode: infant baptism
- Normative principle of worship (churches may include what God mentions in Scripture and include things not mentioned if it's not forbidden by Scripture)
- Pastors can marry
- Authority: Scripture alone

#4 - Reformed Theology (Calvinism)

Most notable person: John Calvin
Emphases:
- Justification by faith alone
- Strong emphasis on the sovereignty of God
- Two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper
  - Doctrine of the Lord's Supper: spiritual presence (Christ is present by the power of the Holy Spirit; see this article for more information)
  - Baptism mode: infant baptism (except for Reformed Baptists who believed in believer's baptism by immersion)
- Saving faith is monergistic (i.e., God's work alone while humans are still his enemy)
- Election (typically double predestination [that is, predestined to both eternal life and eternal punishment])
  - Understands "election" and "predestination" to be basically interchangeable words
- Regulative principle of worship (churches may only include what God mentions in Scripture)
- Covenant Theology (the Bible is broken into three covenants: (1) the covenant of redemption - which happened among the Trinity before creation, (2) the covenant of works - which happened in the garden with Adam and Eve, and (3) the covenant of grace - which spans from Gen. 3:15 to Revelation)
  - While most Reformed people subscribe to Covenant Theology, not all Reformed Baptists have adopted it.
- Many Anglicans were also influenced by Reformed Theology.
- Pastors can marry
- Authority: Scripture alone

#5 - Wesleyan-Arminian Theology

Most notable person: Jacob Arminius (a close second is John Wesley)
Emphases:
- Justification by faith alone
- Saving faith is synergistic (i.e., God works with prevenient grace which gives humans the ability to respond in faith; thus, God and humans work together)
- Election (Free will to believe in Jesus because of prevenient grace)
  - Understands "election" and "predestination" to be distinct (in contrast to Reformed theology). Predestination is understood to be God's passive knowledge that he has ahead of time (i.e., foreknowledge). Election, on the other hand, is more concerned with the vocation one pursues (i.e., career, calling).
- Two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper
  - Doctrine of the Lord's Supper: not uniform but many believe in the memorial view (see this article for more information)
  - Baptism mode: not uniform (some believe in infant baptism but others in believer's baptism by immersion)
- Some believe in entire sanctification meaning that at some point in the process of becoming like Jesus a believer can become perfect (see this article for more information)
- Pentecostalism arose out of the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition. The earliest Pentecostal voices explained that when someone experienced "entire sanctification," they were experiencing the "second blessing" (i.e., the baptism of the Holy Spirit). Some suggested that speaking in tongues was the "third blessing." Over time, some began to stress the "second blessing," or baptism with the Holy Spirit, as a pathway to power, signs, and wonders rather than sanctification.
- Pastors can marry
- Authority: Scripture alone

#6 - Dispensationalism

Most notable person: John Nelson Darby (a close second is C. I. Scofield)
Emphases:
- Justification by faith alone
- The Bible is broken into dispensations (see this article for more information)
  - Most commonly:
    - Innocence (Gen. 1-2)
    - Conscience (the Fall to the flood)
    - Human Government (until the call of Abraham)
    - Promise (until Moses)
    - Law (until the death of Christ)
    - Church (post-Pentecost)
    - Millennium (the second return of Jesus Christ)
- Considers Israel and the Church two peoples of God (see this article for more information)
- Premillennial (see this article for more information)
- Two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper
  - Doctrine of the Lord's Supper: Many believe in the memorial view (see this article for more information)
  - Baptism mode: Believer's baptism by immersion
- Pastors can marry
- Authority: Scripture alone

#7 - Liberalism

Most notable person: Friedrich Schleiermacher
Emphases:
- God is a loving Father, but he "is not retributive in his punishment" (M. James Sawyer, The Survivor's Guide to Theology, 408)
- Focused on the immanence of God (nearness of God)
- Humans not seen as sinful and needing to be saved but in relationship with God
- Jesus Christ is not God incarnate, but a perfect human example who attained divinity (see this article which demonstrates that this is a heresy)
- Salvation comes through following the teachings and model of Jesus (rather than through faith)
- In America, liberalism led to the social gospel and modernism.
- Authority: An individual's spiritual experience

#8 - Neoorthodoxy

Most notable person: Karl Barth
Emphases:
- Arose in the early 1900s as a reaction to liberalism
  - Largely it was a reaction to the optimism of the social implications of liberalism when the world wars broke out. People didn't seem to be generally good when millions were killed in these wars.
- Truth is paradoxical and must be held in tension (i.e., Christ is both God and man, God's transcendent and immanent, God's sovereign but humans are responsible)
- Pendulum swung from liberalism and focused on the transcendence of God (God is far above us)
- Rejected liberalism and generally affirmed historic orthodoxy, but rejected the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. The Bible was considered to be human and fallible (i.e., may have mistakes).
- General revelation rejected (God revealed in nature) and only special revelation accepted (God revealed in Scripture)
- Authority: The Word of God when the Holy Spirit works upon the heart (but keep in mind that they generally did not believe that Scripture was inspired by God and inerrant; yes, very confusing!).

#9 - Liberation Theology

Most notable person: Jurgen Moltmann (runners up: James Cone and Gustavo Gutierrez)
Emphases:
- Focused more on orthopraxis (i.e., right practice) than orthodoxy (i.e., right belief)
- Pendulum swing back to the immanence, or nearness, of God (rather than transcendence of God which Karl Barth emphasized)
- Emphasis on the poor and oppressed
- Action precedes theological reflection. Thus, theology for this group became focused on action. Theory comes after action.
- God is not known through doctrine or propositions but helping the poor.
- The Bible is a record of God liberating his people. Revelation is wider than the Bible even if it is primary.
- Liberal theologians have adopted Marxism's understanding of history, and they use it as a tool for analyzing society and problems.
- Authority: Bible is primary but theology is built on/after action

Where can I learn more?

Bibliography:

- Sawyer, M. James. The Survivor's Guide to Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006.