How Does Philosophy Relate to Biblical Studies Research Paper

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Introduction

Historically, Biblical theology and philosophy had so many things in common and thus complemented each other. Philosophers and theologians even considered themselves mortal enemies in certain cases. Most Christianity doctrines have critical implications or pre-suppositions on philosophy. The discussion begins with the relationship between philosophy and Christianity. It then defined Biblical Theology based on three Christian doctrines that influence philosophy. They include the trinity, the atonement and the incarnation. The paper excludes other doctrines such as those about God’s attributes and providence because they are not unique to Christianity. Also, unlike the doctrine of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist and the origin of sin, the three doctrines have long been discussed and used in relation to philosophy over many decades ago (Amanze, 2012).

The debate on Christian traditions and the relationship between philosophy and Biblical theology continues to rage. An influential apologist and Christian theologian in the early times, known as Tertullian, did not believe that a relationship exists between philosophy and theology. According to Tertullian’s argument, intrusion or influence of secular philosophical thoughts into Biblical theology was not in order. Therefore, even though some theological thoughts and claims seemed reasonable in the eyes of some philosophers, a true Christian should never flinch (McLean, 2012). According to the theologian, philosophy has the tendency of corrupting biblical theology and coming up with beliefs neither grounded in the orthodox nor the early traditions of Christians. He often asked what Athens has to do with Jerusalem. Due to Athen’s role as Hellenistic philosophy center, it represented the philosophical technique. On the other hand, Jerusalem symbolized Christianity due to its role as the early church’s intellectual center and a critical location (Legaspi, 2010).

However, other theological leaders could relate philosophy with Biblical theology. According to Justin Martyr, the likes of Socrates and Heraclitus possessed revelation’s divine light. He believed they were authentic philosophers. He believed Christianity is the True Philosophy. Therefore, her utilized philosophical terms and techniques to argue for Christianity. Another influential theologian in the past, St. Augustine, laid the basis for Western philosophy and a good part of Western theology using his works. The philosopher adopted a more moderate approach to argue his beliefs. According to him, philosophy and Biblical theology complement each other. However, he cautioned against using philosophy in Biblical theology (Amanze, 2012).

St. Thomas Aquinas also introduced the Thomistic model to help explain the relationship between philosophy and Biblical theology. According to the model, Biblical Theology and philosophy are distinct, especially based on their starting points of intellect. People hear, see, touch, taste and smell. Acceptable reliable data is then used to deliver natural mental faculties. The manner in which a person’s natural faculty sees and respects the world of nature is what makes the data acceptable. On the other hand, Biblical theology uses divine authority and revelations in the Bible as a starting point. The process is synonymous to how people accept, for instance, a physics professor may make assertions on the subject’s basic facts (DeWeese, 2011).

Although St. Augustine thought the two complemented each other, he said that is only true if philosophical reflections or thoughts are grounded in a previous intellectual dedication to the truth at the core of the Christian faith. Therefore, the legitimacy of Christian faith commitments is what drives philosophy and its authenticity. The views of Augustine were defended widely. Justin, instead, recommended the use of philosophical approaches grounded on traditional Christian values. With philosophers and theologians often working together, interacting and discussing similar or overlapping challenges, philosophy and Biblical theology have always been intertwined. Philosophy has been attributed to the development of Western theology (Addinall, 1991).

Another influential theologian and philosopher in history, Thomas Aquinas, for example, obtained most of his concepts from Aristotle. During the Middle Ages, scholasticism was an important aspect of both theology and philosophy. For instance, theologians such as Albertus Magnus, Anselm of Canterbury, William of Ockham, Bonaventure, Duns Scotus and Peter Abelard, engaged in both theology and philosophy (Amanze, 2012).

Today, Anthony Thiselton has explained how philosophy has helped with scripture interpretation through his work “Fusion of Horizons.

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” A good example is the hermeneutics field. Philosophy offers grids for interpreting and understanding revelation. On the other hand, Sadhu Sundar Singh believed that it is the Holy Spirit that gives the correct interpretation or meaning of revelation. However, it is also clear that cultural grids also influence theology development. Based on Christian view, many traditional philosophers or those in the early centuries, use concepts in Christianity to write and discuss their philosophical works. Examples of philosophers who based their work on Christianity include James K.A. Smith, William Lane Craig, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, Jean-Luc Marion, Alasdair MacIntyre, Charles Taylor and Paul Tillich (Johnson, 2014).

Therefore, based on this perception of a relationship existing between philosophy and Biblical theology, arguments borrowed from revelation render a discussion theological. Otherwise, it would be philosophical if the concepts used are not grounded on Biblical concepts. This is one way the two disciplines can be clearly differentiated and demarcated. However, when a single person reaches a conclusion, other people with a different view are bound to make contradictions. People…

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…a fundamental attribute of the study is that it focuses on historical organization. It emphasizes on the development, continuity and discontinuity of biblical occurrences (Vos, 2003).

On the other hand, D.A. Carson defines biblical theology as a study aimed at unearthing and articulating how the different biblical texts unite to come up with the different primary text categories. It means the study focuses on the different literary and historical story context, with the aim of relating its meaning to the story itself. As an example, biblical theology seeks to find out how covenant and sacrifice came about because the terms are articulated in the story under study. But, they are not looked into due to their relevancy as traditional terms in the Bible. According to Tom Schreiner, biblical theology seeks to find out the most important themes to the biblical authors within their historical settings, discerning the themes’ coherence (Carson, 2012).

On the other hand, Stephen Wellum defines biblical theology as a study that unifies scripture not just for interpretative reasons, but also for the best correspondence to text’s nature due to its inspirational divinity. Therefore, the discipline offers a framework for comprehending how texts in different parts of the scripture relate to each other, acting as the foundation of theologizing the text. The definition indicates that biblical theology is interested in the prophetic promise and fulfilment, including specific type of prophesy and antitype, and also their demonstration. This ensures that a single story’s reality as it emanates from one Divine mind based on one divine and sovereign will is for everyone’s eyes and understanding, despite the diversity in the history, literature and human authors. It means that biblical theology, just like its counterpart systematic theology, is not descriptive for no reason. Instead, it tells of God’s will, nature and plan for mankind during creation, including redemption through His beloved son. It also shows the purpose, nature and “story” of mankind from creation and the grace of redemption (Wellum, 2016).

Conclusion

Clearly, philosophy and biblical studies were distinctive in the early centuries. The two disciplines have been said to be related and complementary in various aspects. However, today there is almost no difference between the two disciplines. Philosophy is essential used in Biblical theology, and the latter used in the former. Biblical theology is the study of the Bible as a whole unit from the first book to the last. It attempts to tell the biblical story as a whole based on what is written in the Christian scripture, the Bible. Just like life itself, the Bible story is not just….....

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