Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Averroes, like many important Muslims who wrote about God, was a writer on "Kalam".
His school of Averroism had a significant influence on Christian theology.
Adi Shankara (centre), 788 to 820, founder of Advaita Vedanta, one of the major schools
of Hindu philosophy.
• There is, within Hindu philosophy, a solid and ancient tradition of philosophical
speculation on the nature of the universe, of God (termed Brahman in some
schools of Hindu thought) and of the Atman (soul). The Sanskrit word for the
various schools of Hindu philosophy is Darshana (meaning, view or viewpoint).
Vaishnava theology has been a subject of study for many devotees, philosophers
and scholars in India for centuries, has in recent decades also been taken on by a
number of academic institutions in Europe, such as the Oxford Centre for Hindu
Studies and Bhaktivedanta College. See also: Krishnology
• In Judaism 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 specialised academic institutions. Nevertheless
Jewish theology has been historically very active and highly significant for
Christian and Islamic Theology. Once again, however, the Jewish analogue of
Christian theological discussion would more properly be Rabbinical discussion of
Jewish law and Jewish Biblical commentaries.
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
and Quadrivium that young men were expected to study. This meant that the other
subjects (including Philosophy) existed primarily to help with theological thought.
With the Enlightenment, universities began to change, teaching a wide range of subjects,
especially in Germany, and from a Humanistic perspective. Theology was no longer the
principal subject and Universities existed for many purposes, not only to train Clergy for
established churches. Theology thus became unusual as the only subject to maintain a
confessional basis in otherwise secular establishments. However, this did not lead to the
abandonment of theological study.
With the rise of Christian education, renowned seminaries and Bible colleges have
continued the original purpose of these universities. Chicago Theological Union,
Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Creighton University Omaha, University of
Notre Dame in South Bend IN, University of San Francisco, Criswell College in Dallas,
Southern Seminary in Louisville, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield,
Wheaton College and Graduate School in Wheaton, Dallas Theological Seminary in
Dallas, London School of Theology, as well as many others have influenced higher
education in theology in philosophy to this day.
While theology often interacts with and draws upon the following, it is generally
differenciated from:
All of these normally involve studying the historical or contemporary practices or ideas
of one or several religious traditions using intellectual tools and frameworks which are
not themselves specifically tied to any religious tradition, but are (normally) understood
to be neutral or secular.
Even when it is distinguished from these other disciplines, however, some hold that the
very idea of an academic discipline called theology, housed in institutions like
Universities, is an inherently secular, Western notion.[21] Noting that 'reasoned discourse
about religion/God' is an idea with a very particular intellectual pedigree, with at least
some roots in Graeco-Roman intellectual culture, they argue that this idea actually brings
with it deep assumptions which we can now see to be related to ideas underlying
'secularism': i.e., the whole idea of reasoned discourse about God/religion suggests the
possibility of a common intellectual framework or set of tools for investigating,
comparing and evaluating traditions - an idea with a strong affinity for a 'secular' world
view in which religions are seen as particular choices, set within an overarching
religiously neutral public sphere. They argue that even those who pursue this discourse as
a way of deepening their commitment to and expertise in their own tradition, perhaps
even so as to become promoters and propagators of it, often do so in a way which
underlines this same 'secular' atmosphere - by assuming the communicability of their
religious views (as explored and explained by theological discourse) within a neutral
intellectual market-place.