Dogmatic theology

Accordingly, "dogmatics is the theological discipline that, on the basis of the biblical witness and against the background of church tradition, thinks through and systematically presents the truth of the Christian faith in its central contents (dogmas), adopting a scientific and critical method and taking into account the contemporary situation.

[4][5] Generally speaking, dogmatic theology emphasizes the importance of propositional truth over experiential, sensory perceptions, although may also integrate such components into its system.

As such, as opposed to mere propositional abstraction, dogmatics is an integrative, holistic, and organic science that spans the breadth of ecclesial consciousness about its relationship to God as sub specie Dei: "Rather than reducing theology to a set of propositions or a historical narrative, dogmatics seeks to be a form of wisdom that explores and articulates the mystery of God’s self-revelation in Christ through the Spirit..."[6]

For Johnson, there is an "organic unity" to dogmatics that develops "from one central, basic truth," i.e. the essence of faith and its primary referent, God, and thus he considers it "scientific" (videnskabelige).

According to Bavinck, dogmatics includes kerygmatics, or the study of the church's creeds and confessions, and thus must also consider the material ordering of its thoughts in relation to God.

"[18] The Roman Catholic Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is charged with ensuring fidelity to Catholic teaching regarding theology and doctrine among all members of the Church – especially in disputes or unsolved issues involving theology and the faith, and in dealing with individuals (especially clergy, religious, and catechists, where orthodoxy is a special concern, but also laypeople) whose teachings or statements have been judged erroneous at the local level.

According to Johnson, dogmatics "unfolds with inner necessity step-by-step from a central fundamental truth and thus appears completely through it as borne and controlled by a certain, immediately given Principle in the very Essence of Faith.

Likewise, in the same article, Webster will warn against overly segregated approaches to systematic theology that consider it as merely asynchronously reorganizing biblical content.

n its broadest distinction, John Webster specifies in the Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology:‘Dogmatics’ is often, though not exclusively, used to denote the rather more determinate study and exposition of dogma, that is, of authorized church teaching .

[1] A. M. Fairbairn holds that it was the fame of Petau which gave currency to the new coinage "dogmatic theology"; and though the same or related phrases had been used repeatedly by writers of less influence since Reinhard and Andreas Essenius, F. Buddeus (Institutiones theol.

Both Roman Catholic and Protestant authorities agree that the expression was connected with the new habit of distinguishing dogmatics from Christian ethics or moral theology, e.g. Calixtus, though earlier usages conflate terms, e.g. L.F.