The opening paragraph of the Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes the whole of the Christian life and, thereby, the purpose of Catholic theology:

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life. (CCC no. 1)

The profound significance of the very first word of the Catechism is difficult to overestimate. As an authoritative summary of Catholic faith and morals (CCC no. 11), the Catechism begins with God. Why? God is the beginning and the end of Christian doctrine. Likewise, God is the center of sacred theology. A Christian life without God is impossible. Moreover, Catholic theology without God is unintelligible.

In these carefully selected and arranged words, the Catechism highlights the fact that God is “infinitely perfect and blessed in himself.” God does not suffer from any needs or privations. He is pure perfection. Thus, the existence of creatures does not originate from any insufficiency within God. Rather, all creatures—including rational creatures, whether men or angels—proceed from God’s “plan of sheer goodness.” Creatures exist because God is good—infinitely so.

God created to share his goodness with his creatures. He did not create in order to receive something that he lacked. He “freely created man to make him share in his [God’s] own blessed life.” God’s loving wisdom accounts for the creation of the human person. Moreover, his good and loving wisdom informs the inherent structures of creation in general and the nature of the human person in particular. Because God created man to share himself with man, “at every time and in every place, God draws close to man.”

There are no barriers between God and the human person. The Christian faith denies any erroneous conceptions about God that would posit spatial or affective distance between God and creatures. The God who creates sustains his creation in existence. The Christian faith utterly rejects deistic conceptions of the deity and of creation. God is not an absent watchmaker.

Consequently, God “calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength.” God’s presence to his creatures is such that he enables human persons not only to be known or loved by God. No creature can self-create. This fact is evidently true. But, as a creature of God, human persons are created for God—to know and to love God themselves. Thus, the created reality of humanity comprises not just a relation of passivity. It is part of the primordial vocation of human persons to pursue God through the active powers of knowing and loving.  

All of reality bears a God-oriented shape and direction. And the human person is uniquely called to pursue God in a specifically rational way through knowledge and love. In its very first paragraph, the Catechism provides a roadmap for the whole of human life—and the whole of Catholic thought. In other words, this single paragraph provides a concise account of the essence of Catholic theology.

I. What Does “Catholic Theology” Mean?

Interestingly, the phrase “Catholic theology” does not appear a single time in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This absence may initially seem to testify against the validity of Catholic theology. The opposite, however, is true. Catholic theology is not a discipline that subsists in an absolutely independent manner. Rather, the nature of “Catholic” and the nature of “theology,” together evince not only the legitimacy of Catholic theology but also the discipline’s necessity for the Christian life. The authentic meaning of Catholic theology only becomes evident through an adequate understanding of the meaning of “Catholic” and “theology.”

The Meaning of “Catholic”

The Catechism explains that “the word ‘catholic’ means ‘universal,’ in the sense of ‘according to the totality’ or ‘in keeping with the whole’” (CCC no. 830). The meaning of “catholic,” thus, is contrary to divisive or sectarian notions. Catholicity bespeaks totality, wholeness, and universality.

Of course, this explains why the Church that Christ instituted is fully “catholic.” Citing St. Ignatius of Antioch, the Catechism explains that “the Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. ‘Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church’” (CCC no. 830). The Church is catholic in the sense that she receives—in a universal and comprehensive way—her existence, her identity, and her mission from Jesus Christ, the “head” of the Church. The Church is intensively Catholic.

The Church is also extensively “catholic.” “The Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race” (CCC no. 831). The mission of the Church does not suffer discriminatory or exclusionary limitations. “All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People, therefore, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God’s will may be fulfilled.” And the wisdom of God’s order is present both in creation and in redemption. God “made human nature one in the beginning and has decreed that all his children who were scattered should be finally gathered together as one” in Christ’s Church (CCC no. 831).

The Catechism (invoking the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium, no. 13) shows that the extensive sense of “catholic” follows directly from the intensive sense of the word. “The character of universality which adorns the People of God is a gift from the Lord himself whereby the Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods, under Christ the Head in the unity of his Spirit” (CCC no. 831). God created all. God sent his Eternal Son, Jesus Christ, for the redemption of all. Therefore, the Church that Christ instituted bears the “all-ness”—the catholicity—of God’s divine wisdom and love.

The meaning of “catholic” bears consequences for the meaning of Catholic theology. Catholic theology is an ecclesial discipline. This discipline—precisely as catholic—subsists within the nature, identity, and mission of Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Catholic theology is absolutely dependent upon the truth of God as Creator and of God as redeemer. And because God’s creative and redemptive works institutionally culminate in the Church, Catholic theology always operates within this ecclesial context. Any theology within Christ’s Church necessarily bears the catholicity of Christ’s Church.

A God-centered universality characterizes Catholic theology. Catholic theology reflects the dual intensive and extensive range of divine providence—which “consists of the dispositions by which God guides all his creatures with wisdom and love to their ultimate end” (CCC no. 321, see also no. 302).

The Meaning of “Theology”

In a way deeply resonant with its presentation of the term “catholic,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains “theology” with contextual reference to divine providence. Thus, the Catechism explains theology (theologia) in relation to the dynamics of the divine economy (oikonomia):

The Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy (oikonomia). “Theology” refers to the mystery of God’s inmost life within the Blessed Trinity and “economy” to all the works by which God reveals himself and communicates his life. Through the oikonomia the theologia is revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the whole oikonomia. God’s works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works. So it is, analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions. (CCC no. 236)

At root, “theology” refers to the reality of God himself (“the mystery of God’s inmost life within the Blessed Trinity”). Who God is, in his intimate depths, is the object of theology.

The Catechism links theology to “all the works by which God reveals himself and communicates his life” to rational creatures. God’s self-manifestation—his revelation of himself—falls within the order and designs of the economic order of divine providence. This order is what God does outside of himself in and for created reality. Theology originates from God and is oriented to God. God discloses himself to us by his works. And his self-disclosure enables us to see the intelligibility of his works themselves.

God tells us who he is. And who he is illumines the things that God does. God’s revelation of himself takes place within the context of divine providence and clarifies the providential order of all things in relation to God.

All of these themes are deeply consonant with the etymology of the word “theology.” “Theology” comes from the Greek word θεολογία (theológia). This Greek word is the conjunction of two other Greek words: Θεός (theós) and λόγος (lógos). Theós means “god” (Kittle and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary, 322). Lógos can be translated as “word,” “discourse,” “account,” or even “reasoning.” “As a mental activity,” lógos “has the basic sense ‘to reckon’ or ‘to explain’” (Kittle and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary, 506). Thus, the word “theology” literally means some type of “word” or discourse about God: “the first meaning of the Greek θεολογία [theológia], which designates a hymn, a glorification of God by the λόγος [lógos], man’s expressed thought” (Bouyer, Eucharist, 5). The Latin language appropriated for itself this Greek word “theologia.”

Theology is discourse about God. Such discourse necessarily presupposes knowledge. Discourse is impossible in the complete absence of knowledge (even in the case of mystical knowledge about God). And the knowledge that theological discourse presupposes resides, first and foremost, within God himself. God would be unable to reveal himself in the economic order of divine providence if he did not understand himself immanently. God can reveal himself because God supremely understands himself.

Additionally, theological discourse also presupposes the fact that God’s knowledge of himself is communicable to rational creatures. In other words, God’s knowledge of himself is not completely secluded within himself. True knowledge about God is not utterly foreign or incomprehensible to human understanding. “Man’s faculties make him capable of coming to a knowledge of the existence of a personal God. But for man to be able to enter into real intimacy with him, God willed both to reveal himself to man and to give him the grace of being able to welcome this revelation in faith” (CCC no. 35). Theology is possible because God has revealed himself. Theologian Avery Dulles, S.J., explains: “Because revelation proceeds from the divine intelligence and is addressed to human intelligence, it calls for reflective assimilation” (Dulles, Craft of Theology, 105). Hence, God’s revelation of himself depends upon (1) God’s actual knowledge of himself, and (2) the human person’s real capacity to participate in God’s knowledge of himself.

Of course, God’s knowledge essentially transcends human categories of understanding (see CCC no. 42). It is not possible for a creature to know God in the same way that God knows himself. God’s knowledge is essentially united to his being. And because his being is infinite, his knowledge is likewise infinite. As creatures, human persons are—by definition—finite. Therefore, human persons cannot receive God’s knowledge in the same way that it exists within the divine being.

Nonetheless, human persons can be conformed to the reality of divine being and knowledge in a way that is properly human. Although human persons cannot know God as God knows himself, they can still—albeit in a creaturely manner—truly know him. Were this real and true knowledge of God impossible, divine revelation would be impossible. And if divine revelation is impossible, then the theological discourse that follows upon the providential reality of divine providence would also be impossible.

Divine revelation is not only possible, however. It is actual. God has revealed himself—really and truly—to human persons (Heb 1:1–2). Thus, the practice of theology is one of the greatest dignities of the human person: to discourse about the reality of God (CCC no. 48).

In sum, theology is discourse about God. And discourse about God requires knowledge. Therefore, theology is intimately connected with knowledge about God.

Different Kinds of Knowledge about God

Theology is discourse about God. Discourse about God follows from knowledge about God. Therefore, different kinds of knowledge about God will result in different kinds of theology.

There are two ways that humans can come to knowledge about God. These two ways of knowing the truth about God are distinguished by two different kinds of intellectual light. Light illumines an object—enabling us to perceive the illumined object. Likewise, the human intellect requires “light” in order to know something.

The first kind of intellectual light is the natural light of reason. The second kind of intellectual light is the supernatural light of faith. The distinction between the light of reason and the light of faith is real. The light of reason and the light of faith are not identical. Nonetheless, the two lights are inherently complementary. The light of reason and the light of faith do not stand in competitive tension within the knowing power of the human person (i.e., the intellect). Both lights, in different orders, enable the human person to know the truth about who God is and what God has done in the economic order of divine providence.

Knowledge of God by the Light of Human Reason: Natural Theology

The Catechism explains that “Our holy mother, the Church, holds and teaches that God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason” (CCC no. 36). The natural light of human reason can arrive at certain knowledge about God. He is the origin and the end of all things. Consequently, he is not completely inaccessible to the native capacity of human knowledge.

Nevertheless, the natural light of human reason cannot approach God directly. In this life, the power of human understanding does not enjoy immediate access to God. God lies beyond the unmediated discovery of human reason. Thus, the natural light of human reason requires intermediate means and steps through which it can arrive at knowledge about God. In other words, the natural knowledge about God is indirect and inferential.

Thus, human reason can arrive at knowledge about God. But human reason can only conclude to knowledge about God through knowledge of things other than God. Human reason is able to know God by way of “the created world.” Because God is the Creator of all that is, all that is points to God. Created reality provides human reason with refracted access to the Creator because created reality is contingent. It does not exist in and of itself. In terms of both its essence and its existence, creation depends upon a creator. Therefore, human knowledge about created reality—something that human knowledge can know directly—points to the reality of the Creator.

The world, and man, attest that they contain within themselves neither their first principle nor their final end, but rather that they participate in Being itself, which alone is without origin or end. Thus, in different ways, man can come to know that there exists a reality which is the first cause and final end of all things, a reality “that everyone calls ‘God’” (CCC no. 34).

The insufficiency of the created order points to the all-sufficiency of the Creator. Romans 1:20 explains: “Ever since the creation of the world [God’s] invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.” Thus, “starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world’s order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe.” (CCC no. 32)

This natural knowledge about God arising from the created order gives rise to the discipline that is called natural theology (see McInerny, Natural Theology; Levering, Proofs of God). Natural knowledge about God, thus, leads to natural theology. Because of natural theology’s exclusive dependence upon the light of human reason, natural theology is a properly philosophical discipline. Specifically, natural theology resides at the heights of the philosophical science of metaphysics (the science of being itself). The natural theological considerations of metaphysics consider things like the proofs for the existence of God, the divine nature itself, and natural knowledge of the divine essence (i.e., God’s simplicity, perfection, goodness, infinity, omnipresence, immutability, eternality, and unity).

Knowledge of God by the Light of Divine Faith: Sacred Theology

Natural knowledge about God is authentic knowledge. Through the light of human reason, human persons can arrive at naturally knowable truths about God. Consequently, natural theology is a legitimate discipline.

Nonetheless, the Catechism observes that “man experiences many difficulties in coming to know God by the light of reason alone.”

Though human reason is, strictly speaking, truly capable by its own natural power and light of attaining to a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God, who watches over and controls the world by his providence, and of the natural law written in our hearts by the Creator; yet there are many obstacles which prevent reason from the effective and fruitful use of this inborn faculty. For the truths that concern the relations between God and man wholly transcend the visible order of things, and, if they are translated into human action and influence it, they call for self-surrender and abnegation. The human mind, in its turn, is hampered in the attaining of such truths, not only by the impact of the senses and the imagination, but also by disordered appetites which are the consequences of original sin. So it happens that men in such matters easily persuade themselves that what they would not like to be true is false or at least doubtful. (CCC no. 37)

Natural theology is not an easy discipline. Because such theology is founded upon the native capacities of the human person and the dynamics of natural knowledge, many obstacles may impede the successful progress of natural theology. These obstacles are among the reasons “why man stands in need of being enlightened by God’s revelation” (CCC no. 38).

Because God is the principle and the end of the human person, human knowledge about God is supremely important. God, in his goodness, has thus ordained to share with the human person, in a direct manner, knowledge about himself. This revealed knowledge is the knowledge of divine revelation. And divine revelation is knowledge that God communicates to the human person and that the human person receives through the light of faith.

Because divine revelation imparts to the human person knowledge about God in a direct manner, “faith is above reason” (CCC no. 159). Nonetheless, “there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth” (CCC no. 159).

Indeed, the light of reason is important for the light of faith. Were the human person unable to know God through the light of reason, the human person would be unable to know God through the light of faith. Divine revelation presupposes the natural capacity of human intelligence. “If revelation were basically incompatible with human rationality, then there would be no point in doing theology as classically understood” (Nichols, Shape of Catholic Theology, 37). The light of human reason is a precondition for the light of faith. Indeed, the natural capacity of human reason is so foundational that “without this capacity, man would not be able to welcome God’s revelation” (CCC no. 36).

Divine faith, thus, elevates, perfects, and transforms human reason. “Just as grace builds on nature and brings it to fulfilment, so faith builds upon and perfects reason” (John Paul II, Fides et ratio no. 43). Faith aids human reason with respect to theological truths accessible to natural human reason and with respect to those theological truths (i.e., the sacred mysteries) that are beyond the native discovery of human reason. “Man stands in need of being enlightened by God’s revelation, not only about those things that exceed his understanding, but also ‘about those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even in the present condition of the human race, they can be known by all men with ease, with firm certainty, and with no admixture of error” (CCC no. 38).

Faith helps reason to fulfill reason’s own capacities. And through faith, reason is given access to sacred truths that reside beyond the native capacities of natural reason.

By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of divine Revelation. Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. (CCC no. 50)

Although God “dwells in unapproachable light,” he “wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created.” Thus, “by revealing himself God wishes to make them capable of responding to him, and of knowing him, and of loving him far beyond their own natural capacity” (CCC no. 52).

The light of faith enables human persons to know God at a higher register and in a more personal way. “One’s faith commits one more deeply than a simple belief. You can believe in a lot of different things; but, strictly speaking, you can have faith only in a person…. Faith in the full sense of the word can have only God as its object” (de Lubac, Splendor of the Church, 33). The light of faith enables human persons to know God in a way reflective of God’s own knowledge of himself. The “supernatural Revelation” accessible under the light of faith is a superior form of human knowledge (CCC no. 53). And this superior knowledge about God engenders a type of theology that far exceeds—both in form and in content—the natural theology of human reason. Divine revelation—received under the light of faith—engenders the science of sacred theology.

Summary: “Catholic Theology” is Sacred Theology

In 1990, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an instruction titled Donum Veritatis (“On the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian”). The instruction explained that “theology has importance for the Church in every age so that it can respond to the plan of God ‘who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Tim 2:4)” (Donum Veritatis no. 1). This explanation of theology’s importance fully coheres with the Catechism’s presentation of the whole of the Christian life (CCC no. 1).

God desires the salvation of all men. And human salvation is nothing other than union with God in truth and love. Therefore, Catholic theology is an ecclesial discipline—a science that unfolds within the Church of Jesus Christ. It is fully “catholic” and “theological.” It is catholic insofar as it participates in the intensive and the extensive universality of Christ’s Church. Catholic theology is a discipline inherently conjoined to the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. There is no part of Catholic theology that is disconnected from God’s revelation of himself in Jesus. Moreover, Catholic theology shares in the purpose of the Incarnation itself: to bring God’s salvation to all people in all times and in all places.

Catholic theology is also properly theological. It is discourse about God that touches on, both, the mystery of God’s own divine life and being (theologia) as well as on those things that God has done and continues to do in the order of divine providence (oikonomia). As discourse about God within the ecclesial community, Catholic theology is intimately connected to knowledge about God: both the knowledge that God has of himself and the knowledge that human persons have about God.

Therefore, Catholic theology is preeminently sacred theology. It follows upon God’s “supernatural revelation.” Catholic theology proceeds from divine revelation under the light of faith. Nonetheless, Catholic theology does not suppress the natural light of reason. Indeed, the light of faith presupposes the light of reason. The natural capacity of human reason for the truth about God—even if indirectly through those things that God has made—is foundational for the human reception of divine revelation.

In sum, Catholic theology is an ecclesial discipline, informed by the light of faith, which utilizes the natural light of human reason. Catholic theology originates from God but resides in the rational capacities of the human person. Consequently, it considers both the supernatural transcendence of God as well as the salvific requirements of human nature.

The God of infinite mystery has created human persons in wisdom and love. He has called human persons to saving union with himself. And Catholic theology is an essential dimension of the human response to God’s supernatural wisdom and goodness.

II. The Light of Faith and Sacred Theology 

As sacred theology, Catholic theology proceeds under the light of faith. The Catechism explains that “faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed” (CCC no. 150, emphasis original). Faith is the virtue by which the human person, in this present life, believes all that God has revealed because God has revealed it. This is why faith is classified as a theological virtue. “What moves us to believe [in faith] is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe ‘because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived’” (CCC no. 156). This motivation behind the assent of faith—this “formal object” of faith—accounts for the essential difference between theological faith and merely human belief. God’s authority is the foundation and the object of faith. The exclusive motivation that leads to theological faith is God himself: First Truth Revealing.

Faith is “personal adherence to God and assent to his truth.” Thus, “Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says” (CCC no. 150). Because God is Truth itself, he cannot deceive. Whatever is received in faith is absolutely certain—faith “is more certain than all human knowledge because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie.” Although “revealed truths can seem obscure to human reason and experience… ‘the certainty that the divine light gives is greater than that which the light of natural reason gives’” (CCC no. 157).

As noted above, the supernatural light of faith exceeds the natural capacities of the human person. Faith is not the product of human ingenuity or effort. Faith is a grace. It is a “gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him” (CCC no. 153). “Abstract reasons for believing in God have never been the source of any man’s faith.” In order to make an act of faith, the human person “must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and ‘makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth’” (CCC no. 153). Faith enables the Christian to see—and to know—all things under a supernatural light. 

The Deposit of Faith and the Articles of Faith

The catholicity of faith arises from the fact that “God ‘desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth’: that is, of Christ Jesus. Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach the ends of the earth” (CCC no. 74). Jesus Christ himself is the fulness of divine revelation. He entrusted his gospel message to the apostles “which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips” (CCC no. 75). And the apostles handed on the gospel entrusted to them orally and in writing (CCC no. 76) to their successors, the bishops (CCC no. 77). “As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, ‘does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence” (CCC no. 82).

The apostles, thus, “entrusted the ‘Sacred deposit’ of the faith (the depositum fidei), contained in Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church” (CCC no. 84). Here again, we see how the Church serves as the context of theological faith. Because the Church is the “pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15), she “faithfully guards ‘the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.’ She guards the memory of Christ’s words; it is she who from generation to generation hands on the apostles’ confession of faith.” With maternal solicitude, the Church “teaches us the language of faith in order to introduce us to the understanding and the life of faith” (CCC no. 171).

“From the beginning, the apostolic Church expressed and handed on her faith in brief formulae to all.” Nonetheless, “the Church also wanted to gather the essential elements of its faith into organic and articulated summaries” (CCC no. 186). These “syntheses” of “symbols” or “professions of faith” are called creeds (from the Latin word, credo, “I believe”). And the creeds contain the articles of faith.

The Catechism explains that “just as in our bodily members there are certain articulations which distinguish and separate them, so too in this profession of faith, the name articles has rightly and justly been given to the truths we must believe particularly and distinctly” (CCC no. 191, emphasis original). The articles of faith, thus, are discrete truths of faith comprised by the sacred deposit of faith. “The faithful must believe the articles of the Creed ‘so that by believing they may obey God, by obeying may live well, by living well may purify their hearts, and with pure hearts may understand what they believe” (CCC no. 2518).

The articles of faith evince the unity and the integrity of the deposit of faith. The deposit of faith is one. Together, the individual articles constitute the whole of God’s revelation, in Jesus Christ, entrusted to the Church by the apostles. Moreover, as the Catechism observes, these articles are ordered to the purifying transformation of the human heart and to the deepened understanding of the faith received.

“Faith Seeking Understanding”

Although faith is a supernatural virtue infused by God, it also results in an authentically human act. “Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act.” Consequently, “trusting in God and cleaving to the truths he has revealed are contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reason” (CCC no. 154).

The powers of human knowing and loving are not suppressed by the influence of divine grace or theological faith. Because of God’s immediate presence to all of created reality, his causal influence on created reality is in no way violent or disruptive. “When the love of our God acts in our behalf, it calls for our cooperation, that is, our faith” (Corbon, Wellspring of Worship, 90). As the first cause and the final end of all things, God works intimately within all that he has created. Thus, “in faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace: ‘Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace’” (CCC no. 155).

Because the human person receives divine revelation, divine revelation is proportioned to human nature. Although faith transcends human reason, faith does not violate human reason. In fact, the Catechism explains that in order “that the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit” (CCC no. 156). These “external proofs” are not, strictly speaking, demonstrations of the supernatural truths revealed by divine revelation. Rather, they are motives of credibility (motiva credibilitatis): “most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all… which show that the assent of faith is ‘by no means a blind impulse of the mind’” (CCC no. 156).

One of the most famous definitions of sacred theology is that given by St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033/4–1109): faith seeking understanding. Because faith is proportioned to human nature—and, subsequently, to human reason—faith is not inimical to the natural-human inclination to understand the truth. Indeed, “it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith and to understand better what He has revealed.” Faith does not neutralize human reason nor does it render human understanding inert. Rather faith elicits a sanctified desire in the human person for “a more penetrating knowledge” and “a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation” (CCC no. 158).

This desire for a vital understanding of divine revelation arises from the real content of faith. The Catechism highlights the fact that faith is not confined to mere words or expressions. “We do not believe in formulas, but in those realities they express, which faith allows us to touch” (CCC no. 170). The theological virtue of faith enables the person of faith to have real and living contact with divine things. “The believer’s act [of faith] does not terminate in the propositions, but in the realities [which they express]” (CCC no. 170). The language, terminology, and propositions of faith, thus, are instruments that enable the Christian assembly to “approach” divine realities and “to express the faith and to hand it on, to celebrate it in community, to assimilate and live on it more and more” (CCC no. 170).

As long as faith remains, so likewise remains the human desire to penetrate ever more profoundly the objects of faith. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, “the understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is able to grow in the life of the Church.” And it is here that the Catechism gestures towards the perennial relevance of theology: “it is in particular ‘theological research [which] deepens knowledge of revealed truth” (CCC no. 94).

III. Sacred Theology: Deepening Human Knowledge of Revealed Truth

“Theology is structured as an understanding of faith in the light of a twofold methodological principle: the auditus fidei and the intellectus fidei. With the first, theology makes its own the content of Revelation as this has been gradually expounded in Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Church's living Magisterium. With the second, theology seeks to respond through speculative enquiry to the specific demands of disciplined thought” (John Paul II, Fides et ratio no. 65). Thus, sacred theology is the sanctified human response to divine revelation received in faith. Specifically, sacred theology is the ongoing quest for a more profound understanding of what God has revealed “for us men and for our salvation.” Sacred theology works from the content of divine revelation, under the form of theological faith, and within the structure of human understanding. Together, each of these elements contribute to the nature of sacred theology.

Yves Congar explained that “the term ‘theology’ means a reasoned account about God.” Theology “may be defined as a body of knowledge which rationally interprets, elaborates and ordains the truths of Revelation” (Congar, History of Theology, 25). The essential function of sacred theology is to provide an accurate and precise account of God’s divine revelation. The finality or purpose of this sacred discipline is conformity with—and the articulation of—the holy teaching of Our Lord. Therefore, sacred theology is the most intricate of all disciplines. The sublimity of divine revelation makes great demands upon the human intellect, which seeks to understand what has been revealed. No other body of knowledge exceeds the dignity of the supernatural truths received in faith. And no other work of acquired contemplation is as exacting as sacred theology.

Theological inquiry of this sort is, paradoxically, the simplest and the most complex of all intellectual activities. Sacred theology is simple insofar as its essential objective is simple: God himself. It is complex because the process of human knowledge is not simple. Indeed, human cognition is a process that comprises many parts and requires many steps. “The Catholic tradition affirms that, from the point of view of the divine reality believed, the truths of faith remain simple and one, but from the point of view of the believer’s act, the divine realities are given human shape in knowledge and affirmation. The propositions of faith adapt divine truth to the limitations of our intellects” (Cessario, Christian Faith, 75). Therefore, the contemplation of sacred theology is wondrously “stretched” between the two poles of simplicity and complexity. The simplicity of God and the complexity of the human person both inform the work of theology. And faithful practitioners of sacred theology are never chagrinned before the simultaneous sublimity and contingency of their discipline.

Only in the beatific vision will the human intellect be able to contemplate God directly. Nonetheless, “faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God ‘face to face,’ ‘as he is.’ So faith is already the beginning of eternal life.” And because theology is a human response to faith, theology is effectively a systematic attempt to anticipate—as much as is humanly possible—the glories of seeing God as he is. Hence, “when we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy” (CCC no. 163).

Because of his infinite mercy and goodness, God has freely chosen to reveal his knowledge of himself—what he knows about himself, for he knows himself perfectly. This is divine revelation. The beatific vision is when rational creatures see God as he is in himself, face to face, in the heavenly homeland. Sacred theology is the activity of wayfarers here on earth who (1) have received God’s revelation in faith, (2) yearn for the beatific vision, and (3) refuse to wait until heaven before beginning to contemplate the divine mysteries.

Sacred theology, thus, is a kind of sanctified impatience. And theologians are those who have resolved to begin the contemplation of divine truth here and now.

All of these elements help to explain why sacred theology is so intricate. All Christian believers receive divine revelation in faith. But those Christian believers who devote themselves to faith seeking understanding utilize all available resources in this ambitious task. They enlist all intellectual tools for the task of theological contemplation. Nothing is capricious within the exercise of sacred theology. Because sacred theology proceeds under the light of faith, all aspects of this sacred discipline are precisely configured to God.

“The primary task of Christian theology is to clarify how the God we believe in is to be understood” (Sokolowski, God of Faith and Reason, 1). Because the understanding of faith is a task that stretches human cognition to its created limits, sacred theology is the most stringent of all disciplines and is the most precise of all sciences.

Sacred Theology as a Science

Sacred theology is a true science—a “sacred science” (CCC no. 906). Science (or scientia, in Latin) is a specific type of knowledge. It falls within the category of intellectual knowledge (as distinct from sense knowledge).

The scientific nature of sacred theology originates from the understanding-orientation of the human intellect as adhering to the articles of faith. As noted above, faith does not suppress reason’s inclination to understand. Rather, faith invites rational inquiry. Thus, theological science is the methodic and deliberate process by which the human intellect pursues the intelligibility of what is known by faith. This methodic and deliberate process conforms both to the nature and content of divine revelation as well as to the shape and limitations of human nature. Otherwise expressed, theological science reflects the supernatural sublimity of faith and the natural requirements of the human person.

There are two types of intellectual knowledge: mediate and immediate. Because scientific knowledge is the result of the discursive process of demonstration, sacred theology is a mediate intellectual knowledge: it operates through the medium of demonstration. In sum, scientia is mediate intellectual knowledge characterized by truth and certitude because science is acquired through the medium of previous knowledge of first principles or causes.

First principles are the absolute foundation of any science. They are the starting points— “first truths”—of scientific reasoning. Indeed, a science without principles is impossible. No science proves or demonstrates its proper first principles. Thus, sacred theology does not demonstrate its first principles—the articles of faith. These first principles are divinely revealed by God and they are received by the human person (the “theologian”) in faith. It is in light of the articles of faith that sacred theology discursively advances to truths virtually contained within the first principles. Through the articles of faith (“mediately”), the science of sacred theology is able to acquire further truths (i.e., conclusions) virtually contained within these first principles of faith.

Sacred theology is thus the science of faith. Faith provides the objectivity of this sacred science. The formal object of sacred theology is divine revelation. Knowledge as divinely revealed is the aspect under which all scientific considerations proceed in theological science. Moreover, this aspect unifies all considerations within sacred theology.

The subject of a science is that about which the scientist seeks to learn. The proper subject of theological science is divine being (ens divinum) as knowable through divine revelation. Consequently, God himself is the principal subject of sacred theology. God is the primary referent in all theological science.

Nonetheless, all things can also be considered in the science of sacred theology—even if they are not God himself. These other things fall within the scientific domain of sacred theology in reference to God (sub ratione Dei) as originating from God or as ordered to God. This universal range of “secondary subjects” within sacred theology is unique among all of the sciences (e.g., natural philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology). “It is only because reason is illumined by faith, which itself is of God, that sacred theology can have such an extensive scope: all of being, created and uncreated, comes under its consideration” (Wallace, Role of Demonstration, 38).

Although sacred theology proceeds under the formal influence of divine light, it remains a science limited to the human manner of knowing. Human knowledge advances in a step-by-step, discursive, or demonstrative process; theological science reflects this human manner of knowing.

All authentic sciences (scientiae) enjoy certitude in their conclusions. Nonetheless, the conclusions of sacred theology enjoy the highest degree of certitude. Why? Because the certitude of theological conclusions depends upon—and is “resolvable” back into—the certitude of the divinely revealed principles of faith. In other words, all valid conclusions drawn within sacred theology bear the characteristics of the principles from which these conclusions proceed. And because the articles of faith are absolutely certain—since they originate from God—conclusions drawn from the articles of faith participate in the certitude of these articles.

Although there is a true coherence between the certitude of the articles of faith and the certitude of theological conclusions, there is still a difference between these two types of certitude. The certitude of the articles of faith is immediate certitude. In contrast, the certitude of theological conclusions is a mediate or scientific certitude that originates from the human intellect’s ability to see connection between two truths and to draw out a new truth from them.

Hence, although the certitude of theological science participates in the supernatural certitude of faith, they are still distinct kinds of certitude. The certitude of theological science depends on the discursive process of the theologian. Thus, it is a certitude based upon human reason and not only upon the light of faith. The certitude of theological conclusions is thus derived from the light of human reason.

This distinction between the certitude of faith and the certitude of theological science does not mean that the conclusions of theological science are invalid or false. Rather, this distinction of certitude precisely maintains the distinction between the light of faith and the light of reason.

Sacred Theology as a Wisdom

Sacred theology is truly scientific insofar as human intelligence—with all of its limitations—can actually pursue a deepened understanding divinely revealed truth. Divine revelation is not the material of opinion, nor is it conjectural. Because divine revelation originates from the very science of God (the scientia Dei), it is truth of the utmost certitude and intelligibility. Moreover, sacred theology receives validation from the fact that the saints in heaven actually see God as he is in himself and participate in God’s divine science. Although the saints in heaven exist in a glorified state, they remain truly human—with all of the essential limitations and restrictions of human nature. Thus, the saints are living proof that human persons can share in the knowledge of God. Human contingency is not an absolute impediment to divine contemplation. And sacred theology as scientific is human response of those here on earth who contemplate the divine mysteries “in expectation of the blessed vision of God—the consummation of faith” (CCC no. 1274). The saints in heaven thus are living demonstrations that sacred theology is not a futile endeavor.

Lest one conclude, however, that sacred theology is exclusively characterized by the limitations of human creatureliness, the saints also testify to another dimension of sacred theology: wisdom. Just as science emphasizes the fact that created rationality can plumb the depths of divine truth through inference, so wisdom emphasizes the fact that God has invited rational creatures to share in the highest of divine mysteries.

Divine revelation reflects the wisdom of God. “It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature” (CCC no. 51). The saints show that the heights of divinity are not inaccessible to human persons—because of God’s largesse. “Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory ‘the beatific vision’” (CCC 1028).

The saints in heaven contemplate God and all things in relation to God. They see God’s being and, consequently, his absolute priority over and above all other beings. Thus, the heavenly activity of the saints signals to Christian believers that the sublimity of God is the ultimate starting point for all contemplation and reflection. Admittedly, the saints in glory know the heights of divinity with an intimacy that far exceeds even the most faith-filled of Christians. Nonetheless, the intimate immediacy of the saints manifests how all friends of God should live and contemplate: in reference to the highest things and, ultimately, to God, the absolutely highest being.

Sacred theology is shaped by the heights of wisdom. Because theological science receives its first principles from God—the highest being, and the one who enjoys absolute priority over all that—theological science is radically committed to the sublimity and the priority of its first principles. Subsequently, sacred theology is not only inclined towards conclusions drawn from the first principles of faith. Rather, sacred theology is supremely configured around the sublime priority of its first principles precisely as principles. Because the work of sacred theology always implies an ever-deepening appreciation of its divinely revealed first principles, sacred theology is, radically, a wisdom.

Sacred theology is, thus, most attuned to penetrate into the formality and meaning of its first principles. This penetrative task implies the ordering of clarifications about the articles of faith found in Scripture, Tradition, and the teaching of the Magisterium. The wise order that sacred theology seeks in this context arises from its task of attaining greater, contemplative precision about what has been divinely revealed.

The task of wisdom also resides in the recognition of the analogy of faith. “By ‘analogy of faith’ we mean the coherence of truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of revelation” (CCC no. 114). The Incarnation of the Eternal Word and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist are both mysteries of faith. They are both divinely revealed articles of faith. As a science, sacred theology can identify a myriad of truths virtually contained in these sacred mysteries. As a wisdom, however, sacred theology also identifies the profound resonance between these sacred mysteries. Indeed, sapientially, sacred theology recognizes that greater clarity about one mystery of faith clarifies another mystery. For example, greater understanding of the Incarnation results in a deeper comprehension of the Blessed Sacrament (and vice versa).

In the final analysis, God is the highest mystery of faith. Thus, the highest expression of wisdom is, thus, contemplating (“resolving”) all principles in reference to God. The sapiential centrality of God is the consummate truth of all of reality. “God’s truth is his wisdom, which commands the whole created order and governs the world. God, who alone made heaven and earth, can alone impart true knowledge of every created thing in relation to himself” (CCC no. 216). And because the God of wisdom has revealed his wisdom to his creatures, his creatures can participate in his wisdom by likewise considering all things in relation to God.

“Because God creates through wisdom, his creation is ordered” (CCC no. 299). Indeed, his creation is ordered to him. Thus, the wonders of God and the universe that God has created prompt “us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers. With Solomon they can say: ‘It is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements. . . for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me’” (CCC no. 283).

Sacred theology originates from the wisdom of God, and as a wisdom, sacred theology never loses its preoccupation with the articles of faith. In wisdom God created. In wisdom God reveals. And because of wisdom sacred theology never ceases to contemplate all that God created in reference to divine revelation.

IV. Specifics in Sacred Theology

Because sacred theology is defined as “faith seeking understanding,” the character of faith and the structure of understanding, both, inform theological contemplation. As noted above, sacred theology straddles the simplicity of God and the unity of divine revelation, on the one hand, and the complexity of human cognition on the other. This dual simplicity-complexity helps to explain why there are different kinds of Catholic theology. Different “schools” of Christian thought punctuate the history of theology. There is one Christian faith, yet there can be different Christian theologies.

Although these different theologies have noteworthy and significant doctrinal divergences, they share a fundamental unity. All authentic expressions of Christian theology share the faith in common. They all receive and adhere to divine revelation. No Catholic theologian or theological school denies any of the articles of faith. Indeed, they all recognize that divine revelation is the necessary starting point for their theological reflection.

The acceptance of divine revelation is absolutely necessary for Catholic theology. Without this formal adherence to divine revelation, Catholic theology would no longer be “Catholic.” Catholic theologies are specifically Catholic because of their faithful commitment to divine revelation, which includes as a necessary condition its proposal by the Church.

Therefore, the divergences that distinguish different schools or expressions of Catholic theology do not reside in the order of faith. Rather, these differences emerge from the order of reason and understanding. All Catholic theologians sincerely seek to understand the faith. But not all Catholic theologians understand the faith in the same way. There are different interpretations and conclusions about what God has divinely revealed.

What accounts for these differences in faith-understanding? Ultimately, different philosophical convictions account for the divergences between Catholic theologians and between different theological schools. Such philosophical convictions are presuppositions about being and reality that theologians unavoidably bring to their work of faith seeking understanding. How one conceives of being—one of the great philosophical topics—will necessarily shape how one understands divine revelation. Why? Divine revelation is replete with statements about divine and divinized being. In other words, how one conceives of natural being will necessarily affect how one understands divine being. Additionally, how one conceives of human nature will affect how one understands human nature as transformed by grace. “It is impossible to carry through the project of systematic theology without explicit commitment to particular philosophical options” (Dulles, Craft of Theology, 119).

Because theology is faith seeking understanding, the content of philosophical understanding will shape the theological understanding of faith. As Joseph Ratzinger observes: “theological speculation is linked to philosophical inquiry as its basic methodology.” Indeed, “if theology has to do primarily with God, if its ultimate and proper theme is not salvation history or Church or community but simply God, then it must think in philosophical terms” (Ratzinger, Principles of Catholic Theology, 316). Ratzinger continues:

On the other hand, it cannot be denied that philosophy precedes theology and, even after revelation has taken place, is never subsumed by theology but continues to be an independent path of the human spirit, in such a way, however, that philosophical speculation can enter into theological speculation without thereby being destroyed as philosophy. (Ratzinger, Principles of Catholic Theology, 316)

Philosophical presuppositions are directly relevant to theological conclusions about divine revelation, even though philosophical presuppositions remain properly philosophical and presuppositions. Theology and philosophy are two distinct disciplines. Theology is defined by its supernatural first principles, philosophy by its natural first principles.

Of course, “the Church has no philosophy of her own nor does she canonize any one particular philosophy in preference to others” (John Paul II, Fides et ratio no. 49). The Church does not prescribe or proscribe any specific philosophies as philosophies. Philosophy arises from the natural human inclination to know the truth about reality under the light of natural reason. The Church has been entrusted with the deposit of faith. She does not exercise governance over the natural reasoning of philosophers, precisely as philosophers. Nonetheless, the Church recognizes that “the study of philosophy is fundamental and indispensable to the structure of theological studies” (John Paul II, Fides et ratio no. 62). Thus, John Paul II explains:

It is the task of the Magisterium in the first place to indicate which philosophical presuppositions and conclusions are incompatible with revealed truth, thus articulating the demands which faith’s point of view makes of philosophy. Moreover, as philosophical learning has developed, different schools of thought have emerged. This pluralism also imposes upon the Magisterium the responsibility of expressing a judgement as to whether or not the basic tenets of these different schools are compatible with the demands of the word of God and theological enquiry. (John Paul II, Fides et ratio no. 50)

Although direct governance over philosophical speculation does not fall to the Church, she does recognize when specific philosophical principles and particular conclusions are inimical to divine revelation. For example, the Church does not regulate whether theologians must maintain the real distinction between philosophical principles like essence and existence or potency and act. Theologians can adhere to different conceptions of real being. But the Church does recognize that any philosophical systems that formally deny the existence of being or truth are fundamentally irreconcilable with the Christian faith. Consequently, she can legitimately object to philosophical principles from the vantage point of divine revelation—the light of faith. Some philosophical positions cannot be reconciled with the truths of faith. Thus, “for purposes of theological reflection, not all philosophical systems are equally valid” (Dulles, Craft of Theology, 132).

In sum, the Church does not directly resolve properly philosophical questions or make determinations about formally philosophical issues. Yet she can address philosophical issues indirectly—insofar as philosophical matters are relevant to matters of faith. Because of the Church’s jurisdiction in matters of faith, then, she is interested in the domain of reason. For example, the nature of the rational soul falls within the domain of philosophical inquiry. Consequently, the Church does not mandate that Christians endorse a specific philosophical account of the soul (e.g., an Aristotelian or a Platonic conception of the soul). Nonetheless, were a philosophy to argue that the soul is not immortal, such a philosophical position would be clearly irreconcilable with the faith and, thus, false.

The Church, thus, does not discriminate against different philosophies precisely as philosophies. Her concern is only the compatibility of different philosophical schools “with the demands of the word of God and theological enquiry” (John Paul II, Fides et ratio no. 50). This very specific type of ecclesial concern, however, does not mean that all philosophies are equally correct or that there is no such thing as philosophical truth. Philosophical claims that are mutually contradictory cannot both be true (e.g., form and matter are either really distinct or they are not really distinct). It is possible to know certain truths by the light of natural reason. And precisely because all truth is ultimately God’s truth, the Church has consistently encouraged philosophers in their ongoing search for naturally knowable truth.

There have been many influential Catholic theologians from different philosophical convictions (e.g., Augustine, Maximus, Bonaventure, Scotus, Molina, Suarez). The Church has consistently recognized Thomas Aquinas as the progenitor of a uniquely effective intellectual tradition (see Leo XIII, Aeterni Patris). Indeed, even in the twentieth century, theologians have observed that Vatican II “recommend[ed] that theology be based on the perennially valid philosophical heritage that comes down through Thomas Aquinas.” Obviously, “this does not mean a rigid or servile adherence to scholasticism, but it does involve a serene confidence that the basic principles used for theological reasoning over the centuries have not lost their validity” (Dulles, Craft of Theology, 127).

Of course, Thomism is not the only valid intellectual tradition. Again, the intellectual traditions that came from Augustine, Scotus, and Molina—to name only a few—have been formidable and significant in the history of the Church. Nonetheless, “the Church has been justified in consistently proposing Saint Thomas as a master of thought and a model of the right way to do theology,” (John Paul II, Fides et ratio no. 43).

Theological Subdisciplines

“Sound theologies may take their departure from different philosophical perspectives but they must in the end converge toward a harmonious articulation of the meaning of revelation” (Dulles, Craft of Theology, 132). Catholic theologies can diverge in doctrinal positions, but they all share the same fundamental formality and orientation: to articulate the meaning of divine revelation. This goal unifies the practice of sacred theology.

Within this unified goal, there can be different theological specializations. These specializations are often called different “kinds” of Catholic theology. These differences, however, are accidental rather than substantial in nature. They are differences in emphasis (or, perhaps, method) rather than differences in disciplinary form. Theological sub-disciplines all fall under the unifying principles of this sacred science and wisdom.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that “the Christian faith is not a ‘religion of the book.’ Christianity is the religion of the ‘Word’ of God, a word which is ‘not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living” (CCC no. 108). Therefore, Catholic theology is not exclusively biblical exegesis. Sacred Scripture is a privileged source of divine revelation, but it is not the exclusive channel of God’s holy teaching. “As authoritative loci, Scripture and Tradition together constitute a created norm whereby the Church discerns what God has revealed. In the final analysis, of course, God alone is the intrinsic motive or formal object of faith. Scripture and Tradition are the channel through which God’s authority manifests itself” (Dulles, Assurance of Things, 189). Scripture and Tradition are inseparable. “‘Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.’ ‘And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit” (CCC no. 81). The Catechism continues: “As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, ‘does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence’” (CCC no. 82).

Following the Church’s example, Catholic theology relies upon both Scripture and Tradition because the deposit of faith is contained in both (CCC no. 84). The Second Vatican Council explains how Scripture and Tradition inform the work of sacred theology:

Sacred theology rests on the written word of God, together with sacred tradition, as its primary and perpetual foundation. By scrutinizing in the light of faith all truth stored up in the mystery of Christ, theology is most powerfully strengthened and constantly rejuvenated by that word. For the Sacred Scriptures contain the word of God and since they are inspired, really are the word of God; and so the study of the sacred page is, as it were, the soul of sacred theology. (Dei verbum no. 24)

Throughout history, thus, theologians have devoted particular attention to the study of the sacred page and to the theological sources of the Church’s tradition. “This is ‘positive theology,’ in the sense that it seeks to locate those truths ‘posited’ in revelation and formulated by the Church…. This is theology as gathering evidence for determining what really has been revealed” (Mansini, Fundamental Theology, 262). Thus, positive theology concerns the study of the Bible, Church dogmas, and the Church Fathers. Biblical scholarship, the history of dogma, and Patristics fall under the domain of positive theology.

Relevant to positive theology are the ten theological “places” or authoritative sources (loci theologici) identified by Melchior Cano (1509–1560): (1) The authority of Sacred Scripture, (2) the authority of the traditions of Christ and of the Apostles, (3) the authority of the Church, (4) the authority of the Councils, (5) the authority of the Roman Church, (6) the authority of the ancient Fathers, (7) the authority of scholastic theologians, (8) natural reason, (9) the authority of philosophers, and (10) the authority of human history. “These are the forces which the theologian can utilize in forming conclusions which are seen as perfectly certain in the light of virtual or mediate revelation” (Fenton, What is Sacred Theology?, 91–92). Because theological science uniquely relies upon authority for its argumentation and analysis, each of these ten loci are arranged into different degrees and types of authority that shape theological discourse. Moreover, positive theology seeks to identify in a systematic way the criteria by which the data belonging to each of these particular sources can be established and interpreted.

“The concern of fundamental theology” is “to justify and expound the relationship between faith and philosophical thought” (John Paul II, Fides et ratio no. 67). Like positive theology, fundamental theology considers divine revelation. The difference between the two disciplines is that positive theology considers divine revelation in its material expressions while fundamental theology considers divine revelation in its formal elements. Studying “revelation and its credibility, as well as the corresponding act of faith,” fundamental theology strives to “demonstrate the profound compatibility that exists between faith and its need to find expression by way of human reason” (John Paul II, Fides et ratio no. 67).

Dogmatic theology works “to articulate the universal meaning of the mystery of the One and Triune God and of the economy of salvation, both as a narrative and, above all, in the form of argument” (John Paul II, Fides et ratio no. 66). Dogmatic theology (sometimes referred to as “systematic” theology) pursues the order between and the interconnectedness of revealed truths. The “integral parts” of dogmatic theology would include topics like the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the sacraments, and matters related to theological anthropology (Mansini, Fundamental Theology, 262).

Moral theology is a science that examines the human journey to God. It is “a reflection concerned with ‘morality,’ with the good and the evil of human acts and of the person who performs them…. But it is also ‘theology,’ inasmuch as it acknowledges that the origin and end of moral action are found in the one who alone is good’ and who, by giving himself to man in Christ, offers him the happiness of divine life” (Fides et ratio no. 68). Topics considered within moral theology include supernatural beatitude, human action, virtue, vice, sin, law, and grace.

Within moral theology, one can also situate ascetical and mystical theology. Ascetical theology concerns especially the practice of the virtues and the renunciation of vices and imperfections. Mystical theology generally treats infused (rather than acquired) contemplation of the mysteries of faith and extraordinary graces (e.g., visions and private revelations). Like moral theology, ascetical and mystical theology take account of the universal principles of the Christian life (e.g., grace, infused virtue, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit). Ascetical and mystical theology, however, also take into account the fact that the Holy Spirit can communicate extraordinary graces to certain souls that do not conform to ordinary Christian experience (e.g., the lives and writings of St. Catherine of Siena, St. Theresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross).

Additionally, John Paul II explains that pastoral theology (or “practical theology”) is a “true and genuine theological discipline.” Specifically, “it is a scientific reflection on the Church as she is built up daily, by the power of the Spirit, in history; on the Church as the ‘universal sacrament of salvation,’ as a living sign and instrument of the salvation wrought by Christ through the word, the sacraments and the service of charity” (John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis no. 57). John Paul II emphasizes the fact that “pastoral theology is not just an art. Nor is it a set of exhortations, experiences and methods.” As authentic theological science, “it receives from the faith the principles and criteria for the pastoral action of the Church in history.” Consequently, “the study of pastoral theology should throw light upon its practical application” (John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis no. 57). The implications of divine revelation, for the Church, and for Christian life, are of central focus in pastoral theology.

V. The Implications of Sacred Theology

Sacred theology, as a science and a wisdom, is not disconnected from real life. As noted above, the opening paragraph of the Catechism of the Catholic Church beautifully highlights the profound integration of Christian doctrine and the Christian life. Later on, the Catechism explicitly invokes the importance of theologians in the Church’s practical instruction: “In the work of teaching and applying Christian morality, the Church needs the dedication of pastors, the knowledge of theologians, and the contribution of all Christians and men of good will” (CCC no. 2038).

Christian living is not an isolated activity. All people are invited to become disciples of Christ and to follow in the footsteps of the Savior. Nonetheless, no one can be a disciple of the Lord without supernatural assistance and wise spiritual counsel. And sacred theology enables believers to understand how the Church provides both of these.

Sacramental Implications

“The seven sacraments are the signs and instruments by which the Holy Spirit spreads the grace of Christ the head throughout the Church which is his Body” (CCC no. 774). More than mere symbols of faith, the sacraments truly sanctify the human person. They cause real change in their recipients. Through the celebration of the sacraments, human persons really meet God, and God really changes human persons (Feingold, Touched by Christ; O’Neill, Meeting Christ). Because the subject of theology is God—and all things in relation to God—the sacraments have a central place in this sacred science (see Cessario, Seven Sacraments, 7–15).

“Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify. They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work” (CCC no. 1127, emphasis original). The chief effect of the sacraments is grace (Nutt, General Principles), and both grace and the sacraments presuppose a human recipient. Thus, grace and the sacraments revovle around the nature of the human person and the nature of God. Indeed, grace enables the human person exist and to live in a way proportioned to divinity. Through grace, human persons really participate in divine life. “Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life” (CCC no. 1996, emphasis original).

A sound and faithful approach to sacred theology will affect how one understands God's role in shaping the Christian believer. Theological misconceptions about God, about the human person, and about the human person in relation to God will result in an inaccurate understanding—and an underappreciation—of the sacraments. Only sound theology will explain why the sacraments are necessary. Additionally, only sound theology will enable Christians to understand how the sacraments work. Finally, sound theology alone can account for what the seven sacraments do.

Because sacred theology seeks the intelligibility of divine revelation, the theologian is able to appreciate the necessity of the seven sacraments. Jesus Christ instituted the sacraments for a reason: human salvation. And human salvation is nothing short of the human person’s real union with God in beatific fellowship. Therefore, sacramental theology depends upon what has been revealed concerning God’s nature, human nature, and Jesus Christ—the Incarnate Word who assumed a human nature for us men and for our salvation. An inaccurate understanding of God, human nature, and Jesus Christ facilitate inaccurate conceptions about the origin of the sacraments. Under the influence of these inaccurate understandings of the economy of salvation, the sacraments could be erroneously regarded as capriciously instituted. A sound understanding of divine revelation, however, will reveal how profoundly suited the sacraments are for the salvific needs of the human person.  

The mechanics of the sacraments also fall within the consideration of sacred theology. Causality is a profoundly important concept for the sacraments. Indeed, the very fact that the sacraments require sensible and material elements—elements from the created order of things, like water and wine—invites theological reflection. An understanding of divine revelation about the sacraments enables one to appreciate how natural and ordinary elements can become sacred instruments that truly cause grace in the worthy recipients of the sacraments. A theological appreciation of creation’s relation to God—and of God’s authority and power over all creation—is indispensable for understanding sacramental causality.

Finally, sound theology enables one to understand the specific effects of each of the seven sacraments. The nature of grace and sacramental character are theological topics that have profound sacramental implications. For example, the fact that sacramental character is a permanent change in the soul, and the fact that only three of the sacraments confer a sacramental character, helps believers to understand why some of the sacraments can only be received once while other sacraments are to be received many times. Moreover, sacramental character explains why there is an order among the sacraments—i.e., one cannot receive the sacrament of Confirmation before receiving the sacrament of Baptism., et al.

Theology thus enables Christian believers to understand the necessity and significance of the sacraments in the Christian life. A profound appreciation for the sacraments necessarily depends upon sound theological understanding.   

Pastoral and Spiritual Implications

Theology seeks to understand how God works within the native capacities and powers of human persons. God does not destroy their natural capacities. Human nature remains truly human even when elevated to the order and activity of grace. Consequently, Catholic theology recognizes the fact that God does not overpower human persons or their native capacities. “God’s free initiative demands man’s free response, for God has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the power to know him and love him.” Because the contingencies of human nature render human love inherently free, “the soul only enters freely into the communion of love.” Hence, “God immediately touches and directly moves the heart of man” (CCC no. 2002).

The human person, therefore, really participates in the reality of God’s knowledge and love. “Man’s vocation is to make God manifest by acting in conformity with his creation ‘in the image and likeness of God’” (CCC no. 2085). And theological understanding recognizes that the moral and spiritual life are not reducible to the observance of arbitrary laws and customs. “The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it” (CCC no. 1999). Christian morality is not an oppressive. Quite the contrary. It is a transformative invitation—and invitation to know, to love, and to desire in a manner conformed to God’s knowledge and love. Divine grace and Christian virtue liberate the human person.

Sound theology, thus, is essential to all who offer pastoral counsel for those seeking to live the Christian life. It is impossible to outline the liberating reality of the Christian life or to implement authentic pastoral counsel without an adequate understanding of who God is and how he elevates and perfects the human person. In other words, practical implications follow from speculative understanding.

Speculative understanding is not hypothetical or disconnected from the way things are. Rather, it is profoundly attuned to the dynamics of reality. Knowledge of the truth for the sake of truth is the essence of speculative knowledge, and speculative knowledge is the foundation for any practical knowledge. Practical knowledge presupposes speculative knowledge but adds a further dimension: operation. The end of speculative knowledge is knowing the truth. The end of practical knowledge is truth as applied to action.  

Thus, the knowledge of who God is and who the human person is are intrinsically relevant to the dynamics of the spiritual life and pastoral ministry. Effective ministry necessarily presupposes accurate theological understanding. Ministry cannot be divorced from the truth about God or the human person because the human person’s union with God is precisely the goal of pastoral ministry. Theological precision and clarity, therefore, always have practical implications.

Additionally, pastoral counsel rests on God’s perfect immutability. His goodness, His truth, His wisdom, and His love never cease. Nonetheless, human persons are subject to change. Therefore, sound Catholic theology affords the Church’s pastors profound ministerial hope. In this life, there is no sin or disorder that disqualifies anyone from friendship with God. Harkening back to the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, God Himself has provided the means through which human persons can undergo transformation in God’s mercy and love. This transformation does not deny or ignore the fact that human persons can live disordered lives—lives not oriented to beatific union with God. Nonetheless, God’s essential truth and goodness are more real than human disorder and brokenness. Sound theology enables ministers to remember that human persons can always come to know the real and true God in a way that truly saves.

Erroneous or insufficient theological understanding inhibits pastoral ministry. In the absence of sound theology, pastoral efforts can be conceived of in either rationalistic or fideistic ways. Both of these conceptions are inimical to holistic pastoral ministry because they either deny God’s supernatural role in human salvation (i.e., rationalism), or they downplay the importance of the human person as a real recipient of God’s grace (i.e., fideism).

Sound theology enables the pastor to articulate profound truths to those whom he ministers. This is why seminary formation emphasizes theological instruction. No one can exhort in the Christian life without an understanding of what exactly the Christian life means.

VI. Conclusion: Francis, Benedict, and John Paul II on Catholic Theology

On the one hand, a respectful study of the genuine scientific quality of the individual disciplines of theology will help provide a more complete and deeper training of the pastor of souls as a teacher of faith; and, on the other hand, an appropriate awareness that there is a pastoral goal in view will help the serious and scientific study of theology be more formative for future priests. (John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis no. 55)

The three most recent popes have all spoken, in various contexts, about the nature and the importance of theology within the Catholic Church. There is fundamental continuity in their respective presentations of Catholic theology . 

St. John Paul II was a brilliant philosopher specializing in the dynamics of the human person. Benedict XVI was one of the most significant theologians of the twentieth century and did much to clarify and continue the renewal initiated at the Second Vatican Council. And Pope Francis’s papacy is profoundly characterized by the pastoral solicitude of a shepherd most devoted to his flock. God has blessed his Church with vivid examples of philosophical inquiry, theological contemplation, and pastoral zeal—all equally at the service of the People of God.

The complementarity of these three popes extends even to their teachings about the nature of sacred theology. Indeed, their descriptions about theology’s nature and importance provide a cohesive account of this sacred discipline—an account that remains relevant for theologians in the twenty-first century.

Pope Francis on Theology and the Desire of Faith

In his 2013 papal encyclical, Lumen fidei, Pope Francis provided an overview of the relationship between faith and theology. “Since faith is a light, it draws us to itself, inviting us to explore ever more fully the horizon which it illumines, all the better to know the object of our love” (Francis, Lumen fidei, no. 36). The desire of love lies at the center of the Holy Father’s presentation of sacred theology. He reminded the world that “Christian theology is born of this desire.” Thus, the theology of the Christian Church is a discipline that arises from the profound human longing to know God, the object of our love.

God, the human person, and the human person’s orientation to God in faith thus serve as the foundation for theology. Theology is the properly human desire to know ever more fully the God whom we love and who first loved us and who has revealed his love to us.

Of course, the supreme manifestation of God’s love for humanity is Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word. Our Incarnate Lord himself accounts for the existence of theology as well as for theology’s sublime task. “Theology is impossible without faith; it is part of the very process of faith, which seeks an ever deeper understanding of God’s self-disclosure culminating in Christ” (Francis, Lumen fidei, no. 36). Through the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, God has shown us that “he is a subject who makes himself known and perceived in an interpersonal relationship.” Consequently, “right faith orients reason to open itself to the light which comes from God, so that reason, guided by love of the truth, can come to a deeper knowledge of God” (Francis, Lumen fidei, no. 36).

Sacred theology, thus, is “a science of faith”—“a participation in God’s own knowledge of himself.” The scientific character of sacred theology is anything but insipid or impersonal. Theology “is not just our discourse about God, but first and foremost the acceptance and the pursuit of a deeper understanding of the word which God speaks to us, the word which God speaks about himself, for he is an eternal dialogue of communion, and he allows us to enter into this dialogue” (Francis, Lumen fidei, no. 36).

Through the striking image of “touch,” Pope Francis accentuates the essentially humble character of sacred theology. Sacred theology is a science that originates from a source beyond the plane of natural human discovery. Moreover, it is a science oriented to nothing less than the God who lies beyond human comprehension. “Theology thus demands the humility to be ‘touched’ by God, admitting its own limitations before the mystery, while striving to investigate, with the discipline proper to reason, the inexhaustible riches of this mystery” (Francis, Lumen fidei, no. 36).

Consequently, theology is an ecclesial science. Because God has revealed himself through the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, and Jesus Christ has entrusted his holy teaching to the Catholic Church, “theology also shares in the ecclesial form of faith” (Francis, Lumen fidei, no. 36). A Church-less sacred theology is inconceivable. The Catholic Church is the ever-fertile soil in which sacred theology continues to grow and thrive. And all who reside within the Church—“ordinary believers” as well as the “magisterium of the Pope and the bishops”—are participants in the purpose and work of sacred theology.

Through these words, Pope Francis reaffirms the consistent convictions of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger). Ratzinger was one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century, and his reflections on the nature of sacred theology remain relevant to the contemporary moment.

Ratzinger on Theology and Theologians

In 1992 Ratzinger observed that “theology and theologians have become a common and at the same time controversial topic of discussion in the Church, indeed, in Western society in general” (Ratzinger, Nature and Mission, 7). The mid-twentieth century interest in theology and theologians was a phenomenon that was difficult to ignore. Indeed, a few decades earlier, one writer observed that “theology, to the delight of some and to the consternation of others, is ‘in.’ Liberated from stuffy classrooms and stuffier journals, it speaks no longer to an elite, but to the millions—and millions listen” (Granfield, “Introduction,” vii). At that time, theologians were various visible members of the public sphere. Indeed, “articles on theology appear in Look, Atlantic Monthly, and The Saturday Evening Post; and the newspapers of the world recount for four years the daily events of the Second Vatican Council… Books on theology are best sellers” (Granfield, “Introduction,” vii).

Admittedly, things have changed since the previous century. Today’s theologians do not habitually receive the same degree of attention. Nonetheless, it is undeniable that theology and theologians remain important members of the Church and society (see Cuddy, “Disappearance of Public Theology”).

Why is theology relevant to the Church and society in the contemporary world? With characteristic insight, Ratzinger identified some of the contributions that theologians are expected to make in society. “On the one hand, [the theologian] is supposed to subject the traditions of Christianity to critical examination by the light of reason, to distill from them the essential core which can be appropriated for use today, and thereby also place the institutional Church within her proper limits” (Ratzinger, Nature and Mission of Theology, 7). This function of theology perhaps aligns closest with the nature and identity of the theologian. Theology is faith seeking understanding. It is an ecclesial discipline. And the theologian serves an indispensable role insofar as the theologian seeks to understand, ever more fully, what Christianity is all about.

Second, Ratzinger also identified the utility of the theologian in reference to the human “need for religion and transcendence, a need which simply refuses to be ignored, by giving guiding orientations and meaningful content which can be responsibly accepted today” (Ratzinger, Nature and Mission of Theology, 7). If the first task of the theologian is one of ecclesial service, this second task can be described as the cultural and human function of the theologian. In other words, the theologian serves humanity insofar as the theologian points to the undeniable orientation of human persons to higher things—no matter what religions they profess or spiritualities they embrace. No human person is content to remain merely terrestrial. Every human person has a desire for something more than the contingencies of human existence.

Finally, Ratzinger also emphasizes a pastoral dimension of the theologian’s work: “the theologian should also be a comforter of souls, who helps individuals to be reconciled with themselves and to overcome their alienations” (Ratzinger, Nature and Mission of Theology, 7). This dimension resonates with the deepest instincts of the Christian believer. Theology is not a discipline undertaken in isolation from the real world or from real human persons (see Congar, History of Theology, 14–15). Because theology originates from God and is ordered to God, this sacred discipline carries profoundly practical implications. The rigors and expectations of seminary formation reflect the importance of theology for pastoral work. The Catholic Church does not waver in her conviction that theology serves the sanctification of souls.

John Paul II on Theology and Pastoral Ministry

In his 1992 post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the formation of priests, Pastores dabo vobis, John Paul II summarized how sacred theology and pastoral ministry stand in a mutually beneficiary relationship: “On the one hand, a respectful study of the genuine scientific quality of the individual disciplines of theology will help provide a more complete and deeper training of the pastor of souls as a teacher of faith; and, on the other hand, an appropriate awareness that there is a pastoral goal in view will help the serious and scientific study of theology be more formative for future priests” (John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis, no. 55). It is not surprising, then, that John Paul II reminded the professors of theology of their “particular educational responsibility” (John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis, no. 67).

Sacred theology stands at the heart of what pastoral ministry is all about. There is no tension between the priest’s theological formation and his pastoral obligation. “In fact,” John Paul II explains, “the pastoral nature of theology does not mean that it should be less doctrinal or that it should be completely stripped of its scientific nature.” Rather, the pastoral vitality of sacred theology “enables future priests to proclaim the Gospel message through the cultural modes of their age and to direct pastoral action according to an authentic theological vision” (John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis, no. 55).

Theology shapes effective pastoral ministry. It is an irreplaceable guide for those who minister to the People of God. Sacred theology renders intelligible the wisdom and love of God—showing the logic inherent within the Christian faith. The Christian religion—much more than a mere set of laws, rules, or precepts—is a way of pursuing saving happiness and authentic freedom.

If the Church’s ministers are insufficiently formed in theological truth, then they are severely hampered in their pastoral efforts to help people find God. Of course, erroneous understandings of Catholic doctrine are among the most evident expressions of ill-formation. “True theology proceeds from faith and aims at leading to the faith. This is the conception of theology which has always been put forward by the Church and, specifically, by her magisterium” (John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis, no. 53). The ecclesial nature of theological science received his repeated emphasis (John Paul II, Veritatis splendor, no. 109).

Nonetheless, John Paul II also highlights the importance of a complete understanding of the Catholic faith. A partial understanding of the Christian religion is also an impediment to effective pastoral ministry. Thus, it is essentially important that the Church’s ministers possess a “sufficiently broad knowledge of the doctrine of the faith.” This inclusive knowledge of the Church’s teaching is nothing less than “a primary condition for theology.” For “it is simply not possible to develop an ‘intelligentia fidei’ (an understanding of the faith), if the content of the ‘fides’ is not known” (John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis, no. 57). In other words, pastoral ministry will suffer if the minister does not possess an understanding of the faith in all of its parts. The Catholic faith is essentially unified. (It is not possible to understand the person and the work of Jesus, for example, without also understanding the Church’s teaching about the Trinity and about the sacraments, etc.)

All of these themes terminate in John Paul’s concern for the formation of the Church’s pastors. He expressed grief over “the lack of harmony between the traditional response of the Church and certain theological positions, encountered even in Seminaries and in Faculties of Theology, with regard to questions of the greatest importance for the Church and for the life of faith of Christians, as well as for the life of society itself” (John Paul II, Veritatis splendor, no. 4).

The Ongoing Question

Questions inform the whole of human experience. They originate the human mind’s deliberate and precise reflection upon reality. Questions asked and questions answered are unique features of the dignity of the human person. Questions unify a discipline. Questions can also affect the entire direction of one’s life.

And the question, “What is Catholic theology?” is unavoidably conjoined to another, more foundational, question: Who is God?” Because God is the creator and redeemer of the world, God is the origin, object, and end of Catholic theology. Consequently, Catholic theology matters for all people. Why? All human persons, inherently, desire to know and to love God. Because God matters, Catholic theology matters—always and for everyone.

Any introduction to Catholic theology will be insufficient. The Christian faith is so vast and so profound that it eludes simple summary. And yet this is precisely why Catholic theology is so necessary. God’s truth and goodness elicit the response of desire within the human person. They invite intimate knowledge—intimate union. Ultimately, no one is satisfied with a mere “introduction” to who God is and what God has done. Because the human nature is inclined to truth and to goodness, all human persons want to understand more about he who is Truth and Goodness itself.

In other words, human persons are wonderfully inclined to enter into the work of sacred theology—the work of understanding the faith.