De Moor I:1: The Etymology of "Theology"

Just as in the treatment of any Theological argument in what follows, so, when the AUTHOR in this locus undertakes to delineate this entire discipline, he makes a beginning from the explication of the Name/Term; properly mindful of that saying of PLATO in Cratylus:  Πρὸς τὸ ὀρθῶς διδάσκειν, δεῖ πρῶτον ἐξετάζειν τὰ ὀνόματα, in order to teach rightly, it is first necessary to examine the names/terms:  in which manner Plato spoke with good reason; while according to Diodotus[1] in THUCYDIDES’ History of the Peloponnesian War,[2] book III, Οἱ λόγοι διδάσκαλοι τῶν πραγμάτων γίγνονται, words become the teachers of the matters at hand.  Which opinion JULIUS SCALIGER, among the more recent men, supports in his De Subtilitate, Exercitation I, section I,[3] “In the first place, it is proper to inquire into the use of the word itself:  by which we have on numerous occasions been carried into the perception of the thing.”  Now, as far as it concerns the Etymology of the word THEOLOGY, our discipline has this in common with diverse others, that it is wont to be distinguished by a Greek term:  For Theology according to our AUTHOR is Θεοῦ λόγος, Theou logos, a word of, or pertaining to, God, unless you should judge that it is of greater ἀκριβείας/precision to say that τὴν θεολογίαν, theology, is the Science, which ὁ θεολόγος, the theologian,[4] treats:  that he is θεολόγον, a theologian, indeed, who is διδακτὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, taught of God,[5] discourses concerning God, sets forth Θεοῦ λόγον, a word of God, λόγον περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, a word concerning God:  which sort of ἀκρίβεια/precision, with greater circumlocution returning to the same thing, in other compound names of similar form shall be observed likewise.  But in this the denomination of Theology differs in a certain measure from other disciplines, that the rest are generally wont to be denominated especially from their Object, like Jurisprudence, Pneumatics, Physics; even those which have a name of the same formation as has the name of Theology with respect to the word, Astrology, Etymology, Meteorology, Ontology, Osteology:  Theology, on the other hand, deserves thus to be called, not by reason of its Object only, but also by reason of its Principium; to which twofold consideration other considerations are also able to be added secondarily, when the reckoning of the Etymology of this name comes to be given.  It is evident that the Doctrine and discourse, which is established concerning Astris/Stars, concerning Meteors, concerning Being, concerning Ossibus/Bones, is not able to be fetched from the word or speech of stars, meteors, being, or bones:  but, on the other hand, the Speech and doctrine concerning God is also able to be drawn from the speech of the very God revealing; so that we are not able to speak concerning God without God, who teaches man, both through the created world, and in an especially and far more sublime and complete manner in the θεοπνεύστῳ/God-breathed/inspired Word, concerning Himself and matters regarding Himself.  Thus the Most Illustrious VITRINGA,[6] in his Sacrarum Observationum, book III, chapter I, § 2, 3, 8, shows, that τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ Χριστου, the testimony of Christ, 1 Corinthians 1:6, is able to be taken in a twofold manner, either of the testimony which Christ Himself spoke, or concerning the testimony which others gave concerning Christ.  GLASSIUS,[7] in his Grammaticorum Sacrorum tractatu I, canon 30, page 102 and following, is able to be compared, and also GEORGIUS PASOR,[8] Grammatica Græca sacra Novi Testamenti, page 281:  in which, of course, they relate the diverse uses of the Genitive, and teach that the Genitive is quite often of Object, inasmuch as λόγος τῆς βασιλείας, the word of the kingdom, is the word concerning the kingdom, Matthew 13:19; but that elsewhere it is also of the Efficient, as when, in Matthew 25:34, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός, the blessed of the Father, of Christ are mentioned, and when John opposes τὴν μαρτυρίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, the witness of men, and τὴν μαρτυρίαν τοῦ Θεου, the witness of God, to each other, 1 John 5:9.  So also Θεοῦ λόγος, a word of God, and Theology are no less able to denote the speech of God, which has been delivered by God to us, than, θεοδίδακτοι, in 1 Thessalonians 4:9, signifies those taught by God, who in John 6:45 are called διδακτοὶ τοῦ Θεου, those taught of God, of which sort is πᾶς—ὁ ἀκούσας παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μαθών, every one that hath heard and learned of the Father; and thus θεοπροπία and θεοπρόπιον in Homer[9] is an oracle, a prophecy.  This, which is next to be observed in the first part, comes against Hobbes,[10] among others, who contends that Christian Theology signifies the Word of God, not that which God has spoken; but that which is concerning God and His kingdom, that is, is delivered in Christian doctrine:  see COCQUIUS’[11] Hobbesianismi Anatomen, locus I, chapter I.  But also note that there is a Genitive of End; for example, the house of God is called οἶκος προσευχῆς, a house of prayer, Matthew 21:13; and in John 5:29 are mentioned ἀνάστασις ζωῆς, the resurrection of life, and ἀνάστασις κρίσεως, the resurrection of judgment, that is, the resurrection unto life and unto condemnation:  and in this sense Theology or the speech of God is able to be considered, for it tends to the glory of God, and leads to His communion.  Theology, says Thomas Aquinas,[12] is taught by God, teaches God, and leads to God.[13]  With which things, if you should desire to consult further, you may, as far as I am concerned, consult what things the Most Illustrious COCCEIUS[14] has in his Summa Theologiæ, chapter I, § I, Opera, tome 7, page 133.  According to him, Theology is the knowledge or speech τοῦ θεολόγου, of the theologian.  Indeed, to him he is called θεολόγος, a theologian, ὁ τὸν Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐις δόξαν αὐτοῦ λέγων, who speaks of God, from God, in the presence of God, for His glory:  which he then explains in that very place by parts.

[1] Nothing is known of Diodotus, son of Eucrates, except what little Thucydides records of him.  After the revolt of the Mytilene, he opposed the proposal of Cleon (leader of the imperialist faction in Athens in 427 BC) to kill all the adult Mytilenean men and to enslave the rest.  Diodotus’ speech carried the day.

[2] Thucydides (c. 460-c. 400 BC) was a Greek historian.  His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the fifth century BC conflict between Sparta and Athens.

[3] Julius Cæsar Scaliger (1484-1558) was an Italian scholar of the first order, and champion of Aristotelianism against the new Renaissance humanism.  His De Subtilitate Exercitationes demonstrates his mastery of Aristotle’s physics and metaphysics, and continued to be a popular textbook until Aristotelianism finally gave way before the new learning.

[4] That is, one who discourses concerning divine things.

[5] See John 6:45:  “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God (διδακτοὶ τοῦ Θεου).  Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.”

[6] Campegius Vitringa Sr. (1659-1722) was a Dutch Reformed theologian and Hebraist.  He was a critical Cocceian, and heavily influenced by his pastor, Herman Witsius.  He served the university at Franeker, first as professor of Oriental languages (1681), then of Theology (1682) and Church History (1697).  He is remembered as a Hebraist par excellence, and for his commentaries on Isaiah and Revelation.

[7] Solomon Glassius (1593-1656) was a German Lutheran divine and critic.  He was Professor of Divinity at the University of Jena.  His Philologia Sacra was a groundbreaking work in Biblical Hebrew.

[8] Georgius Pasor (1570-1637) was a Reformed theologian and learned philologist; he served as Professor of Theology at Herborn (1607-1626) and Professor of Greek at Franeker (1626-1637).

[9] Iliad 1:85, 87; 6:438; Odyssey 1:145.

[10] Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher, remembered for his work in political philosophy and social contract theory.  He was also interested in theology, but heterodox in his beliefs, denying incorporeal substance (reducing all things to matter and motion), and the divine inspiration of the Biblical prophets.

[11] Gisbertus Cocquius (1630-1708) of Utrecht was a Reformed thinker and doctor of philosophy; he opposed Hobbes.

[12] Thomas Aquinas (c. 1224-1274) was perhaps the greatest of the mediæval scholastic theologians.  His Summa theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles are still standards in Roman Catholic theology, and have been heavily influential in almost all Christian thought in the West.

[13] A summary of Summa Theologica 1:1:7.

[14] Johannes Cocceius (1603-1689) was born in Bremen, Germany, and went on to become Professor of Philology at the Gymnasium in Bremen (1630), held the chair of Hebrew (1630) and theology (1643) at Franker, and was made Professor of Theology at Leiden (1650).  He was the founder of the Cocceian school of covenant theology, bitter rival to the Voetian school.