by William S. Plumer (Author)
The word THEOLOGY means a discourse concerning God. The word itself is not found in the Scriptures. We have there "the word of God," "good doctrine," "sound doctrine," "form of doctrine," "doctrine of God," "doctrine of Christ," "form of sound words," "the Scriptures," and such like phrases. Theology is divinity, as a theologian is a divine. Theology treats of the being and perfections of God, of his relations to us, his purposes towards us, his promises made to us, his will concerning us, and the right way of pleasing him. We cannot learn theology from other sources, than those which God himself opens to our minds. These are the volume of nature and the volume of revelation. The volume of nature is made up of all God's works. What we learn from it is called Natural Theology. In studying God's works we make use of our reason and of all true science, searching out all that we may know. Natural Theology is the foundation of all true religion.