Philosophical Theology and Fundamental Theology

Abstract

Two theological disciplines are contrasted in this article: philosophical theology and fundamental theology. The former evolved in Great Britain and the United States and may be considered a type of philosophical and inter-cultural deepening of natural theology. The latter was developed principally in Western Europe and especially in German Roman Catholic schools as Fudamental-Theologie and deals mostly with theology from the standpoint of Christian apologetics. The contrast between the two types is based on the fact that each of them presents differing ways of theologia naturalis (with apology of theism at its heart), both entering the area of theologia revelata. This article is an attempt at mapping out the beginnings of an Eastern Orthodox philosophical theology as an innovative theological program. The author is therefore interested in examining exactly what constitutes such a philosophical theology and in defining the limits which Eastern Orthodox tradition necessarily places upon the evolution of such a system. He also tries to learn what past methodological discussions occurring in the environment of the Russian Orthodox theological schools can contribute to the development of such a system. The author argues that these contributions need to be confined merely to the courses offered by theological schools during the synodal period. Finally, the author wishes to define how philosophical theology and fundamental theology can relate to each other in spite of their theoretical differences. The fields of apologetics and hermeneutics would certainly profit from the development of the school of philosophical theology but exactly in what way remains a question for further research.

Keywords

• Theology
• Rational Theology
• Revealed Theology
• Natural Theology
• Philosophical Theology
• Fundamental Theology
• Methodology
• Apologetics
• Hermeneutics
• Argumentatio