Dr. William Ames (1576-1633)
The Definition or Nature of Theology
by Dr. William Ames
1. Theology is doctrine or teaching of living to God. John 6:68, “The words of eternal life…”; Acts 5:20, “The words of this life…”; Romans 6:11, “Consider yourselves…alive to God.”
2. It is called doctrine, not to separate it from understanding, knowledge, wisdom, art, or prudence–for these go with every exact discipline, and most of all with theology–but to mark it as a discipline, and most of all with theology–but to mark it as a discipline which derives not from nature and human inquiry like others, but from divine revelation and appointment. Isaiah 51:4, “Doctrine shall go forth from Me…”; Galatians 1:11-12, “The Gospel…is not according to man. For neither I received it from man, nor was taught it, but it came through a revelation.”
5. Since the highest kind of life for a human being is that which approaches most closely the living and life-giving God, the nature of theological life is living to God.
