Talk:Overview of Theology

Buddhist Theology
This page lists "Buddhist Theology" as a "major" theology. There is no such thing as a Buddhist theology. Buddhism is a non-theistic religion. It neither believes in god nor denies its existence. Where there is no theos, there can be no theology To talk about a Buddhist theology is absurd.

Whenever asked about god, the Buddha always answered by complete silence, until one day he must have gotten tired of hearing the same question, so he replied with a story:


 * A man was shot by a poisoned arrow. The doctor came and was about ready to pull the arrow out of the wound, but the patient stopped his hand and said: "Wait, doctor, before you pull the arrow out, tell me about the man who shot me. Was he tall or was he short? Was he from a warrior caste or from a brahmin caste or from a lower caste? Was he young or was he old? Was he of dark skin or of light skin?" And many other questions he asked. If the doctor had to answer his questions first, the patient would die. So, the doctor just pulled the arrow out and took care of the wound. The patient got all his answers after he recovered.


 * Similarly, said the Buddha, I will not answer your question. I am here to help you heal from spiritual darkness. If you waste your time on silly speculations, you will never recover, you will die a spiritual death. Take care of awaken from the cycle of rebirth, you will get your answers after you realize nirvana.

So, there. There is no such thing as a Buddhist theology. Red Prince 19:21, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)

It all depends on the meaning of "Theology"
Princeton University's WordNet explains theology as:


 * theology, divinity -- (the rational and systematic study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truth)
 * theology, theological system -- (a particular system or school of religious beliefs and teachings; "Jewish theology"; "Roman Catholic theology")
 * theology -- (the learned profession acquired by specialized courses in religion (usually taught at a college or seminary); "he studied theology at Oxford")

This would seem to imply that the term theology, while undoubtably steming from the Greek words &theta;&eta;&omicron;&sigmaf; (god) and &lambda;&omicron;&gamma;&omicron;&sigmaf; (knowledge) has evolved in contemporary usage to explain all systems of belief. Charlemagne 19:51, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)

And none of the three definitions you quoted have anything to do with Buddhism. Anyway, if you want to have a "Buddhist theology" section, no Buddhist in the world is going to stop you, but neither is he going to take it seriously. Red Prince 21:57, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * All this over a simple link! If you don't think there should be a "Buddhist Theology" page, then just edit the page and delete that link! I wasn't trying to make any sort of point; I just thought of a few religions and put them there. Better yet, if you want to start those pages, go ahead; both of you seem to be very knowledgable in this area. - SamE 14:48, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I would like to do this. But what I have in mind is a three book series:

1) Philsophy of religion in which I discuss the various approaches to issues in religion.

2) Comparative religion, in which I tell stories from the different relgions and analyze the various threads concerning various elements of religions.

3) Descriptive religion, where I simply describe many of the world religions (would it even be possible to be complete?).

If that sounds okay, I'll be developing an outline over the next few days. As with Effective Reasoning, I'm not fluent in producing Wikibook code and will be glad for any help in that area.WolfVanZandt 03:48, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

I have changed the name of this book under the Religion category to "Theology 1: Philosophy of Religion" and have added "Theology 2: Comparative Religion" and "Theology 3: Descriptive Religion". If it is acceptible to all involved, I will come back later and delete this stub. WolfVanZandt 03:57, 19 July 2006 (UTC)