Welcome to Chudel Sketches by Sir Chuby, where faith is learned, understood, and deepened in simple ways. Let's get started. What exactly is sacred theology? Is it just philosophy with a Bible, blind faith with academic polish, or something more? This is Sir Chuby. In this video, we're going straight to the heart of what sacred theology really is, where the term comes from, what sets it apart, and why it's considered the highest form of human knowledge. What is sacred theology? To answer that, we start at the roots of the word. The term comes from two Greek words. F theos meaning God and logos meaning word or reason. So theology broadly speaking is knowledge or study about God. But sacred theology isn't just any knowledge about God. It's a science specifically the science of God based on divine revelation. Sacred theology is defined as siencia deo xrevelion aquisida. In plain terms, it's the science of God. Knowledge about him acquired through revelation. This isn't just about believing in God. It's about studying him using the truths he himself has revealed. Truths found in scripture, passed down through tradition, and guided by the church. Sacred theology isn't casual speculation about the divine. It's not based on guesswork, emotion, or private visions. It's systematic, reasoned, and grounded in what God himself has made known. The truths it studies aren't invented. They're revealed. And they're meant to be studied, understood, and lived. What makes theology sacred isn't just its subject, God, but its source, God's own revelation. It doesn't start with human ideas. It begins with God choosing to reveal himself through scripture and tradition. Sacred theology receives that truth, studies it, and helps us live by it. It's not guesswork. It's grounded in divine disclosure. It's sacred theology because the voice behind it is divine. So, what exactly does that definition of sacred theology mean in practice? Let's break it down piece by piece. First, it's a science. That means it follows a method. It's not random or emotional. It uses logic and structure to understand revealed truths. Like any true science, sacred theology has two main objects. First, the material object, what it studies, and second, the formal object, how it studies that material, the specific lens it uses. In sacred theology, the material object is first and foremost God himself and secondarily all things as they relate to God. Then comes the formal object divided into two parts. The formal object quad is the divine nature. God as he reveals himself. The formal object qua is virtual revelation, God's act of making himself knowable, the medium through which we access truth. This precise structure is what allows theology to be a science, not just belief, but a rational study of revealed truth. Second, it's about God, not just ethics, values, or religious feelings. Sacred theology focuses on God himself, his nature, his will, his actions in history, and his relationship with creation. It's the direct study of the divine, not as a distant idea, but as the living personal source of all truth and existence. There is no greater subject. Third, it comes from revelation. Sacred theology doesn't start with human theories or speculation. It starts with God speaking first, revealing himself through scripture, tradition, and the life of the church. Reason plays a role, yes, but it follows revelation, not replaces it. The source isn't us, it's God. And finally, sacred theology is acquired. Sacred theology, unlike supernatural faith, which is a gift infused by grace, is learned through study, reflection, and disciplined engagement with revealed truth. This is what gives it both depth and precision. It's not blind belief. Its faith-seeking understanding guided by reason, grounded in revelation, and sharpened through intellectual effort. Sacred theology has several unique properties, speculative and practical. It seeks to understand truths about God and guide human action toward him. Dignity. It's nobler than other sciences because it studies the first cause, God himself. Wisdom. It sees everything in light of the highest principle, God, as both origin and end. Sacred theology carries out three core functions. First, apologetic. It defends the truth and credibility of divine revelation. Second, logica theologica. It examines and clarifies its own principles and method of reasoning. Third, dogmatic and moral. It draws both theoretical and practical conclusions from what God has revealed. Where does sacred theology draw its knowledge from? Not from speculation, not from personal opinion, but from sources grounded in divine authority and shaped by reason. To make sense of what God has revealed, theology draws from three categories of sources. Constitutive, interpretive, and auxiliary sources. Each plays a distinct role in how we receive, understand, and articulate the faith. First, the constitutive sources. These form the very foundation of sacred theology. Sacred scripture, the inspired word of God written under divine guidance. Sacred tradition, a living transmission of God's revelation, handed down from the apostles through the church. Together, scripture and tradition are the core content of revelation, what God has revealed for our salvation. Second, the interpretive sources. These help us understand and explain that revelation accurately. They include both infallible authorities like the magisterium, the church's teaching office, including popes and councils, and fallible ones like the church fathers and theologians who reflect and build upon revealed truths. These sources don't add new revelation, they interpret and preserve it. Third, the auxiliary sources. These support theology by providing tools for deeper understanding. They include human reason, philosophy, history, and human traditions. They're not divine in origin, but they help theology speak clearly, reason well, and connect truths to human experience. Remember, divine tradition is older and fuller than sacred scripture. Before a single word of scripture was written, tradition was already alive, passed from generation to generation. So while sacred theology begins with revelation, it relies on multiple sources to build understanding, ensure fidelity, and apply truth to life. Sacred theology is more than academic study. It's a disciplined, reasoned, and faith-rooted pursuit of the highest knowledge, the knowledge of God revealed, studied, and lived. That's sacred theology, faith-seeking understanding, rooted in revelation, guided by reason. Thanks for watching and keep seeking the truth that leads us to communion with God. May God bless us all.