Welcome back to another episode of five minutes in church history. On this episode we are

continuing a conversation that we started last week, but we just couldn't seem to

finish. We're talking about the five ways of theology. And last time together we talked

about these different adjectives that come before the word theology. You might have heard them before. So we talked

about biblical theology

historical theology systematic theology and we ended with dogmatic

theology well for our last one we're going to look at a word that you don't see every day.

It's the word Elyctic theology.

A synonym of Elytic is another word you don't see every day and that's polemical.

Archibald Alexander back in the early 1800s, a professor of theology at Princeton. His actual title at Princeton Theological Seminary,

his actual title was a professor of didactic and polemical theology. His successor Charles Hodge had an even more expanded title. His

was professor of exegetical didactic and polemical theology.

And Hodge was followed by Warfield, who went back to Alexander's title,

the professor of didactic in polemical theology.

I don't know of any theology professors these days who have that title

polemical in their actual title.

Usually we use systematic theology or

sometimes historical theology. And if I'm wrong, someone out there

please correct me, but I think it's the olden days of using this term

polemical theology and even before that the synonym

eelantic theology. Well what are these words?

polemics of course is the idea of debate, engagement.

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