In the realm of Christian philosophy, a theologian would make use of the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. This is called epistemology. Epistemologists study the concepts of belief, truth, and justification to understand the nature of knowledge, it seeks to answer the question of divine revelation, some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity. Thomas Aquinas believed in two types of individual revelation from God, general revelation (also known as natural revelation) and special revelation.
General revelation is a concept where God’s revelation is discovered through natural means, such as observations of nature (also the physical universe), philosophy and reasoning (see Romans 1:20; Psalms 19:1-6; Matthew 5:45). Special revelation is a concept that refers to God’s revelation as it is made solely to His chosen people in His divine Word, either spoken or written Scripture. The purpose of special revelation is to impart the knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ, salvation and the Atonement of God’s people. We may deduce the existence of God and some of God’s attributes through general revelation, certain specifics may be known only through special revelation. Some have argued that there is no separation between the two.
In religious epistemology, they simply ask questions or attempt to understand and apply to religious beliefs and propositions whether they seem rational, justified, warranted, reasonable, based on evidence and so on. Thus, epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge, also called the theory of knowledge. In religious philosophy, philosophical scepticism questions the human ability to attain knowledge, whereas fallibilism says that knowledge is never certain. There are empiricists, who hold that true knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience and empirical evidence (knowledge comes from sense experience) these are people like Francis Bacon, John Locke, and David Hume. On the contrary, rationalists believe that some knowledge does not depend on it.
Coherentists argue that a belief is justified if it coheres with other beliefs, there are two types of coherentism: the coherence theory of truth, and the coherence theory of justification. Locke and Hume also accepted foundationalism; they maintain that the justification of basic beliefs does not depend on other beliefs. Foundationalism is the main rival of coherentism. In philosophy, internalism and externalism are two opposite ways of integrating of explaining various subjects in several areas, both disagree about whether justification is determined solely by mental states or also by external circumstances.
Most people consciously or unconsciously presuppose a theological position, because everyone carries with them a theological perspective that helps shape their worldview and how they engage and interact with others around them. Much like philosophy, even atheists have a theological way of thinking. Some Christian fundamentalists avoid theology, simply because theological discourse and critical thinking may lead some away from the faith.
Theology describes the process and outcome of a person’s reflections on their faith. This reflection could be a source of resistance to oppression, hatred and intolerance, as is the case with Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the Second World War. Unrestrained theology on the other hand can lead to the opposite, condoning acts of violence, hatred and intolerance towards those who have different theological opinions or worldviews than us.
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