Kasm 1 Walter Kasm Professor Dr. Greg Stephens TH-3302 Method for Biblical Theology 15 January 2017 Comparing Biblical and Systematic Theology There are both similarities and differences between biblical and systematic theology. Both are rooted in the analysis of scripture, although systematic theology also seeks truth from sources outside the Bible. Biblical theology investigates the periods of history in which God has revealed Himself or the doctrinal emphases of the different biblical writings as set forth in a systematic fashion. Biblical theology while presented in a systematized form, is distinct from systematic theology that assimilates truth from the entire Bible and from outside the Scriptures in systematizing biblical doctrine. Biblical theology is narrower. It concentrates on the emphasis of a given period of history as in the Old Testament or on the explicit teaching of a writer as in the New Testament. In contrast to systematic theology which draws its information about God from any and every source, biblical theology has a narrower focus, drawing its information from the Bible, and from historical information that expands or clarifies the historical events of the Bible. Biblical theology thus is exegetical in nature, examining the doctrines in the various periods of history or examining the words and statements of a writer.