WHAT IS PROLEGOMENA?

“Prolegomena” is a Greek word that comes from the Greek verb “prolego.” “Prolego”
is a compound word that means “to say first” or “to speak first.” “Prolegomena” is a
neuter present passive participle. It literally means “those things which are said
first.”
In systematic theology, prolegomena are one of the classic “loci,” or core categories
of systematic theology. They have to do with the very firsts of theology
and answer the questions of the first things.
They ask how we know what we know about God and deal with the doctrine of the
Word of God and the doctrine of revelation. Prolegomena are crucial to your
theological system.

THE PHILOSOPHICAL NATURE OF PROLEGOMENA

Prolegomena are philosophical in nature and drive us to think about our
thinking. They pose the questions, “What is the authority for our thinking? How do
we think? Why do we think what we think?”
These kinds of questions are epistemological in nature. Epistemology is a
philosophical term that asks the question, “How do we know what we know?” It is
the question of what knowledge is and how we gain knowledge.
Another question associated with prolegomena is to ask, “Who are we?” Scripture
tells us that we are creatures made in the image of God. Knowing this truth is
important to our thinking about the task of theology. How we do theology is
connected to our nature as people made in the image of God.
Prolegomena theology, then, because of its nature, prompts us to ask philosophical
questions about who we are, how we think, and how we come to know what we
know.
THE THOMISTIC TRADITION OF THE PROLEGOMENA
There are several different traditions that inform one’s understanding of
prolegomena. These traditions revolve around the question of theology’s structure.
Is theology grounded in something that is not theology, or is theology grounded in
theology? In other words, are the prolegomena actually pre-theological?
The most common approach to these questions is the Thomistic tradition, which
gets its name from Thomas Aquinas, who developed this approach. This
tradition assumes a shared epistemological pattern by which all people engage in
rational thought. In this view, rational thought is how we grasp biblical and
theological reflections, and all humans operate with a shared system of thought.
Because this is true, we can therefore use logic and rationality to convince people of
the plausibility that there is a God and that they should believe in Him. Most
evangelicals today also share this view.
The consequence of this Thomistic approach is that it leads us to see logic and
reasoning as foundational to the enterprise of theology and that this foundation is
itself pre-theological.
Human rationality forms the basis for theological structures for theological
reflection. In this particular formation, the prolegomena are not in themselves
theological. There is something that rests behind them, that rests on reason, logic,
and philosophy.

THE THEOLOGICAL TRADITION OF THE PROLEGOMENA

Rather than assuming that prolegomena are pre-theological, Scripture assumes that
the prolegomena themselves are theological too.
The notion of prolegomena are those first things — the things that are spoken of
beforehand. They are the things that make the cognitive, communicative dimensions
of theology possible.
But one of the things Scripture lays out for us from start to finish is that before we
were, God was. That is not only a statement of chronology but a principle of human
existence. It is a principle that needs to drive the way we think about thinking.
We need to recognize the creatureliness of our endeavors and the dependence our
human thought has on God. God is at the beginning and is, therefore, at the
beginning of prolegomena as well.

IS PROLEGOMENA CIRCULAR REASONING?

Arguing that prolegomena is theological and is the foundation for theology sounds
circular. Indeed, this idea is circular, but all human thought is also circular. The
question is not whether you are operating in circularity. The question is whether
you are operating in the right circle.
In the end, prolegomena do not just mean “prior to,” but also “primary.” There are
no thoughts regarding God or anything else that are pre-theological because God is
eternal and the creator of all things. God is God, and we are not. That bears upon
every facet of our existence, beginning even with our cognitive function.
God condescended to speak to man. The only reason we can know Him truly is
because He bends over and speaks to us in words that we can understand. Man is
absolutely dependent on God to speak. Our understanding is dependent on God to
reveal Himself.

CHALLENGES TO THIS VIEW OF PROLEGOMENA AND THEIR ANSWERS

One challenge to the idea of prolegomena being theological, rather than pre-
theological, is the concept of who does the thinking.
You may argue that God doesn’t think your thoughts — you do — so doesn’t that
mean that brain function starts with you? And if brain function starts with you, how
are you wholly dependent on God from the start? Doesn’t my thinking depend on
something within me?
There is a critical distinction that needs to be made between the “proximate”
starting point and the “ultimate” starting point. Yes, in your consciousness, your
brain begins to function. But that working of your mind doesn’t happen in
abstraction.
You never have a thought that isn’t created. You’re made in the image of God, and
your ability to think is a God-given stewardship of what it means to be made
in His image. Therefore, yes, the proximate starting point is the human mind, but the
ultimate starting point is God, the creator whom every human being knows, without
exception.
Even the self-professed atheist knows that, for him to be one, he has to suppress the
knowledge of God. There is no thought that is not founded in our created image in
God, and that draws us to understand the one true God. We cannot think without
thinking as creatures made in His image. Your thought starts with knowing God.
To operate properly as humans is, rather than suppressing that knowledge,
submitting to God’s revelation. The only way we think properly is when we think as
God has designed us to think.
All thinking is dependent on God. Our entire existence reminds us of our
dependence — we are dependent on food and air, and even babies come into the
world wholly dependent on their parents’ care. We must acknowledge our
dependence on God to think rightly.
We are designed to live for the sake and purpose of God, and this begins with our
thought. There is an inherent relationship between obedience and knowledge. Our
understanding does not lead to our obedience, but our obedience leads to
understanding. We grow in our knowledge of God in saying yes to Him in what we
already know.
There is an integral relationship between mind and heart. In the history of Christian
ethics, the entire epistemology has been put under the rubrics of ethics. Are we
going to think His thoughts or stubbornly assert our own?
Scripture points us in a couple of directions. One of them is that God’s self-disclosure
is of His goodwill. He does not reveal Himself because He has to — He does it
because He delights in self-disclosure, in us knowing Him. That revelation is
covenantal, so associated with it is the obligation for us to respond in faith and
obedience.
The task of human thought is inherently theological because of who God is and
because God has revealed Himself.

THE HISTORY OF PROLEGOMENA

Prolegomena theology was not addressed throughout the history of the Church.
Epistemology and the notions of how we know what we know are not
dealt with rigor until the Reformation.
Ultimately, the Reformation was about the question of authority. Who has authority
over what we think, speak, and believe — the Church or Scripture? At that time, they
believed the Church and its traditions were the ultimate authority.
But Martin Luther said that Scripture was the ultimate authority. Luther’s conviction
is at the heart of prolegomena. What is the basis for our thinking and for the
authoritative claims we make?
During the Reformation, the question of authority was no longer assumed but
became center-stage. In Martin Luther’s world, when he came upon the scene, he
was conscious of dueling authority structures. Part of that was growing out of
Thomistic tradition — a high level of confidence in reason.
It was actually the crisis in the Reformation that caused the Church to think more
deeply about these epistemological issues, to wrestle with how we know what we
know, to wrestle with the notion of authority. God used error as a catalyst
for His Church to come to terms with what the Scripture really means.

UNDERSTANDING THE RIGHT PROLEGOMENA

In conclusion, the prolegomena deal with the first, the primary things, the
foundational things. When we think of the prolegomena in a biblical sense, we mean
not “prior” only, but more significantly “primary.” For us to think rightly about God,
what is necessary? How am I to think properly about God? The prolegomena are a
theology of theology. All of our thinking is inherently theological, and only when we
delight in God will we think rightly about Him.

Lectures By: Dr. David Garner

Systematic theology course on prolegomena at Westminster Theological Seminary.