Faith seeking understanding
A pre-modern traditional Christian would say that theology does not exist outside of Christianity. Theology is faith that seeks understanding and faith is God’s gift. God appears in front of us in the form of Jesus Christ and it is faith that enables us to believe that and believe in his teachings that are attested in the Scriptures. We can know more about God if we have faith. Pascoe could see God through the fiery light of faith. Our eyes are opened at baptism through faith and without it we would not know Gods revelation in Christ and the Scriptures. Faith in Christian usage is a light whose objective is to help you see the truth and the beauty of God in Christ and scripture. It is believed that non-Christian religious thinkers do not have faith but have intuitions and religious insights. Fate comes from God to bring to light and make sense of the form and figure of Jesus Christ. Non-Christian thinkers have a religious intuition, which is equal to their desire for God and Christ. Since the view is that faith is a gift from God and it is the self-revelation of God in Christ, non-Christian theology cannot exist as theology means faith seeking understanding.
It is Real and Profound
Non-Christians revere God and their piety is felt to be real and profound. The pope Saint John Paul II once got so carried away with Muslim piety that he even kissed the koran that his actions were rebuked by one of his bishops. It is touching to see non-Christian piety as it is innocent and does focus on the reality of God. The desire for God amongst non-Christians seems spontaneous.
Title of theology reserved to Christians
Every Christian institution must reserve the title of theology to Christianity. If done otherwise it would mean abandonment of the Christian claim to illumination of faith and self-revelation of God. Faith can mean different things to a Christian or a Muslim or a Buddhist. Christianity considers faith as the Trinitarian God revealed by Christ. Christian institutions cannot say that there is theology outside of Christianity while remaining Christians. And because of this, Christian institutions focus on studying religions and insights in Christian theology departments.
