theology

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The study of the nature of God and religious truth; rational inquiry into religious questions.
2. n. A system or school of opinions concerning God and religious questions: Protestant theology; Jewish theology.
3. n. A course of specialized religious study usually at a college or seminary.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The science concerned with ascertaining, classifying, and systematizing all attainable truth concerning God and his relation to the universe; the science of religion; religious truth scientifically stated. The ancient Greeks used the word to designate the history of their gods; early Christian writers applied it to the doctrine of the nature of God; Peter Abelard, in the twelfth century, first began to employ it to denote scientific instruction concerning God and the divine life. Theology differs from religion as the science of any subject differs from the subject-matter itself. Religion in the broadest sense is a life of right affections and right conduct toward God; theology is a scientific knowledge of God and of the life which reverence and allegiance toward him require. Theology is divided, in reference to the sources whence the knowledge is derived, into natural theology, which treats of God and divine things in so far as their nature is disclosed through human consciousness, through the material creation, and through the moral order discernible in the course of history apart from specific revelation, and revealed theology, which treats of the same subject-matter as made known in the scriptures of the Old and the New Testament. The former is theistic merely; the latter is Christian, and includes the doctrine of salvation by Christ, and of future rewards and punishments. In reference to the ends sought and the methods of treatment, theology is again divided into theoretical theology, which treats of the doctrines and principles of the divine life for the purpose of scientific and philosophical accuracy, and practical theology, which treats of the duties of the divine life for immediate practical ends. Theology is further divided, according to subject-matter and methods, into various branches, of which the principal are given below.

Wiktionary

1. n. The study of a god or gods and the truthfulness of religion in general.
2. n. An organized method of interpreting spiritual works and beliefs into practical form.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The science of God or of religion; the science which treats of the existence, character, and attributes of God, his laws and government, the doctrines we are to believe, and the duties we are to practice; divinity; (as more commonly understood) “the knowledge derivable from the Scriptures, the systematic exhibition of revealed truth, the science of Christian faith and life.”

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the rational and systematic study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truth
2. n. a particular system or school of religious beliefs and teachings
3. n. the learned profession acquired by specialized courses in religion (usually taught at a college or seminary)