--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The study of theology, as it stands in…" description: "\"“The study of theology, as it stands in Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/thomas-paine-267_charlatanism_the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-ch_1382815.jpg" --- # The study of theology, as it stands in Christian churches… ![“The study of theology, as it stands in Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion. Not anything can be studied as a science, without our…” quote by Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/thomas-paine-267_charlatanism_the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-ch_1382815.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/thomas-paine-267_charlatanism_the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-ch_1382815.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/thomas-paine-267_charlatanism_the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-ch_1382815.jpg) > ““The study of theology, as it stands in Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion. Not anything can be studied as a science, without our being in possession of the principles upon which it is founded; and as this is the case with Christian theology, it is therefore the study of nothing.”” [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Thomas Paine argues that Christian theology lacks empirical foundations and cannot be treated as a science. **In simple terms:** Theology has no data or principles, so it’s not scientific. Key Takeaway Question the evidential basis of belief systems. Themes skepticism religion philosophy Mood critical inquisitive Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic debate - theological study - philosophical inquiry - public discourse - education Key Concepts empiricism epistemology faith Questions to Reflect On - What criteria make a discipline a science? - Can non‑empirical fields still yield valuable insights? A Different Perspective Critics may argue that theology uses different methods than natural sciences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Christian church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-church/) [Christian theology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-theology/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Theology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theology/) ## Related quotes > [The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-the-christian-churches-is-the-2/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-the-christian-churches-is-the/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [I do not believe that God intended the study of theology to be dry and boring. Theology is the study of God and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-grudem/i-do-not-believe-that-god-intended-the-study-of-theology-to-be-dry/) [Wayne Grudem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-grudem/) > [“If we look into the matter of how Christian theology rose in the beginning, the Christian Church was always already earlier, and thus even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schleiermacher/if-we-look-into-the-matter-of-how-christian-theology-rose-in-the/) [Friedrich Schleiermacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schleiermacher/) > [Exactly halfway between exegesis and practical theology stands dogmatics,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/exactly-halfway-between-exegesis-and-practical-theology-stands/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [Theology is a non-subject. I'm not saying that professors of theology are non-professors. They do interesting things, like study biblical history, biblical literature. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/theology-is-a-non-subject-i-m-not-saying-that-professors-of-theology/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“theology is not the study of ideas about God; it is the study of the living God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-f-bird/theology-is-not-the-study-of-ideas-about-god-it-is-the-study-of-the/) [Michael F. Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-f-bird/) > [Some fundamentalists go so far as to reject psychology as a disciplined study, which is unfortunate and polarizing. By definition, psychology is the study…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-t-anderson/some-fundamentalists-go-so-far-as-to-reject-psychology-as-a/) [Neil T Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-t-anderson/) > [Every theory in medicine, if medicine is to remain healthy, must be beaten out on the anvil of skepticism. So do we weed out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-tisdale-hobart/every-theory-in-medicine-if-medicine-is-to-remain-healthy-must-be/) [Alice Tisdale Hobart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-tisdale-hobart/) > [Charlatanism of some degree is indispensable to effective leadership.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/charlatanism-of-some-degree-is-indispensable-to-effective-leadership/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“Well, this is only a story, isn't it? I mean, our patrons, anyone who comes to this park, are they going to take this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-jones/well-this-is-only-a-story-isn-t-it-i-mean-our-patrons-anyone-who/) Pam Jones > [The higher the standard of education in a profession, the less marked will be the charlatanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-higher-the-standard-of-education-in-a-profession-the-less-marked/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [“He was scrupulous about the use of his title because, his investigations being so utterly unscientific, he hoped to borrow an air of respectability,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/he-was-scrupulous-about-the-use-of-his-title-because-his/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [You cannot institute, without peril of charlatanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/you-cannot-institute-without-peril-of-charlatanism/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Thought involves a little charlatanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-torma/thought-involves-a-little-charlatanism/) [Julien Torma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-torma/) ## More by Thomas Paine > [“No man is prejudiced in favour of a thing, knowing it to be wrong. He is attached to it on the belief of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/no-man-is-prejudiced-in-favour-of-a-thing-knowing-it-to-be-wrong-he/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“The laws of every country must be analogous to some common principle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-laws-of-every-country-must-be-analogous-to-some-common-principle/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The book called the Bible has been voted by men, and decreed by human laws to be the word of God; and the disbelief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-book-called-the-bible-has-been-voted-by-men-and-decreed-by-human/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-argue-with-a-person-who-has-renounced-the-use-of-reason-is-like/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Commerce diminishes the spirit, both of patriotism and military defence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/commerce-diminishes-the-spirit-both-of-patriotism-and-military-defence/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [What is it the Bible teaches us? - raping, cruelty, and murder. What is it the New Testament teaches us? - to believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/what-is-it-the-bible-teaches-us-raping-cruelty-and-murder-what-is-it/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/those-who-expect-to-reap-the-blessings-of-freedom-must-like-men/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“It has been the practice of all Christian commentators on the Bible, and of all Christian priests and preachers, to impose the Bible on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/it-has-been-the-practice-of-all-christian-commentators-on-the-bible/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Wisdom is not the purchase of a day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/wisdom-is-not-the-purchase-of-a-day/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Our citizenship in the United States is our national character. Our citizenship in any particular state is only our local distinction. By the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/our-citizenship-in-the-united-states-is-our-national-character-our/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/suspicion-is-the-companion-of-mean-souls-and-the-bane-of-all-good/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“To pass from the extremes of danger to safety-from the tumult of war to the tranquility of peace, though sweet in contemplation, requires a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-pass-from-the-extremes-of-danger-to-safety-from-the-tumult-of-war/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [What more does man want to know than that the hand or power that made these things is divine, is omnipotent? Let him believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/what-more-does-man-want-to-know-than-that-the-hand-or-power-that-made/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) [Explore all 772 Thomas Paine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## More Charlatanism quotes > [Thought involves a little charlatanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-torma/thought-involves-a-little-charlatanism/) [Julien Torma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-torma/) > [You cannot institute, without peril of charlatanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/you-cannot-institute-without-peril-of-charlatanism/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“He was scrupulous about the use of his title because, his investigations being so utterly unscientific, he hoped to borrow an air of respectability,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/he-was-scrupulous-about-the-use-of-his-title-because-his/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [The higher the standard of education in a profession, the less marked will be the charlatanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-higher-the-standard-of-education-in-a-profession-the-less-marked/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [“Well, this is only a story, isn't it? I mean, our patrons, anyone who comes to this park, are they going to take this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-jones/well-this-is-only-a-story-isn-t-it-i-mean-our-patrons-anyone-who/) Pam Jones > [Every theory in medicine, if medicine is to remain healthy, must be beaten out on the anvil of skepticism. So do we weed out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-tisdale-hobart/every-theory-in-medicine-if-medicine-is-to-remain-healthy-must-be/) [Alice Tisdale Hobart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-tisdale-hobart/) > [Charlatanism of some degree is indispensable to effective leadership.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/charlatanism-of-some-degree-is-indispensable-to-effective-leadership/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) Browse all 8 Charlatanism quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The study of theology, as it stands in Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion. Not anything can be studied as a science, without our being in possession of the principles upon which it is founded; and as this is the case with Christian theology, it is therefore the study of nothing.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Paine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-christian-churches-is-the-study/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Charlatanism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-christian-churches-is-the-study/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/thomas-paine-267_charlatanism_the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-ch_1382815.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/thomas-paine-267_charlatanism_the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-ch_1382815.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/thomas-paine-267_charlatanism_the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-ch_1382815.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The study of theology, as it stands in Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on…” — Thomas Paine", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Paine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The study of theology, as it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-christian-churches-is-the-study/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-study-of-theology-as-it-stands-in-christian-churches-is-the-study/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```