theology, philosophically oriented discipline of religious speculation and apologetics that is traditionally restricted, because of its origins and format, to Christianity but that may also encompass, because of its themes, other religions, including especially Islam and Judaism. The themes of theology include God, humanity, the world, salvation, and eschatology (the study of last times).
The subject matter of the discipline is treated in a number of other articles. For a survey of systematic interpretations of the divine or sacred, see agnosticism; atheism; deism; dualism; monotheism; nature worship; pantheism; polytheism; theism; and totemism. For a survey of major theological concerns within particular religions, see doctrine and dogma. For treatment of Judeo-Christian theology in the context of other aspects of the tradition, see biblical literature; Christianity; Eastern Orthodoxy; Judaism; Protestantism; and Roman Catholicism. For a treatment of Islamic theology, see Islam.