When Did Theology Develop?

The term "Theology," as we know it today, is a product of the Middle Ages; though its first known use dates to around the second century with Clement of Alexander.

However, the concept of "theology" began to develop very early in the history of the Church as the Christian faith had to be explained to the Jews and the gentiles. It was especially important for the Greeks, Romans, and other gentile who had little understanding of the Old Testament.

"Kerygma," the Greek word for "preaching" or "proclaiming," is the term that is used to describe the teaching of the Apostle and early teaching of the Church as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles or the Didache. The Apostles were presenting the message of faith, their experience, believe, and revelation; they were not analyzing it per se. (Though in certain instances, St. John the Evangelist and St. Paul were very close to theological discourse, as we use the term today.)

St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th Century first presented theology in the manner that we know it today with the Summa Theologiae (also Summa Theologica.)