77. I prefer to speak of . . .

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1. I prefer to speak of "systematic theology" and "moral theology," rather than "dogmatics" and "ethics."

2. The first has to do with what Christians, by right, are to believe (= credenda), even as the second has to do with what Christians, by right, are to do (= agenda).

3. But since among the things that Christians, by right, are to believe are beliefs about what Christians, by right, are to do, systematic theology, as the critico-constructive statement of what Christians, by right, are to believe, includes moral theology, as the critico-constructive statement of what Christians, by right, are to do.

4. In this sense, it is indeed true, as Marxsen would say, that moral theology is an aspect of systematic theology—namely, that aspect in which the critico-constructive statement of the beliefs that are to be believed is a statement of the properly moral beliefs that are to be believed about the actions that are to be done.

n.d.