Theology can be understood in two ways. It is either the science of existence or the science that begins with the testimony of God. Since the existence of God is not a matter that can be settled by the senses, theology begins by showing that God exists. Theology is the knowledge of God built on the testimony of God.
Theology and philosophy are distinct sciences. Philosophy studies substance in general. Since philosophy studies substance and substance is the basis for everything that exists, philosophy will also study existence. This is the reason why there are proofs for God’ s existence that are demonstrations. Demonstrations begin with sense experience and use deduction based on that sense experience. So if theology were merely knowledge of existence as such then it would overlap with philosophy.
Theology uses a different method than philosophy. Rather than beginning with sense experience, theology begins with what God has told us in a revealed text or mystical experience. This means that theology begins with three distinct problems. The first problem is proving the existence of God. Without God there is no such thing as theology. The second problem is showing that a particular text or kind of mystical experience is from God. Merely showing that God exists is not enough. Finally, the third problem is showing that other candidates for revealed text or mystical experience are not from God. Theology begins by dealing with all three of these problems.
Theology is the highest science simply because it is capable of giving us knowledge that we could not find out on our own. So we do not know the true value of theology without doing theology.
Source: Simply Philosophy
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