Dele A Ilesanmi

This paper examines the role of empirical inquiry in theological and biblical research through the evaluative lens of Faith Theology—a non-empirical, revelatory approach to divine truth. While empirical inquiry functions as the primary epistemic method of scientific research, faith is the epistemic tool by which the believer understands and interprets divine truth in biblical-theological research as revealed in canonical Scriptures. The paper argues that, while empirical methods may assist in contextual or historical dimensions of theology, the understanding of divine truth cannot be subject to sensory verification but to faith-based revelation. It asserts that Scripture, as an epistemic locus of special revelation, demonstrates that divine understanding is revealed, not discovered. Though this study does not assert that empiricism is false, it only exposes its inadequacy for theological knowledge—it lacks the epistemic power to reach beyond the physical to the metaphysical, which can only be attained through faith-informed, fideistic methods. Hence, theological research must rise beyond exclusive empirical dependence to embrace a faith-centred fideistic approach to biblical-theological research as its authentic method of knowing divine truth. The study adopts a sola scriptura methodology, employing a faith-theological evaluation model that integrates scriptural review and theological reflection to examine and interpret divine truth. This paper reveals the inherent limitations of empirical research, which is confined to the observable, measurable, and sensory dimensions of reality. The study recommends Faith Theology as a non-empirical, revelatory approach to divine truth and concludes that empirical science cannot cross the boundary into the invisible order. Keywords: faith theology, empirical inquiry, epistemology, biblical-theological research, scriptural review, theo-theoretical framework.