Systematic Theology 2 Midterm

Lecture Notes: Early Departures from the Jesus of the Bible (Arianism/Docetism)?

Maintaining absolute uniqueness and transcendence of God God cannot share his being with another "person" Influenced by Platonic ideas of the absolute separation between God and the material world (Jesus as "demiurge")

Lecture Notes: Christ as a Sinless Human (agreements/disagreements)

- Agreement: He did not sin. - •Disagreement: -Could Christ have sinned? (peccability VS impeccability) -Did Christ have a fallen human nature? •Thomas Torrance: the redemption of our fallen nature requires Christ's assumption of our fallen nature •"the unassumed is the unredeemed"? -Arguments against a "fallen incarnation" •Seems to lack explicit biblical support •Implies corruption is essential to humanity •Not required for real temptation (unfallen nature intensifies temptation?) •Redemption requires human nature, not fallen human nature •Risks separating the human nature of Christ from his one divine person

Reading Guide 2: What are 3 features of "Christology from Below" as identified by Erickson.

- Historical inquiry behind the kerygma is both possible and necessary - History is unitary, not dualistic. There is not special realm of redemptive or sacred history. - Establishing the deity of Christ through this approach is more difficult or questionable.

Lecture Notes: Eternal & Double Procession:A Difference in Languages?

- In the Greek work means a procession from a single source, principal, or cause. --Implies 2 Gods or no true distinction between Father and the Son. - In Latin it means a word without the idea of a procession from a single source.

Lecture Notes: Eternal & Double Procession? Basic Exegetical Argument for Filioque

- John 14:16-17 Jesus asks for, Father gives. - John 14:26 Father sends in Jesus name - John 15:26 Jesus sends the spirit and the Spirit proceeds from the Father; Spirit bears witness about Jesus - John 16:7 Jesus sends the Spirit -John 20:22 Jesus breathes the Spirit - Acts 2:33 Jesus receives and then pours out the Spirit.

Lecture Notes: Foreknowledge and Election (historical look)

- Less developed in Patristic Era, but typical understanding was that God's work in eternity of predestining individuals to salvation on the basis of God's foreknowledge. - Pelagius follows this assumption but denying original sin and any limitation on natural human ability to please God. Augustine tries to respond to this with an unconditional election view. - Dominant Middle Ages promoted Augustinian view. - With rise of humanism became a sitr in conditional election view point.

Lecture Notes: History of the Doctrine ofThe Work of the Holy Spirit

- Not developed until after the Reformation. - answered personhood and divinity of the spirit in the trinitarian debates of the 4th and 5th century. But work of spirit is still undebated. - personal spiritual experience was a part of normal Christian life, though it was associated with the elite. - before Constantine, spiritual experiences were associated with martyrs, then hermits, than mystics. - Middle ages began a focus on study and prayer. Personal experience of relationship with God was experienced sacramentally. - reformation began the discussion of doctrine. - Modern evangelicalism: first and second great awakening.

Reading Guide 2: What is the Four interpretations which Pannenberg argues the Jews of Jesus day would have made of Jesus' resurrection from the dead.

- Resurrection would have meant that the end of the world had begun. - would have been evidence that God himself confirmed Jesus' pre-Easter activity. - would have established that Son of Man is none other than the man of Jesus. - Resurrection would have meant that God has been ultimately revealed in Jesus.

Lecture Notes: Foreknowledge and Election (Luis de Molina and his "middle knowledge")

- Three categories of God's knowledge: Necessary truths (do not depend upon God willing them to be so) Free Knowledge are truth that result from God willing them to be so. Middle Knowledge are truths of all possible true possible true realities. - God is able to predetermine all things in space and time, including the free choices of individuals, on the basis of his knowledge of all possible worlds and his choice to actualize the one world in which all the free choices which he desires to occur will occur. Nonetheless, the individual choices are unconstrained by God (and therefore, "free")

Reading Guide 2: What is Erickson's hybrid model of the "from above" and "from below"?

- affirms God's revelation in both historical events and in interpretations of these events. - Starting point is from "above" then serving it as a hypothesis to interpret and integrate the data supplied by historical research.

Reading Guide 2: What are 3 features of "Christology from Above"

- based on the kerygma (church's proclamation regarding the Christ) - Marked preference for the writings of John's gospel and Paul over the synoptics - Faith in Christ that is not based on or legitimized by rational proof since the sphere of natural and historical investigation and consequently cannot be conclusively proven.

Lecture Notes: Monothelite-Dyothelite Controversy (Arguments for Dyothelitism)

-A clear person-nature distinction -The "faculty or ability of will" is an attribute of nature, meaning that God the Son Incarnate has the ability both to will as man and to will as God; while the "act of willing" is a work of a person ("In Christ, there is one will-er (the Son) who has two wills") -Some passages do seem to speak of Christ having a divine will (e.g. John 5:21 "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will." or Garden of Gethsemane) -Attributes of each nature (including the ability of willing) are communicated to the person, not between the natures

Lecture Notes: Communicatio Idiomatum (Should Christology also use the same concept as the Trinitarian mutual interpenetration of persons?)

-Answer: No, because in contrast to the Trinity, in Christ, we have a communion of natures not persons -Historically: "communication of attributes/properties" - the attributes of each nature are communicated/shared to the one person -All the works of Christ are performed by the one, eternal, divine person of the Son with the cooperation of his two natures -Result? The Son in his human nature often does divine works and exhibits divine powers by the indwelling power of the Spirit, even if he could and sometimes does those divine works from his own divine nature.

Lecture Notes: Monothelite-Dyothelite Controversy (Arguments for Monothelitism)

-Biblical examples of Jesus possessing 2 wills lacking -"Persons" engage in acts of willing, not "natures" -Two wills implies two persons -Two wills implies either possible opposition between (unbiblical) or absolute conformity between (superfluous) -Even allowing for Jesus having two wills in one sense, in another sense, Jesus' unity of person also requires volitional unity

Lecture Notes: Anypostasis-Enhypostasis Distinction (Implications of Enhypostasia)

-Christ had personal identity as a male human in the person of the eternal divine Son -All 3 persons of the Trinity were involved in the incarnation according to their mode of relation (inseparable operations) -The incarnate Son shares with all people true human nature (though unfallen) but the Son is only united hypostatically to one particular human nature (humanity not automatically united with the Son) -The eternal Son now and forever lives a fully human (and a fully divine) life -"Enhypostatic Union" gains further coherence from the Imago Dei.

Lecture Notes: Chalcedonies Definition (5 points)

-Christ is both fully God and fully man -Hypostasis = "person" (in contrast, Nicaea used hypostasis interchangeably with ousia ["nature"]) -Christ's human nature did not have a human "person" (hypostasis) of its own ("anhypostasia") [persons act through natures; 1 eternal divine person acting through 2 natures] -The union of the 2 natures does not obscure the full integrity of either nature -The Son took to himself a complete human nature

Lecture Notes: Extent/Intent of the Atonement (Key Theological Arguments for Un/Limited Atonement: Best of both worlds- what does it embrace)

-Embraces the Bona fide offer purpose/intention claim [an Unlimited Atonement argument] that Christ died for the purpose of securing the bona fide offer of salvation to all people everywhere. Furthermore, the command to preach the gospel to all is only a genuine offer if Christ atoned for all (universal sufficiency and [hypothetical] efficiency). - •Embraces the Part-to-Whole argument (Unlimited atonement argument) -Yes, some passages say Christ died for his own (his sheep/church), but no passage says he died only for the elect. His death for his own is then part of the larger whole of humanity for which he also died. •Embraces the Necessity of Saving Faith argument (Unlimited atonement argument) -If Christ only died definitely and certainly to save a certain people (the elect) and not merely to make their salvation possible, then it follows that nothing else is needed for the elect to be saved. But in fact, saving faith is required for salvation, meaning that the general benefit of Christ's death need not be limited to only a certain group, since the personal faith of that group is necessary for salvation. •Embraces the Cosmic Triumph purpose -"For in [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." •Embraces BOTH the Limitless scope purpose AND Limited scope purpose ("sufficient for all, efficient only for the elect")

Lecture Notes: Inclusivism and Pluralism (Spirit boundaried by the salvific work of the Son? four options)

-Exclusivism: only those who have consciously received Christ are saved -Inclusivism: Christ is the only savior, but some who have not consciously received Christ respond with saving faith to the work of the Spirit in general revelation, either in nature or in the partial truth of other religions (Roman Catholic Church's official position, demonstrating the compatibility of the filioque & pneumatological inclusivism) -Pluralism: Christ is not the only savior but is only one among many legitimate paths to salvation through which the Spirit is drawing people unto salvation -Universalism: all people will be saved eventually, apart from their response to general or special revelation in this life, either because of God's ultimate grace in general or because of the ultimate universal efficacy of Christ's saving work

Lecture Notes: Evangelical Functional Kenotic Christology.

-FKC agrees with classical Christology in rejecting the "essential-accidental" distinction of "ontological kenotic Christology" as illegitimate. •FKC agrees with "ontological kenotic Christology" in defining "person" [rather than "nature"] as the location of the capacities of mind and will and, therefore, endorsing monothelitism. •FKC disagrees with classical Christology by denying that the incarnate Son continues to exercise his divine attributes in upholding the universe and in working miracles (the Extra) •FKC promotes a "Spirit-Christology" that understands Jesus' display of supernatural knowledge and power as done always by the power of the Spirit, never by the use of his own divine attributes.

Lecture Notes: Extent/Intent of the Atonement (Key Theological Arguments for Un/Limited Atonement: Best of both worlds- what does it reject?)

-Rejects the claim that God's universal salvation desire requires unlimited atonement [an Unlimited Atonement argument] - instead: God's 2 wills [a Limited Atonement argument]. In Scripture, there is both a sense in which God loves all and a sense in which God only loves his people. -Rejects the claim that God's elective purposes requires strictly limited atonement [a Limited Atonement argument (i.e. definite election requires strictly definite atonement)]

Lecture Notes: Conceptions of Salvation (Liberation Theology)

-Source of problem requiring salvation? •Global capitalism and other expressions of the stronger oppressing the weaker -Means of salvation? •Working for societal change (violent revolution, if necessary) -What will salvation achieve? •The overthrow of unjust, corrupting, and oppressive social structures -Tends to assume a doctrine of universalism and the present status of all people in Christ while focusing on addressing present political/social realities

Lecture Notes: Foreknowledge and Election (Theodore Beza's view of the logical order of God's eternal decrees)

-Supralapsarianism ("before the fall"): [double predestination --God's works of election and reprobation as symmetrical. -Infralapsarianism ("under the fall"): [God's works of election and reprobation as asymmetrical -Sublapsarianism ("under the fall"

Lecture Notes: Early Departures from the Jesus of the Bible (Council of Nicaea in response to Arianism)?

-The Son is "of the substance (ousia) of the Father" and is "con-substantial (homo-ousios) with the Father." -The Son is "begotten, not made" (gennetos non genetos) and "begotten as only-begotten of the Father." [eternal generation of the Son] - "True God of true God" - not merely "from God" -Affirmation of the necessity of the full deity of Christ placed within Christ's work of salvation

Lecture Notes: Filioque Debate Historically (Eastern Church's Rejection)

-The addition should have required an ecumenical council -The Father's "monarchy" in the Trinity does not allow it: The Father as the sole principle, source, and cause of divinity -The Father is the monarch and the Son and the Spirit are his "two hands" (Irenaeus) -If (as the East understands the West to say) both the Father and the Son are equally the source/origin/cause of the Holy Spirit, then (1) the Father and Son are not sufficiently distinct/the Father's monarchy is compromised, (2) modalism (rather than true three-personhood of the Godhead) is lurking, and (3) the Holy Spirit appears to be ontologically subordinate to the Father and the Son

Lecture Notes: The Chalcedonian Definition (3 Criticisms)

-Use of terminology (ousia, hypostasis) from Greek philosophy distorts biblical teaching -Dualistic presentation of Christ subsisting in two natures, without a coherent sense of how these two natures relate to one another -Docetic presentation of Christ since he is said to assume a human nature "without a human person" (anhypostasia)

Lecture Notes: Filioque Debate Historically (Western Church's Critique of the East)

-Without the filioque, a clear relationship between the Son and the Spirit is lacking -The lack of a clear relationship between the persons of the Son and Spirit produces a lack of clarity in the relationship of the work of the Son and the work of the Spirit. The West thinks this explains an unhealthy disconnect in the East between the mystical work of the Spirit and the verbal revelatory work of the Son [Eastern mysticism] [Pneumatological Inclusivism?] -The East's way of conceiving of the immanent Trinity (Father's monarchy) tends toward ontological subordination within the Trinity (Eternal Ontological Subordination) -The East argues that the biblical evidence that coordinates the work of the Father and the Son in relation to the Spirit (part of the West's evidence for double procession) actually only concerns God's "energies" (economic relations to creation) rather than God's "essence" (immanent being and relationships within the Trinity). Both God's essence and energies are uncreated. In this distinction between God's "essence" and "energies," God is only knowable in his energies but is unknowable in his essence. -The West believes that such a disjunction between the unknowability of the immanent Trinity (essence) and the knowability of the economic Trinity (energies) leaves us without any access to knowing God truly

Lecture Notes: Implications of communicatio idiomatum

-implies that in assuming a human nature the Son fully lived a human life while continuing fully to live a divine life outside (extra) his human nature. --Therefore, the life the Son now lives is NOT completely circumscribed by the limits of his human nature. --In the incarnation, the Son not only retained his divine attributes but continued to exercise them in Trinitarian relation outside (extra) his human nature. •Totus in carne et totus extra carne •Incarnation as an extension of, not temporary abdication of, the Son's empire (kenosis as concealing [krypsis] rather than abdication)

Lecture Notes: History of the Doctrine ofThe Work of the Holy Spirit (Reformation distinctives)

-•The Reformation, with its emphasis on the sufficiency of Scripture for knowing theological truth, also spurred additional development of the doctrine of the Spirit's illumination of the proper meaning of Scripture for the reader(s) •The Reformation did not originally encourage individual spirituality or private interpretation but was a call to a personal commitment to a shared doctrine and pattern of worship, a communal pattern which included family worship as well as a public, group practice of Bible study rather than Bible study as typically the work of an isolated individual. •In the 1600s, with the rise of Puritanism and Pietism, a more individually-focused spirituality and practice of Bible study became more common

Reading Guide 5: Describe in one sentence each, how the Holy Spirit is pivotal in God's revelation in the prophetic word, in the gospel word, and in the incarnate Word.

1 Peter 1:11 is clear that the foretelling prophetic word of the OT was instigated by the Holy Spirit, revealing both Christ's humiliation and glorification. 1 Peter 1:12 goes on to state that "those who preached the good news to you" preached that gospel word "by the Holy Spirit," making it not merely the word of men but the word of God. Christ the incarnate Word proclaims the word of God because the Spirit has been given him "without measure," the Spirit exegeting the Son even as he exegeted the Father, the Spirit witnessing to Christ and bringing to remembrance Christ's teachings.

Lecture Notes: Foreknowledge and Election (Karl Barth's view)

1.God dynamically elects Christ [Christ is both the electing God and the elected human being - Barth's redefinition of "double predestination] as the sufferer for and Redeemer of all humanity 2.God dynamically elects the community of all humanity in Christ 3.God dynamically elects all individual humans, irrespective of their rejection •Universalism? Barth denies by appealing to God's ultimate freedom

Lecture Notes: Monothelite-Dyothelite Controversy (What did the Third Council of Constantinople affirm?

Affirm: dyothelitism -Necessary for the full humanity of Christ (KEY: the capacity/faculty of "will" identified with nature rather than person [agent who wills]) -Therefore, necessary for salvation ("what is not assumed is not healed") -Necessary for Trinitarian theology which affirms one will in God but three persons of the Triune God (Again, KEY: identifying will (capacity of will) with nature and not with person (agent who wills)

Reading Guide 5: In 2 to 3 sentences, describe some of Letham's suggestions for bringing a resolution between the Western and the Eastern church's on the question of the filioque clause.

Both sides need to recognize that the motivation behind the other side's view is good: the West motivated to uphold the consubstantial unity and intimacy of the Trinity, the East motivated to maintain a clear distinction between the Father and the Son and a clear monarchy of the Father in the Godhead. Letham sees Athanasius and Cyril as providing historical help in describing the Spirit as proceeding from the Father in the Son or through the Son, thereby maintaining both the monarchy of the Father and the Son's clear and close involvement in the procession of the Spirit. Letham believes we need to begin with the 3 persons (as the East does), while then recognizing the consubstantiality and the perichoretic relationship of the 3 persons, even while maintaining the monarchy of the Father ("from the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit" - or perhaps the monarchy of the whole Trinity).

Reading Guide 5: In 2-3 sentences, describe Calvin's understanding of the "witness of the Spirit" in giving the believer a subjective, inner testimony of the Scripture's truthfulness and authenticity.

Calvin understood the secret witness of the Spirit to a believer in authenticating Scripture to be a witness stronger than reason. In this witness, the objective Spirit works with the objective Word in order to shape the believer subjectively toward confidence and believing certainty. Calvin does not have any strong proof texts for this concept of the "internal testimony" of the Spirit concerning the truthfulness of Scripture, but Cole thinks doctrine is consistent with Scripture.

Reading Guide 5: describe some of the other key points that Letham makes on the filioque debate

Communion between the Eastern and Western churches was officially ended in 1054, with many issues contributing, but the debate over the filioque clause being the biggest issue. The filoque clause was not included in the Niceno-Constantinople Creed (381) or the Chalcedonian Statement (451), but began to be added in Spain in the 500s in response to the threat of Arianism and was officially adopted by the Council of Toledo (581). The Roman Church did not add it to the Creed until 1014, with the schism between the East and West occurring 40 years later. The Western church, in the Council of Lyons (1274), proclaimed the filioque clause as dogma. The biblical picture of the relations between the Spirit and the Father and the Spirit and the Son is complex, with the Spirit hearing from, receiving from, proceeding from, and being sent by the Father and with the Spirit taking from, being sent by and in the name of, resting on, speaking of, and glorifying the Son. The filoque clause was understood to safeguard the consubstantial identity of the Father and the Son, with the Holy Spirit proceeding from both as one principle of origination.

Reading Guide 6: What does Erickson commend and critique within the modern spiritual warfare movement?

Erickson commends the modern spiritual warfare movement (SWM) for calling attention to the reality of the spiritual struggle that is going on, a struggle that the Bible repeatedly calls Christians to engage in. Erickson critiques the SWM for de-emphasizing that Christ has already decisively overcome the forces of evil in his death and resurrection, even though the fullness of that victory will only be realized in the eschaton. Erickson also critiques the SWM for reducing disease too much merely to the result of demonic influence, minimizing the insights of modern medicine in identifying other valid causes of illness, both physical and psychological. Erickson also critiques the practices of the SWM, many which seem to have greater resemblance to magical formulas and the practices of animism than to the NT picture of demonic encounter and warfare.

Reading Guide 2: Describe in 2-3 sentences Erickson's perspective on the question of whether or not Jesus could have sinned (peccability versus impeccability).

Erickson states that while Christ could have hypothetically sinned, it was certain he would not. While his struggles and temptations were genuine, the outcome of his resistance and perseverance was always certain. Christ truly knew the full force of temptation because he never succumbed to it. True and original humanity was not sinful and hence Christ true humanity did not require him to be sinful - in fact, his lack of sin makes him more human (in terms of God's original design and purposes) than we are who have sinned.

Reading Guide 4: describe some of the other key points that Erickson makes concerning the atonement (2)?

Erickson understands God's holiness to include fully both his love and his justice, with his moral law being an expression of his very nature and human rebellion against him requiring the eternal punishment of death, a penalty humans can pay no other way. Christ alone, as fully God and fully human, is able to offer himself as a substitutionary sacrifice on behalf of all humanity (fulfilling the OT sacrificial system). Some objections to the penal substitution theory of the atonement (which Erickson believes is the central theme of the atonement) include the claims that it: distorts the nature of the Godhead, is immoral in using the means of substitution, exhibits divine hypocrisy in God's unwillingness to forgive as he requires us to, is a culturally conditioned idea (medieval feudalism) which should not be imposed on other cultures, and is too individualistic a view of the atonement. Erickson believes that while penal substitution is the central theme of the atonement, it also fits well with the valid aspects of the other 5 theories he examined.

Reading Guide 3: In 2 to 3 sentences, describe McKinley's argument that Christ had a fully human will (and was truly tempted) but was nonetheless unable to sin.

Following the Dyothelite model, with the capacity of willing located in the nature, Jesus had a fully human will and was truly tempted in his humanity. But since his fully human nature is personalized by the divine Son and since God cannot sin, then it was impossible for the divine Son to sin, even as he truly personalized a fully human nature, including a human will. This identity as truly human and yet impeccable also points to the destiny of glorified humanity who will have glorified human persons subsisting in glorified human nature - truly human and yet no longer able to sin.

Reading Guide 2: According to Erickson, both Barth and Bultmann agree that the historical facts of the earthly life of the man Jesus are not significant for faith. What then is significant for faith according to Barth and Bultmann respectively?

For Barth, supernatural revelation is significant for faith, irrespective of the historical facts of Christ's earthly life. For Bultmann, the existential content of the preaching of the early church is significant for faith, regardless of what actually happened regarding the historical Jesus.

Reading Guide 5: In 2 to 3 sentences, describe the ecclesiastical and theological grounds for the Eastern Church's rejection of the filioque clause.

For the filioque clause to be added to the Niceo-Constantinople Creed should haverequired an ecumenical council as had taken place in Nicea (325), Constantinople (381), and Chalcedon (451). Theologically, if both the Father and the Son are equally the source/origin/cause of the Holy Spirit, then the Father and Son are not sufficiently distinct and the Father's monarchy is compromised. This conception can incline toward a modalism that undercuts the true three-personhood of the Godhead on the one hand and an ontological subordination of the Holy Spirit on the other hand.required an ecumenical council as had taken place in Nicea (325), Constantinople (381), and Chalcedon (451). Theologically, if both the Father and the Son are equally the source/origin/cause of the Holy Spirit, then the Father and Son are not sufficiently distinct and the Father's monarchy is compromised. This conception can incline toward a modalism that undercuts the true three-personhood of the Godhead on the one hand and an ontological subordination of the Holy Spirit on the other hand.

Reading Guide 6: describe some of the other key points that Erickson makes in Chapter about Spirit in prophecy.

Grudem argues that the NT counterpart to OT prophets are not NT prophets but instead NT apostles, who, like OT prophets, declared authoritatively revealed truth that, when recorded, became Scripture. Pannenberg conceptualized the Trinity as a "force field," with the Holy Spirit being the "force field" which unites the three persons, a proposal attempting to develop a "rational" theology which would speak more coherently to a scientific mindset. Pannenberg wanted to emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit in giving life to all creation, a relationship between God and the world that some have labeled as "pan-en-theism." Erickson believes that Pannenberg blurs the line between theological and scientific concepts. Taken literally, Erickson believes Pannenberg's idea has a tendency to make God material or a manifestation of the material. Erickson questions the biblical evidence that supports the proposals for pneumatological inclusivism.

Reading Guide 6: What is Grudem's understanding of New Testament prophecy and how does Erickson critique it?

Grudem believes that NT prophecy, unlike OT prophecy which involved divinely inspired, authoritative, and infallible forth telling, is a generalized, imperfect, impure, and not to be regarded as equal in authority to Scripture. Erickson acknowledges that this view commendably reminds us of the active and personal role of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life, but questions the subjective and experiential basis of the concept. Erickson also believes that the distinction and discontinuity between the NT church context and the church today needs to be taken into greater consideration, such that a cessation of NT prophecy needs to be considered. Erickson also believes that the concept of "erroneous prophecy" is problematic. Erickson also thinks that the NT indicates that the post-apostolic work of the Spirit is better understood not as new prophetic revelation but instead as illumination of previous prophetic/apostolic revelation.

Reading Guide 6: In 2 to 3 sentences, describe how Hildegard of Bingen used the traditional 4 elements of fire, air, water, and earth in her description of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Hildegard understands the 4 elements in nature to be necessarily inter-related and when found cooperatively balanced in humans, engender health. Likewise, she understands the balance of these qualities (moistness, dryness, heat, and cold) to produce spiritual health as well, with the Holy Spirit bringing a beneficial combination of moisture and fiery heat. Sin is the ultimate dryness and coldness, with the Holy Spirit providing an infusion of moisture and warmth that produces spiritual fruit but cannot be controlled by human effort.

Reading Guide 6: describe some of the other key points made by Schroeder.

Hildegard's pneumatology eludes precise systematization. Most of her language about the Holy Spirit is derived from scriptural images of fire, breath, anointing oil, and baptismal waters. She follows Augustine in understanding the Spirit as the one binding together the Father and the Son. To describe the perichoretic relationship between the 3 persons, she employs the imagery of the persons' mutual bathing of the others. She believed that humans could be taught much about the invisible world by careful observation of the visible world, leading to her own extensive natural observations and use of images of nature. While the correct balance of moisture and fiery heat leads to spiritual health, an unhealthy imbalance is associated with the demonic, possessing the fire of ferocity without the Holy Spirit's downpouring rain. The Spirit is not only active in the cleansing, nourishing, and renewing the church and the individual soul, but also the larger created order, dispensing both special and common grace. Hildegard had a personal experience at age 42 in which she experienced enlightenment by the Holy Spirit which gave her a new ability to interpret Scripture.

Reading Guide 3: describe some of the reasons Crisp gives for the inadequacy of Jenson's claim that the pre-incarnate "Word without flesh" never existed but that the Word/God the Son is identical to Christ/Jesus.

If the Word is identical to Christ (not maintaining the classical distinction between the person [the Word] and the person subsisting in a human nature [the Christ]), then it seems difficult to insulate the divine nature [divine impassability and immutability] from the changes occurring in the human nature. His view also seems to make it difficult to avoid addition of the human nature to the divine nature [thereby by replacing the doctrine of divine simplicity with some sort of the compositional view of the person of the Son].

Reading Guide 7: In 2 to 4 sentences, restate Wind's 4th presupposition for doing biblical theology

In doing biblical theology, we should look for the divinely authoritative meaning in what the author wrote in his text. In focusing on discerning the human author's intended meaning from the text, we are receiving God's intended meaning. This intended meaning/significance is fixed and unchanging. But this must be distinguished from the reader discerned meaning and personal significance. No matter how the reader understands the text or responds personally, the author's intended significance is both fixed and divinely authoritative.

Reading Guide 7: In 2 to 4 sentences, describe some of the history of the debate between the Evangelistic Priority and Equal Priority positions.

In the expansion of Protestant missions in 1800s, both the Evangelistic Priority and Equal Priority positions were promoted. With the rise of the "social gospel" in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the equal priority position became distinctly "modernist" in theology and the evangelistic priority position became distinctly "fundamentalist." After World War II, Carl Henry called the Fundamentalists to re-engage in social action and engagement through the neo-evangelical movement. In 1974, the Lausanne Covenant put forward an evangelistic priority position that also strongly highlighted the need for Christian social action. In the last 40 years, this debate has continued, with more evangelicals, including the Lausanne Movement moving toward an equal priority positon.

Lecture Notes: Who was the "active subject" (person) of the incarnation?

In time, the official answer was: the person of the divine Son assumed full human nature (body, soul, mind, will, emotion) without an additional human person ("the Logos [eternal person of the Son] became flesh [full humanity]" John 1:14) - one person "subsisting in" or "personalizing" two natures -Not the divine nature becoming flesh nor the persons of the Father or the Spirit becoming flesh, but the Son became flesh -The incarnation as the personal act of the divine Son •In Christian theology, the following terminology was standardized by the time of the Synod of Alexandria (362 AD) -Hypostasis/Prosopon (Greek), persona (Latin) = "person" -Ousia/Physis (Greek), essentia/substantia (Latin) = "nature"

Reading Guide 4: Making reference to the reading selections, describe some of the basic elements of the Ransom/Christus Victor theory of the atonement, including reference to the "fish-hook"/"mousetrap" elements that were common to the theory in the Patristic era.

Irenaeus (130-200) argued that God acted justly in ransoming humanity from Satan's grasp, freeing humanity not by force but by persuasion, so that principles of justice would be upheld. Rufinus (345-410) argued that God was not able to free humanity by any legitimate means, but instead had to employ divine deception in which the humanity of Christ was the bait, but hidden inside was the divinity of Christ as the hook. Augustine (354-430) proposes the same idea as Rufinius, instead using the analogy of a mousetrap, the means by which Satan was defeated (though initially thinking himself victorious) and humanity ransomed

Reading Guide 4: After considering the position that Christ's atonement has not only accomplished present forgiveness of sins but also present healing from sickness, Erickson presents his response. Restate Erickson's position in 2-3 sentences.

Jesus healed during his ministry on earth and he still heals today. However, the healing he does then and now should not conceived as a vicarious bearing of our sicknesses in the same way that the cross is a vicarious bearing of our sins. While sickness is an effect of the Fall and while the atonement ultimately reverses all the effects of the Fall, the certain reversal of the reality of all human sickness will only occur at Christ's return and should not be understood as a guaranteed experience in this age before Christ's return.

Reading Guide 4: In 4 to 6 sentences, describe some of the other key points that Erickson makes regarding the role of Christ.

Jesus' revealing (prophetic) ministry was like the earlier prophets in that he was sent from God to speak God's Word. His revealing ministry was unlike earlier prophets in that he was the pre-existent, divine Son, who revealed the Father in a unique way. All three of Jesus' roles in doing his work must be kept together and not separated. Christ is ruling now, even though many still do not acknowledge his rulership. Erickson mentions 5 views of Christ's "emptying" in the incarnation: gave up divine attributes, gave up some divine attributes, gave up independent exercise of divine attributes, maintained independent exercise of divine attributes but normally chose not to exercise them, maintained independent exercise of divine attributes but pretended he didn't. Erickson rejects the idea that Christ descended into Hades upon his death as an idea lacking sufficient biblical support.

Reading Guide 2: What are the 2 terms which Kahler introduced into Christological thinking and give a one sentence description of each

Kahler introduced the terms "the historical [objective-historical (historisch)] Jesus" and "the historic [existential-historical (geschichtlich)] Jesus." The "historical Jesus" concerns the objective, empirical facts of history as concerns Jesus. The "historic Jesus" concerns the personal and subjective significance that Jesus has for an individual or has had within and impacted history significantly.

Reading Guide 2: In 2-3 sentences, describe from Lessing meant by the "ugly ditch" of history

Lessing emphasized true religion (theology and philosophy, morality and metaphyiscs) as being based in that which can be demonstrated conclusively by reason and since "truths of history" cannot be demonstrated in such a matter, therefore historical truths have no place in theology and philosophy. He based this conclusion on his perception of a "great ugly ditch" which cannot be crossed between "the accidental truths of history" and the "necessary truths of reason." Since only reason and not historical events can produce what Lessing recognizes as reliable knowledge that is universally true, therefore historical questions can be dismissed as insignificant.

Reading Guide 3: Describe some other key arguments that Crisp makes about the divine nature.

Logos Asarkos is the concept that the Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, pre-exists his incarnate, creaturely state, existing without flesh. Jenson opposes the concept because of God's timeless nature such that the Son is eternally incarnate as the Christ and therefore the Christ is identical to the Son and there is no logos asarkos. Crisp argues that equating the Son and the Christ makes it impossible to avoid the implication that Christ (who, unlike the other divine persons, possesses a human body and soul) is a composite entity [rather than metaphysically simple] and is distinguished from the other divine persons. Jenson cannot avail himself of the "reduplication strategy" such that when the Son suffers, he suffers only his human nature and not in his divine nature since the divine nature cannot suffer, since he blurs the person/nature distinction when he equates the Son with the Christ.

Reading Guide 6: In 2 to 3 sentences, according to Ferguson, describe the interpretation of the Pentecost events as given by the Gospel of Luke.

Luke sees Pentecost as an aspect of the work of Christ, with Jesus' relationship with the Spirit traced through 3 stages: conception by the Spirit, being baptized by the Spirit, and baptizing others with the Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is a central element in the New Covenant promises, with the gift first given to Christ so that he can pour it out upon his church. Pentecost is also cast as a reversal of the judgment of Babel and of the effects of sin.

Reading Guide 2: In 2-3 sentences, give a brief explanation behind Luther's use of the phrase "God has died" or "the crucified God"

Luther embraced the traditional concept of the "communication idiomatum" in which the attributes of the Son's divine nature are communicated to the Son and the attributes of the Son's human nature are communicated to the Son but the attributes of the divine nature are never communicated to the human nature or vice versa - the natures are united in the one person, yet always distinct and unmixed. But since the attributes of the human nature (including the ability to suffer and die) are truly communicated to the one eternal person of the Son, we can truly say that "God has been crucified" and "God has died." God has died only as the eternal person of the Son is united to his true humanity, and yet it is still true to say that "God has died."

Lecture Notes: Early Departures from the Jesus of the Bible (Ebionism/ Adoptionism)?

Maintaining a Jewish monotheism and embracing some form of ontological subordinationism in the Father-Son relationship

Reading Guide 4: Making reference to the reading selections, describe some of the basic elements of the idea of the theosis/deification of humanity as the goal of Christ's saving work, an idea still common within the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Maximus (580-662) understood the ages to be divided into the work of God becoming human and then the work of humanity becoming divine, on account of their union with Christ. This becoming divine means reflecting God's glory perfectly, even while never becoming divine in nature (perhaps another term to describe this idea would be "glorification"). Simeon the New Theologian (949-1022) suggests that in being united with Christ, believers do actually share in his divine nature. Lossky (1904-1955) spoke of the descent (katabasis) of the divine person in the incarnation and the ascent (anabasis) of the human person by the Holy Spirit.

In 2 to 3 sentences, according to McKinley, what were the different ways in the 600s AD that Monothelites and Dyothelites located the will within human and divine existence?

Monothelites rejected 2 wills in Christ on the premise that a human will in Christ could be contrary to God and liable to sin while Dyothelites understood that Christ's sinless human will was in complete harmony with his divine will. Monothelites moved the location of the capacity of willing from the nature to the person while Dyothelites placed the capacity of willing in the nature rather than the person. The Dyothelites location of the capacity of willing in nature undergirded the views of 2 wills personalized by the Son and 1 divine will personalized fully by the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. If there is one will in the person of the Son, this would also imply three will in the Trinity (corresponding to the 3 persons).

Reading Guide 3: In 2 to 3 sentences, how does Wellum describe Ontological Kenotic Christology's (OKC's) redefinition of Christ's divine nature?

OKC makes a distinction between God's essential attributes and God's accidental attributes, such that the Son could empty himself of his accidental attributes in the incarnation and still remain fully God. The accidental attributes which OKC says the Son emptied himself of are those he freely and temporarily (though some view it as permanent) choose to be emptied of. This view appears to uphold Christ's full humanity better and avoids the problematic elements of the classical view (two wills/minds, the extra).

Reading Guide 4: describe some of the other key points that Erickson makes concerning the atonement.

Our doctrines of God, of humanity, and of Christ will greatly impact our doctrine of the atonement, since the atonement addresses humanity's need before God and the corresponding kind of Savior we require. The Socinian Example Theory is built upon a Pelagian view of sin, a non-retributive view of God's relation to sinners, and a merely human view of Jesus. Grotius' Governmental Theory also proposes that individual sinners do not personally owe God satisfaction or payment for their sin but that the moral government of the universe does require the upholding of the moral law and a public demonstration of the result of sin, requirements that are accomplished at the cross. The Ransom Theory also holds to a law external to God which God must abide by, in this case, the law of Satan's right to rule over a world of rebellious sinners. In order to rescue sinners from Satan's clutches, God had to deceive Satan into willing giving over rulership, which he does on the cross by veiling the fishhook of Jesus' divinity within the bait of Christ's humanity, therefore defeating Satan and ransoming sinners. Anselm's Satisfaction Theory states that human sin has offended our glorious Creator, requiring satisfaction of his honor, a satisfaction which must be offered by a human but which also must be offered by God himself in order for the offering to be of infinite value, a divine-human identity fulfilled by Christ.

Reading Guide 4: What are 2 key arguments Erickson mentions for the particular atonement view and what are 2 key arguments Erickson mentions for universal atonement view?

Particular Atonement a) There are Scripture passages that teach that Christ's death was "for his people," with the resultant argument that Christ did not die for everyone b) The nature of the atonement as a ransom means that when the cost is paid and accepted, the payment automatically frees those for whom it is intended, meaning that either the Bible teaches universal salvation or the Bible teaches a limited atonement Universal Atonement a) There are Scripture passages that teach that Christ' death was for all people, only becoming effective for those who believe b) There are Scripture passages that teach that some for whom Christ died will perish c) The Bible calls for universal proclamation, with the resultant argument that universal offer of salvation would be disingenuous if Christ's death was indeed a payment for all people

Reading Guide 7: describe Barth's view of election.

Rather than conceiving of God's relationship to humanity (and all creation) as static, such as in the conception that some are (and always have been) elect and some are not, Barth emphasized Jesus Christ as the elect man and the elect God. In Christ, the entire human race has been chosen. The first step in God's electing work is the election of Christ, the second step is the election of the community, and the third step is the election of the individual through the community. All people are elect, but some live as though they are not elect. Barth does not give an unequivocal answer on whether or not all people are also saved.

Reading Guide 4: How does Erickson label the 3 categories of the works of Christ and what are 2 other ways in which those 3 categories have been labeled by others?

Revealing, Reconciling, Ruling (Prophet, Priest, King; Prophet, Priest, Potentate)

Reading Guide 4: According to Erickson, what are the 4 motifs that describe the basic meaning of the atonement?

Sacrifice, Propitiation, Substitution, Reconciliation

Reading Guide 5: Though Cole thinks the direct textual support in Scripture for the concept of "illumination" (the Spirit's assistance of us in understanding Scripture) is slim, what theological reasoning does he see as supporting this concept as a legitimate biblical teaching?

Scripture is clear that the Spirit gives people understanding the Gospel message. Since God is consistent in dealing with us, the fact that Spirit is necessarily involved in truly understanding the Gospel message seems to indicate that the Spirit is necessarily involved in truly understanding the Scriptures, an understanding which includes both the linguistic meaning of the text and seeing/embracing the value/significance of the meaning.

Reading Guide 6: In 2 to 3 sentences, according to Schroeder, what made Hildegard's use of elemental imagery for the Holy Spirit unique?

She is unique in how she thoroughly integrated theology, cosmology, and human physiology in her use of the imagery. She uses the scientific theories of her day about the elements and their properties in order to transpose that logic into her discussion of the Holy Spirit. She moves beyond mere analogical usage of the imagery to a literal transfer of principles from nature to the spiritual realm. She presents a truly integrated vision in her day where truths in the natural realm are also true in the spiritual realm, and vice versa.

Reading Guide 7: Contrast Calvinism and Arminianism by using the TULIP acronym.

T = Total depravity or the total inability of the individual to desire Christ or to do good that can establish righteousness before God/achieve salvation (Calvinist). Arminians believe that God has reestablished a sufficient ability to will Christ for all humanity by "prevenient grace." U = Unconditional Election/Predestination whereby God chooses some in eternity past for salvation with no regard to their merit or faith (Calvinist). Arminians believe that God's election is conditioned on his foreknowledge of the faith exhibited by some in history. L = Limited Atonement or the idea that Christ's atoning work was only for his people, the elect (Calvinist). Arminians believe that Christ's atoning work accomplished the possibility of salvation for all people. I = Irresistable Grace is the idea that those to whom God extends saving grace are irresistible drawn to receive that grace (Calvinist). Arminians emphasize that humans have the choice either to resist or receive the offer of God's grace. P = Perseverance of the Saints proclaims that all who truly become united to Christ (saints) will persevere to the end (Calvinist). Arminians emphasize that some who genuinely begin the Christian life turn away and do not preserve until the end and are therefore no longer saved.

Reading Guide 5: In 2 to 3 sentences, summarize Allison's observations about the relationship between the Holy Spirit and church unity.

The Holy Spirit is the one who creates and sustains church unity, a unity ultimately grounded in perichoretic mutual indwelling of the 3 persons of the Triune God. As a created reality of the Holy Spirit, church unity is not a goal to be achieved but an accomplished reality to be maintained and expressed. The lived experience of church unity is only possible for church members who are yielded to and filled with the Holy Spirit on an ongoing basis.

Reading Guide 6: In 2 to 3 sentences, according to Ferguson, describe the interpretation of the Pentecost events as given by the Gospel of John.

The John 20 event of Jesus' breathing the Holy Spirit on his disciples should be understood as an event distinct from Luke's Pentecost account but nonetheless theologically related. Jesus' breathing of the Holy Spirit is symbolic of God breathing the breath of life into Adam and also represents their commission to proclaim the forgiveness of sins on the basis of Christ's atoning death, with Jesus' death being the basis upon which the new life of the Spirit flows to others. The Spirit leading the disciples into all truth should be understood not as supporting Christians as direct recipients of the revelation of the Spirit today but instead supporting our focus on the Spirit-inspired apostolic writings of those to whom Jesus made this promise.

Reading Guide 5: 1. In 2 to 3 sentences, describe the Western Church's critique of the Eastern Church's non-filioque view.

The West sees the lack of the filioque clause to leave no statement of clear relationship between the Son and the Spirit, with subordinationist tendencies emerging in the East's way of conceiving of the immanent Trinity. The West also sees the lack of a clear relationship between the Son and the Spirit as leaving a lack of clarity in the relationship between the work of the Son and the work of the Spirit, with a resulting mysticism of the Spirit disconnected from the verbal revelation of the work of the Son. The West critiques the East's argument that biblical evidence for the coordinate work of the Father and Son in relation to the Spirit concerns only God's energies or operations but that in God's (unknowable) essence, the Spirit only proceeds from the Father, a view that the West believes leaves us without any real access to truly knowing God.

Reading Guide 7: In 2 to 4 sentences, describe the basic proposal and argument of Wind's book.

The book proposes a biblical theology of the church's "good deeds" mission, in particular highlighting the impact of one's conception of the covenantal macro-structure of Scripture. The book argues for an evangelistic priority position even while developing a full picture of the Christian responsibility to "do good to all people as you have the opportunity." The book traces the good deeds mission along the covenantal structure of the Bible, seeking to clarify some of the key issues of debate.

Reading Guide 3: In 2 to 3 sentences, how does Wellum describe the classical Christological understanding of the term "person?"

The classical view is a person is "an individual substance of a rational nature" and is the agent or acting subject (the "I") who subsists in a "rational nature." Classically, the person is not where the capacities of will and mind reside, they rather reside in the nature and are actuated by the person - the person wills and thinks by subsisting in the nature in which the capacities reside. The result of this view is that the one person of the Son thinks and wills in his human nature (a distinct human mind and will) and also thinks and wills in his divine nature (a distinct divine mind and will - i.e. 2 minds and wills personalized and actuated by the one person of the Son).

Reading Guide 3: What other key arguments that Helm makes in regards to the divine will.

The divine person of the Son always actively personalized his divine nature, including his will. But even though the divine Son immediately personalized his human nature in the incarnation, the Son did not actively will through his human nature until he attained consciousness and a point of adequate human development, demonstrated the necessary asymmetry between the Son's 2 wills in the incarnation. Also, because of the Creator-creature distinction, the relationship of the person of the Son to his divine nature and to his human nature must be an asymmetrical one. Since the person of the Son is timeless there can be no time when the Son was not incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth from the divine perspective, even while from the human perspective the incarnation was an event in time.

Reading Guide 2: In 2-3 sentences describe Gregory of Nazianzus' critique of Apollinarianism.

The eternal person of the Son of God cannot be separated from the man Jesus Christ. Instead, the person of the Son, already and eternal dwelling in his full divine nature, also took on and dwells in a full human nature, including a human mind. If Christ did not assume full humanity, including a human mind, then he cannot save humanity in mind, since "what has not been assumed has not been healed."

Reading Guide 3: What are some key arguments that are needed to know that person-nature distinction.

The fundamental challenge of understanding the unification of a fully divine nature and a fully human nature in the one person of Christ is that each nature possesses attributes that are by definition contradictory. The Bible never gives any hint to duality in the person of Christ, but rather always presents Jesus as a single, unified subject. Yet, sub-biblical views of this union propose that Christ does have 2 full natures, but also 2 full persons (Nestorianism) or that Christ only has 1 person but also only 1 new hybrid divine/human nature (Eutychianism). Other sub-biblical views see Christ as fully a man who at his baptism has deity come upon by adoption (Adoptionism) or see Christ as fully divine but lacking an individual human personality (Anhypostatic Christology). Two other rejected views see Christ relinquishing deity in order to take on humanity and then relinquishing full humanity later on in order to repossess deity (Kenoticism) or see Christ merely as a man who was indwelt by the presence and power of God (Dynamic Incarnation).

Reading Guide 4: According to Erickson, what are the 2 stages of Christ's work and what steps make up those 2 stages?

The humiliation, made up of Christ's incarnation and death, and the exaltation, made up of Christ's resurrection, ascension, and second coming.

Reading Guide 2: What is the key Latin phrase in the "Tome of Leo" [4.14], what does it mean, and what is its significance for the development of Christology?

The phrase is "totus in suis, totus in nostris" and it means that Jesus Christ, the Son of God was "complete in his own [divine] properties and complete in our [human properties]." The key phrase within this document from the Western Church, in the midst of the complex discussions of the Eastern Church over Christology, helped to clarify what was essential and non-negotiable in Christology.

Reading Guide 4: Describe in 2-3 sentences some key elements of the moral-influence theory of the atonement.

The primary effect of Christ's death is subjectively upon humans as we see a powerful demonstration of God's love for humanity. Humanity is afraid of God and ignorant of and alienated from God's love. Through the demonstration of love on the cross, God overcomes our fear, ignorance, and alienation, giving us a new inclination to respond to God's call to repentance. The cross also inspires us to know God as a friend.

Reading Guide 2: What was the term that Nestorius objected to, what does the term mean, why did he object to it, and why did others insist on its use,

The term is theotokus, which means "Bearer of God." Nestorius objected to it because Mary was only human and he did not believe it was possible for God to be born of a human being and also because it seemed to deny the full humanity of Christ. Nestorius thought that better alternatives included "bearer of humanity" or "bearer of the Christ" (implying both humanity and divinity). Others insisted on its use since in the incarnation the eternal Son of God truly took on full humanity while retained his full divinity, such that the baby in Mary's womb was both truly God and truly man, making the term "bearer of God" not inappropriate but a recognition of the true divinity of the baby in Mary's womb.

Reading Guide 7: In 4 to 6 sentences, describe some of the other key points that Wind makes in Chapter 2. (1 pt)

This literature review of equal priority literature from 1974-2014 is not comprehensive but representative. The result is a composite picture of the main biblical-theological arguments in favor of an equal priority position. These authors tend to have a broad definition of terms/concepts such as "gospel," "evangelism," "salvation," "justice," and other terms. Also, these authors tend to see more continuity within the biblical storyline, with various OT Scripture having more direct application to members of the New Covenant community.

Lecture Notes: What does the creation story tell about Christ?

This review provides a composite pictures of the main biblical-theological arguments in favor of an evangelistic priority position. These authors tend to have a narrower definition of terms/concepts such as "kingdom," "shalom," "the poor," and "redemption." These authors see more discontinuity within the biblical storyline, with various OT Scripture having less direct application to members of the New Covenant Community. This review highlights how important one's conception of the macro-covenantal structure of Scripture is to how one understands the good deeds mission.

Reading Guide 7: In 4 to 6 sentences, describe some of the other key points that Wind makes in Chapter 3. (1 pt)

This review provides a composite pictures of the main biblical-theological arguments in favor of an evangelistic priority position. These authors tend to have a narrower definition of terms/concepts such as "kingdom," "shalom," "the poor," and "redemption." These authors see more discontinuity within the biblical storyline, with various OT Scripture having less direct application to members of the New Covenant Community. This review highlights how important one's conception of the macro-covenantal structure of Scripture is to how one understands the good deeds mission.

Reading Guide 5: describe some of the other key points made by Allison concerning the filioque debate.

While the work of the Holy Spirit is often discussed in reference to individual believers, Allison wants to focus on the corporate work of the Spirit in relation to the church. The Spirit inaugurates the church and the New Covenant on Pentecost in a unique, one-time way, but then continues to add new members to the church through Spirit-baptism. In incorporating new members into the body, the Spirit also incorporates new members into the mission of the church. The Spirit often provides specific guidance for the church in pursuing this mission, though there is enough ambiguity to this guidance that it can be interpreted differently by different people. Not only does the Spirit give spiritual gift-functions to all members of the church, the Spirit also gives leaders to the church as gift-offices, with the NT-era offices being apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds-teachers(-pastors-elders). Within the church, the Spirit always work in coordinate agency with the written Word of God.

Reading Guide 4: According to Erickson, what are 5 implications of the substitutionary theory of the atonement?

a) The penal substation theory confirms the biblical teaching of the depravity of all humans b) God's nature is not one-sided, nor is there any tension between different aspects c) There is no other way of salvation but by grace, and specifically, the death of Christ d) There is security for the believer in his or her relationship to God e) We must never take lightly the salvation we have

Reading Guide 6: State the four views named by Miles which address the issue of the relationship between salvation, the unique claims of Christ, and other world religions and give a brief definition of each of the four views.

a. Exclusivism: salvation is possible only through conscious faith in Christ (the death of Christ is both ontological and epistemologically necessary for salvation) b. Inclusivism: salvation is possible only through Christ, but conscious, explicit faith in him is not necessary (the death of Christ as ontologically necessary but epistemologically unnecessary for salvation) c. Pluralism: Salvation is possible through a wide variety of religions, beliefs, and ethical systems (the death of Christ is neither ontologically or epistemologically necessary for salvation) d. Universalism: Salvation (eventually) will be experienced by everyone (some say on the basis of Christ's work, some say on the basis of the general love of God)

Reading Guide 6: State four key points within either Pinnock's and/or Yong's versions of evangelical pneumatological inclusivism.

a. God's love for the world is universal and unbounded and therefore can't be limited to the church b. Christ is the one mediator of salvation, but conscious faith in him is unnecessary for salvation (soteriological inclusivism) c. Limiting the salvific work of the Spirit to the work of the Son wrongly dishonors and subordinates the Spirit to the Son d. The Spirit has autonomy in working salvifically apart from the work of the Son, including through other religions e. The work of the Spirit in other religions is evident not in their doctrine but in their practice

Reading Guide 7: According to Erickson, what are 6 implications of his views of effectual calling, conversion, and regeneration?

a. Human nature cannot be altered by social reforms or education, but must be transformed by a supernatural work of the Triune God. b. No one can predict or control who will experience new birth. c. The beginning of the Christian life includes both a recognition of one's own sinfulness (repentance) and a determination to abandon the self-centered way of life (faith). d. Saving faith requires both correct belief about the person and work of God and also an active, personal commitment to God. e. Conversion experiences exhibit a wide range with the fundamental matter being genuine repentance and faith. f. The new birth is not felt when it occurs but will soon begin to show evidence of its having occurred by internal and external changes.

Reading Guide 5: What 3 reasons are given by Erickson to explain why the understanding of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is often more incomplete and confused?

a. Less explicit revelation in the Bible regarding the Holy Spirit than about either the Father or the Son. b. Lack of concrete imagery for the Spirit in Scripture c. The role of the Spirit during the present era is a functional subordination of the Spirit in carrying out the will of the Father and the Son, meaning that Spirit is intentionally less prominent

Reading Guide 7: List the 5 different current conceptions of salvation noted by Erickson. Also, describe one of those current conceptions in 2-3 sentences.

a. Liberation Theologies: These include black, feminist, and third world Liberation theologies. These theologies emphasize the liberation of oppressed groups in this world from their oppression by the transformation of society. These theologies also highlight how the God of the Bible identifies with the oppressed. b. Existential Theology: Emphasize the distinction between objective and subjective knowledge, while proposing that the Bible is not a source of objective, historical theological knowledge but instead a record of subjective, existential knowledge and transformation of individuals within history. The problem of humanity is inauthentic existence and salvation is a call realize authentic existence by following the example and pattern of Christ. c. Secular Theology: In response to the naturalism and pragmatism of modern man, this approach sees secularism as a mature expression of Christianity. This view sees God's plan for humanity as a process of maturity that leads to less and less dependence on God/religion. Instead of the immature stage of inward, pietistic religiosity, maturing humanity increasingly emphasizes social transformation, a common ground of unity with secularists ("unconscious Christians"). d. Contemporary Roman Catholic Theology: Modified the traditional position by recognizing the possibility of salvation outside the institutional church and its sacramental ministry. This broadened salvation is potentially beyond the boundaries of explicitly Christian communities and is potentially mediated through nature/general revelation, including as represented in other religions. These people are labeled "anonymous Christians." e. Evangelical Theology: In this view, sin includes a broken relationship with God and a corrupted nature, both of which influence human social relationships as well. This view emphasizes the interrelationships of biblical concepts such as justification, adoption, regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.

Reading Guide 5: What 3 kinds of evidence does Erickson give in support of the personhood of the Holy Spirit?

a. Scripture's use of masculine pronouns in representing the Spirit, even though the Greek word for "spirit" is actually neuter in gender b. The common association in Scripture of the Spirit and his work with other persons and their work, in particular, the persons of the Father and of Jesus and their work. c. The Spirit's possession of certain personal characteristics throughout Scripture.

Reading Guide 4: List the 5 theories of the atonement which Erickson examines in chapter 36.

a. Socinian Theory: The Atonement as Example b. The Moral-Influence Theory: The Atonement as a Demonstration of God's Love c. The Governmental Theory: The Atonement as a Demonstration of Divine Justice d. The Ransom Theory: The Atonement as Victory over the Forces of Sin and Evil e. The Satisfaction Theory: The Atonement as Compensation to the Father

Reading Guide 6: What are the 6 ongoing roles of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life which Erickson identifies?

a. The role of empowering for life and ministry b. The role of indwelling and illuminating the believer c. The role of teaching d. The role of intercession for believers e. The role of sanctifying believers f. The role of bestowing certain special gifts on believers within the body of Christ

Reading Guide 6: What are the 6 works of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament which Erickson identifies?

a. The work of creation b. The work of giving prophecy and Scripture c. The work of conveying certain necessary skills for various tasks d. The work of administration e. The work of endowing the early kings of Israel with special capabilities f. The work of influencing the spiritual life of all Israelites

Reading Guide 7: According to Erickson, what are the 6 dimensions which make up a conception of salvation and which illustrate how various conceptions differ from one another? Also, describe one those dimensions in 2-3 sentences.

a. Time Dimension: This concerns the question whether salvation is a past event, a present process, and/or a future event. Also debated is the definition of "time," whether punctiliar or durative (process), with 4 conceptions of "time" being a series of points, a series of discontinuous processes, a series of overlapping processes, or a single continuous process with distinguishable components. b. Nature and Locus of the Need: The traditional view sees the primary problem/need being a broken vertical relationship between humans and God. Another view sees the primary problem/need being broken horizontal relationships between humans and within society. Another distinction is whether the fundamental human problem is internal to the individual, external, or both. c. The Medium of Salvation: The means of transmitting salvation is conceived of as a physical object, moral action, and/or personal faith. Various proposed means can be combined in a view, with one perhaps predominating, such as the sacramental objects in Roman Catholicism which still retains some significance for the person faith of the individual. d. The Direction of Movement in Salvation: This concerns whether God's saving work begins with society and then to the individual, with the individuals and then impacts society, or both simultaneously. Conversionistic approaches emphasize the individual while historical approaches such as the Social Gospel or Liberation theologies emphasize social transformation. e. The Extent of Salvation: This involves the question of whether or not the saving work of Christ saves anyone beyond those who have conscious personal faith in Christ. The exclusivist or particularistic position says "no" while varieties of the inclusivist position say that Christ is the only savior but that conscious faith in him is not or may not be necessary. The universalist position believes that all humanity will ultimately be saved. f. The Objects of Salvation: This answers the question as to whether salvation just concerns humans or whether is also concerns the rest of creation. The sense in which humans are "saved" is distinct from the sense in which the rest of creation might be "saved."

Reading Guide 5: How does Allison explain the Western churches' historical confession of the filioque clause addition to the Nicene Creed?

a. To help its members identify their gifts b. To train and equip its members to employ their gifts for its edification and expansion c. To engage its members in specific ministries in which they are enabled and empowered by the Spirit to use their gifts

Reading Guide 5: What 4 categories of biblical evidences does Erickson point to in support of the deity of the Holy Spirit?

a. Various references to the Holy Spirit are interchangeable with reference to God b. The Holy Spirit is shown to possess attributes or qualities of God c. The Holy Spirit performs certain works that are commonly ascribed to God d. The Holy Spirit is associated with the Father and the Son on a basis of apparent equality

Reading Guide 2: What is Erickson's response to Cullman's view for a functional Christology that not only begins with Jesus' works but seems to suggest the impropriety of considering Jesus' nature or ontology as a person.

· The biblical writers' interest in the nature of Christ is not always subordinated to their interest in the work of Christ · The claim that discussions of nature are only a Greek concern and not a Hebrew one is an untenable claim · The NT gives evidence of Jewish concern for the nature of Christ's person · Not only the Patristic era interpreters of Christ but also the contemporary interpreters of Christ bring some of the presuppositions of their day into their thinking and perhaps the chronologically-closer considerations of Patristic theologians is superior to the modern theologians · Cullman overuses the concept of Heilsgeschichte in justifying his functional Christology · Questions of function necessarily imply and require considering questions of nature

Reading Guide 3: Identify Erickson's 5 basic tenets of the doctrine of Christ's two natures in one person.

· The incarnation was more an addition of human attributes to the Son rather than a loss of divine attributes · The union of the two natures in the one person of Christ means that these two natures do not function independently · In thinking about the incarnation, we must begin not with other conceptions of God and humanity (including merely our own experience as fallen humans), but instead must begin with Jesus Christ, in whom we most fully know both God and man. · The initiative of the incarnation must be understood as coming from above rather than below. · It is helpful for us to think of Jesus as a very complex person.

Reading Guide 3: Identify Erickson's 4 points on the significance of the teaching of the virgin birth.

· The virgin birth is a reminder that our salvation is supernatural. · The virgin birth is also a reminder that God's salvation is fully a gift of grace. · The virgin birth is evidence of the uniqueness of Jesus the Savior. · The virgin birth is evidence of God's power and sovereignty over nature.

Lecture Notes: Anypostasis-Enhypostasis Distinction

•"En-hypostasia" (in-personal) began to be used to further clarify "An-hypostasia" (without a person). •Leontius of Byzantium (AD 480-543): Every nature exists in a person but Christ's human nature both never exists in an independent human person (anhypostasis) and always exists in the divine person of the Son (enhypostasia) [never personalized by a human person, always personalized by the divine person of the Son] •Leontius of Jerusalem (AD 485-543): Each nature must a have a person but need not have its own exclusive person but may be "hypostasized" in another person

Lecture Notes: Conceptions of Salvation (Secular Theology)

•"secular theology" emphasizes the "this world" salvation, immanence over transcendence •Source of problem requiring salvation? -Humanity is not realizing their destiny of independence from God •Means of salvation? -Embracing the knowledge of our human capabilities, our growing emancipation from God, and working for social transformation in the world •What will salvation achieve? -Human independence, including from religion

Lecture Notes: Foreknowledge and Election (Divine Calling: Defining Factors)

•All [non-universalists] agree that personal conversion comes after receiving the external, general call of the gospel [even if it may be conceived of by some as being possibly received in an inclusivist fashion through general revelation in nature or other religions] •The debate is whether or not God must act first on behalf of specific individuals in terms of an effective, internal calling and/or a work of regeneration in order for the individual to respond with personal repentance & faith (conversion)

Lecture Notes: Atonement (Satisfaction Theory: Atonement as Compensation to the Father)

•Anselm (Cur Deus Homo? AD 1098) •The offended personal dignity of God must be satisfied (objective effect toward God, not Satan) •Rejects the idea that Satan had "right of possession" over humanity •Sin is fundamentally failing to give God his due •Necessity of both Christ's full humanity and full divinity (intrinsic relationship between the person and the work of Christ)

Lecture note: The deity of the Holy Spirit

•Arguments that the Spirit is not merely a created person but a fully divine person (possessing not just "personhood" but "divine personhood") -DIVINE TITLES of EQUALITY: The Spirit shares the one divine name, as the triune names are used equally and interchangeably •"Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt 28:19). -DIVINE ATTRIBUTES: The Spirit possesses divine attributes •Holiness, Omniscience, Omnipotence, Omnipresence & Eternality -DIVINE WORKS: The Spirit performs the works of God •The Spirit creates and sustains the universe •The Spirit breathes out Scripture •The Spirit regenerates sinners •The Spirit justifies and sanctifies

Lecture note: The personhood of the Holy Spirit

•Arguments that the Spirit is not merely a power or force but a "person" who possesses and exerts power -PERSONAL WORKS: The Spirit performs actions that can only be attributed to him if he is a "person" •Speaks, intercedes, constrains, testifies, appoints, bears witness, teaches, sanctifies, sends, adopts, indwells, etc. -PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES: The Spirit possesses the qualities of a "person" •Qualities of intelligence (mind), will, and affections -PERSONAL NAMES: The Spirit's personhood is linked with and comparable to the personhood of the Father and the Son (John 14-16) •NOTE: The use of the masculine pronoun to represent the Spirit, rather than the neuter pronoun that would naturally follow from the Greek word pneuma

Lecture Notes: Atonement (Penal Substitution Theory: Atonement as Sacrificial Propitiation in place of Sinners)

•Basic Meaning of Atonement -Sacrifice (OT sacrificial system to appease God) •Addresses our worthiness to suffer the penalty of death -Propitiation (of God's wrath toward sinners, bearing the just penalty of sin [Objective (Christ's work toward God) effect - change in God]), not simply a cleansing of our sin and guilt (expiation) [Subjective (Christ's work toward us) effect - change in us] (the result of Christ's expiation in us is propitiation toward God) •Addresses our worthiness to bear God's wrath for our sin (propitiation) and our need for cleansing from sin (expiation) -Substitution: Suffers both our death and our bearing of God's wrath -Reconciliation and the end of estrangement from God: Addresses our broken covenant relationship with God -Redemption: Addresses our bondage to sin and Satan

Lecture Notes: Filioque Debate Historically (Additional Historical conceptions of the Holy Spirit)

•Basil of Caesarea: The Spirit as the Perfecting Cause and as "appropriate" to sanctification -Augustine: Spirit is the bond of Love between Father and Son - Richard of St. Victor Love demands a third person.

Lecture Notes: Inclusivism and Pluralism: Holy Spirit and Warefare (how should Christians respond?)

•Be aware of the unseen spiritual conflict which is occurring •Recognize that the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within us is the means by which we fight the spiritual war •Engage actively and daily in this conflict at an "earthly" level, including methods such as rebuking evil spirits, casting out demons, prayer for healing, and other forms of warfare prayer and power encounters Engage actively in "strategic level spiritual warfare" at a "cosmic" level, including the concept of spiritual mapping

Lecture Notes: Inclusivism and Pluralism: Hope apart from the conscious faith in Christ

•Church Exclusivism -No salvation outside of the institutional church •Gospel Exclusivism -Hearing and consciously believing the Gospel message in order to be saved •Special Revelation Exclusivism -God must illuminate an individual in a supernatural way - an enlightenment that may happen apart from hearing the Gospel message •Agnosticism -Cannot know for sure - some more optimistic, some more pessimistic •General Revelation Inclusivism -Saving response to general revelation in nature possible •World Religions Inclusivism -Saving response to general revelation in other religions possible •Postmortem Evangelism -Saving opportunity for the unevangelized after death •Pluralism -Many will experience "salvation" as they understand it because they embrace their version of "the Real" •Universalism

Lecture Notes: Conceptions of Salvation (Liberal Theology)

•Combines both the societal and the individual level ("Social Gospel" movement) •Source of problem requiring salvation? -Human society is immature and undeveloped and individuals are morally deficient, falling short of the ethical standard of Christ •Means of salvation? -Gradual social transformation (good deeds and political action) and individual moral improvement (education) •What will salvation achieve? -The progressively realized "Kingdom of God" in society

Lecture Notes: Conceptions of Salvation (Traditional/Contemporary Roman Catholic)

•Diversity of views existing within the Roman Catholic Church •Source of problem requiring salvation? -Humanity's rebellion against God •Means of salvation? [RC & Prot diverge here] -Church's sacramental system; synergistic working of God and man; justification & sanctification not distinct -Through other religions and through nature? •What will salvation achieve? -Forgiveness of sin, reconciliation with God, eternal life

Lecture Notes: Extent/Intent of the Atonement (What is the extent of God's intended purpose in offering his Son as an atoning sacrifice?)

•Does God intend actually and definitively to accomplish salvation in the act of Christ's atoning sacrifice? -If he did, then it appears that some sort of limited atonement is necessary in order to avoid universal definitive salvation •Does God only intend to provide a potential payment for the sin of any and all people who might believe? -If (hypothetically) no one had ever decided to believe in Christ after his atoning sacrifice, Christ's death would never have resulted in anyone's salvation. [i.e. Christ's death on the cross did not accomplish anything definite/certain] -This view avoids universalism because the believing response is necessary for salvation.

Lecture Notes: Atonement (Governmental Theory: Atonement as Demonstration of Divine Justice)

•Emphasizes the subjective (on humans) effect of the atonement, along with some sense of objective (on God) effect (Grotius 1583-1645) •God as law-giver (official role) who must uphold the authority of the moral government of the universe •God as loving & merciful (personal relationship), with no need for his personal honor to be satisfied or retributed •Punishment given to Christ only to uphold the abstract demands of moral government and to deter further sin (rather than a matter of personal offense)

Lecture Notes: Inclusivism and Pluralism: How Should Christians Evaluate Other Religions? Is the Spirit at Work in Them?

•Exclusivism: Replacement Model -Radical discontinuity between Christianity and other religions - completely rejected as deceptive systems intended to offer a plausible alternative to the knowledge and worship of the true God, systems which thereby hinder people from coming to the true knowledge of God •Exclusivism: Partial Replacement Model -More optimistic concerning the positive elements of other religions on the basis of the influence of general revelation -The original or old "Fulfillment" Model -Exclusivism better titled as "Revelatory Particularism"? •Inclusivism: New Fulfillment Model -Belief in universal access to the salvation and the non-necessity of conscious, personal faith in Christ (ontologically, but not epistemologically necessary) -Higher view of other religions ("world religions inclusivism") •Pluralism: Mutuality Model ("Dialogic Pluralism"?) -Different religions as equally valid interpretations of the "the Real" and as equally effective paths of "salvation" •Postmodernism: Acceptance Model ("Narrative Postmodernism"?) -Non-existence of universal truth and each religion distinct and stand-alone (multiple goals, multiple salvations, multiple deities) and should be left as such

Lecture Notes: Nature-Person Distinction (Terminology)

•God is one and God is three, but historically, the church concluded that there is a difference between the way God is one ("nature") and the way God is three ("person") ["eternal relations of origin" - generation/begotten-ness, spiration/procession] •"Nature" = "that by which a thing is what it is" •"Person" = "an active subject who does things and to whom things happen" -A "person" always "subsists in" or "personalizes" a "nature" - living, thinking, willing, and acting in and through that nature

Lecture Notes: What does the Consummated Redemption tell us about Christ?

•Inaugurated Eschatology -Jesus has already brought the presence of "the age to come" into "this present age" in part •The Spirit given as a foretaste and guarantee of the fullness of "the age to come." -Jesus has not yet brought "the age to come" in fullness •Continuity and Discontinuity

Lecture Notes: Atonement (Socinian Theory: Atonement as Example)

•Socinians deny: -Original sin (instead, a Pelagian view of humanity) -God's need for retribution, propitiation, or mediation -Divinity and pre-existence of Christ •Socinians affirm: -Jesus' work on the cross as an example of the total love for God that we must display if we are to experience "salvation" (Jesus' work as a pattern to follow [human problem?]) -Jesus' work on the cross as an inspiration to follow his example of total love (primary effect is subjective)

Lecture Notes: Extent/Intent of the Atonement (A 3rd Option: Un/Limited Atonement)

•Multiple Divine Intentions/Purposes - God's intentions/purposes in death of Christ are complex, not simple, multiple, not single: 1.Christ died for the purpose of securing the sure and certain salvation of his own, his elect (a group revealed by those who believe). [LIMITED INTENTION] 2.Christ dies for the purpose of paying the penalty for the sin of all people, making it possible [hypothetically] for all who believe to be saved. [UNLIMITED INTENTION] 3.Christ died for the purpose of securing the bone fide ["good faith"] offer of salvation to all people everywhere. [UNLIMITED INTENTION] 4.Christ died for the purpose of reconciling all things to the Father. [UNLIMITED INTENTION]

Lecture Notes: Extent/Intent of the Atonement (What the question is not concerning)

•NOT concerning the sufficiency for ALL of Christ's atoning death (agreed upon value) -Unlimited/Universal/General/Potential Sufficiency •NOT concerning the offer to ALL of salvation through presentation of the gospel -Unlimited/Universal/General/Potential Offer •NOT concerning the efficacy for ONLY believers (or "the elect") of Christ's atoning death

Lecture Notes: What about the fall tell us about Christ.

•Non-Christian worldviews -The human problem is intrinsic to humanity •Christian worldview (by contast) -The human problem is not intrinsic (part of the original creation) nor merely external but is internal and moral (temptation from without, desire from within) -Historicity of the Fall?: one argument for its theological necessity is that otherwise sin and evil are part of what it means to be human (God culpable, sin irreversible) •Tension introduced between a holy God and his rebellious Images ("the problem of forgiveness/good" rather than "the problem of evil")

Lecture Notes: Evangelical Ontological Kenotic Christology

•OKC proposes that the Son gave up or laid aside certain divine attributes in order to fully enter into human life without at the same time completely relinquishing his divine nature. •OKC claims to better understand the humanity of Jesus as one with whom we can truly identify, as one who is fully human rather than just divine, and as one who avoids some of the seeming oddities of the classical view (two wills, two minds, the extra, etc.) •OKC understands Christ's divine nature as consisting of both "essential" and "accidental" attributes, with "accidental" attributes being the ones "emptied" in the incarnation, leaving all "essential" attributes of deity in place. •OKC understands "person" as a "distinct center of knowledge, will, love, and action," locating in the person what had previously been understood as the capacities of "nature".

Lecture Notes: Atonement (Ransom/Christus Victor Theory: Atonement as Victory over the Forces of Sin and Evil

•Oftentimes part of the classic "Christus Victor" formulation (Origen, Augustine) •Within the cosmic drama of "Christus Victor," God must defeat Satan, even while respecting Satan's right to rule the world (Ransom Theory = an addition to this) •God deceived Satan by offering his Son (with his deity concealed) as a ransom payment, with Satan taking the bait and swallowing the fishhook/being caught in the mousetrap •Objective effect (but on Satan, not God)

Lecture Notes: Foreknowledge and Election (Divine Calling: Views)

•Pelagians: All humans have a natural ability to answer God's universal call ("I came by myself") •Arminians: All humans have a universally restored ability to obey God's universal call ("God started the process and I cooperated") [prevenient grace] •Lutherans: All hearers of the Gospel are provided a special ability to answer the call [when they hear it], though this call may be resisted ("God brought me to Christ and I did not resist") •Calvinists: The external, general call offered by human agents may be resisted, while the internal, personal call offered by God (to only some) effects the result for which it calls ("God brought me to Christ")

Lecture Notes: Filioque Debate Historically (Robert Letham Article)

•Recognize the good motivation of both sides -The West is motivated to uphold the con-substantial unity and intimacy of the Trinity and to uphold God's true knowability -The East is motivated to maintain a clear distinction between the Father and the Son and a clear monarchy of the Father in the Godhead and to uphold God's ultimate unknowability in his true and full essence. •Letham sees Athanasius (AD 296-373) and Cyril of Alexandria (AD 376-444) as providing historical help in describing the Spirit as proceeding from the Father in the Son or through the Son or by the Son, thereby maintaining both the monarchy of the Father and the Son's clear and close involvement in the procession of the Spirit. - The Father breathes the Spirit in/through/by the Son The Spirit proceeds from the Father in/through/by the Son -•Letham believes we need to begin with the 3 persons (as the East does), while then recognizing the con-substantiality and the perichoretic relationship of the 3 persons, even while maintaining the monarchy of the Father ("from the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit" - [or perhaps the monarchy of the whole Trinity rather than just of the Father?]). •Both sides affirming? Eternal participation of the Son in the procession of the Spirit A contemporary implication?: Dropping the filioque clauseas a means of not circumscribing the work of the Spirit by the work of the Son and thereby establishing a category of the work of the Spirit (in nature and in other religions) where Christ is not known or embraced?

Lecture Notes: What does the Inaugurated Redemption tell us about Christ?

•Redemption will need to resolve the tension introduced by the fall (while both maintaining justice and offering justification). •Redemption will need to resolves another tension in the Bible's metanarrative: -The redemption and reign of humanity on the Bible's terms will (and must) come by the work of God himself -The redemption and reign of humanity on the Bible's terms will (and must) come by a man (Gen 3:15) •Scripture presents Christ as the one who accomplishes these two necessities simultaneously

Lecture Notes: Conceptions of Salvation (Evangelical Calvinists & Arminians)

•Share with Roman Catholics the same basic identification of the problem that needs to be solved and what the ultimate result will be, but follow traditional Protestantism in rejecting the RC's sacramental system for salvation •Calvinists and Arminians hold similar views concerning the means of salvation: proclamation of the Gospel message and human faith in Christ and his work •Calvinists and Arminians hold different views of election, calling, human ability, regeneration, sanctification, and perseverance

Lecture Notes: Filioque Debate Historically (Keys needed to be maintained by both parties.Erickson's view)

•The West: must maintain God's true (though limited) knowability by humanity on the basis of God' revelation •The East: must maintain God's ultimate unknowability in his "essence." -Thomas Nagel: we can know a great deal about bats but not what it is to be a bat •Erickson: don't opt too prematurely for the category of mystery. "Even if we cannot understand God fully, have we yet understood all that might be understood?" •Mysticism: God's ultimate reality as beyond words and humans can only have direct experiential yet ineffable knowledge of God (an experience in which the ontological distance between God and humanity is still maintained).

Lecture Notes: Questions Needing Clarity in the Wake of Chalcedon

•The formula "one person subsisting in two natures" had been established, but needed further explication, particularly in light of the common assumption that "person" always relates to "nature" in a one-to-one fashion. •The questions "What constitutes full humanity?" and "Does Christ possess all the attributes of full humanity?" still needed additional clarification. -Is a human nature which is not activated [personalized] by a human person (anhypostasia) actually fully human?

Lecture Notes: Atonement (Tillich's theory: Atonement as Conquest of Existential Estrangement)

•Theological Method of Correlation •The concept of "God" as a symbolic expression of the Ground of all being and meaning (doctrine of God - impersonal?) •The human problem is that we are estranged from our essential being, guilt-ridden, conscious of our finitude, threatened with meaninglessness, plagued with existential anxiety, aware of our possibility of non-being (doctrines of humanity & sin) [not resulting from a historical fall; "the fall" as symbol] •Christ as human, but not divine, though adopted by "God" as "the Christ," a man in whom the "new being" (which conquers existential estrangement and inner human tensions) makes its appearance in history •Through Christ, "God" shared in and subjected himself to human existential estrangement, ultimately symbolized by the cross and triumphed over by the symbol of the resurrection •We must now, like Jesus, have the "courage to be" (Jesus as model of conquering existential estrangement); Christ's work as subjective meaning/effect

Lecture Notes: Critiques of Evangelical Kenotic Christologies

•Though claiming to better uphold Christ's humanity, OKC makes this case by redefining terms and reinterpreting Scripture in novel ways. The classical view that Christ added a human nature (without any subtraction) makes better sense of the biblical data. •OKC's distinction between essential-accidental divine attributes is biblically unwarranted and seemingly arbitrary •Placement of the capacities of will and mind in the "person" rather than in the "nature" creates other theological problems (inseparable operations; inability to employ the communicatio idiomatum ["reduplication strategy"], and the extra) •Produces questionable Trinitarian implications -#1: Temporary (or permanent?) delegation by the Son of his divine duties to the Father and the Spirit -#2: Overemphasizes the Son-Spirit relationship (Spirit-Christology) to the neglect of full Trinitarian relations (inseparable operations; Trinitarian relations ad extra are an expression of Trinitarian relations ad intra; the full divine agency of the Son incarnate never disappears) •Produces questionable implications for the humanity of Christ -#1: Equation of "person" with "soul," with the Logos supplying the soul for Christ's human nature [no human soul] (Apollonarianism - is Christ fully human?) -#2: The person of the Son has only 1 (divine) will and no distinct human will - is Christ fully human? -#3: Christ's limitations in the incarnation as temporary - is Christ still fully human in exaltation? -#4: Christ's limitations in the incarnation as permanent - is Christ still fully God in exaltation?

Lecture Notes: Inclusivism and Pluralism (Varieties of Universalism)

•Universal Conversion: -Only concerns a future generation of the world -•Universal Atonement -Atonement is sufficient for all, making salvation possible for all, though not actual for all •Universal Opportunity -God gives every human, by means of general revelation, the opportunity to respond savingly to Jesus Christ, even apart from any conscious recognition that it is Jesus to whom they are responding. Many will respond negatively. •Universal Explicit Opportunity -God gives every human, by means of special revelation, the opportunity to respond savingly to Jesus Christ, either in this life or after death. Will any respond negatively? •Universal Reconciliation -Reconciliation between God and humanity an already accomplished, ontological fact. Only remaining separation is a subjective and epistemic one within humans. Ultimate destiny? •Universal Pardon -In his love, God will ultimately forgive all humans of their sin, treating all humans as though they did personally believe. •Universal Restoration -God will eventually, through a process of purification and suffering, bring all creation (including all humanity) back to the original state of perfection.

Lecture note: History of Pneumatology

•Within early Christianity, a less developed doctrine •Calvin: Spirit's work in the Bible's self-attestation •Wesley: Spirit's work in progressive sanctification Pentecostal/Charismatic movements of the 20th

Lecture Notes: Conceptions of Salvation (Existential Theology)

•focuses on the individual rather than the group (also see: the Prosperity Gospel) •Source of problem requiring salvation? -Human estrangement from reality and authenticity by a preoccupation with objects rather than relationships •Means of salvation? -The act of believing with deep inner passion and radical engagement •What will salvation achieve? -The personal realization of authentic existence, eliminating Angst