Christian Theology Exam 1 Whitlock

Matthew 7:24-25

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

Immediate self-consciousness (Schleiermacher)

"how you feel" (liberal theology)

4 definitive elements of Revelation

-God is the one who reveals -God has revealed His own nature -Human beings are the intended recipients of revelation - reveals himself for purpose of knowing Him

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

1 Corinthians 2:10

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

Veracity of God; central concern in issue of inerrancy

God judges us, true center of Christian Union, standard by which all humans conduct, creeds, and religious opinions. All scripture is a-Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine

God as trinity (Genesis 1)

God spirit, word of God, first born son

Eternality

God transcends both time in beginning and end independence self- existence

general revelation

God's indiscriminate self-disclosure available to ALL people, EVERYWHERE, ALL the time

General Revelation

God's indiscriminate self-disclosure available to all people, everywhere all the time

Deuteronomy 6:4

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Genesis 1:1-3

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

Daniel 2:22

It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.

2 Peter 1:20-21

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Is salvation possible through General Revelation alone?

No no mean for reconciliation no direct communication of God's nature and purpose offers no relationship with God Will not move people towards God

Prolegomena

Pre-statement about how we approach theology "things spoken before"

Psalm 19:1-2

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

Psalm 19:7-8

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

Psalm 119:160

The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

sufficiency of scripture

ability of the word of God to address every area of human existence

innerancy

all the facts are known, Bible properly interpreted in light of culture and communication shown to be completely true in all that it affirms to the degree of precision intended by the author. All matters relating to God and His creation

Transcendence

beyond us, different than us

Attribute

character qualities that are essential to God, "inseparable" and "fundamental"

doctrine

conveyor of truth

3 means which God GENERALLY revealed himself

created humans in his image flow of humanity reflection of all creation

POSTERIOR knowledge, Empirical Knowledge

derived from experience, you can see, hear, taste, touch, an smell, scientific knowledge

Revelation

disclosure of God's reality and therefore stands apart as the epistemological axiom of Christianity (basis for Christian truth and certainty)

Attributes of Transcendence

eternality constancy absolute

3 means which God SPECIFICALLY revealed himself

historical events divine speech incarnation

Epistemology

how do we know what we know? Examination concerning knowledge

immanence

immediately involved, personally hovering over the waters

constancy

immutability God remains consistent God acts directly in creation

absolute

infinity absolute power: omnipotent absolute knowledge: omniscience absolute presence: omnipresence absolute spirit holiness

Attributes of Immanence

love mercy compassion justice

method of inspiration (2 Peter 1:21)

men: human authors chosen to write scripture moved: motivated from outside of themselves Holy Spirit: inspired the writings of human authors will not move people towards God

Theories of Inspiration

natural illumination encounter dynamic economic verbal plenary

Nature of Special Revelation

prepositional (truth statement) personal anthropic (expresses ideas in a way humans can never understand them)

common touching points with lost

religious inclination basis of truth perception of justice basis of morality sense of fallenness

revelation defined in Daniel 2

revealed by God if God doesn't reveal, it stays hidden God's prerogative

Wesleyan Quadrilateral

scripture tradition reason experience

Scripture

sole legitimate source for Christian doctrine and theology (2 Timothy 3:13-4:4) infallible, innerrant

3 definitive elements of Special Revelation

specific content specific recipients redemptive intent

verbal plenary view

spirit of God works with biblical writers in a way that the words they write are the words the Spirit intends and the worse are consistent with the writers own context

theology

task of understanding and systematically express the content of God's self-revelation

central interpretive motif

theme of theology "mission of God" Theological reconciliation of: God's purpose in Christ (Ephesians 1:10) and Apostilistic Mission (2 Corinthians 5) Grand invitation to a relationship with Him (2 Cor 5:16-21)

Theological Loci

theological topics, individual doctrine of theology

natural theology

theology built from general revelation by human reasoning alone

God's nature in Genesis 1

transcendent immanent trinity

PRIORI knowledge, Pure Knowledge

unlearned, innate, cannot observe, not scientific

questions associated with Prolegomena

what are we doing? how are we going to do it? what is outcome of theology?