BJU Biblical Worldview Chapters 4-6
Explain how Christians ought to involve themselves in a culture that is a mixture of both good bad elements.
Christians must distinguish between the bad and good elements in culture. They must humbly recognize that changing culture is often beyond their ability. Their focus must be on faithfully developing and preserving culture in purity
What is the term we use for God's governance over the roles and responsibilities of humans carrying our their social tasks of filling and subduing the earth?
Creational laws or norms
What are the two parts of the Creation Mandate?
First, humans are to be fruitful which means they are to procreate, multiply in number, and spread out over the earth. Second, humans are to subdue the earth, which means they must learn to harness, manage, and cultivate it.
How does God relate to the universe according to dualism?
God exists apart from and in opposition to the material realm of the universe.
How does God relate to the universe according to deism?
God exists but doesn't interact with His creation. He doesn't care about us but leaves us to work things out.
Why is neither the existence of God nor the achievement of His ultimate goal contingent on the existence of the world?
God is a self-sufficient, joyful, triune God. God didn't have to create the world for His won glory, to receive honor and love, in order to escape loneliness. God chose to create the world to share the overflow of His love and glory with us.
If you were witnessing to pantheist, what biblical truth about God would you want to impress on them. what would be some helpful Scripture passages?
God is an individual person not a thing that we are all a part of; the Creator is separate from His creation and rules over it. Refer to any Scripture passage that establishes a personal attribute of God and distinguishes Him from creation, ruling over it.
How does biblical theism characterize God's relationship to the universe, offering a corrective to all of the above false worldviews?
God is both transcendent (ruling over the universe) and immanent (personally involved with His creation). He is a personal God who stands above His creation but it deeply involved in it.
How does Ephesians 4:6 demonstrate that God is both immanent and transcendent?
God is transcendent since there is only one God who rules over creation; He has no rivals, is distinct from creation, and is not limited by creation. God is immanent since He exercises loving control over all human affairs.
When you are evangelizing, some people may express the view that God's laws are burdensome obstacles that prevent them from having fun or a good life. What response would you give to this charge?
God's laws simply describe what a proper love God and others looks like so that you can fulfill the meaning in life God designed and created for you.
How do God's love and glory work together?
God's love overflows onto us as a display of His glory so that we can glorify Him.
How does God relate to the universe according to materialism?
He doesn't The universe is all there is; God doesn't exist.
Why doesn't God need the universe?
He is self-sufficient
How did God access His won creative work when He finished? What does it imply?
He observed with satisfaction that it was very good, nothing evil or bad.
Why did God create the world- especially humans? What are some common incorrect reasons? Why are those reasons unbiblical?
He was motivated to share the overflow of His love displaying His own glory. It was wrong to think He lacked anything or that He was lonely. The Bible teaches that He has always been self-sufficient.
What two major theological ideas are introduced in Genesis 1:26-28?
Humans are image-bearers and are given the Creation Mandate to rule over creation
How do fallen humans rebel against both parts of the Creation Mandate?
Humans oppose the first part of the Creation Mandate by promoting population control, abortion, and family breakdown. They oppose the second part by cavalierly exploiting the earth or by opposing appropriate used of the earth's resources, seeking to maintain a pristine world.
How can God's ultimate motivation and ultimate goal fit together in harmony?
In contrast to a finite and fallen human, whose self-love is revolting, God's self-love and deserved glorification overflows and translates into perfect love for our highest good and His own glory.
Why is the doctrine of the Trinity a necessary foundation for explaining God's ultimate motivation?
Love must be an uncreated attribute that has been a part of God's essence on display for all eternity; only the Trinity makes this possible.
What are some possible examples of God's design for marriage farming, and economics?
Marriage: a permanent female/male oneflesh relationship Farming- patterns for plowing, rotation, sowing, threshing, and reaping Economics: ownership, work ethic
Why does "God is love" demand the doctrine of the Trinity?
Since love is part of the very nature of essence of who God has always been and true love always can exist only between two or more persons, God must be Trinitarian.
Why do people tend to blame things such as the body, authority, or emotions for the world's problems?
Sinfulness can be clearly and thoroughly carried out in the abuses and perverted used of the body, authority, and other such things.
How does the Great Commission enable people to better carry out the Creation Mandate?
The Creation Mandate is only impeded by fallen people exercising their fallen desires. But when people are saved, they seek to live in light of Redemption, carrying out the Creation Mandate according to God's creational design.
How could you refute someone who says the analogy of the blind men and the elephant shows that there is no possibility of accurate knowledge about the reality and truth of God?
The elephant couldn't talk.
What is the basis for human value in the evolutionary model of the world? what is the result of operating according to this model?
There is no absolute basis. The subjective sensibilities of a particular society determines who's valuable and who's not.
How does God relate to the universe according to pantheism?
There is no personal God Every+ thing in the universe is a part of a larger whole referred to as "god"; "god" is everything and everything is "god"
Why aren't the body, authority, and emotions to blame for the world's problems?
These are all basically good things created by God; sin is a person's use of these to blame
How are creational norms discovered?
They're revealed through the moral lens of scriptural principals personally applied to the practical wise observation of real-life situations
Why can't the evolutionary worldview truly justify any ultimate meaning and purpose in life? What is the necessary outcome of lacking ultimate meaning and purpose in life?
Ultimate meaning and purpose is rooted in love, which can't exist without a person at the foundation of the world. The necessary outcome is despair because impersonal meaningless chance is at the foundation of an evolutionary world.
How might the consequences of violating a natural law and a creational norm differ?
Usually the violation of a natural law has immediate physical consequences; the violation of a creational norm may not have recognizable physical consequences until later
How does the Christian worldview support human value in a world in which human life is often expendable- whether in school shootings of terrorist acts.
We can show that the world will not function properly if it is not full of the presence of God.
What is the ultimate motivation that caused God to create the world? Was His motivation to create the world due to anything that He lacked?
What or whom God loves guides in all His motivations. Thus, the mutual love of the Trinity caused Him to create the world. He didn't lack anything, He desired to share His fulness with those He created.
Why has the self-esteem movement developed? Why is it unbiblical? Why will it end in despair?
Without God-given value, value must be self-created. That idolatrously makes self the source of all value. Self-esteem can't overcome finiteness and fallenness; only forgiveness from God can.
Why are standards necessary for all judgment?
Worldview commitments are necessary for any moral evaluations.
What central biblical commands reveal that this is indeed the overarching motivation for all of life? What is the connection between God's law and you motivation for existence
You must love God with your whole being and your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:37-39). God's law is simply a description of what it would look like if you were living out of love.
think tank
a group of scholars who hold a particular political or religious viewpoint and conduct intensive research to promote it via academic papers, newspaper articles, books, and so forth
anthropocentrism
a humanity centered perspective
cosmos
a synonym for universe that emphasizes the orderliness and coherence of what exists
Westminster Confession of Faith
a widely used summary of Christian doctrine written by English theologians in the seventeenth century
In what way is the Creation Mandate a blessing?
accomplishment and progress in pursuit of subduing the earth is meant to be enriching and satisfying, even within the context of frustrations from the fall.
name three ways your own culture affects the horizons of the possible for you
advances in transportation and communication mean that we live in a global world; the digital world makes privacy difficult; a social media world can connect us with friends but can also hamper deeper relationships
Where do human rights come from? What is the ultimate reason we should love our neighbors?
as a gift from God; they are made in God's image bearing His value.
As soon as you start trying to live out the blessing of the Creation Mandate, what will you find yourself doing?
creating culture
After the fall, does God's creation become inherently evil? Why or why not?
everything is pervasively marred and used perversely, but the Fall can only suppress, twist, and mar; it can't annihilite the goodness of God's creation
anthorpomorphic
human-like; such as a cartoon bird given hands and a human voice
If you are to understand the rest of the story of the Bible, what two major theological ideas from Genesis 1:26-28 must you understand?
humans are created in the image of God and in the Creation Mandate are give the task of ruling over God's creation
How can you spot a false claim to a creational norm?
if it goes against scripture
What is the ultimate motivation for everything in life?
love
Why is materialism a religious view?
materialism a value system that makes claims about reality, truth, God, revelation, meaning in life, and so on.
What kinds of laws are given to us through special revelation? What kinds of laws are given to use through general revelation?
moral laws; natural laws and creational norms
According to Scripture, what determines everything you think and do?
motivation of what and whom you love
What is label we use for God's government over the fixed order and operation of the physical objects He created?
natural laws of laws of nature
ethereal
out of this world; heavenly; immaterial
immanent
personally present, accessible
transcendent
so far above as to be in a different category
What necessarily results from groups of people carrying out the commands of the Creation Mandate?
the formation of cultures
Rather than being based on survival of the fittest, what must human rights, social justice, and the worth of others be based on.
the image of God in humans
According to the biblical model, what is the transcendent and absolute basis for the value of every human regardless of that person's abilities, contribution, likability, and so on?
the image of God within one's being
Why is a spring an appropriate illustration for describing the achievement of God's ultimate goal?
the love and glory of God overflow through Jesus into our lives
What likenesses exist between humans and the God they image?
the personal capacities to carry out the Creation Mandate such as self-awareness, rationality, language, and emotions, and the moral capacities such as conscience, affections, and worship.
triune
three in one
According to the Westmintser Confession, what is the main purpose of man?
to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. You glorify God by lovingly enjoying Him.
What should be the chief goal of all humans that provides ultimate meaning for their existence? What is the only that humans can achieve this goal?
to glorify their Creator God by finding satisfaction and delight in Him in all that they do; Humans only achieve this through the revelation of Jesus, who is the fountain of living water, the source of all life
Why can the Creation Mandate also be called the Creation blessing?
when God gave humans the task to fill and subdue, ruling over the world as His representatives, it was meant to be a blessing to be enjoyed. All people end up living it out because it is intrinsic to their design in the image of God to exercise their skills in creative cultural pursuits.
Why can't you be liberated by simply following your own heart?
your own personal feelings about what is good and and are inescapably socially formed by one cultural group or another. To think that your ideas are original with yourself is simply naïve or narcissistic
