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?