Theology 1 Midterm

Why do we need EST (evangelical systematic theology)?

Heresy, discipleship, preaching

What is the overall story in the Bible?

God, creation, fall, redemption, new creation

Systematic Theology?

whole bible theology

Biblical theology 

Study of teaching individual authors and sections of the Bible and place of each teaching 

Historical theology

Historical study of how Christians in different periods have understood theological topics

Philosophical theology

Studying theological topics largely without use of Bible, using tools and methods of philosophical reasoning and what can be known about God from observing the universe

Practical theology

theology put into practice

Ethics

moral questions of rights and wrong

Apologetics

attempts to make defense on faith

How many layers of centrality are there in doctrine

three

Hierarchy of Doctrine level 1

Identity, resurrection, to be saved, debt is paid, essential to gospel (who is Jesus Christ)

Hierarchy of Doctrine level 2

Disagreements are compatible within the Christian faith, can cause different denominations (can women be pastors)

Hierarchy of Doctrine level 3

Not essential to gospel and doesn’t lead to denominations (how old is the earth)

Errors that can be made with centrality of doctrine

anything not central is not important and not discussing the central in moments of life or death situations

Do we take level 1 doctrine and treat it as a level 3

no

What does it mean if people agree on level 1 and 2

level 3 won’t change denomination

The Perfections of Scripture

• Inspiration

• Inerrancy

• Necessity

• Sufficiency

• Perspicuity

• Authority 

Inspiration

God-breathed, through human authors under the words of God

Inerrancy

bible is without error and totally true

Necessity

scripture is needed as a guide for faith and practice, how to be made right with God

Sufficiency

scripture tells us all we need to know for faith and practice

Perspicuity

Clarity of scripture, understandable in main thrust

Authority

Isaiah 55, Gods ways/thoughts are higher than our ways

2 Peter 1:19-21

Authority of God above ourselves

We must know God

accurately and affectively

Accurately

“Head” (Jas 2:9) demons believe God is one and know more than us

Affectively

“Heart” (Rom 10:1-2) difference between us and demons

Accuracy and affectedness of Jeremiah 9:23-24

accur: creator creature, justice, righteousness, steadfast love

affect: boast=rely/devote

accuracy and affectedness unite how

in a redeeming knowledge of God

John 17:1-5

define eternal life

Divine Incomprehensibility

Unintelligible, cannot be known at all

Unfathomable, truth can be known but not exhaustively (biblical claim)

what is the gap

kind of being God is and kind of human we are

Romans 11:33-36

People say we can’t know anything about God but that’s not what Paul says, Paul says truths only scratch the surface of who God is

Kind of being

God - Infinite

Humans - Finite

Moral Character

God - Holy

Humans - sinful

Isaiah 6:1-7

evidence of Gods profound holiness, when Isaiah sees God seraphim hides feet and faces, Isaiah realizes how pure God is and falls on his feet repenting, feet are seen as unclean in Isaihs’s cultural background and the passage is showing how even pure creatures of God cover their feel in his presence because He is complete holiness

God’s knowability

God reveals himself to us and we are given teh privilege to know him and tell others the truth about Him

Transcendent and Immanent

god is not this but is this, a personal God creator/creature distinction

Isaiah 57:15

God emphasizing immanence, how God lives in the high and holy place but also with contrite and lowly in spirit 

Incommunicable

Not shared with His creation

communicable

shared with His creation to an extent (knowledge of the universe)

Natural and moral

Absolute and relative

Greatness and Goodness

Self-sufficiency

God possess within himself all that is required for being God

Isaiah 40:12-17

self sufficiency support, God is profiting to southern kingdom, God is only one who is trustworthy

Psalm 50:10-15

Psalmst condemning Israelites bringing sacrifices to God as pagans sacrifice

Acts 17:24-25

God doesn’t need anything from anyone, response to sacrifice of pagan towns to unknown God

What are the commands

receive and share, dignity of God shows how to be human

Love of God

OT - heed, covenant loyalty, Gods determination to bless his people is greater

NT - agape, unconditional love, Gods love blesses even when we don’t meet the condition to earn his love

contra conditional love

God maintains his love

Number one reason we were made

To be loved by self-sufficient god and everyone knows it

Objective reality of God’s glory

it is true whether or not people recognize it

Subjective reality of Gods glory

we are expected as believers to maximize our lives the full extent of it that He exposes to us

gods Incommunicable attributes 

Independence, infinity, omnipresence, eternality, immutability, impassibility, omniscience

Independence

Self existence - unlike every being, God’s existence is eternal

Self sufficiency - God is independent in his nature

Infinity

Positive - God possesses his attributes in perfect measure to a perfect degree

Negative - there are no limitations on God’s perfections

Omnipresence definition

God is not limited in His existence by space; He transcends all spatial boundaries and is present everywhere at once

Omnipresence 4 points

God cannot be contained

We cannot escape the presence of God

Neither Deism nor Pantheism

Understanding spatial language for God in scripture

Spatial language

manifest presence - God can and does manifest his presence in locations for reasons for his blessing

manifest absence - God can give the expression of withdrawing of his presence (judgement)

far from

draw near - repentance and faith

Omnipresence conclusion

God is non-spatial in Himself and God is present everywhere in His creation

Deism

God just set the world in motion, not true because God is personal

Pantheism

God is the world and vice versa, not true because God transcends

Coram Deo

to live ones entire life in presence of God, under authority of God, to glory of God

Desert Island Test

You are who you are when no one else is watching

Joseph (Gen 39)

Jesus (Matthew 4)

Eternality

God is not limited in his existence by time

3 Views of Gods Eternality

Timeless, temporary, and omnitemporality 

Timeless Eternality

God exists outside of time, he doesn’t experience a succession of moments in his being

Temporal Eternity

God always was, is, and will be, but he exists in time as a necessary medium of his existence 

Omnitemporality

transcendent and immanent, God is non-temporal in himself, present in created spaced and every moment of time

Immutability

God is unchanging in his nature, character purposes, and promises. God engage with his creatures, responding appropriately to different situations

Gods nature is unchanging

Psalm 102:25-27 Jesus is changeless, if he could change he wouldn’t be God

God’s purposes are unchanging

Hebrews 6:13-18 No creation that can change the purpose of god

God’s promises are unchanging

if we can trust God we are secure

3 fold conclusion

relational mutability, ethical immutability, ontological immutability

Relational mutability

change of Gods relational disposition toward us that is in keeping with his nature and promises

ethical immutability

God keeps his word, cannot lie, keeps his promises

Ontological immutability 

changeless, study of being, God’s nature and character cannot change

Jer 18:7-10

God articulates a warning of judgment, warning given as motivation for repentance 

Gods immutability conclusions

Sometimes the condition attached to the warning is implicit

God does not repent/regret like Humans do

When paired with Omniscience-we are reminded that God sees and knows from multiple perspectives

Exodus 32-Moses and the Golden calf

God does not repent/regret like humans do

Not on account of sin-He’s holy

Not on account of surprise-He’s omniscient

Exodus 32 Moses and the Golden calf

Moses benefit, Moses is the mediator of old covenant, God is testing Moses and trying to stir within him a heart for God and Israel in righteous anger for God, Moses prays based on Gods promises and banks on Gods ethical immutability, reverence for Gods glory

Foreshadow the coming of Christ

Impassability

Asses nature of Gods emotional expression

3 types of impassability

Extreme passibility

Extreme impassibility

Balanced/Classical View

Extreme passibility

Too Hot, God emotes just like humans

Extreme impassibility

Too cold, God has no emotional experience

Balanced/classical view

God is never caught off guard, nor involuntarily forced into an emotional response, God is perfectly passionate about all that matters

Gods emotions differ from ours

No physical accompaniments - He’s a spiritual being

No sinful emotions - He’s holy

No emotion reaction - He’s omniscient

Gods emotions exceed ours 

Perfect hatred of sin and love of his own glory

Gods love is intrinsic and foundational

Gods impassibility conclusion

“Real” relationally; our desire is to have real relationship with god unlike relationships with friends, teachers, roommate 

Gods omniscience

Infinite in Knowledge, He knows things past and present future, things actual and things possible

Things possible

God knows all possibilities about the world, bare possibility (all logical possibilities), middle knowledge (what would happen under certain circumstances)

Matthew 11:20-22

argues for middle knowledge, we have been blessed more than Tyre and Sidon because of the cross, they didn’t understand the hidden wisdom of God

If God foreknows our choices are they free choices

Its logically impossible for God to foreknow a human choice, future must be unknown (open) to God

“real” rationally precludes God’s ability to know future exhaustively

Gods other perspectives

Imcompability of foreknowledge and freedom determinative

Arminianism - reflective

Calvinism - compatible

On the claim that God learns new things as events unfold

Genesis 18, Abraham and God letting him know about sodom and Gomorrah

On the claim that God tests people to learn their character

Genesis 22, Abraham and Issac, foreshadow and fulfillment = Jesus’s death and resurrection for salvation 

communicable attributes

God has in perfect measure and we reflect in part

Gods communicable attributes

Wisdom/omnisapience

Truthfulness/faithfulness

Wisdom/omnisapience

application of Gods infinite knowledge to accomplish the best objectives by the best possible means