Theology I Final

Doctrine

- Teaching about the God who acts in history and theology

- Should tell the truth about the way things really are

- To respond to the self revelation of God

- Good doctrine should address, interpret, and transform the human experience

- Give Christians, both as individuals as a Church, an identity

Arianism

- Teaches that the Son is not fully God

- Claims Christ was created and is not eternal

- Denies Christ is of the same essence as the Father

- Undermines salvation, since only God can save

Adoptionism

- Claims Jesus was only human at birth

- Teaches He was "adopted" as God's Son at baptism or resurrection

- Denies Christ's eternal divinity

- Separates Jesus' humanity from true deity

Modalism

- Teaches God is one person who appears in different "modes"

- Father, Son, and Spirit are not distinct persons

- Denies real relationality within the Trinity

- Undermines the biblical witness of Father, Son, and Spirit interacting

Subordinationism

- Claims the Son and Spirit are lesser in being than the Father

- Often affirms functional hierarchy but wrongly extends it to essence

- Conflicts with Nicene teaching of equality within the Trinity

Tritheism

- Teaches Father, Son, and Spitiy are three separate gods

- Overemphasizes distinction at the expense of unity

- Denies biblical monotheism

Arminian

- God has complete foreknowledge of future free choices

- Human freedom is genuine and not coerced

- God's knowledge does not cause human decisions

Calvinist

- God foreknows all things because He sovereignly ordains them

- Divine foreknowledge is grounded in God's eternal decree

- Human responsibility and divine sovereignty coexist

Open Theist

- God knows all possibilities but not all future free actions

- The future is partly open and undetermined

- Emphasizes relationality but limits divine omniscience

What are the main arguments for the existence of God?

- God exists independently of creation

- God can be truly known, though never exhaustively

- Knowledge of God comes through revelation, reason, and experience

Ontological

God must exist because existence is part of His nature

Cosmological

Everything that exists has a cause; God is the first cause

Teleological

Design and order in creation point to a designer

Independence

God depends on nothing

Transcendence

God is above and beyond creation

Eternality

God exists outside of time

Immutability

God does not change in His being or promises

Unity

God is not divided into parts

Omnipresence

God is present everywhere

Holiness

Moral purity and separateness

Omnipotence

All-powerful

Sovereignty

Sumpreme authority

Omniscience

All-knowing

Wisdom

Right use of knowledge

Love

Self-giving and relational

Wrath

Righteous opposition to sin

Trinity

- One God in three distinct persons

- Each person is fully God, sharing the same essence

- Eternal relationality within God

Nicene Creed (325)

- Affirms Christ as fully God

- Declares the Son as "of one substance with the Father"

Trinity Essential Attributes

- Shared equally by Father, Son, and Spirit

- No hierarchy of being within the Trinity

Created Persons

- Humans are intentionally created by God

- Possess dignity, rationality, and moral responsibility

Relative Independence

- Humans have genuine freedom

- Still dependent on God for existence

Covenant Beings

- Created for relationship with God

- Called to obedience and trust

Image of God (imago Dei)

- Reflects God's moral, relational, and rational nature

- Grounds human dignity and worth

Likeness of God

- Living in a way that reflects God's character

- Moral and spiritual resemblance

Purpose of mankind

- To glorify God

- To steward creation

- To live in relationship with God and others

Impact of the Fall on the Image

- Image distorted but not destroyed

- Moral, relational, and spiritual damage

Creatio ex nihilo

- God created out of nothing

- Emphasizes God's sovereignty

The impact of the Fall

- Introduced sin, death, and brokenness

- Affected all aspects of human life

Idealism

Reality is primarily mental or spiritual

Physicalism

Humans are only physical matter

Trichotomist

Body, soul, spirit

Dichotomist

Body and soul/spirit

Holistic Dualist

Integrated unity of body and soul

Traducianism

Soul inherited from parents

Creationism

God created each soul individually

Pre-existentialism

Souls exist before bodies (rejected)

Complementarian

- Equal in worth, distinct in roles

- Functional differences within equality

Eglitatian

- Equal in worth and roles

- No gender-based role distinctions

Ontological Equality

Equal in being and value

Example View/Pelagianism

No inherited sin

Seminalist/Realist

Sin passed biologically

Federalist View

Adam as covenant representative

Arminian View

Modified federal view

Original Sin

Inherited sinful nature from Adam

Concupiscence

- Disordered desires toward sin

- Turning a good thing into an ultimate thing

- Making God's will more than our temporary desires is what God expects

Shalom

Wholeness and peace as God intended

Total Depravity

Sin affects every part of human nature

Vandalism of Shalom

Sin damages God's good creation

Personal Sin

Individual acts

Systemic Sin

Embedded in structures

Mortal Sins

Grave, willful sin

Venial Sins

Lesser sin

Consequences of sin

- Separation from God

- Death and corruption

Unforgivable sin

Persistent rejection of the Holy Spirit

Pre-existence of Christ

- Christ existed eternally before His incarnation

- The Son did not come into being at birth but has always existed with the Father

- Affirms Christ's full divinity and participation in creation

Incarnation of Christ

- The eternal Son took on a full human nature

- Christ became truly God and truly man without ceasing to be divine

- Central to God's redemptive plan and human salvation

Virgin Birth

- Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary

- Confirms divine initiative in salvation

- Protects both Christ's full humanity and full divinity

Deity of Christ - Biblical Teaching

- Scripture directly calls Jesus God

- Jesus possesses divine attributes such as authority, forgiveness of sins, and eternal existence

- Christ receives worship, which belongs only to God

Deity of Christ - Implication

- Only God can save, making Christ's divinity necessary for redemption

- Christ is worthy of worship and obedience

- God fully reveals Himself in Christ

Gnosticism/Docetism

- Denies Christ's true humanity

- Claims Jesus only appeared to have a physical body

- Undermines the reality of the incarnation and suffering

Challenges to Humanity

- Gnosticism/Docetism

- Monophysitism/Apollinarianism

Monophysitism/Apollinarianism

- Distorts Christ's human nature

- Teaches Christ had only one nature or lacked a human mind

- Weakens Christ's ability to fully represent humanity

Unity - Biblical Teaching

- Christ is one person with two distinct natures

- Both natures operate together in unity

- Scripture presents Christ acting as one unified person

Importance of Unity

- Protects the coherence of salvation

- Ensures Christ can truly mediate between God and humanity

- Preserves both divine authority and human representation

Challenges to the Unity

- Nestorianism

- Eutychianism/Monophysitism

Nestorianism

- Divides Christ into two persons

- Separates divine and human actions

- Undermines the incarnation

Eutychianism/Monophysitism

- Merges the two natures into one

- Diminishes Christ's humanity

- Confuses rather than preserves distinction

Theotokos

Affirms Mary bore God incarnate

Christokos

Risks dividing Christ's natures

Theotokos/Christokos

Protects the unity of Christ's person

Ethical Union

- View that Christ's unity is based only on moral agreement

- Rejected because it denies true incarnation

Hypostatic Union

Two natures united in one person

Communicato Idiomatum

Attributes of both natures belong to the one person

Hypostatic Union/Communicato Idiomatum

Allows Scripture to speak coherently of Christ's actions

Kenosis

- Christ's voluntary self-emptying

- Involves limitation of divine privilege, not loss of divinity

- Demonstrates humility and obedience

Peccability

Christ could have sinned

Impeccability

Christ could not sin

Peccability/Impeccability

Debate centers on Christ's divine nature and moral perfection

Chalcedonian Formula

- Christ is one person in two natures

- Natures are without confusion, change, division, or separation

- Foundational statement of orthodox Christology

When was the Council Chalcedon made?

451

Christ as Prophet

- Reveals God's will and truth

- Speaks authoritatively on behalf of God

Christ as High Priest

- Offers Himself as a sacrifice for sin

- Continually intercedes for believers

Christ as King

- Reigns with divine authority

- Establishes and sustains God's kingdom

Christ's Life

- Perfect obedience to God's law

- Fulfills righteousness on behalf of humanity

- Prophet

Christ's Death

- Substitutionary atonement

- Satisfies God's justice and demonstrates love

- High Priest

Christ's Resurrection

- Defeats sin and death

- Guarantees believers' future resurrection

- Confirms Christ's victory and lordship

- King

Theology (Grudem)

The careful systematic study of who God is / Christian doctrine.

Doctrine (Grudem)

What the whole Bible teaches us today about some particular topic.

Monism (Grudem)

The view that man is only one element, and that his body is the person.

Dualism (Grudem)

The idea that both God and the material universe have eternally existed side by side as two ultimate forces in the universe. It implies that there is an eternal conflict between God and the evil aspects of the material universe. (G)