World Studies - Chapter 1

Jehovah

God

divine soverignty

God’s complete and permanent control over this world

image of God

a set of qualities possessed by all humans that reflects God’s own personality.

Creation Mandate

God’s command to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Genesis 1:27

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

The Meaning of the Creation Mandate

Humans are called by God to think of ways to tame the earth and to make it useful by subduing it and having dominion over it.

culture

The physical and mental environment developed through human thought and labor

The Creation Mandate and Civilization

The Creation Mandate is a command to produce human civilization.

civilization

human culture as it is lived in cities or under the influence of cities

seed of the serpent

Satan’s seed that would harm God’s people

seed of the woman

God’s people, who in the end would have victory

nation

a very large group of people (usually including many cities) who share the same language, family history, land area, and culture.

nation-states

nations having their own governments, independent of other nations.

city-states

cities that had their own governments, independent of those of other cities (even those within their own nation.)

Table of Nations

Found in Genesis 10 that lists the descendant of Shem, Ham, and Japheth according to the nations that arose from their families.

polytheism

The belief and worship of many gods

Abrahamic Covenant

A promise from God of a seed, a land, and a universal blessing.

Mosaic Covenant

A promise that if Israel obeyed all of God’s rules, He would make them His own special nation.

Ten Commandments

10 laws showing Israel how to love God and other humans.

monotheism

The belief in and worship of one God

Davidic Covenant

A promise to David from God to make his dynasty (a line of rulers from one family) would last forever.

Messiah

The Anointed One

New Covenant

God’s promise to put His rules in the hearts of His people so that they would want to obey Him.

Jesus of Nazareth

the great Savior that God raised up as a Man, who proved to be the most important human who has ever lived.

gospel

The Good News that Jesus died for our sins and has been raised again to save those who believe forever. All who repent and believe this enter God’s kingdom; those who reject Jesus will one day by judged by Him.

Judaism

The religion of the Jews that developed during the five centuries BC

Saul of Tarsus

a Jewish leader who showed great zeal in trying to wipe out the Christian church.

Nero

A Roman emperor who blamed Christians for a great fire in Rome in AD 64.

Diocletian

A Roman emperor who dismissed Christians for the army, ordered the destruction of church buildings, and had copies of the Bible burned. He also decreed that all Christians would have to offer sacrifices to pagan gods or be tortured and killed.

Constantine

A Roman emperor who was converted to Christianity.

Edict of Milan

Agreement that put an end to almost 300 years of persecution of Christians.

Arius

A church teacher who claimed that Jesus was not God.

Council of Nicaea

Met to consider the deity of Christ. They concluded that Jesus was God.

Theodosius I

A Roman emperor that made Christianity the only recognized religion in the empire. All other religions were illegal.

Constantinople

The name of the Greek city, Byzantium, which the people chose. Constantine wanted to call it, New Rome, but the people chose this name based on their feeling that this was “Constantine’s City”.

barbarians

A culture or civilization that was neither Roman nor Greek

Byzantine Empire

The old eastern portion of the Roman empire.

Augustine

A Christian leader in Hippo, North Africa, who wrote the book, The City of God.

Nestorians

Christians who taught that Jesus was God and human, but not a single person. They also sent missionaries to China.

Patrick

A Christian British man, captured by pirates, who helped spread Christianity beyond the Roman Empire.

How does God’s work of creation show divine soverignity?

God created the entire world by simply speaking words.

Why is the Creation Mandate important for the study of human civilization?

The idea of human civilization comes from the Creation Mandate. God’s command to “replenish the earth and subdue it” is a command to produce civilization.

What is the human’s race’s biggest problem?

Because of the Fall, humans love themselves more than anything else, and they do not love God or others as they should.

Why is Genesis 3:15 important for the study of world history?

Because it briefly states the whole story of human history.

What caused the Great Flood?

the great sinfulness of nearly the entire human race

What important event led to the rise of nations?

God’s confusing of human language at Babel

Was God’s confusing the people at Babel a judgment, a mercy, or both?

Both could be right, depending on the reasoning. There is no doubt that God’s action involved judgment. They were also merciful. God prevented the people from continuing in their sinful plan to build the tower.

What were the 3 main promises in the Abrahamic Covenant?

the promise of the seed, the promise of land, and the promise of a universal blessing

What do we call the laws at the center of the Mosaic Covenant?

The Ten Commandments

What did the Ten Commandments show?

How to love God and other humans

What did God promise in the Davidic Covenant?

That his dynasty would last forever.

Why is the Davidic Covenant important to human history?

It reveals that his descendants would play a special role in fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant. In particular, one great descendant (the Messiah) would rule and would forever restore humanity to the work of dominion.

What did God promise to do for His people in the New Covenant?

To put His laws in their hearts so that they would want to obey Him. He also promised to forgive them of their sins.

Why do you think that God made a covenant with Abraham even though he had formerly worshiped other gods?

Possibly because He wanted to show the world that He is a gracious God.

Why did the angels refer to Jesus as a Savior?

He would deliver His people from their sinful condition.

Why did the angels refer to Jesus as Christ?

It meant that He was the Messiah.

Why did the angels refer to Jesus as Lord?

It meant that He would fulfill the Davidic Covenent.

What is the gospel?

The truth that Jesus has died for the sins of humans and has been raised again to save them forever.

3 causes of the early spread of Christianity?

the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; the conversion of Saul of Tarsus; the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

What key event happened in AD 313?

The Roman emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which ended nearly three centuries of persecution.

What group sent missionaries into China by the seventh century?

Nestorians

What did Jesus mean when He said, “The kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

God’s own Son had come to earth. In order to become part of this kingdom, people needed to turn away from their sins. They also needed to believe that Jesus was the Christ, the One sent by God to save them.

What book in the Bible states that God created the world.

Genesis

barbarians

Those who were not Greek in culture

Who’s sacrifice did God reject?

Cain

What does Genesis chapter 10 contain?

the Table of Nations

Who destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70?

Romans

Who did Noah place a curse on?

His son, Ham

In what scope did the Flood effect?

universal

Who’s family survived the Flood?

Noah’s

Who blamed the Christians for the fire that destroyed Rome in AD 64?

Nero

What resulted from the fall of Babel?

the restraint of sin

What did Nero make illegal?

The Christian religion

What is the official church of Ethiopia?

The Coptic Church

Christ is a Greek term meaning…

Anointed One

What did Constantine change the name of Byzantium to?

“New Rome”

Why have all human societies been religious in some way?

Humans are made in the image of God. They know that they have not made themselves, and they sense that to understand themselves they must know their Creator.

How has the fall damaged human religion?

Instead of seeking to know God, fallen humans seek to produce a god that is made in their own image.

What were the core values of the city of Babel?

build, made a name for themselves, and remain together.

How were the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants similar?

By laying out many laws that made it possible for Israel to be a nation-state, the MC helped fulfill the promise in the AC that Abraham’s seed would be a great nation.

How were the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants different?

The Abrahamic Covenant was God’s unconditional promise to bless Abraham and all the world through Abraham. The Mosiac Covenant was conditional. If Israel did not obey, it would be cursed.

Why is Jesus of Nazareth the most important human in world history?

He is the One sent by God to fulfill all the major promises in Scripture. He fulfilled Genesis 3:15, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosiac Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant.

What 2 teachings of Paul helped Christianity spread among the Gentiles?

Jesus fulfilled the conditions of the Mosiac Covenant; Jesus is Abraham’s seed, so anyone who is united with Jesus is a descendant of Abraham.

How did the favor of the Roman government change the Christian church?

It grew even more rapidly than before. However, the purity of the church was damaged.

How does Gensis 3:15 tell the story of human history?

It predicts the future of the human race. Sin divided humanity into 2 groups: the seed of the serpent (those who opposed God) and the seed of the woman (those who follow God).

Genesis 3:15

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel.”

How did Christ fulfill the Creation Madate in His coming?

Christ came to restore the dominion lost by mankind in the Garden of Eden. He defeated the two main obstacles to exercising dominion: sin and death.

Why do you think God’s been carrying out His plan for so long?

Jehovah is remarkably patient. He will judge sin, and He will accomplish the redemption He has promised. But He may wait centuries to accomplish these works. The waiting gives everyone time to turn to Jesus.

In Paul’s sermon in Acts 17, he says that God has scattered the nations and set boundaries for them, boundaries of time and place so that the nations might “seek the Lord”. How is that so?

They remind a person that he lacks power and authority. By being constantly reminded of their limitations (mountains, war, death, etc.), humans are led to look for salvation outside of themselves and in the one true God.

What do you think was Eve’s main mistake, leading her to the first sin?

Eve assumed she could understand the world without believing what God had said.

Evaluate this statement: “The Christian church poisons everything it touches. It caused the fall of the Roman Empire. Before the empire embraced Christianity (AD 313), the empire was strong. After this, however, the empire declined and fell.”

The statement ignores the fact that the Roman Empire was in serious decline before the Edict of Milan in AD 313. Unrest, border troubles, and economic woes had plagued the empire for many years. Christianity brought to the world much than the fall of Rome took away.