Theology Exam 2

Docetism

Jesus was basically a ghost

Arianism

The son was merely a creation; not fully God

Adoptionism

Jesus was a mere man that God adopted; He isn’t eternal

Nestorianism

The son attached himself to an already existing human

Messiah

Anointed One

Penal Substitution

Jesus is the substitute of taking our sin

Satisfaction

Jesus gives his own offering of death that satisfies the debt of sin and death

Moral Influence

By Jesus laying down his life for us and showing his love, we will be influenced to be like him

Recapitulation

Jesus comes and does what the first Adam failed to do, and corrects what Adam messed up

Pelagius

Denied original sins and believed that we could save ourselves through our own efforts; humans aren’t inherently corrupt

Original Sin

The shared condition of moral corruption and separation from God that all humans inherit from the Fall

Personal Sin

Doing or thinking something that knowingly and willingly disobeyed God’s law

Augustine

Original sin corrupts all human nature and is passed down to all of Adam’s descendants; we’re captive by sin and can’t save ourselves without Divine grace

Homoousios

Of the same substance or essence

Hypostatic Union

Jesus Christ is one single person who is fully God and fully human

Atonement

The act of making amends for a wrong or sin to restore harmony and balance

Christus Victor (Classical Theory)

Christ fights and triumphs over the powers of sin and death, freeing humanity

Ransom Theory

Christ’s death acts as a ransom payment to buy back enslaved human souls

Governmental Theory

Christ suffers a public, symbolic punishment under God’s governance to demonstrate the gravity of sin and uphold moral order

Scapegoat Theory

The crucifixion exposes and deconstructs human sin by revealing the injustice of collective crowds scapegoating an innocent victim

Parousia

Presence, arrival, or coming

Session

Jesus being seated at the right hand of God

Nicene Creed 325

Focused on combating Arianism by declaring that Jesus is Homoousios with God. Didn’t really address the Holy Spirit

Nicene Creed 381

Expanded the text to address later heresies and became more detailed on the Holy Spirit

Truth #1: The Lord

By calling the Spirit “the Lord” the creed grants him the same divine title used for the Father and Son, emphasizing that it’s a distinct equal person

Truth #2: The Giver of Life

This highlights the Spirit’s active role in physical and spiritual recreation (bringing eternal life to believers)

Truth #3: Proceeds from the Father

Shows that the Spirit eternally flows from both the Father and the Son

Truth #4: The Spirit is glorified with the Father and Son

The Spirit is equally worthy of worship and glory because he shares the same essence

Truth #5: The Spirit has spoken through the prophets

Identifies the Spirit as the divine author behind the Holy Scriptures and the continuity of God’s message

Basil of Caesarea

Argued that the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and Son, shares the same natures, and deserves the same worship and glory

Gregory of Nazianus

Argued that the Holy Spirit is fully God and that God is one essence in three distinct persons

Gregory of Nyssa

Explained how the Trinity worked together as one God, their actions are undivided, and the Spirit makes humans holy and brings divine life to creation