total theology

The Fall

Genesis 3 event where Adam and Eve disobeyed God, introducing sin into the world.

Original Sin

The inherited state of moral corruption all humans are born with due to the Fall.

Concupiscence

Uncontrollable physical desire/lust dominating spiritual will; transmits Original Sin according to Augustine.

Caritas

Selfless, spiritual love directed toward God and neighbor, characterizing humanity before the Fall.

Cupiditas

Selfish, possessive love of material, fleeting things and self-gratification after the Fall.

Grace (Sola Gratia)

God's unmerited favor and assistance; the only way broken humans can achieve salvation.

Akrasia

Weakness of will; knowing what is morally right but acting against better judgment.

Post-Lapsarian

The state of humanity after the Fall, characterized by corruption and divided will.

Pre-Lapsarian

The state of humanity before the Fall, characterized by harmony and innocence.

Summum Bonum

The 'Highest Good'; ultimate human goal found only in eternal happiness with God.

Human Will Before the Fall

Complete harmony between reason and desire; body and soul worked together flawlessly.

Human Will After the Fall

Fundamentally broken and divided; lower bodily desires constantly pull against reason.

Augustine's Famous Prayer on Chastity

"Lord, make me chaste, but not yet."

Seminal Presence

Belief that all future generations were physically present in Adam, inheriting his guilt.

Double Death

The dual punishment of the Fall: spiritual death (lost relationship with God) and physical death.

Mass of Damnation (Massa Peccati)

Humanity as a 'lump of sin'; entirely incapable of choosing good or saving themselves.

Implication of Massa Peccati on Salvation

Salvation is entirely a free, unearned gift of God's Grace to the Elect.

Implication of Massa Peccati on Politics

Society requires a harsh, authoritarian government and strict laws to control human sin.

Psychological Argument for Augustine

Accurately reflects the daily human experience of akrasia (knowing right but doing wrong).

Historical Argument for Augustine

The persistence of war, greed, and oppression supports a broken human nature.

Evolutionary Argument against Augustine

Darwinism shows gradual evolution; there was no singular Adam and Eve or historical Fall.

Moral Argument against Augustine

It seems unjust for a loving God to punish billions for an ancestor's sin.

Eschatology

The study of the end times, the soul's destiny, and the afterlife.

Beatific Vision

Aquinas's view of Heaven as an eternal, timeless state of perfect happiness facing God.

Summum Bonum

The highest good, which is realized through the Beatific Vision in Heaven.

Spiritual view of Hell

Eternal separation from God and the psychological agony of being cut off from His love.

Paul Tillich's view of Hell

An existential state of total alienation, rather than a physical subterranean torture chamber.

Purgatory (Catholic theology)

A temporary state of cleansing and purification for souls with venial sins.

Protestant rejection of Purgatory

The belief that Christ's death fully washed away sin, making a middle stage unnecessary.

Limited Election

The belief that only a specific chosen few (the Elect) are saved by God.

Unlimited Election

The belief that Christ died for everyone, but salvation must be actively accepted.

Universalism (Apokatastasis)

The belief that everyone will eventually be saved and Hell is not eternal.

Massa peccati (Augustine)

The "mass of sin" meaning humanity is fallen and no one deserves salvation.

Double Predestination (Calvin)

The belief that God has already decided who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell.

Karl Barth's view of Election

Jesus Christ is the Elect, throwing salvation open to all who accept Him.

John Hick's "soul-making" afterlife

The afterlife provides further opportunities for spiritual growth and eventual salvation for everyone.

Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25)

Scripture supporting limited election through a definitive, final split and judgment of humanity.

John 3:16 (Eschatological application)

Scripture supporting unlimited election by establishing salvation as conditional upon belief.

Why does Limited Election preserve divine sovereignty?

It ensures God is completely omnipotent and uninfluenced by human actions or choices.

Why does Universalism provide moral coherence?

It protects the definition of God as love, rather than a creator of damned souls.

"Geographical accident" argument

Hick's argument that limited salvation is unfair because birth location largely decides eternal destiny.

Cosmic Renewal (Parousia)

God heals and transforms the physical world rather than destroying it.

Particular Judgement

Individual judgment happening immediately at the moment of death.

General (Final) Judgement

Public, corporate judgment of all humanity at the end of time.

Tension between Particular and General Judgement

If souls are already judged at death, a final public judgment seems redundant.

Karl Barth's "hopeful universalism"

Jesus is the only elect; salvation is structurally open to all without declaring universalism.

Dante's Purgatorio

A mountain of active rehabilitation where souls desire purification, not raw punishment.

Matthew 25 "Surprise Element"

Salvation is based on unconscious moral action, not explicit cognitive faith.

Matthew 25 vs. Sola Fide

It contradicts Pauline theology by basing salvation on works rather than faith alone.

Natural Theology

The view that human reason and observation of the world can discover God.

Revealed Theology

The view that God can only be known when He choose to show Himself.

Sensus Divinitatis

An innate, non-rational awareness of God embedded in every human soul.

Semen Religionis

The 'seed of religion' that causes humans to naturally create societies that worship.

Internal Conscience (Calvin)

Our moral compass, functioning as the literal voice of the Sensus Divinitatis.

Human Reason (Natural Theology)

The brain's design to perceive cause and logic, allowing us to deduce a Creator.

The Created World as a 'Mirror'

Calvin's metaphor for the universe reflecting and displaying God's attributes.

Spark of Awareness

An immediate, intuitive realization of God triggered by observing natural complexity.

Epistemic Distance

The massive intellectual and spiritual gap that exists between humans and God.

The Fall (Impact on Reason)

The corruption of the human mind by Original Sin, making reason blind and arrogant.

Cupiditas

Selfish desires that distort human reason, leading to the creation of false idols.

Jesus Christ (in Revealed Theology)

The ultimate revelation and literal embodiment of God entering human history.

Sacred Scripture

The historical record of God's self-revelation that corrects the errors of human reason.

Faith (Fides)

A supernatural gift from God giving absolute certainty beyond human logic.

Romans 1:20

St. Paul's defense of Natural Theology, stating creation leaves people 'without excuse'.

John 14:6

Jesus' statement 'I am the way...', justifying Revealed Theology as the exclusive path.

Emil Brunner (Human Nature)

Argued the Fall damaged human nature but did not totally erase it.

Anknüpfungspunkt

Brunner's term for the 'point of contact' in nature that allows us to see God's ordering.

Karl Barth ('NEIN!')

Barth's absolute rejection of natural theology, arguing the Fall totally destroyed human reason.

Barth's Warning on Natural Theology

Arrogant attempts to find God through reason create false idols (e.g., Nazi-supporting 'German Christians').

Universal Accessibility (AO2)

An argument for Natural Theology: anyone can appreciate a Creator by looking at the sky.

Philosophical Overlap (AO2)

An argument for Natural Theology: it builds a bridge between science/logic and faith.

Preserving Divine Sovereignty (AO2)

An argument for Revealed Theology: ensures salvation is a gift of grace, not intellectual achievement.

The Problem of Distortion (AO2)

An argument against Natural Theology: nature is highly subjective and contains cruelty (e.g., tsunamis).

The Aesthetics Argument

The argument that human appreciation of beauty cannot be explained by survival, proving a divine link.

The Argument from Excess

Evolution explains survival needs, but struggles to explain overwhelming, non-physical awe triggered by beauty.

Beauty as a Trigger (Calvin)

Beholding natural beauty sparks the 'semen religionis' (seed of religion) within human reason.

Imago Dei (AO2 Beauty Defense)

Human artistic creativity and emotional responses to beauty prove we are made in God's image.

Evolutionary Critique of Beauty (AO2)

Dawkins argues beauty appreciation is just an evolutionary preference for safe, fertile environments (savannah hypothesis).

The Problem of Ugliness (AO2)

Nature's cruelty (like parasites) shows that cherry-picking natural beauty creates a distorted view of God.

Divine Transcendence

The concept that God is completely outside, above, and independent of the material universe.

The Analogy of the Mosaic / Painting

Standing too close shows confusing blobs; stepping back reveals the artist's grand design.

Painting Analogy (Problem of Evil)

What looks like tragedies (ugly blobs) are necessary brushstrokes in God's eternal cosmic masterpiece.

John Calvin's 'Blinded Eye'

God's essence would blind us, so He accommodates Himself to our level like baby talk.

Thomas Aquinas (Analogical Language)

Since God is infinite, we cannot speak of Him literally but only through analogy.

Painting Analogy (AO2 Defense)

Explains why human reason fails to understand God's plans and humbles human arrogance.

Painting Analogy (AO2 Attack on Natural Theology)

Nature only shows a confusing, blurry mess; the Artist must explain it through Revelation.

Antony Flew's Critique (Painting Analogy)

Calling bad events 'hidden master plans' makes God unfalsifiable and meaningless.

The Moral Argument (Natural Theology)

The view that our internal sense of right and wrong is hardwired to God.

John Calvin on Conscience

Conscience is an internal echo of God's absolute moral law within the Sensus Divinitatis.

Sigmund Freud's Critique of Conscience

Conscience is the Superego, the internalized voice of parents and societal conditioning.

Universal Consent Argument (Consensus Gentium)

The historical argument that a seed of religion is physically built into human DNA.

Cicero on Universal Consent

Every culture, no matter how isolated, practices some form of religion or worship.

Secular Critique of Universal Consent

Universal worship only proves the human brain evolved to find patterns and fear death.

The Order and Teleology Argument

Calvin's view of the universe as a theater where natural order reveals a cosmic architect.

Karl Barth's Critique of Teleology

Nature's decay and disease mean natural theology yields a terrifying, chaotic god.

Theonomy Ethics: Source of Authority

The Bible or Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura).

Theonomy Ethics: Decision-Making

Literal interpretation of God's revealed words as fully sufficient.

Theonomy Ethics: Weaknesses

Textual contradictions, outdated cultural norms, and silence on modern issues.

Heteronomous Ethics: Source of Authority

Scripture combined with Church Tradition and human reason.

Heteronomous Ethics: Decision-Making

Morality mediated through the Christian community and historical context.