FBI Semester 1 Theology

Argument for the Existence of God: Based upon the Law of Cause and Effect.

Cosmological argument

Question that must be asked if there is no God.

Where did everything come from?

An all powerful, all knowing, uncaused first cause, or simply put - God. An infinite Creation demands an infinite __________.

cause

The existence of creation demands this.

Creator

Argument for the Existence of God: The existence of Design implies a designer. The intelligent design, purpose, and order of the universe indicates an intellegent Designer.

The Design or Teleological Argument.

Argument for the Existence of God: The fact that Mankind's __________ Knowledge of God's Existence is a universal phenomena is evidence that this knowledge was placed in us by God Himself.

Innate, The Innate Knowledge or Universal Belief Argument.

True of all civilizations and cultures world-wide, including completely isolated tribes.

All of humanity has an innate knowledge of the existence of God.

Knowledge of God's existence.

God placed this "in them".

Argument for the Existence of God: Since the concept of God is infinitely greater than man's finite mind, it cannot have come from man's finite mind and therefore must have been revealed by God Himself.

The Ontological Argument.

We would not have imagined the perfect God of the Bible, but one far less demanding, restrictive and hard to understand.

If we would have imagined God.

It was man who created God, rather than God who created man. __________ often propose this.

Skeptics

The _________ and _________ gods are immoral finite gods, fickle and fleshly, created by man.

Greek, Roman

Argument for the Existence of God: Man's mind, rationality, and self-consciousness could not arise by chance from mere molecules. The immaterial cannot arise from the material. Atoms do not know that they exist. They are not self aware.

The argument from Consciousness or Mind.

A self-conscious, rational Source or Creator, the God with eternal mind. Man's mind, soul and spirit could only have been created by a God Who is Spirit, a God with mind, emotion, rationality, self-consciousness, self-awareness, and will.

Man's self-conscious, rational nature implies this.

Argument for the Existence of God: Demands a self-conscious and moral maker.

The Argument from man's Conscience and Moral Nature.

Though man's conscience is often weak or ignored and may even become seared, it nonetheless exists in all men and tells us we ought to do right. Implies a __________ God who implanted a __________ nature within us.

moral, moral

If the universe and man were merely random chance arrangements of atoms and chemicals, no ___________ could exist.

morality

If there was no God, then there would be no __________ basis for any __________ morals.

logical, absolute

The only way we can reject the existence of God - if we reject the existence of all __________ morals.

absolute

The existence of __________ implies a moral Maker, Lawgiver and Judge.

morals

All evidence for miracles, fulfilled Bible prophecies, the inspiration of the Scriptures, and the resurrection of Christ.

Evidences for the existence of God.

Millions of persons century after century profess to the total __________-changing power of the New Birth.

life

Because they enjoy a daily, ___________ relationship with God, millions of believers can profess what love, joy, peace, and sense of God's presence and providence this gives them.

personal

Hundreds of millions of testimonies could be given of amazing supernatural and natural answers to __________ prayers.

answered

Three individual and distinct personalities, who co-exist in a perfect unity as three co-equal and co-eternal Persons. There is __________ God who exists in a __________ of these.

one, union

Jahovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, and Mormonism all deny the deity of __________ and the __________ __________.

Christ, Holy Spirit

Cultists deny the __________

Trinity

Teaches that the Trinity consists of three separate Gods.

Tri-Theism.

These 3 movements (also known as ___________) denies the true Bible doctrine of the Trinity. Denies that God is three. They teach that the Father, Son, and Spirit are simply three roles (or modes) by which the One God reveals Himself.

Oneness, Jesus-Only, Jesus Name Movement, Modalism

The Bible clearly teaches that there is only One God; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God; these Three are distinct persons or personalities; therefore, there must be One God, Who exists as Three distinct Persons, and the doctrine of the Trinity is true. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God. This is the summation of the Bible doctrine of the __________ God.

Triune

The One True God is H__________.

Holy

God is absolutely __________ from and __________ above all His creatures (and creation), and He is equally __________ from all moral evil and sin.

separate, exalted, separate

The One True God is J__________ and R__________.

Just, Righteous.

God's R__________ or J__________ is His perfect moral nature of always perfectly dealing rightly and justly with all that is holy and unholy, of justly punishing all evil and rewarding all good.

Righteousness, Justice

God's existence is uncaused and arises from His Own eternal nature. God is not dependent upon any outside source or creative force. God is originless and simply exists because He exists. The One True God is __________-existent.

Self

God is not dependent upon any outside source for His thoughts, His decisions, His power, or His counsel. The One True God is __________-existent.

Self

God is the uncaused First cause Who logically must exist for anything to exist. All else that exists was created by God. Only God Himself is or can be Self-__________.

Existent

God's infinite divine nature is so perfect that He has no spiritual, emotional, mental, relational, physical, or material need outside of His Own divine Being. The One True God is Self-__________.

Sufficient

God's self-sufficiency is related to His divine self-existence. God has never had and indeed cannot ever have in the present, the eternity Past, or in Eternity Future, a single need of any kind that is not entirely fulfilled within His Own infinite and perfect Being. The One True God is Self-__________.

Sufficient

God is the One and only Being Who has exised for all of Eternity Past, Who will exist for all Eternity Future, and Who actually exists outside of and beyond the realm of time, as the creator, not the servant of time. The One True God is __________.

Eternal

God's eternal nature is also distinct from that of His Creatures (Men and Angels) who will exist forever, in that He not only will exist for all eternity, but He has existed form all eternity and beyond even this, He does exist in all eternity. The One True God is __________.

Eternal

Got does not exist within linear time. He exists above time. "...God is absolutely free from the tyranny of time. In Him there is no past or future, but one always and never-ending present. He is neither conditioned nor confined by time." The One True God is __________.

Eternal

God is unlimited in time, space, power, presence, knowledge, essence, love, grace, and moral perfection. The One True God is __________.

Infinite

God has no external limitations outside of His Own Holy Nature. God is measureless. The One True God is __________.

Infinite

God is present everywhere with His whole being at the same time at all times. The One True God is __________.

Omnipresent

A sharp distinction must be drawn between the Bible doctrine of God's omnipresence and the Hindu and New Age heresy of pantheism. God is indeed everywhere, but Pantheism wrongly declares that God is everything or that everything is God. The One True God is __________.

Omnipresent

God is all-powerful. He has imcomprehensible and absolute power. The One True God is __________.

Omnipotent

God can do anything that is consistent with His Own nature. God cannot be other than He is. His true to Himself. He cannot be ungod-like. God cannot lie or sin. Can God do anything? No. He cannot contradict His Own nature. The One True God is __________.

Omnipotent

God is All-knowing. God has always perfectly known all that can be known. The One True God is __________.

Omniscient

God has (without the need for learning, observing, or having caused) absolute, perfect, and total knowledge of all that has been, that is, that will be, that could have been, and that can be. An interesting thought here is that God cannot learn, for He already knows all that there is to be known. God never has, never will, and actually cannot learn, for to learn implies that there has been a time at which God did not know all. The One True God is __________.

Omniscient

Much confusion, debated and misunderstanding has surrounded that nature of God's omniscience concerning the future, God's foreknowledge. The question has long been asked: If we cannot choose other than what God already knows we will choose, then are we truly able to choose? Some have imagined that solution to this apparent tension between God's foreknowledge and man's free will is to conclude that man cannot choose. This issue has been debated for centuries and has resulted in an erroneous view of foreknowledge. The problem is that, if God cannot know all unless He causes all things, then He cannot fore-know the sinful choices of men and angels unless He causes all of these sinful choices. This view blasphemously makes God the author of sin, and indeed of all sin. The One True God is __________.

Omniscient

God's Wisdom is His ability to apply omniscience in such a way that He always chooses the Highest good for the greatest number for the longest time and the most excellent means to accomplish that purpose. The One True God is __________.

Wise

God's wisdom has practical meaning for us in that we can always trust His will to be far better than our will. The One True God is __________.

Wise

God is unchangable in His Essence, Character, Attributes, and Purpose. The One True God is __________.

Immutable

God is above even the possibility of change. Change must be either for the better or worse, both are impossible with God. There is nothing better than what He is and He cannot become less and still be God. Absolute infinite perfection cannot change in a neutral way, for there is no other state in which God could exist which is equal with Himself. The One True God is __________.

Immutable

God's will and purpose are unlimited by any outside force and He is unrestrained in His will and plans, except by His Own nature. The One True God is __________.

Free

Whereas God's freedom is part of His divine and holy nature, freedom is therefore a good and holy virtue. The God who is Free exercises His sovereignty over His Creation, while at the same time extending freedom to His subjects. God is not a dictatorial tyrant Who robs man of free will. God created man in His own image. One aspect of this creative act is that man is created with Free Will. God created man with the ability to freely accept and love God or to reject and rebel against God. God's creation of both man and angels with Free Will provides the ultimate answer as to why there is sin and suffering in God's once perfect Creation. There are only two alternatives to the question of evil. Either God gave free will and then angels and men chose sin or God controls and causes all things and is therefore the author of all sin. There is no third alternative. The One True God is __________.

Free

The authority of God over all things is absolute. He is the sole ruler over all that exists. God is in control. He is on the Throne. He rules as Lord. The One True God is __________.

Sovereign

God has allowed for (but not arranged for or caused in any way) sin to enter this universe because He has allowed both men and angels to possess free will. If God is __________, how do we explain the presence of sin?

sovereign

No finite being can ever hope to even remotely grasp or begin to understand the infinite God. The One True God is __________.

Incomprehensible

This is why all attempts to really picture God (by graven images, drawn images, or ween mental images) are always idolatrous. The One True God is __________.

Incomprehensible

God is unquestionable in His inexplicable and mysterious ways. The One True God is __________.

Inscrutable

This attribute is similar to incomprehensibility, but it carries this truth one step further. Theoretically, God could be beyond our understanding, but not always do what is best. The One True God is __________.

Inscrutable

"By __________ we mean that the attribute of the divine nature in virtue of which God's being and God's knowledge eternally conform to each other." The One True God is __________.

truth, True

__________ is therefore anything factual about God. The child of God may well say, "I speak (or serve) the __________", but only God can say, "I am the __________!" God is the ultimate and only Source and Standard of __________. This is why the Bible decribes the "God that cannot lie", and concludes that it is utterly "impossible for God to lie". The One True God is __________.

Truth (x4), True

God always keeps His promises. He never fails to love, tend, and care for the needs of His children and His Creation. The One True God is __________.

Faithful

"He is both the source and strength of all illumination. This is true not only to those golden beams of energy radiating from the sun and stars, but also of the moral, mental, and spiritual rays of information and inspiration." The One True God is __________.

Light

"__________ is the eternal principle of God's nature which leads Him to communicate of His own life and blessedness to those who are like Him in moral character." The One True God is __________.

Goodness, Good

"The __________ of God is that which disposes Him to be kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of good will toward men. He is tenderhearted and of quick sympathy. By His nature He is inclined to bestow blessedness and He takes holy pleasure in the happiness of His people." The One True God is __________.

goodness, Good

"__________ is that eternal principle of God's nature which leads Him to seek the temporal good and eternal salvation of those who have opposed themselves to His will, even at the cost of infinite Self-sacrifice." The One True God is __________.

Mercy, Merciful

__________ is not getting what we deserve, namely Hell. The One True God is __________.

Mercy, Merciful

God's unmerited favor, goodness, and blessings manifested toward the undeserving. The One True God is __________.

Gracious

__________ is that which is given freely. It is God's Undeserved Love for us. It is His Unmerited Favor. The favor of God is not restricted to salvation itself. When God grants favor in life, this favor extends to every area of life.

Grace, Gracious

Note these distinctions between __________ and Mercy. Mercy is God not giving us the punishment in Hell that we deserve. __________ is God giving us the favor and salvation in Heaven that we do not deserve. The One True God is __________.

Grace, Grace, Gracious

The manifested unconditional and unselfish concern of God, in emotion, volition and action for man's highest good. The One True God is __________.

Love

The Impartation of the Message from God to man. This ministry is complete and has ceased. It was perfect and without the possibility of error.

Revelation

The Impartation of the Message from Man to Scripture. This ministry is complete and has ceased. It was perfect and without the possibility of error.

Inspiration

This view says the Bible may be regarded as our infallible rule of faith and practice in all matters of religious, ethical, and spiritual value, but not in outer matters such as historical and scientific statements. It must be understood that since the Bible is clearly revealed as God's Word, for one to claim that it contains errors or lies is to directly assault the character of God. One who tells lies is a liar and one who makes mistakes is fallible! The ___________-Rule-__________ Theory of Inspiration.

Spiritual, Only

This liberal view states that only the main thought or a verse, paragraph or even a chapter is inspired. Individual words are not necessarily inspired and may contain errors, but the overall general message is from God. One factor that is often overlooked is that the various methods of translation are influenced by the various views of Inspiration. If only the main thoughts of each passage are inspired, then it is perfectly appropriate to merely paraphrase the main thoughts of each passage. If the very words of Scripture are inspired, then the proper method of translation is to translate the very words themselves, insofar as each language makes this possible. The __________ (or _________) Inspiration Theory.

Content, Concept

This theory states that God coldly and woodenly dictated the Bible to His writers, allowing nothing of the writer's influence or personality to be involved. That the human writers of Scripture were nothing more than secretaries taking word for word dictation. The Holy Spirit moved on the personality of the writer and guided (not dictated) every word from error in such a way that every word of Scripture is both from God and from the human author and yet, none of the frailties or faults of the human writer are included. The ___________ Dictation Theory.

Mechanical

This is the correct positon and it states that all (___________) the very words (__________) of the Bible are completely and perfectly inspired by God Himself. Exactly what is meant by inspiration (theopneustos-"God breathed") is clearly defined in Matthew 4:4, "...Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The ___________-___________ Inspiration Position.

plenary, verbal, verbal-plenary

For nearly 20 centuries, Christians everywhere have believed that when John wrote Revelation 22:21 and wiped his pen, inspiration ceased. The Bible is a completed Book and therefore Inspiration is a completed process. God warned not to add to His Word in the Bible's final chapter. The ___________ of Inspiration.

Completion

That "the faith" was once for all time delivered to the saints Jude speaks of "the faith which was once delivered to the Saints." "The faith" refers to the Christian faith and doctrines. The Greek tense here literally speaks of "the faith which was once for all time never to be repeated again delivered unto the saints". This clearly speaks of a completed process. The ___________ of Inspiration. The Declaration of Jude 1:3.

Completion

That God has given His final and highest revelation through His Son Jesus Christ. The New Testament superseded the Old Testament because it was the Higher revelation of Christ and the the New Testament in My blood" (I Cor 11:25). What other higher revelation could possibly supersede the revelation of Christ? What other testament could transcend the testament of His blood? What other gospel (Gal 1:8-9) could surpass the gospel of Jesus Christ? The ___________ of Inspiration. The Declaration of Hebrews 1:1-2

Completion

Length of time since anything has been added to Scripture is also good evidence that the message of God is complete. The __________-year gap.

2,000

That the Bible is not sufficient. If the Scriptures are not complete, then the inspiration we have already received, the Bible, is not all we need to make Christians, "perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." This is the meaning of ___________ inspiration.

Incomplete

The impartation of the message from Scripture to Man's Heart. This ministry is continuous and ongoing. This ministry is dependent upon the response of the human heart and is therefore not infallible or without the possibility of error.

Illumination

He does so through His continuing ministries such as Illumination, Conviction, Leading, and Calling (to calvation and to ministry). These are all ways the __________ __________ communicates with the human heart. All of these ministries are more general in nature and are dependent upon the receptivity and censitivity of the human heart for their accuracy. They are therefore not guaranteed to be free from error in all cases.

Holy Spirit

Will the spirit lead a pastor to preach a specific message from His Word?

Yes

Will the spirit guide a pastor in exactly what text to use, and even prompt him to use specific illustrations?

Yes

Will a pastor receive a message by divine revelation or inspiration, which would guarantee that every word of the sermon was directly from God and was therefore not only free from all error, but also as authoritative as the Holy Scriptures?

No

The Impartation of the Message from the Original Manuscripts to Today's Bible.

Preservation

The Old Testament was originally written in this language, with the following exceptions in ___________: Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4-7:28.

Hebrew, Aramaic

Why did God choose Hebrew for the Old Testament? It is a ____________ language, and a ___________ language.

pictoral, personal

"It is a pictoral language, speaking with vivid, bold metaphors which challenge and dramatize the story. The Hebrew language possesses a facility to present 'pictures' of the events narrated. ...As a pictorial language, Hebrew presents a vivid picture of the acts of God among a people who became examples of illustrations for future generations. The Old Testament was intended to be presented graphically in a 'picture-language' . ...Further, Hebrew is a personal language. It addresses itself to the heart and emotions. Hebrew is a language through which the message is felt rather than thought." Hebrew was a language restricted only to the Jewish people, keeping them separate from the world.

The New Testament was originally written in this language.

Greek

Greek was an intellectual language. It was more a language of the mind than of the heart.. Since Greek possessed a technical precision not found to Hebrew, the theological truths which were more generally expressed in the Hebrew of the Old Testament were more precisely formulated in the Greek of the New Testament. ...Furthermore, Greek was a nearly universal language. The common (Koine) Greek, a thoroughly international language of the first century Mediterranean world." Greek was the perfect language to carry the Gospel to the world.

The Catholic Church officially recognized the Apocrypha in AD ___________ at the Council of ___________ in an attempt to strengthen their position, which had been grievously weakened by the great reformer Martin Luther.

1596, Trent

A collection of Old Testament manuscripts discovered in 1947, which date back to the Second Century, BC.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The __________ __________ __________ were discovered in ___________ by a Jewish group known as the __________. They predated any existing Old Testament manuscripts by __________ years.

Dead See Scrolls, caves, Essenes, 1000

Skeptics and false religions had long claimed that in the centuries of copying and recopying, the text of the Old Testament had sustained so many mistakes, errors, and revisions as to make it completely unreliable. A comparison of these manuscripts with our oldest copies of the Old Testament revealed that the copying process was incredibly and absolutely accurate.

What charge did the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls silence?

The Geneva Version of the Bible was translated in ___________ __________ in AD _________?

Geneva, Switzerland, 1557