Theology final

Habit

5 percent of what we do on an average day is the result of deliberate, conscious choices, we are born we capacities that have to be developed, developed well, they are virtues, developed poorly, they are vices, Aquinas says that our actions are the raw material of our character, character is derived from the word meaning to cut grooves into or engrave

Kinds of people (Aquinas)

Vicious, incontinent, continent and virtuous

Kinds of people: vicious

People controlled by their vices, desire the bad and act to that end, satisfied both their desire and him/herself because what was desired cannot ultimately satisfy

Kinds of people: incontinent

Morally inclined to act wrongly out of weakness, satisfied his/her desire for something even though it is not good, he/she is dissatisfied with him/herself for having done s

Kinds of people: continent

The person is also inclined to act wrongly but has some will power, the person desires to act wrong, but acts right, satisfied with self for doing right, but is not fully satisfied because desires have not been met

Kinds of people: virtuous

Able to satisfy both inclinations and desires because they are rightly ordered, this person wants to do what is right and does it and receives pleasure in doing it (receiving pleasure from it does not mean it is easy)

Deadly sins (or capital or cardinal sins)

These are the most important and most serious vices because they are understood to give rise to the others, certainly not the worst sins or even the most harmful to others, Aquinas says that these seven are singled out because they concern good or areas of life that we think promise us happiness, these vices are pride/vainglory, avarice/greed, envy, gluttony, lust, sloth and anger/wrath, anger and sloth are two things that may happen when you find that the other 5 can’t fill the empty place

Deadly sins: pride/vainglory

Ruthless, sleepless, unsmiling concentration on self, motivates us to seek happiness for ourselves on our own terms, an inordinate desire for one’s own excellence, one is so complete with it when one refuses to subject your will and intellect to God and obey his commands, Aquinas says “It seems to belong to a natural appetite that one wishes one’s goodness to be known”, concerns being known and loved by others, the excessive and disordered desire for recognition and approval from others

Deadly sins: avarice/greed

An excessive love for money and possessions, the inner condition of the heart is what gives rise to these outer manifestations, which are typically categorized as excessive acquisitions and excessive retaining of money or possessions, in all of it varies expressions, however, it is a perverted love

Deadly sins: envy

The hatred of someone else’s glory, sadness on account of the goods possessed by another

Deadly sins: gluttony

Excessive focus on your own pleasure, more the desire to consume food, not the intemperate consumption of food- Aquinas

Deadly sins: lust

The inordinate desire for sexual pleasure, it is a heart condition, more about above the waist than below the waist

Deadly sins: sloth

The avoidance of love, concerns commitment and the effort we need to sustain it, not laziness, but a willful act, sabotages sanctification- the transforming power of God’s love in us, by sapping our willingness to lay down our old loves for the sake of love of God, it saps our energy for good altogether, since God is the source of that strength, lukewarmness, faintheartedness, and despair, can be evidenced by laziness, procrastination, idleness, indifference, but also busyness and being overworked

Deadly sins: anger (wrath)

Expression of disordered love, concerns honor, control, and getting what’s deserved, often connected with revenge, because it is so often rooted in unholy expectations- both of what we are due and what others are due- dealing with this vice requires setting realistic expectations are realizing that the claims we make on the world may be…

Christology

The study of Christ, started with “who do you say that I am?”, often a discussion of either Jesus as Messiah or Jesus as more than human

Methodology: Christology from above/from below

Starting point, starts with preexistent Logos cf, starts with Jesus’ human life, major methodological question, theological vs historical starting point, Alexandrian vs Antiochene, Christology vs Jesusology

Methodology: high/low Christology

Nature emphasized, focus on Christ’s divinity cf, ephasizes his humanity

Methodology: explicit/implicit Christology

Sources, based on direct statements of cf. based on inferences

Methodology: ontological/functional Christology

Person and work of Christ, focuses on who/what Jesus is in himself cf. focuses on Jesus’ work for us in salvation

Significance of the career of Jesus

Traditional theologies give little attention to Jesus’ life, we ought to mine his life for information on his nature and his work, even the creeds generally skip over his life, maybe Jesus’ life makes us uncomfortable, it reminds us he’s our example

Significant events in Jesus’ career

Conception and birth as fulfillment of prophecy, flight to Egypt; childhood awareness of God, baptism; temptation; intimacy with God, ministry; teaching, healing, exorcism, transfiguration, triumphal entry into Jerusalem; passion, resurrection; ascension; session and reign, intercession; return in glory; judgment

The virgin birth and Mary

Protestants: Mary had other children

Catholics: perpetual virginity of Mary

The virgin birth is not the immaculate conception (Mary was conceived without sin- Catholicism)

Theological significance of Jesus’ life

Inaugurated the kingdom of God, highlights the social dimensions of the gospel, necessary for our salvation, shows obedience is crucial to salvation, serves as foundation for ethics, source for theology and suffering, influences our devotional life, salvation is a relationship with a person

Incarnation of the Son of God

God became human in Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus was divine and human in a single person

Incarnation Christology in the New Testament

Christological hymns, see a “V” pattern of descent and ascent, called the States of Christ in theology, what matters is the stem of the V

Implicit Christology

Method: inferred from actions, deeds, and words

Clarity: requires deductions and interpretation

Location: can at times be “below the surface”

Examples: forgiving sins, calming storms

Explicit Christology

Method: directly stated through titles or clear declarations

Clarity: clear, direct, leaves little doubt

Location: usually on the surface

Examples: “Lord”, “Messiah”, “Son of God”

Title: Messiah/Christ

Jesus did not use these titles himself but accepted these titles from others, he reinterpreted it in terms of the Son of Man, kings, priests, perhaps prophets were anointed, one chosen by God to carry out his plan, caried expectations in the 1st century, Davidic king, secular king (Cyrus) called YHWH’s anointed

Title: Son of Man

Two senses in the old testament: a human being, an eschatological figure of Daniel, doesn’t necessarily mean (or only mean) Jesus’ humanity, Jesus redefined it according to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, Jesus saw his mission as Messiah in terms of this, 1 Enoch links this with Messiah, three categories of sayings for Jesus: Son of Man in earthly life (present), Suffering Son of Man (forthcoming), Eschatological figure (future)

Titles: Son of God

Jesus as this: the title and Jesus’s understanding of himself as Son, Jesus’ righteous and royal humanity (a righteous person, human kings of Israel, David’s son), accepted the title from others, some political baggage as Messiah (royal messianic figure, not necessarily divine, unique knowledge of and intimacy with God), more important: Jesus’ filial consciousness (referred to God as his father, unique intimate relationship with God, unique level of knowledge, unique knowledge of God, called God “Abba”)

Titles: Lord

Can also mean sir or master, appropriate when he is exalted and reigning, God made him this and Christ, the confession of the church, shows we owe him our allegiance

Other Titles for Christ

Savior (Soter)- rare; rescuer of the world, used 17 times in the new testament, much less than Lord

God (Theos)- also rare

New testament writers are willing to apply to Jesus titles formerly reserved for Yahweh

Christology in the Gospels

Mark: Jesus as Son of God, suffering Son of Man

Matthew: Jesus as new Moses, teacher, messiah of Israel, Jesus as fulfillment of old testament, as Immanuel

Luke: Jesus as friend of sinners, as universal savior, Jesus’ prayer life; the ascension

John: Jesus as Word, Son, God’s agent

New testament Christology

Jesus as divine wisdom incarnate, Baruch; Sirach; Wisdom of solomon, wisdom as preexistent divine agent through whom God created the world, wisdom comes to earth for human salvation, Jesus taught in wisdom speech (parables)

Jesus as Logos: the eternity of the Logos

Heraclitus- the Logos “always exists”

John- the Logos “was in the beginning”

The first thing about the Logos by both Heraclitus and John

Jesus as Logos: The divinity of the Logos

Heraclitus: the Logos is identified in some way with the underlying divine fire, divine law, called “Zeus”

John- the Logos connection with God is a straightforward and unambiguous “the Logos was God”

Jesus as Logos: the identification of the Logos with Light

Heraclitus: Logos is related to the “everliving fire”, the “never-setting” sun, and the “lightening bolt”

John: the Logos is identified outright with the light and the dualism of light/darkness is present throughout the gospel

Jesus as Logos: the creative work of the Logos

Heraclitus: “All things come into being according to the Logos”

John: “All things came into being through him”

Jesus as Logos: the universal presence of the Logos

Heraclitus: the Logos is “common to all” and related to it the “never-setting sun”

John: the Logo that it “illuminates every man” and is “the life that was the light of men”

Jesus as Logos: the necessity of following the Logos

Heraclitus: “It is necessary to follow the Logos”

John: only those “believing in his name” are children of God

Jesus as Logos: the rejection of the Logos

Heraclitus: “men fail to understand” the Logos, men “lack experience” of the Logos,

John: “the darkness never grasped” the light of the Logos, “the world did not know him”

Pauline Christology

Person of Christ: did he know about the historical Jesus? calls Jesus Messiah/Christ, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Son of God, he was sent to bring about our adoption, Jesus is God, Jesus is fully human

The last Adam, corporate solidarity, the death of Christ

Christology of Hebrews

Most common title: Jesus as son

Distinctive title: Jesus as high priest

Also: prodromos (forerunner), archegos (champion, pioneer), example, apostle

Covers whole career of Jesus: preexistence through ministry, death and resurrection, exaltation, heavenly sessino, return

The work of Christ in Hebrews: one for all sacrifice (sat down), defeated Satan and released his captives, initiated perfect and permanent covenant, present work of intercession

Offices of Christ

Priest, prophet, king

Offices of Christ: Jesus as a prophet

Jesus as revealer: he revealed God, he was called one, he called himself one, fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18:15 (one like Moses), teaching ministry: salvation and woes, will reveal God finally in his second coming, his work surpassed the prophets’

Offices of Christ: Jesus as a priest

Jesus as reconciler: his work as mediator, high priestly prayer for disciples, offering atonement, both sacrifice and high priest, ongoing intercession, he acts as God’s agent on behalf of others

Offices of Christ: Jesus as a king

Jesus as ruler, wise men came to worship him as king, kingdom of God was his message, he inaugurated the kingdom through preaching, healing, exorcism, rejected attempts to make him king, acknowledged in triumphal entry, executed as king of the Jews, his kingship is already/not yet

Offices of Christ: things Jesus did that do not fit into any of the categories

Teaching ministry not quite like prophets’, called a rabbi by people; teacher of wisdom, nature and extent of his healings, exorcisms showed spiritual warfare, life in community, intimate relationship with the father

Christological controversies

Driven by salvation issues, east- deification or divinization, west- legal view (represent us, pay our debt), “The word became human so that we might become divine” (Athanasius), “For what has not been assumed has not been healed; it is what is united to his divinity that is saved” (Gregory of Nazianzus)

Christological controversies: Ebionism

Jesus is a God-inspired man

Christological controversies: Docetism

Jesus only appeared to be human, from dokeo, to see or appear

Christological controversies: Alexandrians

Emphasized the divinity and the unity between the natures, Greek influence, “Word-flesh Christology”

Christological controversies: Antiochenes

Emphasized the humanity and the distinction between the natures, Jewish influence, “Word-man Christology”

Christological controversies: Arianism

Maintain absolute monotheism, Logos is a creature, neither divine nor human, condemned at Nicea (325), Logos was homoousios with the father, Nicea affirmed divinity of the Logos/Son

Christological controversies: Eusthathius

Logos dwelt in human Jesus, good representative of Antiochene Christology

Christological controversies: Apollinaris

Logos replaced human spirit (some would say mind), where we have spirit, soul, and body, Jesus had logos, soul, and body

Christological controversies: Nestorius

Conjunction, not union, could Mary be called theotokos (God-bearer)

Christological controversies: Eutyches

Two natures before the incarnation, one nature after the union

Christological controversies: Chalcedon

Two natures in union, hypostatic union- union in one hypostasis

Theories of atonement: words related to atonement

Hebrew kephar (to cover); cf. Yom Kippur

Greek hilasmos (propitiation or expiation)

English at + one + ment (reconciliation)

Atonement definition

The work of Christ for us

Theories of atonement: Christus Victor

Dynamic imagery, earliest theory of atonement, dominant from 2nd-6th centuries, classical, dramatic or ransom view, cross was decisive defeat of powers of evil, Jesus beat up Satan with a big ugly stick and that big ugly stick was the cross

Theories of atonement: Recapitulation

Irenaeus, Christ retraces human history, gets it right, and becomes the source of a new humanity

Theories of atonement: Incarnational theory

Patristic period, salvation as theosis (deification/divinization), we become like God as God’s image is restored in us by the Holy Spirit, divine and human come together in Jesus, still emphasized in Eastern Orthodoxy, “The Word was made man that we might be made divine” (Athanasius)

Theories of atonement: Satisfaction theory

Anselm, Cur Deus Homo (why did God become man?), God as feudal overlord; people as vassals, sin as offense against God’s honor, satisfaction must be made to God (penance): by a human (human offense), by God (infinite satisfaction required), therefore it must be made by a man/God, Jesus is our substitute, also called commercial theory

Theories of atonement: Moral influence theory

Abelard, exemplarist theory, demonstration of God’s love, God’s love overcomes our fear and ignorance and prompts us to respond to him in love, popular in Middle Ages until Reformation; also in classical liberalism

Theories of atonement: Penal-substitution theory

Calvin et al., further development of satisfaction theory, satisfaction paid to God’s wrath against sin, God as ruler, lawgiver and judge, sin as law breaking that deserves punishment, Christ bore our punishment in our place, became dominant in Protestant Scholastic, Orthodox understanding (following reformation)

Theories of atonement: Governmental theory

Moral governance, Hugo Grotius; emphasizes God’s law, God is ruler and lawgiver, he must uphold the moral order, the cross demonstrates the penalty for sin, Jesus did not suffer our punishment, the cross should deter people from committing future sin, this allows God to forgive sin without encouraging further sin

Theories of atonement: recent criticisms

Some feminists: atonement, especially penal substitution is “divine child abuse”, shows God as abusive father punishing the innocent son, encourages abuse, especially in families, penal-substitution theory is especially vulnerable to this criticism

Professor’s opinion on Atonement

God is judging us for things as they are, God is interested in and wants to get rid of sin because it is killing us inside, sin is flirting with the powers of death and God hates when we do that

Extent of the atonement

Christ’s work was sufficient for the sins of the world, for whom was it intended:

limited or partial atonement: Christ died for the elect only (Calvinism)

general or universal atonement: Christ died for everyone, but only those who believe will benefit (Arianism)

Extent of the atonement: limited or partial atonement

Christ died for the elect only (Calvinism)

Extent of the atonement: general or universal atonement

Christ died for everyone, but only those who believe will benefit (Arianism)

Extent of the atonement: tulip

T- total depravity

U- unconditional election

L- limited atonement

I- irresistible grace

P- perseverance of the saints

Extent of the atonement: tulip- t

Total depravity

Extent of the atonement: tulip- u

Unconditional election, if you are among the elect, you will be saved

Extent of the atonement: tulip- l

Limited atonement, Christ died for the elect only

Extent of the atonement: tulip- i

Irresistible grace, the issue of free will falls under this

Extent of the atonement: tulip- p

Perseverance of the saints, not eternal security, if you are among the elect, you will cross the line as a Christian, you cannot not cross the line as a Christian, if you are chosen, you cannot be unchosen

Extent of the atonement: three basic positions on these issues

Exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism

Extent of the atonement: exclusivism

Jesus is the only way; explicit confession of Christ is necessary for salvation

Extent of the atonement: inclusivism

Jesus is the only way, but he may save people without explicit confession

Extent of the atonement: pluralism

There are many ways of salvation

Postmortem opportunity

The people who haven’t heard about God will get a second chance when they die to say yes or no to Jesus

Christ’s ongoing work

Ascension and exaltation, reigns as Lord, intercedes for believers, directs his church, will return to complete hi reign,

Monergism

One energy, there is only one power necessarily at work to bring about salvation, most would say that power is God

Synergism

Two things cooperating together, while God might be the prime actor, humans have to cooperate in his saving plan and desire

Augustinianism

Monergism, God is doing all the heavy lifting and all the work in salvation

Pelagianism

Monergism, the human is doing the work

Semi-Augustinianism

Synergism

Semi-Pelagianism

Synergism, God and us doing the work together, both sides are doing something, starts with the human doing it, God sees us doing it and then comes and meets us and helps us with it

Old testament images in salvation

Salvation is eschatological, deliverance in the Day of the Lord, eschatological dualism of two ages

New testament framework

Also eschatological, centers on Kingdom of God, already and not yet

Salvation

Soteriology = the work of Christ to remedy the human predicament and the appropriation of that work by human beings which gets applied by the Holy Spirit, objective and subjective soteriology, by grace through faith

Objective soteriology

Atonement (work of Christ)

Subjective soteriology

Appropriation or application of that work

By grace through faith

the Christian life begins and continues with this, one part can be understood as God’s openness to us, other part can be understood as our openness to God

Grace

Can be understood as God’s openness to us

Faith

Can be understood as our openness to God

What is salvation?

In order to understand it, we must understand that from which we have been saved, lostness comes from Jesus’ vocabulary, sin and sins