Beals Christain Theology Midterm

Prolegomena definition

The term originates from the terms that mean “to say beforehand”.

Concpet of Prolegomena

It gives information neceaary to set the proper context (the study of preliminary matters)

Worldivew defintition

What you truly believe (consciously or unconsciously) and how you live it out

Worldview consists of:

a collection of presuppositions convictions and values from which a person tries to understand and make sense out of the world and life

Worldview is connected to our convictions about

God, ourselves, this world, our problem, and our ultimate end.

Closed system

• Nothing outside of Natural realm - onlu silent impersonal universe

• Nothing ouside the circle to inform inside the circle regaridng values, meaning, purpose, existence

• All values, meaning pueporse must be determiend from INSIDE the circle - nature alone

Challenges to a closes system

• problems of existence (something has to be eternal)

• Problems of values

Open System

• something outside of natural realm

• Something outside the circle may inform inside the circle regarding values, meaning, purpose, existence, etc.

• Values (ethics, meaning, purpose may be determined by the “something” or “someone” outside

5 key compnents in any worldview:

1. What or who is God

2. What is man (do humans have value/dignitiy)

3. What is our world (what is the nature and character of the world? Open/closed system?)

4. What is our problem (There is something wrong with both the world and each person

5. What is our end (Purpose of life, afterlife)

General revelation

Information given to all people at al times in history; through creation and conscience

• Limited (conveys nothign with regard to reconciliation to God through forgiveness of sin

• Only incles the knowledge of God

• spans all time

• Witness to all people

• Sufficient to condemn

Special revelation

God revelaling himself specifically, directly, and in greater detail to specific people at a specific time.

• Direct acts/visions

• the living word - incarnaion of the son

• The written word - Scripture

• The foundation of our christian worldview is God’s revealed written word

A christian worldview:

1- regards the god of the bible as the unique source of all truth

2- Relates all truth back to an understanding of God and his pueposes for this life and the next

3-Recognizes there is only one true view of life whose single source of truth and reality is the creator God

SUM: The basis of a Christian worldivew is God’s:

Self revelation and Self Disclosure in scripture

(inspirion of scripture, Truthfulness of scrptue, authority of Scripture)

4 stages of a christian worldview

1. creation - Genesis 1-2

2. Fall - Genesis 3

3. Redemption - Genesis 3. Revelation 20

4. Restoratoin - Revelation 21-22

Inspiration:

“God Breathed” (2 times 3:16)

• God’s superintendence of the human authors of scriptrue so that using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error his revelation to man in the words of the original autographs.

• (verbal plenary = every word, the very words)

• Inspiration garantees the accuracy of the revelation - necessary to preserve the revelation of God.

Infallibility

• bible aone, of all the written literature in history, is uniquely infallible

• “That which cannot fail” Means something is incapabel of making a mistake, misleading, or failing in accomplishing its divinely intended purpose.

• has to do with ability/potential

Inerrancy

• Gods word is incapable of error and it does not error because he inspired it through the work of the holy spirit.

• Scripture possess the quality of freedom from error

• deals with actual

Preservation:

• refers to the acts of God whereby he has preserved through the centuries the written record of His special revelation for his people (Psalm 12:6-7)C

Canonicity of Scripture

• at the hear is inspiration and reservation of Scripture

• CANON: the list of books that belong in the bible

• Canonization: The proccess of recognition and collection of the God-inspired authoritative books of scripture

• CANONICITY: the church’s recognition and acceptance of the books of scripture as God’s inspired word. “standard”

Systematic theology

"“collecting, scientifically arranging, comparing, exhibiting, and defending of facts form any and every source concernign God and his works”

• "discourse about God"aC

Biblical theology;

Narrower focus of study, emphasizing the study of a particular era or writer

• Is an excegetically based analysis

• 1. A given biblical author

• 2. Particular groups of text

Biblical theology is the organization of scipture thematically by biblical chronology or biblical author with repsc to the progressive revletation of the bible.

Historical Theology

1. study of the chronological development of theological thought

2. Aims to explore the historical situations

3. seeks to understand how the church interpreted scripture

Categories of systematic theology:

Prolegomena - introductions

Bibliology - doctrine of scripture

Theology proper - God

Christology - Jesus christ

Pneumatology - holy spirit

Angelology - spirit beings

Anthropology - humanity

Hamartiology - sin

Soteriology - salvation

Ecclesiology - Church

Eschatology - end times

Biblicology:

the study of he majro doctrines of scripture includeinf relvelaion, inspirations, canonicity, transmission, preservation, heraneutice, and biblical study

• focusses on the nature of God’s written revelation

Hebrew Bible arrangment OT

There are 24 books in the hewbrew OT

English arrangement OT

There are 39 books in the english arrangement of the OT

Hebrew text: Law

Torah:

genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, Deuteronomy

Hebrew text: Prophets

• NebI’Im

Joshua,Judges, Samuel, Kings = 1 book (former)

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The tweleve (hosea, joel, amos, obediah, jonah, micah, nahum, habakkuk, zepheniah, haggai,zecheriah, Malachi } all one book") = latter

Hebrew text: Writings

Kethub’im

• Poetical: psalms, proverbs, job

• Rolls: Songs of solomon, ruth, lamentations, ecclesiastes, esther

• Historical: Daniel, Ezra-nehemiah, chronicles

English text:

• Penteteuch (law)- 5 book (genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy)

• History - 12 books (Joshua, Judges, ruth, I/II Samuel, I/II kings, I/II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

• poetry - 5 books (Job, Psalms, song of solomon, Ecclesiastes)

• Major prophets - 5 books (Isaish Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel)

• Minor prophets - 12 books (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zeohaniah, Haggai, Zecheriah, Malachi

DIvision of NT #1

Histrical Literature: 5 books

• four gospels (matthew, Makr, Luke, John)

• Acts of the apostles

Division of NT #2

Epistolary Literature (21 books)

• Pauline - 13 letters by paul

• Petrine - 2 letter by peter

• Johannine - 3 letters by John

• Other - General: James, Jude, Hebrews

Division of NT #3

Apocyliptic Literature - 1 book: revletaion

Key texts for Inspiration

• 2 samuel 23:2- “The spirit of the Lord Spoke by me and His wrd and was on my Tongue” (david confirmed the inspiration of OT texts that he wrote.)

• Matthew 22:43-44 “The lord said to my lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet” (Jesus saw david writing OT texts under the inspo of the spirit)

• Matthew 15:1-11 - Both God and Isaiah are the authors

• 1 Timtthy 5:18 - “For scripture says” (both OT and NT passages are scripture)

KEY TEXTS FOR INSPO

2 timothy 3:16-17 - emphasizes that every/all scripture is inspired + profitable

2 Peter 1:16-21 - this is the central text for human and divine authoriship of scripture: THIS empahsizes the method - the spirit guiding the process

2 Peter 3:15-16 - Peter considered Paul’s letters as inspired Scripture.

5 Key elements of inspiration:

1. Divine element (God+holy spirit ensuring accuracy)

2. Human (style + personalities)

3. Truth w/out error (result of divine-hjuman authorship)

4. Inspiration extends to the SELECTION OF WORDS by writers

5. inspiration relates to the ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS

Biblical view of inspiration:

Gd through hus spirit inspired every word penned by the human authors

• inspiraiton describes the process fo divine causation

• it conveys the mysterious work of the holy spirit wherby he used the individual personality, language, style, and historicla context of each writer to produce divinely authoritative writings

• PRODUCT OF BOTH THE HUMAN AUTHOR AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

key verses for infallibiliry and inerrancy

• psalm 12:6

• psalm 19:7-10

• Proverbs 30:5

• Isaish 55:11

• Matthew 5:17-18

• John 17:17

• 2 Peter 1:19

Spritis of truth → guarentees the record of truth verses

John 14:17 John 15:26 John 16:13-15

false views of inspiration: Spiritual illumination theory

The writings are not inspired but the writers are - who can still write today

false views of inspiration: Diction

Men wrote down scripture in a passive manner

Ignores writer’s personality, education, and style (human pen)

false views of inspiration: Partial theory

Only parts of the bible are inspired; only matters of salvation and faith

• God only preserved his message of salvation and other parts of the bible are not inspired and can have errors

false views of inspiration: Conceptual theory

• only the concepts of the writers are inspired, not the actual words

• there can be errors in the Bible becuase th choice of the words is left to the authors without any involvemnet by God

• The concpets are divine but not the text itslef

• The bible can contain errors becuase of the limitations of the human writers who were left to convey concepts

false views of inspiration: Natural theory

the writers were not inspired by God but found their inspiration form themsleves to write about God.

It ignores and rejects any divine involvement

false views of inspiration: Neo-orthodox

• the bible is not the word of God

• It is the witness of the word of God but it is not equated with it

• what is an experiental encounter

• the bible becomes the word of God when you encounter God through it

Christs view of the Bible and inspiration:

• divine + human authoriship

• affirmed the truthfulness of the bible

• affirmed inspo of bible as a whole

• Affirmed inspo of the bible in parts

• inspiration of the words

• The letters

• future NT works

Pauls view of the inspo of the Bible

• both inspo OT and NT

• Inspo of the WHOLE

• inspo of the PARTS

Peters view of the bible and inspo

• inspo is Divinely guided

• Pauls writings = scripture

rejecting inerrancy

• those who accept errors in scripture conclude that errors can teach truth

• impugn the character of God

• elevate their own minds as a higher standard of truth than God’s word

• disagree in listing these errors

• cannot be confident that the other parts of the Bible contain truth and are free from error

Preservation: how and where

• no scripture has been lost

• the actual content of scripture will be preserved

• the purpose of God, as found in scripture, will never be thwarted

• The very continued existence of scripture is guarentees

Preservartion how:

Earthly preservation:

• God has promised to preserve His word flawlessly forever. In the earthly realm, he has providentially preserved it through his people, who have the responsibility to protect and transmit it.

• God gave repeated commands not to add or take away

• God fixed his word in heven, but he leads believers in the responsibility to retain and secure its integrity on earth

• he replaces the two tablets

(he has entrused his people with the responsibility to retain his word through diligent human efforts)

it is a providetial act, not a miraculous one

Canonization: external criteria

• authorship

• doctrinal agreement

• universal christian acceptance