Christian Beliefs- week 3

christian doctrine cosmology

study of world primarily as sphere of redemption

how many words is cosmology made of?

2. greek words. kosmos= world. logos=speech or reason

what is paramount importance of earth?

advent of God's Son upon it to accomplish redemption here. made by theatre God's crowning work of creation

mechanical or atheistic theory

not itself antiscriptural or against God. held by those who hold to the eternality of matter as only thing there is. its forces are eternal w/o any personal power behind it all directing it. it certainly is atheistic

nebular hypothesis

all was gaseous chaos, gradually evolved into ordered universe. no room any interference of any supreme intelligent being

emanation or pantheistic theory

most religions of Orient were pantheistic. assumes world has no substance reality or real distinct existence.

who is the father of modern Pantheism?

Spinoza

God of Spinoza

external substance, neither mind nor matter but thinking was attributes and extension another

Dualistic Theory

1st form affirms self existence of 2 eternal antagonistic spirits, 1 good and 1 day. 2nd form affirms not eternal existence 2 Gods but eternal existence both God and matter

eternal theory

its holds to the world as being created by will of Go, but in endless cycles

True Biblical Theistic Teaching of Creation

God by a fiat of His will created world w/o any pre-existing material. termed "ex-nihilo"

theory about 6 days of Genesis

are 6 ages and not literal days

young earth theorists and gap theorists

both young earth theorists and gap theorists believe instantaneous creation by word of God's mouth

aquinas argument 1

1. prove existence of God based on change. it's the most obvious. anything changes being changed by something else

how does Peter Kreeft summarize the 1st argument of aquinas?

since no thing (or series of things) can move (change) itself, there must be first, unmoved mover, source of all motion

aquinas argument 2

2. prove existence based on very notion of cause. you can't have last cause nor intermediate one unless you have a first. one forced to suppose some first cause, to which everyone gives name of God

what's a question that the philosopher Leibniz wrote?

why is there something rather than nothing?

aquinas argument 3

3. from existence itself. existence of "things" even most elementary particle favors existence of God over his nonexistence. "things" are material, existence itself is beyond the merely material

aquinas arguement 4

4. based on guidedness of nature. goal directed behavior observed in all bodies obeying natural laws, even when they lack awareness

intelligent design

very fact can observe disorder is b/c disorder is deviation from order. very notion change implies order. evolution from unfit to fit or imperfect to perfect implies orderly process, a design

is there a scientific explanation of the cell?

there's no solid scientific explanation of the cell

what did Einstein argue?

since world has all features of design, it must have an ultimate designer

if scientific cliche holds...

that "nature makes no jumps & only God does" then God more likely cause of this jump

punctuated equilibrium theory

argues for periods of dormancy in evolution followed by explosive changes marked by branching speciation (cladogenesis)

what theories did Augustine argue?

points made by C.S. Lewis and argued by Augustine

what were the points C.S. Lewis made?

every innate desire in us corresponds to real thing that can satisfy that desire. there exists in us 1 innate design which nothing on earth can satisfy. there must, therefore, exist something which is beyond this earth the can satisfy this desire. this something is what we call God.

where do innate desires come from?

they come from our nature. they're inborn & universal

exist and desires

externally conditioned desires don't necessarily correspond to things that exist. innate desires always correspond to things that exist.

aquinas argument 5

way to prove is based on gradation observed in things. if no supenative than would be infinite regress gradations.

what do human experiences teach us?

all regressions are finite

Anselm argument

concept God is innately understood as "something than which nothing greater can be though". does the concept only exist in mind & not in reality?

Augustine and superior

if anything superior to human person than that reality would be superior being. if nothing superior to superior being then superior being by definition what we call God

what happens when God reveals divine reality to us?

real transformation takes place

what is transformation worked in divine revelation?

eternal

what does the doctrine of scripture look at?

examines what Christians believe about Bible as God's revelation

what does John Calvin suggest about God's revelation?

something like the lisping way we speak to small children

what is revelation shaped by?

kind of creatures we are

what does general revelation typically refer to?

God's self disclosure in creation and human conscience

special revelation

refers to God's specific self revelation in the history of Israel, the incarnation of Jesus Christ and scripture

natural theology

The knowledge we can have about God and his attributes simply through using reason, apart from revelation.

what does scripture alone serve as?

reliable source for our knowledge of God

what happens if we reject all general revelation?

then we will dismiss truth and beauty as found in arts and sciences

ongoing continuity

means that special revelation builds upon general revelation and does not
contradict it

apologetics

rational defense of Christian faith to those who aren't believers

natural law

idea God built moral framework into creation itself

unveiled continuity

God must pull back the veil of unclear nature in order for us to see Grace

what happens because of the damaging effects of sin?

God's revelation in creation becomes clear when viewed through corrective lens of special revelation

inspiration

spirit's work as author of the scriptures, a work the Spirit did in and w/human authors of biblical texts

illumination

signifies ways that spirit continues to work in and w/God's people to help us understand and be faithful to what we read

spirit's role in inspiring scripture

not limited to tone or theme of text, it extends to the words themselves

doctrine of illumination

and consensus that the spirit works in readers of scripture don't gloss over difficulties and differences in biblical interpretation but those difficulties don't stop spirit from working

hermeneutics

the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, especially of the Bible or literary texts.

christian canon

List of books considered holy and authoritative in the life of the church

texts w/3 characteristics became canonical

written by apostles. used broadly in worship of faithful churches. corresponded w/rule of faith, early shaped summaries of Christian doctrine

what does bounded canon prioritize?

Jesus

for Catholicism, Council of Trent

clarified the relationship between scripture and tradition for post reformation council

claim scripture is

inerrant. to make strong truth and reliability of the texts

infallibility of scripture

The divine source and authority of the Scriptures assures us that the Bible is also infallible; incapable of error or misleading, deceiving or disappointing us