Jesus Christ: God’s Revelation to the World

Natural Revelation - The knowledge of the existence of God and his basic attributes

that can be derived by human reason while reflecting on the created world around us.

Agnostic – An agnostic makes no judgment of God’s existence while declaring it impossible to

prove or deny. Literally it means, ‘without knowledge’.

Atheist - A person who does not believe that God exists.

Deist- Someone who believes in a supreme being who created the world but does not intervene

in any human events.

Monotheism - The belief in one all-powerful God.

Pantheism – The belief that the Universe or anything else in nature is divine.

Polytheism - The belief that there are many gods.

Theology - The study of the nature of God and religious truth.

Bible or Sacred Scripture –The library of books that contain God’s Divine Revelation. The books

were composed by human writers that were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Divine Revelation - The way God communicates knowledge of himself to humanity, most fully

by his sending us his Divine Son, Jesus Christ.

Old Testament - The forty-six (46) books of the Bible that record the history of Salvation

through Israel’s history in preparation for the appearance of Christ as Savior of the world.

Four types of Scripture studies:

1. Form Criticism – What form or genre of literature is this and why was it chosen?

2. Historical Criticism – How can historical studies tell us more about Scripture and what

can Scripture tell us about history?

3. Source Criticism – What is the source of this information? Where did the writer get it

from?

4. Redaction Criticism – Why did the writer emphasize this point especially over other

options?

Four Categories of the Old Testament Books

1. Torah or Pentateuch - The first five books of the Bible

2. Historical Books – Books with a historical context

3. Wisdom Books - Books that provide wisdom

4. Prophetic Books – Books about the Prophets and their messages