Evan Final Exam

• Ecclesia: Greek word used in both OT and NT
o Usually translated church or the assembly
o Church means the Universal Church
o church refers to the local congregation
• Defining Church
o The people of God
o Ecclesia: the called-out ones
o A pure community of faith –Donatists
o A mixture of sinners and saints – Augustine
o Where the Word of God is preached
o And the sacraments are rightly administered – Calvin
o One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolico The People of God called together to follow Christ and by the power of the Spirit to serve the Father and others in the world.
Acts 2:41-46, Purpose: Worship, Evangelism, Discipleship, Fellowship.
• Discipleship: devotion, apostles’ teaching, meeting together
• Worship: communion, wonders and signs performed, praising God
• Fellowship: believers were together, give, broke bread in their homes, ate together
• Evangelism: “enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Ephesians 1:22, 23 - The church is the body of Christ
Eph. 5:31-33 - The church is the bride of Christ
I Peter 2:9 - The church is a holy nation
I Pet. 5:2 - The church is a flock (be shepherds of God’s flock)
I Pet. 3:15 - The witness of the church
I Pet. 2:9b - The worshipping church (declare the praises)
Hebrews 10:24, 25 - The fellowship of the church
• Christian consensus- Unity
o Nicene Creed: the church is one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic”
o Paul in Ephesians 2: built on one foundation with Christ as the cornerstone
o Eph. 4: one Lord, one faith, one baptism
• Olsen p.319
o “There are no lone ranger Christians in the NT; no suggestion that a person can be vitally united with Christ and growing spiritually apart from the church. The assumption throughout is that the church is the indispensable vehicle of Christian spiritual life, the locus of Christ’s special presence and the Spirit’s power.”
• Alternatives
o Sectarianism: rejection of unity
o Rejection of essential beliefs
• Scripture and revelation, Monotheism, Trinity, Christ's humanity and divinity, Humanity, Salvation's necessity, Church, Last things
o Rejection of sacraments
2 Timothy 2:2 - The teaching church (qualified to teach others)
Eph. 4:11-15 - Gifts are given to build up the body of Christ
I Tim. 3:1-7 - High qualifications for leaders of the church
• Church Structure (Ecclesiology)
o State Church: The Church of England
o Episcopal: Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, and Episcopal
o Congregational: Baptist and many Non-denominational churches
o Presbyterian and Reformed: Elder run Presbyterian and Reformed
Matt. 28:19 - The validity of baptism
• Issues surrounding baptism
o Does it save?
o Can you go to heaven without it?
o Who should be baptized?
 Infants, children, or adults
o How should we baptize?
 Immersion, sprinkling, or pouring
o See vocab
1 Cor. 11: 26-29 - The importance of communion
• Sacraments:
o a memorial or a means of grace
o A visible sign of an invisible grace
 Augustine
o 7 sacraments in the Cath. Church
 Baptism, Eucharist, Penance, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Marriage, Last Rites
o 2 sacraments in the Prot. Church
 Communion (also known as the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper)
 Baptism
o 0 Sacraments in many Evangelical Churches
o Functions and benefits
 Covey grace
 Strengthen faith
 Enhance unity
 Reassures us of God’s promises
o See definitions for views of communion: Transubstantiation, Consubstantiation, Spiritual presence (Calvin and Wesley—real spiritual presence), Memorial (Zwingli – only a ceremony)
The Modern Period
Main Periods:
• Patristic Period
• The Middle Ages
• The Reformation
• The Post-reformation
• The Modern Period
Modern Period: 1750-Present
• Noll’s top 7 (Ch. 13 and afterword)
• World missions
• Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism
Rise of Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement
• 2nd Vatican Council
o Worship in the vernacular language
o Focus on devotional life
• Emergence of women into greater public role in the Church
• Bible translations
• Christianity over Communism
• A worldview shaped by the Enlightenment Big Idea: the ability of the human mind to penetrate
Enlightenment Critiques of Christianity
Miracles
• Miracles are part of a premodern mindset
o They cannot be:
o Repeated
o Verified
o Studied
• Did Jesus feed 5,000?
 Revelation of God's truth to humankind
• Old Testament
• New Testament
• Prayer, etc.
 Revelation is not the Word of God but merely the product of human creativity
 Original Sin
• A mythical cause of psycho/societal ills
 The Problem of Evil
• An outmoded descriptions of unfortunate events
• Caused by poverty and a lack of education
 Status of Scripture as a
• Divine
• Authoritative
• Source of Truth
• Met with skepticism and disbelief
 Person of Christ
• The mythological divine/human Son of God based on a 1st Century Galilean Rabi
o Movements and Characters
 Liberal Protestantism
• Rudolph Bultmann
o Demythologize Christianity and interpret it according to Existentialist Philosophy
o Wrote Jesus and Word in 1936
 Neo Orthodoxy (from Liberalism toward Orthodoxy)
• Barth, Brunner, and Bonhoeffer
 Liberation Theology
• Gustavo Guiterrez
o A Theology of Liberation 1973
o Rethinking The Exodus
o And verses like Gal. 5:1 for freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm
• Rene Padilla
o Reuniting evangelical theology and social ministry
• Samuel Escobar
o The New Global Mission
 Feminist Theology
• Rosemary Radford-Ruther
• Pamela Cochran
 Black Theology
• James H. Cone
• Skye Jethani
 Evangelical Movement
• Billy Graham and Francis Schaeffer
• Council of Christian Colleges and Universities
 Charismatic Movement
• Pentecostal
• Charismatic
• John Wimber (3rd Wave)
 Pluralism
• All roads lead to God
• All religions are equally valid
 Post-Modernism
Doctrines of Last Things
Definition: Eschatology, study of end times
Reasons to study Eschatology:
• Provides closure to God’s plan which provides hope in the present age
o 1 Thes 4:13-18, 5:11
o Christ returns, He wins, new Heaven and Earth, we live with God eternally
• Prevents extreme views of
o Over-specification
 Claims to know the time, place, and historical details (Mark 13:32)
o Non-consideration
 Not true, not important, or not future
• Produces a life of Holiness in those who pay attention (1 Thes 5:4-8)
• Blessing (Rev 1:3)
Reasons for differing Interpretations
• Limited Biblical Revelation
• Limited Human Understanding
• The Apocalyptic genre is difficult
• Different approaches to interpretations
Keys to Interpretation
• Futurism: all events in the future also called Classic Dispensationalism
• Preterism: all events in the past for us
• Historicism: symbols and images are codes for figures and events contemporary to the writer (I.e., the antichrist referred to the Roman Emperor)
• Idealist: Images and symbols point to a spiritual reality rather than a socio/political reality
• Already/Not Yet also called Progressive Dispensationalist: The Kingdom of God has already come in some ways, but has not yet come in its fulness
Key Words:
Apocalyptic Language
Second Coming
Millennium
• Not a date, but a period of time
• Time- Lit. 1000 years or a long long time
• Views
o Premillennial
o Postmillennial
o Amillennial
Tribulation
• Time of trouble
• Specific time prior to 2nd coming
• General description of life in a fallen world
• Both
Rapture
• 1 Thes. 4:17
• Pretrib.
o Before tribulation
• Midtrib.
o During tribulation
• Postrib.
o After tribulation
Judgment
• To life
• To death
I Thes. 4:13-18 - Knowing about Christ’s return provides hope for today
Mark 13:32-37 - Knowing about Christ’s return prevents extreme views
I Thes. 5:1-11 - Knowing about Christ’s return should promote holy living
I Thes. 4:13-17 - The Rapture
Rev. 20:1-6 - The Millennium as earthly reign
Dan. 12:1, 2 - Amillennial view of the “end”
John 14:1-3 - Heaven is to be with Christ
• Heaven is eternal life in Christ’s presence
o Immediate presence, soul sleep, purgatory, paradise, new heaven and earth
Rev. 20:11-15 - Hell is separation from Christ
• Hell is eternal separation from God
o Literal (Dante)
o Symbolic: not a physical place
o Annihilation: the second death
o Universalism: an empty hell
• Gehenna was the burning garbage dumb outside of Jerusalem

Vocabulary (From Olsen 14, 15 and 16; Noll 13; and PowerPoint’s and VidGrids)
Annihilationism: the second death, wicked will cease to exist after this life, Jehovah’s Witnesses
Purgatory: holding place before heaven, place of suffering for sinners before heaven
Bodily resurrection: alternative to heaven and hell, “no bodily resurrection”
One
Holy
Catholic
Apostolic
Premillennial: Christ will return before the millennium; Irenaeus, Tertullian, Falwell, LaHaye
Postmillennial: Christ will return after the millennium; Jonathan Edwards, Lib. Prot. Theologians
Amillennial: There is no millennial reign; Augustine, 1500 years of theology
Tribulation: Time of trouble
Rapture: 1 Thes. 4:17; Pretrib., Midtrib., Postrib.
Eschatology: the doctrine of last things
Millennium: Not a date, but a period of time
Transubstantiation: Catholicism; real physical transformation; the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ; the “accidents” (appearance, smell, etc.) are unchanged
Consubstantiation: Luther; real physical presence “in and among” elements
Anabaptist: baptism is valid only when candidates freely confess their faith in Christ and request to be baptized (opposed to infant baptism but for believer’s baptism)
Sacrament
People of God in OT: Ethnic: Hebrew people; National: Israel; Geographical: Palestine
NT Church: “Every tribe and tongue” Rev. 5:9; Christ followers; Acts 1:8 - “to the ends of the earth”
Episcopal: Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, and Episcopal (Church Structure)
Presbyterian: Elder run (Church Structure)
Congregational: Baptist and many Non-denominational churches (Church Structure)
Local church: specific church bodies usually meeting together in a specific place
Universal church: all believers, in all places and all times
Infant baptism: Catholicism
Believer baptism: Protestants, anabaptists
Universalism: an empty hell, equal truth and salvation for all (fate of the un-evangelized); equal access to God, God will save everyone, God wins
Inclusivism: some truth and limited salvation; fate of the un-evangelized; any truth allows possibility to salvation, responding in faith (also possibility that you may not have salvation), breadcrumbs of salvation
Exclusivism: no truth and no salvation; fate of the un-evangelized; must have a personal relationship with Jesus, if you die you cannot go to heaven.
Restrictivism: some truth and no salvation; fate of the un-evangelized; see the truth in nature, but they do not know Jesus
Objective immortality: alternative to heaven and hell
Reincarnation: alternative to heaven and hell