Essay Questions Flashcards
How important is the Creator-creature distinction for right thinking about God? Explain.
- This is of vital importance.
- The fountain of heresies about God and the Trinity especially tend to come from a failure to maintain this.
- God’s attributes are defined in how they are not like people and things (such as infinite, immeasurable)
- Necessary vs Contingent being
In what ways is Thomas Aquinas helpful as we do Reformed theology? In what ways is he unhelpful or dangerous?
- Thomas Aquinas is helpful with regard to his understanding of God and the Trinity.
- He is wrong on his doctrine of man and sin, in which a small difference produces a different soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and view of Christ’s work on the Cross.
- He does have a solid series of proofs for the existence of God, among which include a proof from motion (change implies an initial unchanged changer), proof from causality (cause and effect implies an uncaused cause), proof from grades of perfection (concepts like goodness and beauty need an objective standard), proof from the contingency of the World (the world has dependent things but for that the independent thing must be), and proof from Final Causes (acorns become trees, that has a purpose so there must be a being making the purpose).
Summarize the theistic proof that is based on the argument from the existence of change in the world.
Partially based on a book by Fesner:
- Change occurs in the world and is real.
- Change is the actualization of a potential (pure actualization is required for realizing real potency).
- Something brings about change (Prime mover)
- Something keeps contingent beings from ceasing (The dependent remains in motion thanks to the independent.)
- To be the thing that does three and four, other things must be true, the thing must be the source of what exists, unchangeable, outside of time, non-corporeal, maximal perfection, unique, all-powerful, and good.
When we speak of God, is our language univocal, equivocal, or analogical? Explain.
When we speak of God, is out language univocal, equivocal, or analogical.
- Define, univocal = same, equivocal = opposite, analogical = some overlap/similarity
- We use analogical language with the sole exception of the name YHWH which is univocal since it came from God directly.
- Danger of treating other words as univocal or equivocal is the destruction of the creator-creature distinction.
When we say that God is immutable, are we saying that God is a static inert thing like a piece of granite? Explain.
- No, First I would deny that God is unchangeable like granite as granite erodes and God does not.
- We mean God does not change in his properties or decisions.
- When he appears to change it is not God that changes but the thing he interacts with that changes. (akaline metals, King Manasseh)
- God never breaks a promise as a result.
- We are denying creaturely mutability as being present in God.
At the creaturely level, we can conceive of three kinds of relations: 1). One in which the relation is logical in both terms, 2) One in which the relation is real in both terms, or 3) One in which the relation is real in one term and logical in the other (a mixed relation). Which of these relations can help us when we apply it analogously to God’s relation with His creatures? Explain.
- First relates logical terms which exist only in the mind such as identity A=A. Second the terms are real in both sides of the equation, a boulder is larger than a rock. Third are a mix of real and logical, such as I know that tree exists. The tree is unchanged by my knowledge or lack of knowledge of it.
- This is helpful in that it illustrates how God’s immutability functions with respect to creation.
- Does not help explain the hypostatic union of Christ.
What are affections and passions in human creatures, and why is it important to understand this when we affirm that God is impassible?
- Means “without passions”. The difficulty for the modern person here is the meaning of passions which has since changed.
- Instead of meaning not having love or compassion, it means God does not have parts in a spiritual sense. He does not have to process information in an intellect to determine if someone is good or not and then act that information like we do. He simply knows and acts in one simple motion.
- God is not prone random bouts of rage or love, he is stable in his mercy, wrath, and goodness. As such, he can and should be trusted.
What are the five biblical propositions that provide the foundation for the doctrine of the Trinity? Give biblical evidence for each of the five propositions.
- There is One God (Deut 4:33)
- The Father is God (John 6:27)
- The Son is God (John 1:1)
- The Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:4 and 5:9)
- The Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit; The Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit; The Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. (Romans 1:7, John 14:15, John 20:22)
In what ways does the doctrine of the Eternal Subordination of the Son conflict with the biblical doctrine of the Trinity as explained by the Nicene Creed and the pro-Nicene theologians?
- What is predicated of the divine nature is predicated of the three persons. Equally and understand to be one. Thus, son is eternal, omniscient and so on.
- Eternal Generation of the Son (denial of the hierarchical)
- The Persons work inseparably
(Evidence for 1 and 3 Refers to all three person as creator (Father = Maker, Son = instrument of creation, Spirit = Creator of Life)
(Evidence for 2 “True God from God”, “Begotten Not Made”)
How would you demonstrate that the Reformed doctrine of predestination is grounded in Scripture?
- Define predestination “Prior appointment to a specific end.”
- God elects from fallen humanity those whom he will save and those whom he will not. (Romans 9)
- If this is not the case in any way, then glory for salvation is not due exclusively to God, which scripture demands. (Revelation 19:1, Glory and power are spoken of as belonging to God.)
- Those who are saved have no power to save themselves (Peter being shown the truth from the Father. Matthew 16:16-17)
Does providence take away human liberty according to the early Reformed theologians? Explain.
- Indifference of Will (Occam) Freedom is the will operating without outside influence
- Stoic Fatalism (Mechanistic Determination)
- Traditional view: Intellect -> Will -> Affections. Because affects are sinful and the intellect and will have also been affected, the results of man’s actions is sin, but man’s actions are all acting at the level of a secondary cause.
- The primary causal decree of God operates above all secondary causes regardless of their being free (intellect in man), contingent (one thing causing another), or necessary (fire burns). His decree dictates what free choices are made, how this operates precisely is not revealed by God.
