Exam 1 Flashcards
Anthropology and Hamartiology
*Purposes for studying Systematic Theology
- GROW in knowledge of God and love of Him
- DEFINE and ground the nature of Christian faith and belief
- PRODUCE a systematized understanding of biblical truth for faith and practice
- PROVIDE a framework for Christian unity and fellowship with others
- OFFER an intellectual basis for the rationality of Christian belief
What are the keys of Christian Theology
God as its perpetual centerpiece, God’s Word as its source, and godliness as its aim
*Categories of Systematic Theology
- Prolegomena: Introduction
- Bibliology: Study of the Bible
- Theology Proper: Study of God the Father
- Christology: Study of God the Son
- Pneumatology: Study of the Holy Spirit
- Angelology: Study of spirit-beings
- Anthropology: Study of Man
- Hamartiology: Study of Sin
- Soteriology: Study of Salvation and Sanctification
10: Ecclesiology: Study of the Church - Eschatology: Study of End Times
*What is Biblical Theology?
- Study of a particular writer or era
- Exegetically-based approach of analysis
- Focus on the progressive revelation of the Bible
*What is Historical Theology?
- Study of the chronological development of theological thought
- Aims to explore the historical situations within which ideas developed or were formulated
- Seeks to udnerstand how the church interpreted Scripture
Definition of Anthropology
A study of the Biblical teachings concerning mankind (or humanity).
What are the different types of non-theistic anthropologies?
Sociocultural, Biological, Archaelogical, and Linguistic
What are the worldviews that Biblical anthropology refutes?
Secular nationalism/materialism, communism, post modernism, eastern mysticism
*What is the Atheistic Evolution Theory of the Origin of Man?
All forms of life evolved gradually by accidental chance from a single cell developed from nonliving chemicals.
Unplanned, unguided, and purely natural
*What challenges atheistic evolution?
- Existence: Why does anything exist at all? Life from non-life?
- Ethics: Where do morals and ethics come from?
- Evil: How does one know good from evil
*What is the Theistic Evolution Theory of the Origin of Man?
The religious teachings about God are compatible with modern scientific understanding about biological evolution
1. It affirms the theory of evolution
2. Evolution was set into motion by God and under the explicit direction of God
3. The Bible is NOT a reliable source of scientific knowledge but IS a reliable source of knowledge about God and spiritual things but scientific evidence is irrelevant to the Bible because it is not a science book.
4. The Bible tells as that we are created by God, but not how He did it
*What is the Sudden Creationism Theory of the Origin of Man?
The creative process occurred in 6 literal days
Created by His Word ex nihilo
Reasons for Rejecting Evolution
- Grammatical-historical interpretation of Genesis narrative
(Verbs are historical, not poetic) - Numerous Biblical references to a literal creation
- Issue of Genesis 3 and the entrance of death
- Inseparable theological connections
What is Deism?
God is beyond the world but not in it
What is Pantheism?
God is the world and the world is God
What is Panantheism?
God is in the world and the world is in God
What is Polytheism?
There are many gods in and beyond the world
What is Atheism?
There is no God in or beyond the world
*SC WHO
God (Gen. 1:1)
The Father is the Source
The Son is the Mediator
The Spirit is the agent
*SC WHEN
In the beginning
In 6 literal days
NT understands that Genesis is written in a normal, non-symbolic, and non-figurative sense
*SC WHAT
God made everything; active involvement in creation through the various terms used to describe creation
Good creation: Ontologically (a moral state of goodness) and Aesthetically (an appealing state of beauty)
*SC HOW
Divine declaration
Ex Nihilo
*SC WHY
Doxological=for God’s glory
Mankind is the ______ of Creative Acts and is _______
High Point; Directly created by God
*Genesis 1-2
Transcendency of God: God speaks the universe into existence
Immanency of God: God makes, creates, and forms man out of the earth
What are the implications of being made by God?
- Creator/Creature Distinction
- Man exists and functions for God
- Man is obligated to submit to God in worship
- Man has a unique role in God’s creation- dominion
- Man was created to give God’s glory
Creation of Women
For man’s aloneness; a suitable helper
*Egalitarian Viewpoint on the Role of Women
Equality in all aspects and roles, including church offices
*Complementarian
Equal, but different roles, acknowledged male headship in areas of marriage and church leadership
*Biblical Marriage
Leave: Separation from the pre-existing family unit
Cleave: Establishment of a new family unit
GOAL: ONENESS (Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Spiritual)
Term “Image”
Signifies a “copy” but also carries the idea of “representation”
Also connected to “ruling” and having “dominion”
*Substantive (Essence) View of the Image of God
The image of God is identified as some definite characteristic or quality of the makeup of mankind. It is related to man’s essence and not in how he functions.
Seeing image as a part of the communicable attributes of God
Preferred view: Human makeup and constitution that is the image of God
*Relational View of the Image of God
The image of God is connected to experiencing relationships
*Functional View of the Image of God
The image of God is linked with what humans do or perform
Ways we reflect the image of God
Metaphysically, Intellectually, Volitionally, Emotionally, Morally, Relationally, Functionally
*Key Observations on the Image of God
- Affirmed in both male and female
- Being like God in some unspecified way
- Man is not divine. Of diff. order of being than God
- The basis for human uniqueness and dignity
- The image of God has not been lost as the result of the fall of man
- Has been impacted, corrupted, and defiled because of sin
- Man belongs to God
- Jesus Christ is the perfect image of God
- EVERYONE is made in the image of God
- Christians will be conformed to the image/likeness of God’s Son
Implications of the Image of God
- Evolution
- Abortion
- Animal Rights
- Environmental Movement
- Capital Punishment
- Euthanasia
- Social
- Artificial Intelligence
Stages of the Image of God
Original (Creation), Corrupted (Fall), Perfect (Jesus, Incarnation), Renewed (Redemption), Perfected (Restoration)
*What is the Body?
Material; (living body, dead carcass, flesh, skin, material, the whole person)
God gave man a physical body to rule a material world
Future: Believers receive a glorified body while unbelievers have a physical body suited for hell
*What is the Flesh?
Material; Physical aspect, fallen condition of man
Can refer to…
Physical body
Physical descendants
Human limitation
Fallen Spiritual / Moral State
Paul’s use of flesh does not mean that sin is associated with the body
*What is the Soul?
Immaterial; Whole person, life-force that animates the body; the integration of all interior functions, the center of intellect, will, and emotions, particularly in relations with other people
Center of…
Intellect
Volition
Emotions
Moral and Spiritual Life
The psyche returns to God at death
*What is the Spirit?
Immaterial; the whole person, the inner life
Both the OT and NT usage can refer to wind, breath, the HS, good and unclean spirits, and the human spirit
Soul and Spirit used interchangeably.
*What is the Heart?
Immaterial; Whole person, inner man, center of rational function, points to one’s conscience; that which thinks, knows, decides, and judges between right and wrong
Center of man’s thoughts, will, desire, and intent
Heart is the control center; the heart is wicked without God, the New Covenant will change the heart, the heart is changed with new life in Christ
*What is the Mind?
Immaterial; used to describe the inner person; used to emphasize man’s thinking and planning functions
*What is the Conscience?
Immaterial; the faculty of moral evaluation concerning right and wrong, good and evil; Conscience in NT is given to people by God as a guard or check against sin by distinguishing between good and evil and not as a guide
*Monism
The human person is not composed of parts but is one element
*Within Monism, what is Secular Materialism?
Man is one element that is exclusively material with no immaterial aspects
*Within Monism, what is Idealistic Monism?
The person is composed of ideas, the mind, or spirit
*Within Monism, what is Substance Monism?
All that exists is spiritual/divine
*Dichotomy
Man as a two-part being consisting of the material and immaterial
Part One: Physical Body
Part Two: Soul/Spirit
(Strongest Scriptural Support)
*Trichotomy
Man as a three-part being, composed of the body, the soul, and the spirit
Part One: Physical Body
Part Two: Soul
Part Three: Spirit
*Preexistence of the Soul
Souls preexist before conception and birth
*Creationism
God created each individiual soul immediately and directly at the time of the conception of the body
*Traducianism
Both the body and soul are transmitted from parents to children by natural procreation;
Parents as the instrumental cause and God as the ultimate cause; explains the transmission of sin nature through generations
Views of the End of Life
- Continuation of Soul Only- soul survives but the body does not and will not be resurrected
- Annihilationism- There is an immaterial aspect of man that survives death; believers inherit eternal life while unbelievers become nothing
- Soul Sleep- Believes in an afterlife but denies the presence of an intermediate state between physical death and the resurrection of the body
- Reincarnation- The soul, upon death, comes back to earth in another form such as a person, animal, insect, plant, or some other object
- Entry into the Intermediate State Awaiting Resurrection- At death, the body goes into the ground but the spirit/soul enters a preliminary place of either blessing or torment
Three Types of Death
- Spiritual- separation from God because of sin that occurs to those who are physically alive and not believers
- Physical- occurs to the body with the cessation of critical biological functions
- Eternal- eternal torment for those who die in unbelief
Simple definition of sin
Failure to conform to God’s standards in one’s actions and/or attitudes
IT CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD FROM A THEOCENTRIC VIEWPOINT
*Key Aspects of the Pre-existence of Sin
- Creation was made with the absence of sin
- God is NOT the author of sin because of His holy character (All powerful and all good)
- God uses sin for His eternal purposes
- Evil is not eternally existent in the universe nor is it equal in power with God
- Evil in the angelic realm is first seen through Satan’s rebellion
- Sin enters this world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve
*What is Theodicy?
God is all powerful and God is all good, even though this might not seem to be the case since evil exists in the creation
The Fall of Man as Revealed in Genesis 3
- A real EVENT
- A real SERPENT
- Real PEOPLE
- Real CONSEQUENCES
- Judgment on the serpent (degraded to eat dust)
- On Satan (Total defeat through the Promised Seed)
- On the Woman (Pain in childbirth and resistance to submission)
- On the Man (Physical toil and death)
- On Creation (Curse and corruption until the restoration)
Results of the Fall
- Sin, guilt, and shame
- Distortion in relationships
(God/human, husband/wife, human/human, human/creation) - Knowledge of good and evil
- Death and separation
*Sin
To miss the mark
*Wander
Moral wandering, going astray
*Unrighteousness/Iniquity
Injustice or unrighteous conduct;; any act that violate God’s standards
*Lead astray/deceive
causing someone to wander or lead one astray
*Lawlessness
Not the absence of the Law, but the violation of it
*Disobedient
Condition of being unpersuadable; obstinate rejection of the will of God
*Transgression
Fall beside/aside, an action through which a man falls and loses the position that God gave him
*Trespass, Transgression, Rebellion
to pass away or pass over, crossing the boundary of what is right and what is wrong, high-handed breaches of God’s will as it is revealed in His Word
Definition of Original Sin
The first sin committed by Adam; the state of sin that plagues all of Adam’s descendants and is the origin of all other sins (also called inherited sin)
*Components of Original Sin
- Sinner by Nature- guilty of sin because of Adam’s sin
- Sinner by Choice- counted guilty because of our own sinful choices
*Overview of Original Sin
- Also called inherited sin
- Derived from the original root of the human race–Adam
- Present in every person from the time of conception
- Original sin/inherited sin is the inward root of the actual sins that man commits
- Original sin/inherited sin is related to the corruption of our whole nature
*Imputation
To reckon; to charge ones account
1. Imputation of Adam’s sin to the human race
2. Imputation of man’s sin to Christ
3. Imputation of Christ’s righteousness to believers
*A Bad Example Viewpoint
Adam’s sin does not affect human nature. Adam is simply a bad example. People inherit Adam’s pre-fall nature.
BOTH A CORRUPTED NATURE AND GUILT ARE NOT IMPUTED TO HUMANS THROUGH ADAM
*Inherited Sinful Nature/Arminian View
A corrupted nature IS imputed to humans through Adam but NOT Adam’s guilt
*Seminal view
Both a corrupted nature and guilt ARE imputed to humans through being seminally present in Adam
*Representative Headship View
Both a corrupt nature and guilt ARE imputed to humans through having Adam as our representative head
*Total Depravity
A total state of corruption, every aspect of the human person is stained by sin
*Key Aspects of Total Depravity
- Universal (Everyone affected)
- Comprehensibility (Sin impacts every part of humanity from the intellect, emotions, goals, motives, and actions)
- Expansive (Sin is an offense that impacts a variety of parties, including the Creator and His creation/creatures)
- Inability (Total depravity notes that sin impacts every human so that there is no ability or capacity to please God in the inregenerate state)
Key Distinctions of Total Depravity
- Image is corrupted but not lost
- Extensive (affects the whole person)
- Does not mean that people always act as badly as they can at all times. It does mean that all have sinned and are capable of the worst possible sin.
- Does not mean unbelievers do every kind of sin.
- Does not mean that humans cannot do “good” things in society or for family and friends. It does mean that unbelievers never do “spiritual good”
- Points to the issue of pervasiveness
Metaphors for Depravity
Dead
Sick
Polluted
Darkness
Imprisoned
Blind
The Elements of Sin
- State of Nature (Positional Reality)
- Thoughts (Intellectual Activity)
- Action (Volitional Choice)
