Exam 1

Question 1

What is Millard Erickson’s more complete definition of theology?

Answer 1

The discipline that strives to give a coherent statement of the doctrines of the Christian faith, based primarily on the Scriptures, placed in the context of culture in general, worded in a contemporary idiom, and related to issues of life.

Question 2

What are the five elements of theology according to Erickson?

Answer 2

1. Theology is biblical. It does not simply draw on the surface meanings of the Scriptures, but utilizes the tools and methods of biblical research as well as general revelation.
2. Theology is systematic. It draws on the Bible as a whole.
3. Theology relates to the issues of general culture and learning, such as modern science, psychology and philosophy.
4. Theology must be contemporary, using language, concepts, and thought forms that make sense in present day. It must not distort the timeless truths, however.
5. Theology is to be practical. It must relate to living rather than merely belief.

Question 3

What are Erickson’s three reasons for theology’s necessity?

Answer 3

1. Correct doctrinal beliefs are essential to the relationship between the believer and God. For example, warm feelings about Jesus are insufficient. One must have a correct understanding and belief.
2. Truth and experience are related. The meaning and truth of the Christian faith will one day have ultimate bearing on our experience.
3. There are a large number of alternatives in today’s world like false religions and cults. Sound theology is vital.

Question 4

What are the ten steps of Erickson’s process of doing theology in order?

Answer 4

1. Collect the Biblical Teachings
2. Harmonize Them
3. Analyze Their Meaning
4. Examine Historical Treatments of the Doctrine
5. Consider Other Cultural Perspectives
6. Identify the Essence (Abiding Truth) of the Doctrine
7. Illuminate the Doctrine via Extra-biblical Sources
8. Express the Doctrine in Contemporary Ways
9. Develop a Central Interpretive Motif
10. Arrange the Topics in Order of Importance

Question 5

What is general revelation?

Answer 5

God’s communication of Himself to all persons at all times. More specifically it is God’s self-manifestation through nature, history, and the inner being of the human person.

Question 6

What are the three loci of general revelation?

Answer 6

1. Nature - God can be seen in the world around us.
2. History - God is controlling the destinies of nations.
3. The moral and spiritual qualities of humans.

Question 7

What are the four traditional arguments for the existence of God that arise from general revelation?

Answer 7

1. Cosmological argument
2. Teleological argument
3. Anthropological argument
4. Ontological argument

Question 8

What is the cosmological argument?

Answer 8

Thomas Aquinas. Everything we know is caused by something else. There cannot be an infinite regress of causes or the whole series of causes would have never begun. There must be some uncaused cause or necessary being.

Question 9

What is the teleological argument?

Answer 9

There is order or apparent purpose in the universe. Some intelligent being must be the designer, or cause of the order.

Question 10

What is the anthropological argument?

Answer 10

Some aspects of human nature, such as our moral impulses and categorical imperatives, can be seen as a revelation of God.

Question 11

What is the ontological argument?

Answer 11

Anslem of Canterbury and René Descartes. An argument of pure-thought. Anslem’s most famous argument: God is the greatest of all conceivable beings. Therefore, by definition, God must exist.

Question 12

What are the main Bible passages used to defend general revelation?

Answer 12

Psalm 19
Psalm 104
Romans 1:18-32
Romans 2:14-16

Question 13

Quote Psalm 19:1

Answer 13

“The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps. 19:1).

Question 14

Quote Psalm 104:2, 7, 14, 24

Answer 14

“[You] stretch out the heavens like a curtain” (Ps. 104:2).
“At Your rebuke [the waters] fled” (Ps. 104:7)
“He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man” (Ps. 104:14).
“O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions” (Ps. 104:24)

Question 15

Quote Romans 1:20

Answer 15

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”

Question 16

Quote Romans 2:14-16

Answer 16

“…when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them”

Question 17

What is the content of general revelation according to Charles Ryrie?

Answer 17

His glory (Ps. 19:1).
His power to work in creating the universe (Ps. 19:1).
His supremacy (Rom. 1:20).
His divine nature (Rom. 1:20).
His providential control of nature (Acts 14:17).
His goodness (Matt. 5:45).
His intelligence (Acts 17:29).
His living existence (Acts 17:28).

Question 18

What is the value of general revelation according to Charles Ryrie?

Answer 18

To display God’s grace - God did not cease to communicate with man when he first turned away.

To give weight to the case for theism - General revelation lends support for the claims of theism as opposed to atheism or agnosticism.

To justly condemn rejectors - If men do not acknowledge a supreme Being in control of nature, God is just in rejecting them and withholding more truth.

Question 19

What is the succinct definition of the problem of evil?

Answer 19

If God is willing to prevent evil, but not able, then he is impotent. If He is able, but not willing, then He is malevolent. If He is both able and willing, why does evil exist?

Question 20

What are the component parts of the problem of evil?

Answer 20

God’s power, God’s goodness, and the presence of evil in the world.

Question 21

What are the three insufficient ways of attempting to solve the problem of evil?

Answer 21

1. Finitism: rejection of God’s omnipotence. God is attempting to overcome evil, and would if he could, but he can’t. Edgar Brightman suggests we should speak of a God whose will is finite rather than a finite God. Finitism provides no assurance that evil will ever be overcome.
2. Modification of the Concept of God’s Goodness: Gordon Clark says God is the cause of sin. Whatever happens is caused by God. Whatever is caused by God is good. Whatever happens is good. This is insufficient because we cannot know what it means to say “God is good,” His will is out of sync with nature, and He cannot be held accountable to a higher being.
3. Denial of Evil: Pantheistic view, such as that of Benedict Spinoza, that there is no evil. God brings everything into being in the highest perfection. Christian Science hold that pain and disease (evil) are an illusion. The problem is that even if evil is an illusion, the illusion exists and is very real. The illusion must be explained. The theory also doesn’t work because certain evils lead to death and very real consequences.

Question 22

What six themes might help in dealing with the problem of evil?

Answer 22

1. Evil is a necessary accompaniment of the Creation of humanity: Humans have free will and the ability to choose disobedience resulting in punishment. God has created in such a way that the good of this world may be perverted.
2. A reevaluation of what constitutes good and evil: Good is not defined in terms of what brings pleasure to humans in a direct fashion. Good is what glorifies God, fulfills His will, and conforms to His nature. We are to evaluate our temporary suffering in light of eternity. Our individual assessment of good and evil doesn’t often account for the large, complex world God cares for.
3. Evil in general as the result of sin in general: The fall of humanity resulted in natural evils in this world, and more obviously, moral evil.
4. Specific evil as the result of specific sins: Some evil is the result of our own or someone else’s actions. But not every evil is targeted to some specific sin and we have to be careful when judging this way.
5. God as the victim of evil: God took sin and its evil effects on himself. Jesus suffered the evils of human life and died for us.
6. The life hereafter: Justice will come, and those who have rejected Jesus will go to Hell by their own choice.

Question 23

What is the Trinity?

Answer 23

God is one and yet there are three who are God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Question 24

What Biblical evidence indicates God’s oneness?

Answer 24

Exod. 20:2-3 “I am the Lord Your God … You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Deut. 6:4 (Shema) “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!”

James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”

Question 25

What Biblical evidence can you give for God the Father?

Answer 25

Matt. 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”

Question 26

What Biblical evidence can you give for God the Son?

Answer 26

Phil. 2:6-7 “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God”
Heb. 1:2 “[God] has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds”

Question 27

What Biblical evidence can you give for the Holy Spirit?

Answer 27

Acts 5:3-4 “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit … You have not lied to men but to God.”
1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19 “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you”

Question 28

What Biblical evidence indicates that God is three in one?

Answer 28

Gen. 1:26 “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”
Gen. 11:7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language”
Isa. 6:8 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?’”
2 Cor. 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”

Question 29

What was dynamic monarchianism and how was it wrong?

Answer 29

The belief that there was a working or force of God within Jesus but He was a mere man. This does not align with Scripture, such as Peter’s confession of Christ as the Son of God in Matt. 16:16.

Question 30

What was modalistic monarchianism and how was it wrong?

Answer 30

The idea that there is one Godhead that may be variously identified as Father, Son, or Spirit. They are just names and not necessarily distinctions. But the fact that the three occasionally appear simultaneously on the stage of biblical revelation is a major stumbling block to this view.