Final - Final

Question 2

4 Basic characteristics of the modern world based on political and scientific changes:

Answer 2

1. ) modern ideal holds that the universe is an impersonal phenomenon, governed by natural laws, and understandable in only physical and mathematical laws. ( as opposed to created and sustained by God)
2. ) stresses the supremacy of material and concrete world over the spiritual and transcendent.
3. ) science replaces religion as the source of authority. (Reason and empiricism replace doctrine and revelation)
4. ) radical autonomy and independence of the self. (As opposed to dependence on God)

Question 3

Baruch Spinoza

Answer 3

1632-1677

A rationalist

Rejected the idea of God as a personal being who exists over and above the world and of which the world depends on.

Deus Sive Natura -“God or nature.”

• God and nature are the same entity.
• nothing can exist apart from God. He is in all things. (Not the cause of all things but IS all things)

Wrote “The Theological Political Treatise”

Question 4

The Theological Political Treatise

Answer 4

Written by Spinoza (1670)

Paved the way for the modern understanding of the world and also Biblical criticism.

Rejected Biblical authority for the universal laws of science and nature.
(Instead of order of salvation now we are talking about the laws of science and nature).

God would never act against his nature. Therefore miracles are impossible.

Question 5

What did David Wells have to say about the Enlightenment?

Answer 5

• we made ourselves the center of the world.
• we leaned on our own goodness and reason.
• allowed us to perceive illusion as reality.
• “the real outcome of the enlightenment, has not been the preservation of noble values but their collapse into complete relativism.”

* the promises of the enlightenment are dead, however, the premises of freedom from God, authority, the past, from evil … simply refuse to die.

Question 6

What is the Mayflower Compact?

Answer 6

The survivors of the Mayflower recognized the political authority of King James. (Not insurrectionists)

However, they did organize their colony in order to govern themselves.

Written in 1620.

Established Plymouth colony

They desired a form of religious freedom.
• built a society based on a mutually held covenant before God and each other.

Question 7

What is the “Holy Experiment”?

Answer 7

In 1681 William Penn received a large tract of land from Charles II.
- later to be called Pennsylvania.

• Penn would use this as a “Holy experiment” as he called it, which would allow unprecedented freedom of religion for all who believed in God.
• Quakers and Presbyterians would make their home in PA.
• this challenged the Church of England and Puritanism (city on a hill).

Penn’s experiment would win the day in the New World, upholding religious toleration and liberty.

Question 8

Edwards 70 resolutions

Answer 8

1: resolved to do whatever I think to be most to Gods glory and my own good profit and pleasure.

Reflecting on his personal mission in life, Edwards writes 70 resolutions in his late teens to twenties.

These represent Edwards’ personal philosophy; his own personal mission statement.

Question 9

What was the purpose of Edwards’ work “Distinguishing Marks of a work of the Spirit of God.”?

Answer 9

Edwards gives practical guidance on how to distinguish between true and false revival. (Based on 1 John 4:1)

• the work of the Spirit cannot be judged simply on the effects of religion on the body or appearance.
• Scripture is the norm for evaluating revivals.

Gives 5 signs of the true work of the Spirit.

Question 10

Edwards’ 5 signs of the true work of the Spirit and of genuine revival.

Answer 10

Based on 1 John 4:1

1. Christ is exalted
2. Sin is diminished
3. People hold up scripture
4. Truth and error are clearly delineated
5. The Spirit operates as a Spirit of love.

Question 11

Jonathan Dickinson:

Answer 11

Argued against John Thomson and confessional subscription.

• Affirmed the Westminster standards, however he believed a man’s conscience should be bound by the Bible alone.
• believed creeds and confessions undermined the sufficiency of scripture.

• believed a more helpful test was to explore a persons religious experience.
- believed experience more important than theology. (Emphasized morality, experience, and piety)

Question 12

Adopting Act

Answer 12

• 1729
• Tweeddale calls this possibly the most important moment in Presbyterian history, because it defines Presbyterianism.
• the Act distinguishes between essential and non essential elements within the Westminster Confession of faith.
• candidates must affirm the standards as representing the system of doctrine represented in scripture, and indicate where he cannot affirm belief within the standards.
• ordaining body is to determine whether any scruple is essential or nonessential.
• the Act does not ultimately decide essential and non essential elements are.

Question 13

Describe the basic issues between old side and new side Presbyterians.

Answer 13

The split is basically about one’s attitude toward the Great Awakening.

• The Great Awakening was approximately 1740.
• Old side - complained about Whitfield and Tennant and the awakening.
• issues included a low view of scripture since the “New Side” said you didn’t need formal education. Your experience is what mattered.
• also, old sliders feared congregational takeovers as new side preachers would preach in churches that didn’t have a pastor to spread their message.

New side - characterized by:

• pro awakening
• pro Log College
• anti subscription

Question 14

Four concrete provisions of the Plan of Union?

Answer 14

1. Joint missionary endeavors
2. Pastoral service and accountability
   • pastors from both denominations could serve in either congregation.
3. Congregational polity
   • governance would be according to majority of the specific congregation.
4. Principle of reciprocity
   • congregational leaders would have the same right to sit and act in the presbytery as a ruling elder of a Presbyterian church.

Question 15

Old School/ New School schism

Answer 15

• 1837
• 3 primary issues in the Split:

1. ) Adopting Act of 1729
2. ) 19th century was an age of benevolence.
3. ) issue of slavery

Question 16

How did the enlightenment affect religion in the New World?

Answer 16

There is a struggle between orthodoxy and modernity.

• pietism (Germany), Awakening (America), Evangelicalism (England), are all expressions in the new world which now center on individual piety and experience.
• Enlightenment displaces revelation as the foundation for knowledge with reason.

Question 17

Friedrich Schleiermacher:

Answer 17

• considered the father of modern theological liberalism.

• Schleiermacher sees Christianity as relating to the redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ.
- he redefines redemption.

• redemption is just a metaphor representing the passage from an evil condition.

• can be moral, sociological, or psychological.
• can also refer to help given by another person.

• sin is a loss of God consciousness. (Dependence)
- (also a redefinition of sin)

Question 18

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel:

Answer 18

Hegel changed the way we view history.

• denies the premise of Western logic; the law of noncontradiction.
• develops “The Phenomenology of the Mind.”
• the capacity of the mind to apprehend existence in the phenomenal world.
• for this he looks to history as the forum for knowledge.

•devises three-fold logic:
- history moves from thesis to antithesis to synthesis.

Question 19

David Friedrich Strauss:

Answer 19

• Wrote Life of Jesus
• in Life of Jesus he applies myth theory to the life of Jesus.
• denies any historical value to the gospels.
• since we know miracles aren’t real then the Gospel of John is an example of mythology.
• church created myths to fill gaps between the death of Christ and writings of gospels in second century.

• a myth is an idea clothed in history.
- love your neighbor is the principle and feeding five thousand is the myth.

• to Strauss we need to distinguish between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith.

Question 20

Adolf Von Harnack:

Answer 20

• Wrote “What is Christianity?”

• main concern was to discover the pure message of Jesus that comes in a simple gospel.
- the synthesis (Hegelian)of this becomes Hellenized Christianity.

• in his book he claims Christianity is a way of life not a doctrine.

• his simple gospel has 3 components.
(See note card)

Question 21

Von Harnack’s 3 components of the “Simple message of Jesus.”

Answer 21

1.) an emphasis on the kingdom of God.
• kingdom is not just future.
• two forms: external kingdom and internal.

2.) Christianity underscores the fatherhood of God, infinite value of the human soul, and brotherhood of man.
• he sees this in the Lord’s prayer.

3.) emphasis on love
• it is through the cross of Christ that we gain an experience the power of purity and love.
• we are building the kingdom of God as we spread the message of love.

Question 22

What is Neo-orthodoxy?

Answer 22

• also known as dialectical theology.
• it is a revision of orthodoxy, and therefore no orthodoxy at all (Sproul would say).
• possibly the most significant theological movement of the 20th century.
• in many ways it is easier to say what it stands against.
• against simple repetition of old scholasticism of 17th century.
• against the revisions of 19th century German, Protestant liberalism.
• scholasticism was seen as outdated method in light of Kant, Hegel, and others.
• liberal Christianity was wrong for its moralizing Christianity into a way of life and not a system of doctrine.

Question 23

Barth on Romans:

Answer 23

Barth turns to Romans after human optimism fails.

• Barth’s first major work is his commentary, The Epistle to The Romans.
- it is said to have “fell like a bombshell on the playground of theologians.”

• in this he states his writing is written with “ a joyful sense of discovery” and “the mighty voice of Paul was new to me.”
• Barth now believed scripture was a theology from “above” and liberalism could only give a theology from “below.”
• See also Barth’s response to Kant, Schleiermacher.

Question 24

The “Infinite Qualitative Distinction.”

Answer 24

This is Kierkegaards philosophy between God and man.

• Barth is greatly influenced by Kierkegaard.

• There is a distinction between time and eternity.
• “God is in heaven, thou art on earth”
• Barth agrees there is an infinite chasm between God and man. (What comes from above and what comes from below)
• Barth tries to overcome this chasm:
• this is why we have the gospel and why we must have revelation.
• God cannot be known apart from his disclosure of himself in his gospel.

( no natural theology)

Question 25

Church Dogmatics:

Answer 25

• written by Karl Barth.

• His most important work.
- “it is the most impressive work of modern times to be written by a single author.” - unknown quote

• made up of 4 sections and is about 10,000 pages.
• Represents Barth’s dialectical theology. ( see slide)

• theology is a church endeavor. It is not simply an academic enterprise.
( this is why Barth wrote this- emphasis on church)

Question 26

Barth’s dialectical theology:

Answer 26

• He ultimately proposes an alternative to liberalism of his youth and reformed orthodoxy.
• becomes neo-orthodoxy
• centers on what is called “theology of the word (Deus Dixit).

Question 27

Barth’s “theology of the word”:

Answer 27

• Scripture is not the word of God, it points to the word of God.
- to liberals the Bible is not necessarily the word of God. (The word of God is to be listened to within the Bible)

• we know nothing of God except what we have in his word.

• theology is merely human expression to the revelation of God and therefore is always subject to revision.
- our conclusions are always provisional and inadequate.

• comes up with 3 ways we can distinguish the word of God.

Question 28

How is Barth’s view of the word of God as revelation unique?

Answer 28

• Revelation is not propositional truth. It is an event, an encounter.
• revelation is an event that takes place in Jesus and still takes place in Jesus.
• through whom God is known.
• in Christ God manifests grace and therefore can be experienced.

• knowing God is about a relationship not religion.

*** who knows what any of this means.

Question 29

3 Ways we can distinguish the word of God according to Barth:

Answer 29

This is part of Barth’s theology of the Word.

1. ) the word of God in Christ.
   - Jesus is the word of God and is therefore the primary form of God’s revelation.
2. ) scripture:
   - scripture is a witness to God’s divine revelation in Christ.
   - he says we are equivocating when we call scripture the word of God.
3. ) preaching:
   - found only in the context of the church’s worship.

Question 30

According to Barth, what is the relationship of Jesus as “The Word” and the Bible as the “Word.”?

Answer 30

• Scripture is the church’s normative witness.

• it is not objective truth.
• when someone preaches the church listens and then the word of God in Christ (God’s “yes”) and then the individual rejects the world’s evil (world’s “no.”)
• the word seizes the individual and then becomes the word of God to you.

• the Bible becomes the word of God through revelation.

• it is God’s “event” that makes it his word.
• the word “is” in the statement The Bible is the word of God represents the event or being.

• Barth basically believes in a fallible text that God used to bring about a supernatural encounter with Christ.