God and His World (WSC 4-11) Flashcards
What is God?
WSC 4: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
Briefly explain and defend (include Scriptural proofs) the doctrine of the Trinity.
WSC 6: There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one God, the same in substance (Godness), equal in power and glory.
God presents himself to us in Holy Scripture: as one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
There is one God. (Deut. 6:4, Isaiah 44:6, 1 Tim. 1:17)
The Father is God (John 6). The Son is God (John 1, Hebrews 1). The Holy Spirit is God (Heb. 9:14).
What are the attributes of God (Scriptural proofs)?
Incommunicable
- Self-existence/Independence (Aseity) – God is the ground of his own existence (Exodus 3:14
- Immutability – God doesn’t change (James 1:17)
- Infinity – God is without limitation in his attributes (he is perfect), time (He is eternal – Rev. 4:8), and space (Psalm 145:3- his greatness is unsearchable)
- Unity and Simplicity – God is one and not a composite being (Deut. 6:4 – God is one)
- Omnipresent (1 Kings 8:27 – heaven cannot contain you)
Communicable
- Knowledge – 1 Sam. 2:3 (God of knowledge) ; Psalm 139:1-16, John 21:17
- Will – Eph. 1:11
- Power – Job. 42:2
- Wisdom – Rom. 11:33
- Truthfulness/Faithfulness – 2 Tim. 2:13
- Goodness – Exodus 34:6-7, Exodus 33:19
- Love, Grace, Mercy, Long-Suffering – (Love – 1 John 4:8, Grace – Eph. 1:6-7); (Mercy – Luke 1:54, 72, 78); Long-suffering (Rom. 2:4)
- Holiness – Isaiah 6
- Righteousness – Romans 1:17, 32
- Sovereignty – Rom. 9:15-18
What are the decrees of God?
WSC 7: The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass..
Our God not only exists, but also he is at work in his creation.
What is the difference between infralapsarian and supralapsarian views of God’s decrees?
The logical order in which God decreed certain things to happen. In the mind of God, which decisions did God make first, second, etc.
Which is prior: the decree of election/reprobation or the decree to create the world/permit the fall.
- Supralapsarian: God’s decree to save is logically prior to his decree to create the world and permit the fall.
- Infralapsarian: God’s decree to save is logically after his decree to create the world and permit the fall.
- - most common
What is an Amyraldian view of God’s decrees?
Moise Amyrald of the Saumer Academy - Unlimited Atonement or 4 point Calvinist
Mediating position between Unlimted Atonement: God’s will for all to be saved and Limited Atonement: God’s decree that only some will be saved.
Position: God decreed that Christ would die for all men and then decreed the election of only some fallen men to believe and to be saved. (Create –> permit fall –> provide salvation sufficient for all –> elect)
Hypothetical universalism – God’s decree to redeem is prior to his decree to elect only some
How does God execute his decrees?
WSC 8: God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence.
What is God’s work of creation?
WSC 9: The work of creation is, God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.
Briefly discuss the length of the days of creation?
- Days 1-3 – formless to order
- Days 4-6 – emptiness to fullness
Different Views:
- Augustine – all creation happened in instant (not until 12th c. Bonaventure)
- Calendar Days – 24 hours periods (popular Reformed Tradition/Western evangelical eview)
- Day-Age – (least convicing view; various age periods of time)
- Framework – fullness/order; can be both/and 24 hrs and framework
- Analogical Days – Bavinck’s view/confusing
Other notes:
Genesis 1 is in class by itself in genre. (Genesis 2 - clear historical narrative)
- What is Genesis 1:1-2:3? Doesn’t fit. (meaning is tied to form)
- Swain’s View: Literary Framework: 1st 3 days 24 hours; 2nd 3 days analogical, 7th day - worship.
Evaluate biblically the theory of evolution?
- Evolution: the evidence for Evolution is really only compelling to those who have a prior commitment to methodological naturalism. (If you are a naturalist, then evolution is the only game in town)
NT can in no case be appealed to in order to sustain any sort of evolutionary theory
- References to creation and especially the citations of Gen. 1-11 point to historical events.
- Creation is always mentioned as an unique event which took place at a particular moment in past time. Creation took place; it was accomplished.
- The details and recitations of the creation given in Genesis 1-3 are considered to be literally true, historical, and also of surpassing importance.
- - The NT doctrine based upon these citations would be without validity and even erroneous if the primeval events were not historically true. (If Adam were not the head of the whole human race, then jesus Christ is not the head of the new creation)
With respect to the relation of scientific theory and theology it is open to the study of general revelation regarding the age of the earth and the cosmos, within biblical constraints. Some of those are: creation ex nihilo, that Adam and Eve were the genetically unique, specially created parents of the human race, and that the fall of Adam introduced the curse into God’s good creation. It denies all evolutionary origins, and evolutionary philosophy as contradictory to the teaching of scripture.
Orthodox view of Creation. What you have to have.
- that Scripture is the inerrant Word of God and self-interpreting,
- the full historicity of Genesis 1-3,
- - ex-nihilo
- - creator/creation distinction
- - historical Adam and Eve - the unique creation of Adam and Eve in God’s image as our first parents, and Adam as the covenant head of the human race.
- A necessary corollary of this view is the fact that the curse and the resultant discord in the universe began with the sin of Adam.
i. Sin is a historical and moral problem.
ii. Creation and Salvation always go together.
What is God’s work of providence?
WSC 11: God’s work of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. This brings about his decrees.
What is a miracle?
Miracles are the direct intervention of God’s providence. When God works outside the normal means of his providence (concurrence)
– Event of God’s providence in which the outcome goes beyond what the natural properties of the created things involved could have produced.
Do miracles occur today? Explain.
Yes, god still works in mysterious ways, but now that the establishment of special revelation has ceased with the closing of the canon, He no longer grants miracle-working power to human beings.
Is God responsible for sin?
No. God uses sin sinlessly.
- James 1:13 – Don’t say you’re being tempted by God.
- 1 John 1:5 – God is light. In him there is no darkness.
WCF 3.1: God has ordained whatsoever comes to pass, but he is not the author of sin (James 1:13, 1 John 1:5), nor does he do violence to the will of humans, nor is the legitimacy of second causes taken away (Prov 16:33).
