KOG: REVEALED KNOWLEDGE Flashcards
Why was revealed theology special?
It did not rely on people having particularly strong intellectual gifts, but was available for everyone through faith.
What did the doctrine of the Trinity demonstrate?
The truth about Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, and ideas about life and death.
How do Christians believe the fundamental distinctive teachings have been given to them?
By God as revelation.
What is immediate revelation?
God makes himself directly known.
How did Adam and Eve experience immediate revelation?
Before the Fall, when God walked with them in the Garden of Eden.
What is mediate revelation?
When people learn about God and gain knowledge about him less directly.
How did Moses experience mediate revelation?
Those who listened to Moses and trusted him to take them out of slavery into the Promised Land had mediate revelation.
How can a much fuller knowledge of God be attained?
By revelation through faith and by God’s grace in giving knowledge of himself through the Holy Spirit.
What was ‘scientia’ in Aquinas’ Summa Theologica?
Certain knowledge as we can see the evidence in front of us.
What did Aquinas call faith in Summa Theologica?
‘an act of the intellect assenting to the truth at the command of the will.’
When is it believed people can only have full knowledge of God?
When God graciously chooses to give it.
How is revelation revealed through the beauty of the world in Psalm 19?
“The heavens declare the glory of God.”
How can revelation be understood through event of history?
Seen as the work of God, and so by recalling the past, people can gain a greater understanding of what God wants from them.
What does Proverbs state about understanding revelation through traditional wisdom?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”
How can revelation be understood through the words of the prophets?
People who were chosen and commissioned to reveal God’s words to the people.
Give an example of an individual chosen to spread revelation.
Isaiah: “ ‘Here am I. Send me!’ “
How is revelation expressed through religious experiences and visions?
God is understood to reveal himself to people through personal religious experiences.
How is knowledge revealed through the natural laws and design of the material world?
The natural laws of physics can demonstrate the existence and nature of God.
How is Jesus a reflection of revelation?
Incarnation, so people could understand God at their own level.
What does John 1:14 state about Jesus as revealed knowledge of God?
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
How does the Bible itself reveal knowledge of God?
Whether it is considered to be the literal word of God or a collection of ancient teachings, Christians believe it is a source through which God can be known.
What is the issue with using the Bible as revealed knowledge of God?
Difficult to know whether the writers knew exactly which words to write, or if they used their own feelings and experiences.
How does the life of the Church express knowledge of God?
Christians refer to the Church in terms of Jesus’ ‘hands’. Made up of the people of God.
What does Acts 17:16-34 state about revealed and natural theology?
“The God who made the world and everything in it.”
What does Acts 17:16-34 recount?
Recounts how the first followers of Jesus worked to spread the Christian message after Jesus’ death.
What is happening in the extract of Acts 17:16-34?
The apostle Paul engages in conversation in which some of his listeners call him a ‘babbler’ and Paul talks about using reasoned argument.
What does Paul tell his listeners in Acts 17:16-34?
Paul tells them to use their reason to discern from this that such a God is capable of creating the world.
What did Calvin use Acts 17:16-34 to state?
That everyone has the capacity and the disposition to believe in God.
What does Dawkins state about faith?
Does not just provide insufficient reason for belief, but is actually harmful.
