L3 - CPT Chp 2: Revelation and Scripture Flashcards
What is the purpose of Divine Revelation?
To achieve God’s purposes in creation.
What are the 4 ways the question “how might we be saved” could be answered without revelation?
- Legalism (Set of rules must be followed)
- Ritualism (Ceremonial practices must be followed)
- Relativism (No set of beliefs is correct)
- Nihilism (No answer to the question)
What is a divine revelation?
Revealing of something previously unknown.
What are the 2 main ways in which God has chosen to reveal himself?
- General Revelation
- Special Revelation
What is General Revelation?
Things about God and the world that humans can learn on their own.
What are the 3 gaps between us and God that make general revelation insufficient?
- Ontological Gap (We aren’t all-powerful)
- Epistemological Gap (We are limited in knowledge)
- Moral Gap (We are sinful)
What is Special Revelation?
Things we can only learn with divine assistance.
What is inerrancy?
Bible makes no errors at all.
What is infallibility?
Bible makes no mistakes with matters of faith and practice.
What is dictation theory?
God dictated to its human writers the very words they wrote down.
Why is the dictation theory so unpopular?
Doesn’t take into account differences in genre, style, vocab, and substantive content in Scripture.
What is the influence theory?
God’s main influence was on the ideas or concepts of the authors, not the specific words
The influence theory has difficulty in maintaining what?
That God is the author of scripture.
What is the appropriated discourse view?
God “signed off” on the Bible just like a boss signs off on something his secretary wrote for him.
What is verbal plenary inspiration?
All of the words of scripture have been inspired.
What are the 2 ways of ensuring that the Bible contains all the words God intended?
- Theological determinism
- God’s Middle Knowledge
What is theological determinism?
Every event has been guaranteed to have been given some aspect or attribute of God.
What is compatibilism?
Humans can be free AND their actions have been determined by God.
What is God’s middle knowledge?
God can know what any person would freely decide in any circumstance.
Some suggest that God did not inspire individual writers but…
Groups of people (specific communities)
What is historical biblical criticism?
Interpret the Bible as any other historical document.
What is a weaker approach to historical biblical criticism?
Trying to interpret scripture without theological or philosophical assumptions.
The authors claim that Christians should at least agree on what?
The Bible is the central way in which God exercises authority over the lives of individual believers and over the Church.
