Lecture 1 - Locating Humanity

Question 1

What is anthropology?

Answer 1

1) the Study of man
2) Greek; anthropos = man/human logos = study, word, logic
3) man in a social, cultural, linguistic, biological, and religious context.

Question 2

A biblical view of man

Answer 2

1) A biblical view is God-centered
2) . We are emotional and relational people
3) We are created by God for His worship

Question 3

Man vs. God-centered anthropology

Answer 3

1) Fundamentalism: doctrine of separation
2) Tension between withdrawal & evangelical engagement
3) Analytical: things as God intends them to be Practical: who we are & what we ought to do

Question 4

Humanism

Answer 4

1) Humans at center of worldview

2) No supernatural realm
“all you see is all there is”

3) Religion has a place for the individual

Question 5

The Ontological Question

Answer 5

1) Greek: ontos “being or existence”
2) Who am I?
3) You are created in the image of God

Question 6

The ethical question

Answer 6

1) Greek; ethos - character morals
2) What am I to do?
3) You are created to love God and reflect His character in a life of obedience, service, and worship

Question 7

The epistemological question

Answer 7

1) Greek; episteme - know
2) How can I know?
3) You are created with a capacity to know God yourself, others, and the world to the extent God has made knowledge possible through general & special revelation.

Question 8

The teleological question

Answer 8

1) Greek; telos - end, goal, purpose
2) Where am I going Why am I here? What is my purpose?
3) you are made to glorify God for all eternity. Therefore, true humanity is ultimately experienced in communion with the triune God.

Question 9

“Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom consists of two parts: knowledge of God and of ourselves”

Answer 9

1) Quote from Calvin in Institutes of the Christian Religion
2) Foundation for wisdom & life come from our knowledge of who we are and who God is
3) Whichever one you begin with you will end up with the other.

Question 10

“Theology is the doctrine of living for God through Christ”

Answer 10

1) Petrus van Mastricht, Theoretical-Practical Theology
2) Links Practical and theoretical points of theology
3) Christ embodies what it means to be human.

Question 11

3 aspects of life in the theological context

Answer 11

1) Life of nature - creatures made in the image of God
2) Life of Grace - Life is enjoyed in union with Christ
3) Life of Glory - faith becomes sight, ultimate humanity

Question 12

Creator/creation distinction

Answer 12

1) We are created by God
2) We live in dependence on God
3) We were made to worship God

Question 13

Doctrine of God: Principle of Being

Answer 13

1) Latin; principium essendi
2) The Foundation of the existence of God
3) In Him we live, move, and have our being

Question 14

Doctrine of Revelation: Principle of Knowing

Answer 14

1) Latin: principium cognoscendi internum/externum
2) internum: internal source, Holy Spirit
3) externum: external source, general & special revelation

Question 15

Theologia archetypa

Answer 15

1) Latin; archetypal theology,
2) arche - first/original; typa - pattern, standard
3) basis of all knowledge. God’s knowledge is like He is

Question 16

Theologica ectypa

Answer 16

1) Latin; ectypal theology
2) ec - out of/based on; typa - pattern, standard
3) Derivative knowledge

Question 17

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

Answer 17

1) Moses wrote this in Deuteronomy 29
2) Key text for archetypal/ectypal theology
3) The importance of distinguishing between our knowledge and God’s knowledge

Question 18

Layers of ectypic theology

Answer 18

1) Theology of Angels (theologia angelorum)
2) Theology of the blessed (theologia beatorum)
3) Theology of union (theologia unionis)
4) Theology of pilgrims (theologia viatorum)

Question 19

The theatre in which the drama of theology develops

Answer 19

1) Christology (redemption)
2) Soteriology (work of the Holy Spirit in salvation)
3) Ecclesiology (fellowship, preaching, and worship)
4) Eschatology (longing for eternity)

Question 20

Creation of Man: “God created him (man)…having the law of God written in their hearts…which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.”

Answer 20

1) Westminster Confession of Faith chap. 4
2) Describes the confessional context of the creation of Man
3) Shows how we were created for communion with God

Question 21

Fall of Man: “Our first parents…sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit. …Every sin…brings guilt upon the sinner..and so made subject to death…

Answer 21

1) Westminster Confession of Faith chap. 6
2) Describes the confessional context for the fall of man
3) Shows how sin brought us under the wrath of God

Question 22

God’s Covenant with Man: “The distance between God and creature is so great…never have any fruition of him as their blessedness…but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which he hath ben pleased to express by way of covenant.”

Answer 22

1) Westminster Confession of Faith chap. 7
2) Describes the confessional context for the God’s covenant with man
3) Shows how God voluntary condescended to make a covenant with us

Question 23

“For our knowledge of man’s origin, we are mainly dependent upon the first two chapters of Genesis”

Answer 23

1) John Murray, “The Origin of Man,” Collected Writings
2) Dr. T. says Gen. 1-3; building blocks for theological anthropology
3) Gen. 1-3 is the foundation for our view on God, ourselves, our work and our relationships

Question 24

Danger of intellectualism

Answer 24

1) all head no heart
2) Argue that theology is the study of God, we risk making theology a merely speculative interest or enterprise.
3) By emphasizing intellectualism we don’t get the whole picture

Question 25

Danger of anti-intellectualism

Answer 25

1) all heart and no head
2) Only pay attention to feelings and no attention to God
3) By emphasizing feelings we aren’t getting the whole picture

Question 26

Theology is “the doctrine of God with regard to himself, his work, his will, his worship, as well as our required obedience, our future rewards and punishments, all as revealed by God himself to the glory of his name. This is the Word of God - this is theology!”

Answer 26

1) John Owen, Biblical Theology
2) Design of theology proper is to know, serve, and love
3) Theology is the doctrine of God, revealed by Him, for His glory