Questions from Tests (for Final) Flashcards
The Synod of Dort was the occasion for the followers of Arminius (the Remonstrants) to rebut the five points given by John Calvin.
F
The ‘U’ of Calvinism’s ‘TULIP’ (i.e., the so-called five points of Calvinism) refers to “unlimited atonement.”
F
According to Kant, we can only know “the thing as it appears” but not “the thing in itself.”
T
The normative and trans-cultural nature of revealed truth requires that we should never consider cultural factors in the formulation of theology within and for a particular culture.
F
“Culture Christianity” was used in class to refer to the attempt to understand and apply normative Christian truth within a given cultural setting.
F
Dispensationalism stresses discontinuity between the testaments, whereas covenant theology stresses continuity.
T
Adolf von Harnack is widely regarded as the “father of modern liberalism.”
F
Arminius argued for what has been called “prevenient grace,” that is, God’s overcoming of the effects of total depravity sufficiently so that people are able to put faith in Christ or not.`
T
According to the elaboration on the definition given of Evangelical Systematic Theology, the main subject-matter for theology is “Scripture and all other relevant sources.”
F
Pelagius held that the command of God necessarily entails that we are free, such that we are able, by nature, to obey what it asks of us.
T
“Progressive revelation” is an important explanatory concept for covenant theology in particular.
F
Carl F. H. Henry criticized fundamentalism for its lack of intellectual engagement with and social involvement in the broader secular culture.
T
““Progressive dispensationalism” differs with traditional dispensationalism by understanding some legitimate continuity between Israel and the Church.
T
On the Augustinian-Pelagian debate, Calvin sided clearly with Augustine, but Luther tended toward a more Pelagian understanding.
F
Arminius and Pelagius both agreed that because God commanded people to trust him and to obey him, that it must be the case that people can by nature trust and obey God.
F
Evangelical systematic theology works from certain fundamental convictions, among which are:
the Bible has primacy over all other avenues into truth
Covenant theology holds:
there are two broad covenants, the covenant of works and the covenant of grace
Retroduction may rightly be understood as the
creative ordering of relevant data into a conceptual whole showing more fully what those data are and showing how they relate together
Evangelical systematic theology differs from biblical theology in this way:
Biblical theology develops individual theologies of various authors or genres, whereas systematic theology develops theology from the whole of the Bible
Arminius, and the Remonstrants after his death:
agreed with Calvinism that humans are totally depraved due to Adam’s sin
Followed the Enlightenment shift from revelation to human reason and experience
Liberalism
The Bible is a witness to God’s real revelation, but it is not infallible or inerrant:
Neo-orthodoxy
Karl Barth was the most prominent leader of
Neo-orthodoxy
Intentionally re-engaged the broader culture, both intellectually and socially while upholding orthodoxy and full biblical authority
Evangelicalism
Strong emphasis on the social gospel
Liberalism
While it is true to say that all of Scripture is revelation, it would not be true to say that all revelation is Scripture.
T
Fideism is the view that all reasonable humans potentially can come to know the truth about some matter through careful investigation.
F
The concept of revelation is best understood as the human discovery of truths about the nature and work of God.
F
The definition of revelation includes the idea of truth that previously existed but now is uncovered or laid bare.
T
The doctrine of inspiration is primarily about the text of Scripture that is inspired and secondarily about authors of Scripture who were moved by the Holy Spirit to write Scripture.
T
It was argued in class that Scriptural authority is founded only on the doctrine of biblical inspiration and that the question of inerrancy is irrelevant to the issue of Scriptural authority.
F
Paul’s reference in Romans 2:15 to “the Law written on their hearts” refers to the transformation of believers as they are re-made to be keepers of the Law.
F
Special revelation has a more specific content or substance and a more limited scope than does general revelation.
T
To say that unsaved people have a moral antipathy to the truth of the gospel implies that they understand something correctly about that gospel truth.
T
It was argued in class that epilusis in 2 Peter 1:20 is best translated, not as “interpretation,” but as “disclosure” or “origination.”
T
Revelation through the avenue of the incarnation combines all the other avenues of special revelation in this one revelation of Jesus as the Christ.
T
Romans 1:20-21 rightly supports the notion that unsaved people have sufficient knowledge from creation alone to be saved.
F
The issue of canonicity has to do with the Church’s establishing the authority of certain writings for the believing community.
F
2 Timothy 3:16 states that inspiration happens as writers of Scripture are “moved by the Holy Spirit” and so speak from God.
F
Romans 1:20-21 rightly supports the notion that unsaved people have sufficient knowledge of God from creation so as to be morally responsible for their response to God.
T
The Bible is true in all that it affirms (or teaches as true) as evaluated by criteria of truthfulness which are appropriate to the literary genres and intended meanings of Scripture’s authors.
Full Inerrancy
The doctrine of revelation, rightly understood, confronts us with the following:
a. it shows us that we are dependent altogether on God revealing what he does
b. we have no say in what is revealed, or when, or to whom
c. God is sovereign over his revelation, and as such, some are excluded from receiving the truth of his revelation
d. a., b., and c. Correct
Revelation is necessary because of:
a. the transcendence of God
b. the holiness of God
c. the finitude of human beings
d. a., b., and c. Correct
A key avenue or avenues of general revelation is/are:
a. Creation
d. Conscience
e. a. and d. Correct
One avenue specified for general revelation is:
Conscience
Special revelation may come through:
a. God’s mighty act
b. the incarnation
e. a. and b. Correct
When it is claimed that illumination is necessary due to spiritual blindness, the term “spiritual blindness” refers to:
c. the complete inability of the unsaved to understand the glory and truthfulness of the truth of the gospel
d. the inability of the unsaved to understand the whole of the truth of the gospel
e. c. and d. Correct
One aspect of the efficacy of special revelation is:
it can harden further those who receive and reject it
When it is claimed that illumination is necessary due to moral antipathy, the term “moral antipathy” refers to:
truth known but rejected as foolish and repulsive
The gospel and overarching truths of Scripture are true even if they are expressed in fallible and sometimes mistaken human expressions of those truths.
Kerygmatic infallibility
Whereas the ontological argument argues from cause to effect, the cosmological, teleological, and moral arguments argue from effect to cause.
F
St. Anselm is most closely associated with the cosmological argument for the existence of God.
F
The feature true of the universe that the teleological argument seeks to account for is that there is something rather than nothing.
F
The ontological argument is a deductive argument which, if it works, would prove the existence of God.
T
The feature true of the universe that the moral argument seeks to account for is moral sensibility.
T
The early church seriously questioned and almost dropped its adherence to monotheism when it became convinced that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
F
The main opponent of Athanasius was Sabellius.
F
Arius proposed that the Son was the first and greatest of all of God’s creation.
T
The Council of Nicea defended in particular the deity of the Holy Spirit.
F
The primary advocate of modalism was Sabellius.
T
The position that prevailed at the Council of Nicea had been argued by the Cappadocian Fathers.
F
“Ontological immutability” refers to God not being able to change in his essential attributes or divine nature.
T
God’s attribute of infinity means that God is absolutely unrestricted in every quality or attribute that he possesses.
T
The divine self-sufficiency entails that God does not care about or have any real and genuine interest in anything that he has created.
F
“Relational mutability” refers to God changing appropriately in respect to changes that occur within his created order and among his moral creatures.
T
Thomas Aquinas’ “Five Ways” represent early examples of this kind of argument for God’s existence:
a. Cosmological argument
b. Moral argument
c. Ontological argument
d. Teleological argument
e. a., b., and d. Correct
God’s existence can be proved simply from thinking the thought of a Being than which none greater can be conceived:
Ontological argument
Conclusions drawn from this argument have a probabilistic level of certainty:
a. Cosmological argument
b. Moral argument
c. Ontological argument
d. Teleological argument
e. a., b., and d. Correct
It was mentioned that C. S. Lewis was a champion of this kind of argument for God’s existence:
Moral argument
The “filioque” addition to the Nicean Creed affirmed that:
The Spirit proceeds from the Father “and the Son”
A key triadic passage:
Matthew 28:19-20 Correct
That Christ was “homoiousios” with the Father was proposed by:
Followers of Origen
Gregory of Nyssa was instrumental in the outcome of this council:
d. Constantinople
Incommunicable attributes are those divine attributes which:
are possessed by God alone, and are not shared to any degree with created reality
Communicable attributes are those divine attributes which:
are shared with at least some portion of finite, created reality
It was argued in class that in the libertarian model of freedom, people make their choices and perform their actions with no reason(s) whatsoever for why they choose or act the way they do.
F
The classic Calvinist model of relating divine sovereignty and human freedom holds that God has determined everything that happens so that human freedom is actually illusory.
F
It was pointed out in class that the richest OT term for God’s love is agape.
F
Remunerative justice refers to God’s reward for obedience and punishment for disobedience.
F
The love of God should rightly and only be thought of as God’s universal desire for the well-being of all people.
F
God’s righteousness could rightly be understood as God’s own perfect conformity, in word, thought, attitude, and action, to God’s own intrinsic moral nature.
T
The attribute of God’s wisdom could rightly be understood as the application of God’s infinite knowledge to accomplish the morally best ends by the best means possible.
T
Retributive justice refers to God’s reward to those who obey his laws.
F
The attribute of God’s omnipotence means that God can do absolutely anything with no qualification whatsoever on what God can do.
F
Libertarian freedom, also referred to as contra-causal freedom, requires the incompatibility of divine determination and human freedom.
T
Because the hyper-Calvinist model understands God’s sovereignty as comprehensive, it rightly holds that there is no genuine human freedom.
F
One of the key components of God’s holiness has to do with the feature of being distinct or different.
T
Throughout most of Christian history, the attribute of God’s omniscience has been understood with the caveat that it is logically impossible for God to know the future acts of free moral agents.
F
“Something is right because God wills it,” is characteristic of Voluntarism.
T
It was argued in class that the concept of middle knowledge, though interesting and even helpful philosophically, cannot rightly be supported from Scripture.
F
This position holds that it must be the case that either God controls actions performed, or we (his moral creatures) control actions performed, and that it is logically impossible for both God and us to control the same actions.
a. Hyper-Calvinism
b. Process Theism
c. Classic Arminianism
d. Classic Calvinism
e. a., b., c. CORRECT
Legislative justice refers to:
God’s giving to His moral creatures standards by which they should live
Distributive justice refers to:
a. God’s rewarding or punishing His moral creatures Correct
Grace is best understood as:
a. God’s favor shown to those who are undeserving
b. God’s favor shown to those who are destitute and helpless
c. God’s favor shown to those who have not merited his kindness
d. all of the above
e. a. and c. Correct
On the question of God’s own freedom, these two positions were rejected as logically extreme views:
Necessitarianism and Voluntarism Correct
Mercy is best understood as:
. God’s favor shown to those who are destitute and helpless Correct
This position holds that the notion of God controlling the very same actions as those which we (his moral creatures) also control is compatibilistically true.
Classic Calvinism Correct
On the question of God’s own freedom, the position argued for in the lectures was labelled:
Essentialism
This position on the relation of divine sovereignty to human freedom holds that genuine freedom is a “freedom of inclination.”
b. Classic Calvinism Correct
God’s justice refers to the fact that:
b. God establishes standards for his moral creatures in accord with his intrinsic moral nature
c. God judges his moral creatures by their conformity (or lack thereof) to those standards
B & C
