Systematic Theology 1 Quiz 1 Flashcards
The Subject-matter of EST
“about God and His relations to the created universe”
The Sources of EST
“primarily from Scripture (i.e., theology’s only final and ultimately authoritative source) and secondarily from any and all other relevant sources”
The Structure of EST
““Evangelical Systematic Theology is the comprehensive study and coherent organization of what can be known,”
The Setting of EST
-“in a manner that is understandable and applicable to contemporary audiences,”
The Satisfaction of EST
“to the end that God’s people are strengthened and satisfied in Him, to the praise and glory of His name”
Why Study EST?
- Comprehensive Scriptural Vantage Point
- Interpretive Guide
- Religious Pluralism
- Head, Heart, Hands, Habitat
Comprehensive Scriptural Vantage Point
- looking at the big subjects - pulling together what the Bible teaches us about all of these attributes
- in looking at the big picture
Interpretive Guide
a guide/ frame work not a straight jacket
Religious Pluralism
- we live in a world that has lots of religions like Acts 17 in ancient Athens // Paul time
- the difference though: in western culture we have that there is no legitamate truth claim that can be made by any one religion that in fact all religions must be seen as =
- if you have an exsclusive view then you are intolerant and unacceptable
Religious Pluralism - we must do..
- stand firm in what you believe
2. have a depth of conviction about truth of the Bible
4 things to think about here with theology
Head, Heart, Hands, Habitat-
Head
theology to dwell in and retrain the way we think, our heads are mean to be full of theology
Heart
- take truth into our hearts & see it as glorious
- we prize it our affections are retrained according to scripture so that we love more and more what God loves and we hate more of what God hates..
Hands
the way we live shows what we care about
Habitat
our minds, affections, and behaviors affect the environment that we live in
EST in Relation to other Theological Disciplines
- Hermeneutics
- Biblical Studies
- Biblical Theology
- Systematic Theology
- Church History/Historical Theology
- Apologetics
- Missions/Evangelism
- Ethics
- Practice of Ministry
Hermeneutics
- try to understand scripture rightly
- emphasis on different kinds of genres
- this is the base
Biblical Studies
- OT/NT studies
- looking at particular books of the bible, seeking to understand the author, context, grammar, seeing what the author intends for us to know
- commentary = walk you through v1 to the last verse.. what the author was trying to communicate with you
- analytical
- adds to hermeneutics
Biblical Theology
- what are the primary themes in a book of the Bible
- synthetic
- adds to hermeneutics and biblical studies
Systematic Theology
- biblical theology is more narrow, stay as it was in the era it was written (exegesis)
- systematic theology attempts to show the current purpose for the current era that we are in
- comprehensive, directed to more contemporary application
- Hermeneutics, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology gives rise to
Church History/Historical Theology
- assisting in understanding every area
- helps us understand how things are done better
- providing insight, warring against dangers
- church history = history of the church
- historical theology = theology developed historically
- assists systematic theology the most
Apologetics
- implications that come
- comes from systematic theology
- theology attempts to answer the question what do we believe
- apologetic attempts to answer why do we believe this
- Happens two different ways
- come as questions of objections
- seeks to answer WHY we believe this
Missions/Evangelism
- closely related to apologetics
- obligation to pass on the christian faith to others
Ethics
- impact from theology going public
- encounters questions in the culture.. ex. sexuality, abortion, economics, politics
Practice of Ministry
- all theology is practical
- theologically driven
- how do we lean the church forward
- preaching, worship
- theology drives these beliefs
- you can only council as it flows out of systematic theology
theology is the spring board to
apologetics, missions, ethics, practice of ministry
The Method of Evangelical Systematic Theology
- theological methods is how u go about constructing the doctrines
- the study of theological method it is to theology what hermeneutics is to biblical studies
- -herm. is how you go about interpreting the bible.
an approach to subject matter that attempts to take note of and observe the specific features true of it.. specific aspects of the subject matter that you are investigating/tallies your findings/ records what you have seen
Induction
Theory Construction in Theological Method
Deduction and Retroduction
first step in taking the facts and putting them together in a way that drives conclusion
Deduction
Induction
Deduction
Retroduction
Example
I - Bible teaches that there is ONE God.
- Father is God - who Jesus is praying to, who sent Jesus into the world
- Jesus Christ - early theologians found different texts that indicate that Jesus is God
- Holy Spirit is God - found this truth throughout scripture
D = God must be 1 & 3.
R - God is one in his essence & in his nature, three in persons
what must be the case in light of these things?
-looking for particular conclusion insight of scripture
Deduction
How can this be? How can we make this meaningful?
Retroduction
how do we make sense of this?
getting all the pieces together
Retroduction
provides the information
Induction
ask the question in this theological formulation are all the data accountable for / am i rightly in my theological understanding accounting for all of the relevant passages
Quantitative Criterion
have we treated those data correctly / have we interpreted passages of scripture as the author intended for us to read them
Qualitative Criterion
God is consistent, there is no errors in it / is there consistency / lack of logical consistency shows that there are problems that have to be worked on and solved
-God is good not evil, light not darkness
Consistency Criterion
asthetic criteria / look for the beauty, the symmetry, the grander, the greatness, the simplicity and beauty of this truth when it is put together the right, communicates a wholeness / a beauty
Coherence Criterion
Criteria for Assessing Theological Formulations
- Quantitative Criterion
- Qualitative Criterion
- Consistency Criterion
- Coherence Criterion
Conclusion from Assessing Theological Formulations
Theology as Science, Art and Faith
theology is science
-bringing together accurate data
theology is art as well
see these hard subjects and the beauty of it all.. relates it all together to best express it
theology is faith as well
-only the Spirit can lead us into
given this particular culture how do we present theology that fits that context / shape theology to
Cultural Contextualization
normativty that which is the norm / which is always the case - a truth that is transcultural.. does not change - cultural normativity
Transcultural Normativity
same across culture
Transcultural Normative
tailored and shaped for a particular culture
Cultural Contextualization
Issue with Cultural Contextualization & Transcultural Normative
- major theological issues of our day.. it concerns the extent to which a given culture values, beliefs, insitutions, ethics, life setting, felt needs, or world view affects and should affect how theology is down within and for a culture
- is there a place for cultural input for theology..
Two Extremes to be Avoided in an Evangelical Theology
“Cultural Christianity”
“Non-cultural Christianity”
- the notion that cultures like it or not are necessary of what theology produces
- directed by the conviction and beliefs of the culture
- there is no such thing as transcultural normative truths.. is what this is saying
- there should be no absolute truth… what is happening now
- different faiths/theologies/christianities that exist = different understandings of theology
“Cultural Christianity”
Ex. of “Cultural Christianity”
Hitler, KKK
hen we do theology is this other culture we bring theology to this setting that has no culture ad mixture…. just pure christian faith as the bible speaks of it and there is nothing in our culture
“Non-cultural Christianity”
Ex. “Non-cultural Christianity”
o to a tribal people and tell them there is one God, we are sinners before God, Christ has come, by faith in Christ we can be set free form the guilt of our sin because Christ has paid for it…… and as Christians we always where white churches on sunday, our churches look like this, and sing these hymns….. these are our cultures… let them have their own culture
An Evangelical Position:
“Contextualized Normativity”
Dominate Term =
Normativity
Qualified by =
Contextualized
Explain “Contextualized Normativity”
- normative truth = abiding truth of God that provides for us our base of what we have learned about God and his relationship to the created universe// truth be truth
- modified by contextualization = how do you express it, what language do you barrow