T220 Theology Test 2 Flashcards
Fatalism
he view that, since God is in control of the world, none of our thoughts or actions is really meaningful. Whatever will be will be (aberrant)
Theodicy
An attempted explanation of the existence of evil that exonerates God of blame. Not all Christians agree that this should be attempted. (diversity)
Preservation, concurrence, governance.
God preserves everything he has made; he is at work within it as it runs along; and he rules and reigns over it (consensus)
Providence
God continues to be involved with his creation , sustaining & providing for it, in order to lead towards Him. (consensus)
Creaturely-dependence & divine-sufficiency
Creation relies for its existence on God, whereas God does not need creation for his existance or fulfillment; he is self-sufficient God create simply of love & loves what he has made. (consensus)
Gnosticism
An ancient Christian heresy that supposes its members havehidden knowledge that leads then to salvation. Gnostic groups generally thought the material World was bad. (aberrant)
Theological Anthropology
The technical term for Christian teaching abont humanity (consensus?)
Human beings are creatures
Human beings are not God, but they are made by God; they are his Creatures. They are on the creature Side of the creature creator distinction. (consensus)
Finitude, boundedness and dependence
three characteristics of human existence
as creatures. Human beings are limited (finite), they exist in time and space (bounded) and they
depend on others – God first and foremost – and other things for existence (dependent). (consensus).
Psychosomatic Unity
Human beings are both material and spiritual. They are made up of both a ‘soul’ (Greek, psychē) and a ‘body’ (Greek, sōma). These two together make up a
human being; hence, they are a ‘psychosomatic’ unity (consensus)
Hierarchical dualism
A view, associated with Plato, that the body is a prison from which the soul must escape (aberrant)
Reductive Materialism
The view that the body is all there is; there is no spiritual existence (aberrant)
Non-reductive materialism
The view that sees human beings as thoroughly material, but existing in relationship to God (diversity)
Holistic Dualism
The view that human beings are made up of two parts, soul and body, but both of these are essential to what it means to be a human being; neither one is to be
escaped from (diversity)
The image of God
(consensus) Human beings are made, according to Gen 1:27, “in the image of God” (Latin, imago Dei). Christians, however, disagree about whether this “image of God” is something substantial, functional or relational (diversity). Essentially, we all agree we are made in the image of God but we do not all agree on what that means.
Sin
(consensus) Both a condition and an action in which human beings stand against God and
his Word. This sin can be considered in terms of individuals as personal sin and in terms of
institutions as systemic or social sin, though some Christians debate whether we should speak
of social or systemic sin (diversity)
The Root of Sin
Christians disagree about what is thought to be at the root of human sinfulness: some suggest pride, others lack of trust in God’s Word, others a refusal to live as who God says we are (diversity).
Original Sin
All human beings are born into the state of sin (consensus)
Actual Sin (Sinful Acts)
The state of sin results in us committing acts of sin (consensus)
Pelagianism
The view that we are not born in sin and are free and able to resist temptation by our own powers without the power of God’s grace (aberrant)
Original Righteouessness
All human beings were created upright by God (consensus)
Jesus Christ the true human being
Jesus is the true “image of God,” the sinless one who shows us what is truly means to be human. In him, we are restored in the image of God (consensus)
The Fall
The event near the beginning of human history in which, as a result of human sinfulness, human beings suffered brokenness in their relationships to God, one another and creation, and within themselves (consensus).