Terms Flashcards
Fundamentalism
A religious stream that has its roots in the Fundamental Protestant Controversy. Fundamentalist broke off from evangelicals because of the advent of Billy Graham and their adherence of double separation (dissociation with unorthodox believers and with otherwise orthodox believers who associate themselves with unorthodox believers.)
Evangelicalism
Though its history is highly debated, evangelicalism has its roots in the Fundamental-Protestant Controversy (Fundamental-Modernist Controversy) of the 1920’s and 1930’s. The controversy was caused by (1) liberal Protestantism, (2) the challenge of evolution, and (3) changing demographics as people move from suburb to city. Evangelicalism is characterized by (1) strong conviction, (2) pragmatic/ personal relationship/ working on the ground, (3) Evangelism/ Conversion.
Protestant liberalism
A religious stream that split from Protestantism because of the Fundamental-Protestant Controversy (Fundamental-Modernist Controversy). They emphasize love of God and love of humanity (“Brotherhood of Man/Fatherhood of God…).
Shema
This is contained in Deut. 6:4-6 and it declares “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” It reveals that the history of Jesus is intensely monotheistic.
Docetism
In Christianity, docetism (from the Greek “to seem”) is the belief that Jesus’ physical body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion; that is, Jesus only seemed to have a physical body and to physically die, but in reality he was incorporeal, a pure spirit, and hence could not physically die.
Adoptionism
This heresy states that Jesus was adopted as God’s son when he was baptized. He was made a person of exceptional power and was joined to God morally. The weakness of this view is that it reduces Jesus to just a human and ignores his distinction.
Modalism/Sabellianism
This heresy explains the Trinity by saying that each person of the Trinity is like different masks God puts on. The common metaphor used is the three forms of water. The weakness of this view is that it fails to recognize that the three persons of God are co-existent (ex. Baptism of Christ).
Origen
An early Christian theologian of the 3r century who affirmed a high view of the Son. Particularly he sought for the ideas of subordinationism and the Son as “eternally-begotten.”
“Eternally begotten”
The idea set forth by Origen that the Son is begotten outside of time (ontological Trinity.) He is of the same substance as the father and his relationship with the Father is intimate and irreversible.
Subordinationism
The heresy set forth by Origen that the Son is somehow less then the Father.
Arius
Arius is known for saying that, “There was once when the Son was not.” Arius wanted to maintain the transcendence of God by claiming that there was a gap between God and Christ’s existence. This idea is problematic because time came in with creation. There couldn’t be a gap between the Father and the Son of there was no time (the Son created the world).
Council of Nicaea
Constantine calls this council in 325 in response to the Arius controversy. This conference clarifies that the Son is homoousias (of the same substance) as the Father.
Homoousios
This term mean of the same substance (ousia means substance being essence). The term was introduced at the Coucil of Nicea to clarify that the Son is homoousia with the Father.
Athanasius
A fourth century theologian who worked to debunk heretical views on the incarnation. Particularly, he debunked Arius’s claim that the Son is both created and the creator.
Cappadocian fathers
Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus contribute (1) Unity of Divine Will and Divine Action, (2) ousia and hypostasis, and (3) distinction of persons in Trinity relies on the level of relationship.
Ousia
being, essence, and substance
Hypostasis
three persons
Council of Constantinople
It was called in 381. It revised the Nicene creed, rejected Apolinarianism and Arianism. It also affirmed the divinity of the Holy Spirit.
Immanent Trinity
The Trinity out of time. It also means means how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist within the inner life of God. St. Augustine was a famous proponent of the Latin view. Starting with the concept of one divine nature, rather than three persons, he argued that the life of God was by its very nature necessarily Trinitarian. For him the divine nature precedes any concept of individual personalities as articulated in the East. Similarly, Augustine claimed that every action of God was an action of the Trinity; no individual action can be attributed to any one of the persons.
Creatio ex nihilo:
Creatio ex nihilo means creation out of nothing. It affirms the there was nothing (no space, no darkness, nothing) when God created the world.
Irenaeus of Lyons:
A second century church father who argued against Gnosticism. He argues for the goodness of creation and the corruption of the fall. God could not have been made flesh if it was inherently bad. Jesus was physical. Jesus instituted physical sacraments, and we will be physically resurrected.
Augustine (354-430)
The most important figure of the early western church. Augustine put forth the ideas of the noetic effects of sins and original sin.
