Theology - God and His World (WCF 2-5; WLC 7-19; WSC 4-11) Flashcards
What is God?
God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable in his being wisdom power holiness justice goodness and truth (WSC 4) (Rom 11:33-36)
What are God’s attributes?
Communicable:
* Wisdom (James 1:5 if any of you lacks wisdom)
* Power (2 Tim 1:7 God gave us a spirit of power, love, self-control)
* Holiness (1 Pet 1:16 be holy as I am holy)
* Justice (Mic 6:8)
* Goodness (James 1:17 every good and perfect gift comes from above)
* Truth (John 14:6, 17:17 sanctify them in the truth)
Incommunicable
* Infinite (Eph 2:7 immeasurable riches of his grace)
* Eternal (Rev 1:8 who was and is and is to come)
* Unchangeable (James 1:17 no shadow or variation due to change)
What are the decrees of God?
His eternal purpose according to the council of his will whereby for his own glory he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass (WCF 7; Eph 1:1-10)
Infralapsarian/Supralapsarianism
Infralapsarianism: views God’s decrees “inside” history
* Creation-Fall-Election-Redemption
* God decreed to create man in holiness
* God decreed to permit the fall
* God decreed to elect some men (as sinners) unto salvation
* God decreed to pass over others
Supralapsarianism: views God’s decrees above history i.e., logically
* Election-Creation-Fall-Redemption
* God decreed to elect some and pass over others (before fall/independent of sin)
* God decreed to create
* God decreed to permit the fall
* God decreed to justify the elect and condemn the reprobates
What is an Amyraldian view of God’s decrees?
- Creation-Fall-Redemption-Election
- From Moise Amyraut as a way to explain a 4 point Calvinism with unlimited atonement
- It is a system of “reformed” theology based on the premise that God wills all men to be saved if they believe. Work of Christ is accomplished universally but only applied particularly.
How does God execute his decrees?
God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence (WSC 8; Rev 4:11 God created all things for his glory; Dan 4 he does all things acc. to his will)
What is God’s work of creation?
His creating of all things of nothing by the word of his power in the span of 6 days and all very good (WSC 9; Gen 1)
Briefly discuss the length of creation days:
Evaluate biblically the theory of evolution.
Darwinian Naturalistic/Materialistic Evolution
* The belief that everything, including matter and man developed by natural random processes and are purely a result of natural forces functioning over a period of time.
* Denies that God created the world out of nothing, by the power of his word, in the space of six days.
Theistic Evolution
* The belief that God is the worker/mover behind the processes setting the evolutionary process in motion.
* At its best, God chose to use and direct the process of evolution; at its worst its basically just clock winder Deism
* This system usually doubts historical Adam and Eve and goes against the grain of the plainest reading of Gen 1-3 and the NT’s testimony to historical Adam etc.
Creationism—that God supernaturally, by the word of his power, created all things of nothing, in the space of six days, and all very good. (WSC #9)
What is God’s work of providence?
His most holy wise and powerful preserving and governing all his people and all their actions (WSC 11; Rom 11:36)
What is a miracle? Do miracles occur today?
- When God works without, above, or against the ordinary means of his providence (WCF 5.3)
- In Warfield’s terminology, God is free to perform “extra-ordinary acts of providence,” but these would be the exception to his normative means of providence.
- These extra-ordinary acts are God’s gracious provision, but are not meant to be a confirmation of revelation (as they were in NT times before the closing of the canon)
Is God responsible for sin? Did he decree it? Did he permit it? And who is the ultimate cause of all things?
- God is not the author of sin and is not morally responsible for it (James 1:13-15 God tempts no one)
- But God does ordain whatsoever comes to pass (WCF 3.1)
- Thus, he permits Satan and humans to sin, to their own moral detriment
- While still maintain his preservation and governing of the entire universe so that all things work together for the good of those that love him (Rom 8:28)
What is theodicy?
- An explanation that vindicates God (his justice and goodness) in light of the reality of evil.
- Psalm 73 why do the wicked prosper? Yet God is just (cf. Habbakkuk 1-2)
If God is good and all-powerful, explain AIDS, deformed babies, and natural disasters etc.
- Fallen world - our own sin - common grace - special grace/Christ
- God is good and omnipotent, yet we live in a fallen world. Because although God created the world good, through Adam’s fall and our subsequent rebellion, the world and everything in it is fallen, distorted, and thoroughly corrupt (Rom 8:18-25)
- Any alleviation of the results of sin in the world are due to God’s grace
- God in his common grace alleviates the suffering due to sin through ordinary means (science, technology, blessings)
- And in his special grace, he has foreordained that Christ would enter into the fallen world to save his undeserving people, restore them to the image of Christ, and through them restore the world (new creation)
Discuss the biblical teaching regarding predestination, election, and reprobation
- God predestines some to eternal life (John 6:37; Eph 1:1-10)
- The people that God have predestined are the elect chosen by God’s free choice (Rom 11:33-36)
- The reprobate are those whom God passed over (Rom 9-11)
- Starting point is that all deserve death and hell – only by God’s grace are any saved at all!
