Theology: Sources Of Wisdom & Authority Knowledge Flashcards
1
Q
Define Monotheists.
A
People that believe in one God.
2
Q
Define Sustain.
A
In philosophical context “God sustains the universe”, meaning that God keeps the universe in existence. Without this ongoing act of creation, the universe would cease to exist.
3
Q
Define Scripture.
A
Holy books/sacred texts > writings which are thoughts to contain truth and wisdom of God & the ultimate reality.
4
Q
Define resurrection (2 ways)
A
- Rising from the dead.
- Jesus rising from the dead on Easter Day > event recorded all four Gospels of Christianity.
5
Q
Define Moral.
A
Concerned with what is right.
6
Q
What fraction of the world is Christian?
A
1/3 of population in 2010.
2.2 billion.
7
Q
What do Christians believed happened 2000 years ago?
A
God became human in person of Jesus, spent 3 years teaching disciples and performing miracles.
8
Q
What happened after Jesus was human?
A
Jesus made a sacrifice, Christians believe this is when God took on board the punishment of human wrongdoing and allowed people to reunite with God in heaven.
9
Q
What is required when translating a scripture?
A
- Translate word for word.
- Translate and keep as much of the meaning contained within the original text.
10
Q
What is The Old Testament?
A
Books of the Christian bible which were regarded as sacred by Judaism. Old Testament is seen as setting the scene for the coming of Jesus of Nazareth, who brings its leading theme to fulfilment. It’s written in Hebrew.
11
Q
What is the New Testament?
A
- Consists of 27 books.
- But it is shorter than the Old Testament.
-Written in Greek - Consists of Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, John & Luke.
- The Acts of the Apostles
- Letters written by St Paul, Apostles Peter and John. These contained encouragement.
Finally, Book of Revelation > represents vision of end of History (heaven) & New Jerusalem prepared for believers.
12
Q
Old Testament: Law
A
> God making a “covenant” (agreement between humans and God) with the Jewish people.
613 laws Jewish people had to follow to keep their covenant with God.
Different types of sacrifice needed to make atonement for sins. E.g. What type of animal to kill.
13
Q
Old Testament: History
A
> History of Jews relationship with God over the past 1,000 years.
Stories based on real life events but changed to make them more interesting & educational.
Teach about Gods forgiving to the Jewish people for constantly breaking the covenant.
14
Q
Old Testament: Poetry.
A
> Poetry teaching people how to follow Gods laws & making life about worship.
Stories not based on real life events
E.g. The Book of Job teaches people to NOT try and understand Gods decisions.
15
Q
Old Testament: Prophecy.
A
> Book written by “Prophets”, people chosen by God to deliver messages to Jewish people.
Critisise Jewish people for not treating the Covenant well.
Prophets spoke about Christus who would teach the whole world about God. Christians believe this is Jesus who they refer to.
16
Q
New Testament: History (Gospel)
A
> Biographies of Jesus , what Jesus believed.
1. Mark 2. Matthew&Luke 3. John
“Synoptics”= more biographical whilst “John”= theological.
17
Q
New Testament: History (Acts)
A
> Tells History of early church= how Jesus’ disciples became convinced of his resurrection.
Explain how they form the church and spread Jesus’ teachings through the Roman Empire.
Originally the second half of Luke’s Gospels but got separated to keep Gospels together.
18
Q
New Testament: Letters
A
> Letters between earliest Christian Communities.
Oldest Christian writings ( Thessalonians writings)
Most letters written by Paul of Tarsus.
19
Q
New Testament: Prophecy
A
> A record of a vision given to an early Christian.
Confusing, dream like imagery.
Describes what will happen when Jesus returns to world or the end of the Roman Empire.
20
Q
Define Allegorical.
A
PAST> teaches about the nature of God, and the life, teaching, and death of Jesus.
21
Q
Define Tropological.
A
PRESENT> teaches how to live in the present day, e.g. with perfect love for all.
22
Q
Define Anagogical.
A
FUTURE> teaches what will happen in Heaven and the Kingdom of God.
23
Q
Define Authority.
A
The power or right to give orders, make decisions and enforce evidence. E.g. The Bible can give instructions.
24
Q
Define Disciple.
A
A disciple is a pupil/student/apprentice of a teacher, someone who CHOOSES to study God.
25
Define Apostle.
Someone who is ‘sent out’ by God, they are also disciples.
26
What language was the Old Testament written in?
Aramaic.
27
What language is the New Testament written in?
Greek.
28
What are Conservatives?
- Recognise Metaphors but read the Bible more literally.
- Minimise human role of interpretation.
- Fundamentalists
29
What are Libelists?
- Read the Bible more metaphorically.
- Emphasise human roles & intemperate most metaphors
- Modernism
30
What is a Conservative view of texts from God?
That God gave the writers the words to write in the texts, they aren’t a perfect record damaged by human interference.
31
What is a Libelist view of the texts from God?
That the Bible is the Human interpretation of the way God expressed himself through Jesus’ life.
32
What is both a Libelist and Conservative view of texts from God?
That God inspired the writers to write but only the Catholic Church can correctly interpret the teaching.
33
What are THREE difficulties with the Bibles Authority?
1. There are different accounts of events in the Bible in the New Testament and the Old Testament: e.g. Genesis account 1 & 2.
2. The New Testament was written in Greek but Jesus and his Disciples presumably spoke Aramaic, therefore this could cause errors in translation.
3. A number of texts were left out in the New Testament, however Christians believe that God inspired the early church fathers to ensure the words he intended were included.
34
What is a Quote to support that God influenced the Bible?
“ All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for re proof, for correction and for training in righteous”
35
What is the Theory of Orthodox and the inspiration of the Bible?
Confirms creeds of the early church established by Jesus.
36
What is the Theory of New Orthodox (neo-orthodox) of the inspiration of the Bible?
Refers to the work of a number of theologians. Rejects the conservative belief in biblical inerrancy, suggests parts of the Bible are not true due to scientific and historical errors.
37
What did Karl Barth say about the Bible?
The Bible is not the word of God but contains the word of God therefore God doesn’t reveal himself in the words of the Bible but in Jesus.
38
What do a Liberal Christians argue about the Authority of the Bible?
Argue that the creation accounts are not literally true but contain religious truths & writers use myths to convey the message. The Bible was written by individuals who were influenced by the time & culture they lived therefore writings were understood by a period of history.
39
A quote for Liberal Christians.
“A form of narrative, but one in which truth is put across in a symbolic way, because it is dealing with the big questions of life.”
40
Define Liberal Christians.
The Bible is not the literal truth but collection of writings in which the authors beliefs and feelings about God expressed. Writings are influenced by the time they are writing.
41
Define Inerrancy.
Writing considered without errors and mistakes.
42
Define Myth
Story’s that don’t state facts as the writers were inspired by the world around them & God.
43
Define Epistle.
Synonym for letter.
44
What are TWO examples of the Liberal Approach?
1. The Social Gospel Movement
- Ethical principles address social issues (poverty,crime, racism & war)
- Recommends how we should live
- the social action of the movement was more important than worrying which doctrines are true.
2. Process Theology
- Takes on board the discrepancies between some of the claims made in the Bible and what we know to be true from science.
45
How is the Bible inspired by God but written by humans according to catholics?
- Gods Holy Spirit is the main author of scripture but human scripture is still involved.
- Songs, erotic poetry & humour of proverbs can be called inspired.
- Inspiration covers the whole human response to God, since God is the ‘author’ of humanity.
46
What quote supports the idea that God reveals his words through Jesus?
“ the son comes to live human life to the fill the words of God and share fully in the dynamics of human language”
47
What is an example of general revelation (revelation available to all humans at any time)?
Reasons and conscience.
48
What is an example of Special Revelation (religious personal experiences)?
The Bible.
49
What are the traditions of Churches?
- Worship & rituals
- Leadership & structure
50
What do the Catholic Churches believe is the main authority?
The Catholic Church believe that although the Bible is one source of authority, the true source is Christ himself.
51
Quote to support The Churches beliefs that the Holy Spirit guides us.
“When he, the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth”
52
What is the role of the Catholic Church?
The church is a line of tradition that would ensure that Gods word continued to be proclaimed in authentic form. This is because they believe the Holy Spirit works through the entirety of the Church and not the individuals.
53
Quote to support the church as being a main source of authority.
“And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church”.
54
Quote to support the church as being a main source of authority.
“It does not say the Bible is all we need for salvation… nor does it say the Bible is even necessary to believe in Christ”.
55
What do Protestants believe is the main source of authority in Christianity?
Protestants see the Bible as Primary, the individuals relationship with God as central and the Church as Secondary. They believe the Bible is inspired by God himself.
56
What did John Calvin claim?
John was a Protestant that claimed the Bible was an infallible book and contained all that was necessary for Salvation.
57
What are the Four Gospels that Christian beliefs about Jesus are based on?
- Matthew
- Mark
- Luke
- John
58
What do Fundamentalist Christians believe about the Bible?
Fundamentalists believe the bible is inerrant and infallible .
59
What do Modernist and Conservative Christians believe about the Bible?
They believe the text was inspired by God and written by humans.
60
What do Liberal Christians believe about the Bible>
Liberals believe the Bible may be inerrant
61
What did Gotthold Lessing argue?
Gotthold argued that there has to be a clear distinction between what Jesus said and what he done.
62
TWO quotes from Jesus of the Creeds.
“I believe in Jesus Christ, Gods only son”
“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ”
63
What is most commonly believed about Jesus’ authority?
God himself came from heaven to show human beings how to live and to deliver them from sin, and establish a new Kingdom of God.
64
What was Johns Gospel primarily about?
The Divinity of Jesus and representative of the coming of God.
65
What was Lukes Gospel primarily about?
Records an angel telling Mary that God has chosen her to bear the son of God.
66
Define Inerrant.
Everything is literally true.
67
Define Infallible.
Contains everything you need for salvation, not necessarily factual.
68
Who is Lessing Ditch?
He’s never seen miracles and doesn’t believe they are reliable but still is a Christian. Argues that he cannot believe in something that he has never seen. Instead he uses the world to understand Christianity, this is an empirical approach to Christianity.
69
What is the difference between Creedal and Non Creedal?
Creedal= believe and follow the Nicene Creed
Non-Creedal= do not believe and follow the Nicene creed
70
Give an example to support the belief that Jesus spoke and acted with the authority of God
The story of healing the centurions servant in the Gospels by both Matthew and Luke. The authority to heal a disease was believed to be given by God. This shows Jesus speaks the authority of God.
71
A Quote to support the belief that Jesus spoke and acted with the authority of God.
“ Lord, my servant is lying at home paralysed, in terrible distress” he said to him
“I will come and cure him”
72
Give an example to support the belief that God exists as three persons but one being.
Jesus’ parables say that Jesus was a teacher teaching people who live in the world to turn away from sin and trust God in his Kingdom.
73
Define Creed.
Concise definition of Christian belief and teaching.
74
Define Kingdom of God
A future transformation of this world.
75
Define Incarnation
Refers to God becoming fully human (Jesus).
76
Define Atonement.
The process by which God reconciles the world to himself by removing the barrier of sin. ( at—one—moment )
77
Define Sustainer
The idea that God maintains creation (keeps it in existence).
78
What are Synoptics?
Biographies of Jesus to convince us he is the Messiah.
79
What is the order in which the Gospels were predicted to have been written in?
- Mark
- Matthew
- Luke
- John
80
What is the Book of the Isiah?
Contains prophecy of a Messiah being born from a young woman.
81
What are Hiers?
These are people who do not accept their Messiah.
82
Define Deist.
Refers to someone who accepts the existence of God on the basis of reason and creation.
83
Jesus’ Authority as only human — Belief 1
Some Christians believe Jesus represents a figure who is an example of living a Godly life, therefore Jesus is our role model on how to live.
84
Jesus’ Authority as only Human — Belief 2
Some Christians believe Jesus’ teachings perfectly reflect the life that God wants us to live.
85
TWO kinds of Christian who hold that Jesus’ authority was only human.
1. Those who, historically, have followed the teachings of a particular sect in which Jesus was believed to not be divine.
2. Those who take a liberal approach and argue that historically there have been movements which viewed Jesus as human rather than divine.
86
The Approach of different Christian Movements : Adoptionists
- Theodotus of Byzantium and Paul of Samosata both taught Jesus was born human, but was later adopted by God at his baptism. Therefore, Jesus’ authority was acquired from God at baptism and not something he had as the son of God.
87
The Approach of different Christian Movements : Arianism
- Arius (a priest) taught that Jesus was not truly divine but that he was created by God to fulfil a specific role as the Son of God.
> Arius believed that Jesus was the second most special being after God, and was created by him.
> Therefore there was a time when the Son was not (Jesus did not exist).
> Arius is a Trinitarian but believes there is an order of status in the Trinity:
1. Father 2. Son 3. Holy Spirit
88
The Approach of different Christian Movements : The Cathars
- A sect known as Catharism arose in the South of France, they taught that created matter was too corrupt for the perfect God to become incarnate as Jesus.
- These are types for Gnostics that believe they need to escape the evil o world and enter heaven.
- Cathars are enemies for the Catholic Church
.
89
The Approach of different Christian Movements : Unitarianism
- Unitarian movement became popular in Britain which rejects Trinitarian understandings of God complexity
- Deistic understanding of God > they believe that once creation was complete, God ceases to act within created order.
- Jesus had a special place as a great man and a prophet of God, but he is only human and has no divine authority.
- Some believe God adopted Jesus as his son, giving him special status.
90
What is the Liberal Approach to Jesus as Human Authority?
> They look at how the title “Son of God” is used in earlier parts of the Bible.
> In earlier testaments it is used as a connection with beings who in some way represent Gods Authority.
> For Example: Angels
> ‘Son of God’ = someone close to God
91
What would early Christians say about Adoptionism?
> God adopted Jesus since he lived such a perfect life dedicated to God therefore he is the Son Of God.
> Early Christians would argue that it is better he was adopted as it refers to someone the family chose to take in.
92
What Objections were there to Arius’ belief about Jesus?
1. Breaks logic of atonement > to break the infinite sin, Jesus needs to have been an infinite being, therefore there could’ve not been a time when Jesus was not.
2.God cannot be agape if he isn’t sacrificing himself but Jesus instead.
93
What are Gnostics?
A family of beliefs which state the spiritual world is good and the material world is evil. Therefore, our home is heaven and the material world is prison.
94
Define Gentiles.
A word used in the bible for “non Jesus”.
95
Quote for Jesus as authority guidance for humans.
“You have heard that it was said ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’… but if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also”
96
Quote for Jesus as authority guidance for humans.
“ You have heard that i said ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemies’ , but i say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”
97
How do those who accept Jesus’ authority as Gods authority read the Bible?
> Christian’s who believe that Jesus is God incarnate reads the text with the assumption that, what Jesus says is what God requires them to do.
> E.g Love your enemies
98
Liberal view on Jesus
> Jesus is a prophet for God
> Jesus is a person talking about God
99
Conservative view on Jesus
Jesus is divine
100
Explain Original sin and how we should act after being Baptised.
>Humans have a built in desire to sin and favour them selves over their neighbour , this is original sin.
> Humans are born deserving of hell, baptism removes this but doesn’t prevent future sin.
> Baptism deals with the consequences of Original Sin but not the desire to sin.
> Therefore Jesus asks us to go against our human nature by not sinning
101
What are the Quakers belief on Jesus’ authority in the Bible?
> Quakers take Jesus’ word. No one tells the Quakers what to believe as they listen to the Holy Spirit and take Jesus literally.
102
Why are many Christians Pacifists?
> Many Christian’s are Pacifists (oppose the idea of war) as they accept the teaching that Jesus is authoritative.
> Jesus taught that instead of retaliating against your enemy you should only ask back for what they already took.
> Some argue Jesus was a Pacifist.
103
Why are some Christians not Pacifists? Quote?
> Not all Christian’s are pacifists as many consider other teachings of Jesus when he appears to encourage conflict.
> “But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his clothes and buy one”
104
Those who accept Jesus’ authority as only human.
> Free to interpret and evaluate the teachings according to their experience and judgment
105
What are non-propersitional Christians?
Believe that God reveals himself through experience.
106
What is Jesus’ value as a role model model?
> All Christians believe Jesus to be a role model
> The more human Jesus is, the more relevant his examples but perhaps the less authoritative he is.
> The more divine Jesus is, the more irrelevant his example as human is but the more authoritative he is,=.
107
How do Evangelical Christians perceive Jesus to be as a role model?
They believed to act in accordance with Jesus’ principles of love applied in all situations.
108
How does Jesus represent himself as a role model in other religions?
> ‘WWJD’ — What would Jesus do?
> Other religions such as Hindu, believe Jesus was a role model
Quote “he was one of the greatest teachers humanly has ever had” — Mahatma Ghandi
> Some Christians would argue that Gods willingness to engage in verbal conflict, responding vigorously to injustice provides a model that allows them to do the same.
