Unit 1 Flashcards
Doctrine #1
We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.
Why is the study of Doctrine Important?
To know God
To discover and protect Christian Truth (Col 2:8 Heb 13:9)
To be able to teach others (2 Tim 2:2,25)
To provide a standard to live by- Men live and organize their lives on the basis of the beliefs which they have accepted.
7 Categories of Systematic Theology
Theology- the study of God
Christology- the study of Christ
Pneumatalogy- the study of the Holy Spirit
Ecclesiology- the study of the Church
Anthropology- the study of Human Beings
Soteriology- the study of Salvation
Eschatology- the study of End Times
Five types of Theology
Folk-Oprah Church- relies on oral tradition and rejects critical thinking. Embraces simplistic beliefs such as; legends & traditions, feelings & results, slogans & superstitions, no proof/thought needed
Lay Theology- New believers & regular attenders, basic attempt to examine faith, questions, reflection, general application
Ministerial Theology-Officers & teachers , some limited formal training, ability to use and access resources, some historical perspective
Professional Theology- Well read in study; formal leading to instruction of ministers…
Academic Theology-Writes Doctrine&Theology books; speculative, critical, extremely reflective, temptation to accent & assert intellect- may lose balance & perspective-even faith.
Continuum of Theology diagram
PYRAMID LARGEST PART AT THE TOP
FOLK LAY MINISTERIAL PROFESSIONAL ACADEMIC
Categories of Christian Belief
Dogma: absolutely essential to belief- distinctive tenants of Religious Truth established by divine revelation and defined by the universal church as essential.
Doctrine: important but not essential- system of belief important as a criteria of membership to a specific group of the Universal church.
Opinion: interesting but not necessarily important- personal interpretation that does not conflict with doctrine or dogma; does not affect faith of the church.
Didache
Teaching or instructional method of relating scripture or doctrine.
Orthodoxy
Right beliefs; true belief
Heresy
False belief/teachings
Canon
Ruler/Measuring stick
The catalogue of sacred writings approved as inspired scripture.
Reliable and authoritative as a standard for the rule of Faith.
It is the measure/ rule as well as the list of that which is measured.
The rule of faith
Canon- the collection of inspired writings, made by tradition and authority of the church, which contain the rule of divine faith.
The scriptures were the “rule” by which faith (doctrine) and practice (conduct) were to be measured.
Process (of Canon)
1) Events
2) Oral tradition- the story
3) Written tradition
4) Edited tradition- copyists
5) acknowledged collections in common/universal use
6) canonical recognition as authoritative
Canon Criteria
Conformed to the rule of faith in the church
Apostolic origin
In use in the churches- general universal acceptance as scripture
Process: 2nd-4th centuries
3 subcategories of the Jewish canon (Tanakh)
Torah (Pentateuch) - teaching- the law; 5 books, canonized 400BC
Nevi’im (Na)- the prophets; former prophets- history: Judah, Judges, Samuel, Kings
Latter prophets- Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Book of the twelve- minor prophets, accepted by 200BC
Kethuvim(KH)- the writings; Sacred literature: poetry, history, wisdom, apocalyptic- AD 90, council of Jamnia- limited these to Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Nehemiah and Chronicles
Old Testament- The Apocrypha
Hidden writing rejected for the canonicity by the council of Jamnia
14 books-intertestamental period
Excluded from Jewish canon
Included in the Septuagint
Accepted by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches
Septuagint
The Greek translation of the Old Testament
Attributed to 70 Jewish Scholars
Alexandria- 3rd century BC
Bible
Biblia- book of books
Bibliology
The study of theological aspects of the Bible
Bibliolatry
Excessive adherence to the literal interpretation of the Bible or Worship of the Bible
Internal and External evidences for the authority of the Bible
2 Timothy 3:16
Internal Evidence: The Bible is our authority for doctrine and practice(praxis)- for our faith and our pattern of living-consistency of a central theme despite multiple writers, witness of individual prophets&apostles, witness of Christ himself
External Evidence: archaeology (Dead Sea scrolls), witness of the church, church does not bestow authority but recognized authority and placed itself in submission to God’s word written, witness of a changed life, witness of the Holy Spirit
Witness of the Holy Spirit- Past: he inspired the writers of scripture to write down the truths of God. Present: He illumines us, He confirms the authority of scripture within us. Future: he helps us translate what we know into what we do. He empowers us to live according to what the Bible teaches.
Philosophical arguments for the existence of God (lodahl, The Story of God)
Plato- Cosmological argument: kosmos=world/universe the sense wonder about the fact that anything exists at all. Wonder about being.
Teleological argument: telos=goal/aim points to evidence of order, harmony, complexity, and beauty in the world we observe. Ex: sunset, plant life, complexities of human brain, earths relationship to the sun.
Anthropic principle: anthropos= human
Ontological argument: ontos=being god is defined as the greater being. No greater exists. Any great being you can imagine, God is beyond that.
Wesleyan Quadrilateral
Scripture in the center and on the outside of the quadrilateral shape is experience reason and tradition with arrows inside the shape pointing in either directions.
Hermeneutics
The practice or discipline of interpreting scripture.
*concerned with bringing the message of the scripture to the listener
Factors about scripture interpretation to take into account.
Culture: ways of thinking and assumptions of the biblical world need to be understood.
Different kinds of literature need different kinds of interpreting.
Each text must be interpreted in light of other texts.
Exegesis
Applying the interpretation of scriptures or acting them out or showing the way.
General Hermeneutical principles
Scripture is interpreted according to its genre ( ex: history, poetry)
Etymology (origin and present meaning) of words is important.
Apply rules of grammar to give correct emphasis on each word of the passage.
Biblical Hermeneutical Principles
Spiritual message to be discerned. Text must be encountered through Faith in God.
Each text needs to be interpreted within the context of all scripture.
Progressive revelation. Older revelation must give way to the newer.
Each text must be understood as part of the whole.
Supernatural cannot be taken out of scripture.
Revelation is contextual.
Revelation
Unveiling of scripture. Making know what might otherwise be hidden.
Divine revelation is the process by which God has made known to man the truth concerning Himself and His will for mankind.
Two types of Revelation
Natural Revelation: general revelation- God has revealed himself to all mankind by nature (Romans 1:19-20) By conscience (Romans 2:15) by History (Ezra 1:1)
Special (supernatural) Revelation: Matthew 11:27
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whole the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
Inspired
God breathed
2 Timothy 3:16&17
“All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”
2 Peter 1:20-21
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never has its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”
Types of Inspiration
- Verbal dictation -believes that God used men merely as stenographers or scribes to take down information
- affirms inspiration of writings but denies the writer inspiration. - Natural Genius
- believes that men wrote the Bible on their own. - however, several gospel writers record events beyond their own understanding and this places mans intellect above the revelation of scripture. - Dynamical Theory
- writers are active agents in communication rather than just passive instruments -Holy men chosen of God by actuating energy of Holy Spirit - Holy Spirit gifted the men and women to receive truth and guided them in writing it down
YES.
