Vocab Flashcards
Faith
Voluntary commitment to a belief without the need for complete evidence to support it
Empiricism
A way of knowing that depends on the five senses
Natural theology
Drawing conclusions about the nature and activity of God by using reason and observing the world
Argument from Design
Teleological argument, the existence of a designer from the evidence or design in the world, a posteriori
Principle of accommodation
The principle that God manifests himself through creation in ways that human finite minds can best understand
Revealed Theology
Considers that God can only be known when he lets himself be known. Revelation might occur through a prophet, scripture, prayer and so on
Point of contact
God’s revelation in the world which provides humans with the first step to knowing him as redeemer
Immanence
Means ‘being part of’ and so when applied to God it refers to the way he participates in all aspects of the world and universe
‘Duplex cognitio Domini’
A Latin phrase meaning the ‘two-fold knowledge of God’ - this is Calvin’s distinction of knowing God as creator and God as redeemer
Trinitarianism
Central to the Christian teaching that God is one but reveals himself as three ‘persons’: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Protestantism
A form of Christianity which rejects the authority of the Catholic Church and places greater emphasis on the Bible and on personal faith
Revelation
‘uncovering’ - in theological terms, this is when God chooses to let himself be known
Immediate revelation
Where someone is given direct knowledge of God
Mediate revelation
Where someone gains knowledge of God in a secondary non-direct way
Grace of God
God’s unconditional and undeserved gifts
Regeneration
In Christian terms, the process of renewal, restoration and recreation associated with baptism and other sacraments of the church
‘Sensus Divinitatus’
The Latin phrase used by Calvin meaning a ‘sense of God’ or ‘sense of the divine’
‘Si integer stetisset Adam’
The Latin phrase used by Calvin meaning ‘If Adam had remained upright’ and refers to The Fall when Adam and Eve sinned and fell from grace
Wisdom Literature
A genre of writing from the ancient world, teaching about wisdom and virtue. In the Bible, books such as Proverbs and Job are classified as Wisdom Literature
Incorrigible facts
Facts which are unshakably or unalterably the case
Process Theology
Developed from the mathematical and philosophical ideas of A.N Whitehead and in particular his book ‘Process and Reality’ (1929). Other influential Process Theologians include Charles Hartshorne, John Cobb and Ian Barbour
Reformed Epistemology
The view held by some modern theologians and philosophers in the Reformed or Calvinist tradition such as Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolsterstorff and Michael Rea, who believe that knowledge of God is a ‘properly basic belief’
Atheological objector
Plantinga’s term referring to those who reject all theological claims
Fideism
The requirement that revelation is essential for the human mind to know anything about God’s existence or nature with certainty
