Exam 2 Flashcards
“Theology is for doxology & devotion”
The praise of God and the practice of Godliness
Attributes of God’s Nature
Unity - No conflict between God’s nature and His attributes
Independence - self-existent from His creation, He exists outside of it
Eternal - God has no beginning or end, infinite
Spiritual - He has no physical body, immaterial
God is … Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient
all present, all powerful, all knowing (but will never do anything that contradicts His nature)
Old Testament Names of God
Elohim - God
Adonai - Lord
YHWH - The Lord
Variations of Elohim (“God”)
El Elyon - God Most High
El Olam - Everlasting God
El Shaddai - God Almighty
Variations of YHWH (“The Lord You…”)
Roi - Shepherd Jireh - Provider Rapha - Healer Nissi - Banner Shalom - Peace Tsidkenu - Righteousness Tsabbaoth - Hosts Shammah - Who is There
New Testament Names of God
Theos - God (like Elohim in OT)
Kurios - Lord (like Adonai in OT)
Pater - Father
Abba - Father (Aramaic word)
Characteristics of God
Sovereign, Faithful, Righteous, Wrath, Love, Grace (gives us what we don’t deserve), Mercy (doesn’t give us what we do deserve), Immutable (Unchanging)
Apostel’s Creed (AD 190)
Served as a Statement of faith - “I believe in God the Father, Christ the Son, and Holy Spirit”
Gave foundation to other trinitarian creeds - Nicene Creed (AD 325) & Constantinople Creed (AD 381)
Tertullian (Early Christian Author)
Developed wording such as - Trinitas (trinity), Una Substantia (one substance), and Tres Personae (3 persons) to help defend the biblical doctrine
1st Affirmation of the Trinity Doctrine
God is one - Isaiah 45 “Besides me, there is no God”
2nd Affirmation of the Trinity Doctrine
God is 3 Persons - 2 Cor. 13:14
3rd Affirmation of the Trinity Doctrine
Each person is fully God - John 1:1, Titus 2:13
Roles of the Trinity (Eph. 1 & Matt. 28:19)
God the Father - elects believers
God the Son - secures believers
God the Holy Spirit - seals believers
Denial of the Trinity
Arianism - considers Jesus to be beneath or less than the Father, and denies Jesus is God
Modalism - believes God is one person, not 3, denies 3 persons, OT - God is the Father, NT - Son & Holy Spirit
Worldview
- a person’s answers to the major questions in life, how we view the world around us
- Core convictions = Heart
- Our foundation which drives our actions
Worldview Questions
Origin - Why am I here? Where do I come from?
Morality - What is right & what is wrong? How is this determined?
Meaning - What brings meaning and purpose?
Destiny - What happens when I die?
Atheism
Believes there is no God
A + theism = (without) + (belief in God)
Agnosticism
- doubts the existence of God
- evidence is insufficient and we can’t know metaphysical truth
- modern secularization developed over push toward atheism
God Eliminators (Contributed to Atheistic Worldview)
Darwin - evolution Nietzsche - morality as a human construct Marx - socialism Freud - human psyche Dewey - education
Nihilism
developed by Nietzsche, if God doesn’t exist, life ultimately has no meaning, and we’re all nothing, and headed toward nothing after death
Monotheism
belief in one God
Ex: Judaism (doesn’t believe Jesus is God or Salvation), Christianity, Islam (God is Allah) > all have roots in Abraham
Deism
- belief in an impersonal God, that despite being creator, he is uninterested & uninvolved with this world, he is distant and silent
- religion without special revilation (God making himself know to his creation)
- human reason can discovery God by itself
Bahai
God sends messengers to Earth to tell of how we can get closer and closer to him, all religions stem from the same source so it doesn’t matter what you believe
