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31 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is the chief end of man?
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"Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. " -WSC #1
1 Cor. 10:31 (ESV) So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. |
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What is the supreme activity of man? (Catechism: "what does God require of man?")
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Obedience to God's revealed will.
"The duty God requires of man is obedience to his revealed will." - WSC #39 |
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What does the Bible teach about the creation of human beings? (What is man)
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“God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.” - WSC #10
“After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after His own image, having the law of God written in their hearts and power to fulfill it; and yet under a possibility of transgressing being left to the liberty of their own will which was subject unto change. Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.” - WCF 4.2 |
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In what way is a man in the image of God?
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"God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. with dominion over the creatures. " (WSC #10)
Ephes. 4:24 (ESV) and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Col. 3:10 (ESV) and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. |
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Are all men in the image of God? If so, to what extent?
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Yes, to the extent that God created them in knowledge, righteousness and holiness - while realizing that all men, share in the fallen state which has corrupted (though not destroyed) that image
"Whosoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." (Genesis 9:6) |
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How does the doctrine of the image or God influence debates about gender roles?
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They are equally the image of God. (Gen 1:26,27) "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Part of being in the image of God includes gender differences and complements. Both male and female are made in the image of God in a unique way, and thus are equal in dignity and worth as human beings. On the other hand, neither male nor female fully reflects the image of God without the other. Thus, there is a necessary complimentary relationship between the genders. |
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What is sin? (See WSC 14). Include Scripture proofs.
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"Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. " (WSC #14)
James 2:10 whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. " (James 2:10) |
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What is the corruption of sin (as opposed to the guilt of sin).
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Corruption has to do with moral condition.
“From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.” (WCF 6.4) “This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that are regenerated; and although it be, through Christ, pardoned, and mortified; yet both itself, and all the motions thereof, are truly and properly sin.” (WCF 6.5) |
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Define and discuss original sin
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Corruption of entire nature from birth...
"The sinfulness of that estate where into man fell consists in the guilt of Adam 's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions that proceed from it. " (WSC #18) Rom 5:12 & 1 Cor 15:21ff (later below) For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die. So in Christ all will be made alive. "-1 Corinthians 15:21,22 |
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How can original sin be reconciled to the canons of justice, either human or divine?
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1) The covenant was made with Adam and all his descendants, therefore Adam’s sin was the transgression of all men.
2) This transgression requires of it the payment of the penalty of death. 3) original sin is not only reconcilable with the perfect justice of God, his justice actually requires it. "The covenant being made with Adam as a public person, not for himself only, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in that first transgression. " (WLC #22) |
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Is there any good remaining in a fallen, sinful man? Explain.
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No. The fall has so corrupted and permeated all of man's being that nothing he does is not in some way effected by that fall.
Rom 3:10ff as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands... (quoted from Ps 14:1ff) |
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In what ways does man sin?
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"Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. " (WSC #14)
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What are some of the consequences of sin?
(What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?) |
"All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself; and to the pains of hell forever. (WSC#19)
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Is the will of man free? Explain
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• Created: possible to sin
• Fallen: not possible not to sin • Redeemed: possible not to sin • Glorified: not possible to sin But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. " (James 1:14) "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live. "-Deuteronomy 30:19 "God has endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that it is neither forced, nor by any absolute necessity of nature, determined to good, or evil. "(WCF 9.1) |
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Was Adam's will (before he sinned) free?
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"Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God. " (WSC #13)
Gen 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. |
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Can a sinner do anything good? Explain; include Scripture proofs.
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The confession defines "good" deeds as those which are glorifying to God - so no.
"There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. " (Romans 3:10,11) "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. " (Isaiah 64:6) |
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Is a sinner's will free to believe?
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Not without the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.
1 Cor. 2: 14 "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. |
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Does a believer have free will?
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Yes, as God's grace enables him.
"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. " (Romans 6: 18) |
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Definition of pre-existentianism
(origin of soul). |
1) souls of men existed in a previous state
2) occurrences in that former state account for the condition in which those souls are now found (as punishment for sins committed in a previous existence). (Origen). argued as most natural explanation of the fact that all men are born as sinners. |
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Objection to pre-existentianism
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1) Devoid of scriptural & philosophical grounds.
2) Based on dualism of matter and spirit, making it a punishment for the soul to be connected with the body. 2) Makes the body accidental. Man was without the body at first 3) Wipes out the distinction between men & angels. 3) Destroys the unity of the human race, assumes that all individual souls existed long before they entered this present life. 4) No support for in the consciousness of man. |
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definition of Traducianism
(origin of soul) |
The souls of men are propagated along with the bodies by generation & transmitted to the children by the parents; mediate origin (Buswell).
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Origin of the Soul
Support for Traducianism |
1) Scriptural representation;
a) God breathed once into the nostrils of man, b) Eve’s soul was included in that of Adam’s, c) God has ceased from work of creation 2) Supported by the analog of vegetable and animal life, in that the natural derivation of new individuals come from a parent stock. 3) The inheritance of mental peculiarities and family traits. 4) Inheritance of moral and spiritual depravity |
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Origin of the Soul
Objection to Traducianism |
1) Contrary to philosophical doctrine of the simplicity of the soul.
2) lends to one of three theories, a) the soul of the child has a sort of pre-existence, b) soul is potentially present in the seed of the man or woman, or both, materialism, c) the soul is brought forth in some way by the parents, making them creators. 3) Assumes after creation God works only mediately. 4) Wedded to the theory of realism. 5) Insuperable difficulties in Christology. |
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Origin of the Soul
Define Creationism |
The individual soul of each man is an immediate creation of God, owing its origin to a direct creative act, of which the time cannot be precisely determined.
(Berkhof). |
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Origin of the Soul
Support for Creationism |
1) More consistent w/ prevailing representation of Scripture,
2) More consistent w/ nature of the human soul, 3) Avoids the pitfalls of Traducianism in Christology and represents the person of Christ. |
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Origin of the Soul
Objection to Creationism |
1) If the soul is originally possessed of depraved tendencies, it makes God the author of moral evil.
2) The earthly father begets the body of his child 3) does not account for the reappearance of mental & moral traits from parents. 4) out of harmony with God’s present relationship to the world and His manner of working in it, thus it removes God from all creative activity in the world. |
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Explain Dichotomy
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Man is
1) Material (body) 2) Immaterial (soul or spirit) |
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Explain Trichotomy
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Man is:
1) Physical body, 2) Soul “seat of the affections, desires, emotions, will of man,” 3) Spirit “knows / is capable of God consciousness & communication with God” |
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Refute the trichotomous view of man
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1.Scripture uses the phrase soul and spirit interchangeably.
2. Scripture refers to man as “body and soul” (Matt 6:25; {Gk: psuche}; 10:28) and also as “body and spirit” (Ecc 12:7; 1 Cor 5:3, 5). 3. Death is described as giving up the soul (Gen 35:18) while also described as giving up the spirit (Ps 31:5; Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59). 4.immaterial element of the dead is described as both soul and spirit (Heb 12:23; Rev 6:9; 20:4). |
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Is fallen man guilty because he sins or sinful because he is guilty?
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Sinful because he is first guilty.
Just as the righteousness of Christ is imputed to believers, the guilt of Adam is imputed to all people when they are born. |
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What is the guilt of sin (as opposed to the corruption of sin).
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Guilt is a judicial or legal concept describing one's relationship to the, law-in this case God's law. Guilt is the state of deserving condemnation or being liable to punishment because the law has been violated.
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