Clt Exam 2 Glossary

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Arius

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The originator of Arianism, a form of Christology which asserted that the Son of God was a creation of God and not fully God. He was a church leader in Alexandria, Egypt, and his views were condemned at the Council of Nicea in 325.

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Athanasius

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Bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, he defended orthodox Christology during the period of the Arian controversy. While he did not live to see the end of the dispute, his views were recognized as orthodox Christian doctrine after his death at the Council of Constantinople in 381.

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Augustine

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Bishop of Hippo in North Africa. Generally considered the greatest theologian of the early church. He wrote works against heretics, biblical commentaries, and several other major works that continue to influence theologians today, including his work on the Trinity, his Confessions and The City of God. He wrote this last work to shore up the faith of Christians in the Roman Empire who were disturbed by the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410.

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John Calvin

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Reformer in Geneva, Switzerland. Not only was he a church leader, but he wrote commentaries on much of the Bible and a thorough summary of Christian doctrine in his Institutes of the Christian Religion.

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Evil

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Vandalized shalom. Anything that spoils the goodness and fruitfulness of God’s creation.

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Gnosticism

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A teaching with Platonic origins that infiltrated Christian teaching in the early 2nd century. This movement (1) emphasized a special higher truth that only the more enlightened receive from God, (2) taught that matter is evil and spirit is good, and (3) denied the humanity of Jesus. A constant tendency in Christian theology is to regard the physical creation as inherently evil or morally inferior to a “spiritual” existence. In the late 1st century this led to the heretical denial that God truly became flesh, as this would imply the holiness of God mixing with impure humanity. One further affect on Christian theology Gnosticism has had is the tendency to focus on a future hope as disembodied spirits in heaven rather than as restored bodies on a renewed physical earth.

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C. S. Lewis

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An Oxford literary scholar who specialized in Medieval literature and taught at Oxford University, he also wrote popular works on Christian apologetics. He wrote the children’s novel series The Chronicles of Narnia, and has had a significant influence on popular Christian thought since the middle of the 20th century.

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Martin Luther

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The major figure in the European Reformation. A Roman Catholic monk and theologian who differed with the Catholic church on many points of practice and doctrine, and especially on the doctrine of justification by faith. His posting of the Ninety-Five Theses in October 1517 in Wittenberg is generally regarded as the beginning of the Reformation.
While attempting only to reform the Catholic church, he was excommunicated, which led to the formation of the Lutheran Church.

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Original Sin

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The effect of the sin of the first human upon the rest of humanity. Because of our predecessors’ corruption of humanity and creation, sin affects our behavior and nature independent of and prior to any action of our own. Different theories of original sin include both the corruption of human nature and inherent guilt, or liability to punishment.

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Pelagius

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British monk who debated with Augustine over the nature of the human will. He taught that human nature is essentially good, that humans can avoid sinning, and that humans can freely choose to obey God’s commands. He was condemned as a heretic by the Council of Carthage in 418.

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The Problem of Evil

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The problem of reconciling the existence of an all-powerful and perfectly good God with the presence of evil in the world. Many attempts have been made to make sense of evil in the world and to defend God against charges that He either doesn’t exist, isn’t all-powerful, or isn’t perfectly good. Ultimately, however, the origin of evil is a mystery, it’s presence doesn’t make sense in the biblical narrative, and God will ultimately defeat it and eliminate it utterly from existence.

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Protoeuangelion

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The first speaking of the “gospel” to Adam and Eve. After the fall, God pronounced a series of judgments, but then said in Genesis 3:15 that the serpent’s head would be crushed through the descendant of Eve.

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Sin

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Evil that is culpable or blameworthy. Evil that has a conscious and intentional agent.

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Total Depravity

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The notion that all humans begin life with all aspects of their nature corrupted by the effects of sin. This does not mean, however, that they are absolutely devoid of any good impulses or that they do not have the capacity to do good. But there is nothing humans can do to break out of the corrupted condition of the created order.