Theology Final Study Guide

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Biblical Studies

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The area of theology concerned with biblical criticism and interpretation of scripture as a way to understand the identity and significance of Jesus Christ. It led to the revision of biblical translations in the early 16th century and pressed theological arguments based on wrong interpretations. It set the base for systematic theology and the Reformation

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Systematic theology

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refers to the systematic organization of theology. It is concerned with presenting a clear overview of the main themes of the Christian faith based on the apostle's creed.

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Philosophical Theology

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is the intellectual discipline of theology, concerned with questions concerning humanity outside the christian community. as well as within it. "Is there a god? Why are we here?" It is concerned with finding the commonground between nonreligious arguments and religious conclusions (Aquinas 5 ways). Philosophical system as a resource in the development of theology

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Historical theology

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area of theology that aims to explore the historical contexts within which theological ideas developed. It implies that theology is in relation with its context and secular ideas may become embedded in religion, as well as corrected overtime.

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Pastoral Theology

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Pastoral theology focuses on the role of preaching as a means of mediating God's word to humans, to bring about hope and healing. Theology provides a way to evaluate situations and apply them to life's questions.

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Mystical theology

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Mystical theology is concerned with the internal experiences of believers. It places emphasis on the direct, unmediated relationship between the individual and God, leading to life transformations.

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Scripture

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Is the source of theology that people have looked to as a guide to structure their lives. It was influential in the development of theology, as it contributed to debates regarding the authority of the church community and that of scripture. Scripture has passed down in history as a source to encounter the word of God and God himself. It also raised quesitons overtime regarding the interpretation of the bible and many agreed that it can be interpreted in four ways, the literal, allegorial, tropological or anagogical sense.

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Tradition

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is the mechanism by which religion is passed down through generations. Tow theories developed regarding tradition, one being that it is derived from scripture and it is the process by which we interpret and make it meaningful to the community.
• Dual source theory- Tradition has two sources, scripture and unwritten oral tradition. We need something to supply what scripture doesn’t speak to. Oral tradition in the community of faith has interpreted these issues outside the orbit of scripture. Scripture and the community are the two sources.

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Reason

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Human reason is considered in many ways the bedrock of theology. Reason approaches theology with the assumption that faith can be rational. This can be problematic because over the years some people interpreted this as a narrow view of theology, by which anything that could not be rationalized was excluded from the discipline. Ultimately though, it is the role of reason to explain what is known by revelation. major implications for the enlightenment.

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Experience

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Experience in theology refers to the inner life on the individual, the interpretation and transformation of the inner self. According to William James, religious experience has four characteristics: ineffability (the experience defies expression)
Noetic quality (experience gives insight into deep truths, experience is important)
Transiency (a state that is not sustained for long, but is all the more valuable)
Passivity (the person undergoing a religious experience is mostly out of control, absorbing the experience passively.) Experience has been seen as the basis of theology by many who claim that the world religions arise from the shared human experience with the transcendent, and Christianiaty is just a reflection of that core experience. Theology has also been interpreted as a resource to provide meaning to human experience

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Revelation as Doctrine

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Revelation is thought of in propositional forms mediated through the Bible as a compilation of doctrinal propositions. These propositions are a reference to God, and serve to reveal God.

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Revelation as Presence

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Revelation as presence works under the assumption that reveletion is teleological, and that it serves to establish a relationship with God, beyond the mere knowledge of his existence. Revelatin is seen as a personal connection to God, direct communication with God.

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Revelation as Experience

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Revelation occurs through the experience of the individual. This idea was highly influential in German liberal Protesntantism in the 19th century. It was criticized because it threaten to define theology as a construct of subjective human experience.

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Revelation as History

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Opposes revelation as an internal experience and focuses on the importance of history as a source of revelation. In this model, rather than seeing God revealed directly in the text of the bible, we see him through the history and the actions depicted in the stories of the bible.

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Continuity

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The model of continuity between science and theology is the dominant model in Protestant theology of the 19th c. The model places science and theology on a continual spectrum, where they feed off each other. In this model, science does not disprove theology, but rather explain specific ways in which God acts in the world. In other words, science explains how God acts on the world. It was especially important in the challenges posed by scientific claims for Evolution. The model of continuity allows both to exist without discrediting the other.

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Distinctiveness

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The model of interactin between science and theology, which claims that theology cannot be interpreted or understoon through the natural sciences because they are completely different ways of approaching life and the individual's perception of reality. Neo-orthodoxy= different agendas-How vs. Why question

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Convergence

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This model claims that interaction between science and theology can be beneficial to both disciplines. Ultimately both disciplines are concerned with understanding relaity

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Opposition

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This model sees the relationship between science and theology as a competition in which one discipline challenges the credibility of the credibility of the other. It was influential in the development of New Atheism and in Conservative Protestantism

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List Thomas Aquinas' five arguments for the existence of God

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1. There is motion in the universe
2. Something causes that motion
3. Infinite regression is impossible
4. there must be a prime mover, not moved by anything else.
5. Unmoved prime mover is God

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Ludwig Fuergach's critique of experience-based theology

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Feurbach claims that experience is fully human and if we attemot to use experience as the starting point for Christian theology we run the risk of creating theology and God in our own image. for Feurbach, human feelings and internal experiences have nothing to do with God. He argues that if experience theology were to follow, God would be nothing more than the experession of feelings of individuals with overactive imaginations.

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David Hume's Criticism of the argument from design

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David Humes criticizes the argument from design by noting that to suggest that there is a designer of the universe could lead to an infinite regression. Who created the designer? He further criticizes Aquina's take on this issue by stating that although he rejects the possibility of infinite regression, he does not provide an alternative explanation.

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Distinguish between analogy, metaphor, and accomodation as forms of theological language

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Analogy directly likens God to something under the assumption that the creation reflects the nature the creator. Metaphor is a form of analogy that stresses similarities and disimilarities.
Analogy- God is wise - undisputable truth
Metaphor- God is a lion-
questionable at first, then understood for deeper meaning. Accomodation refers to Calvin's theory that God adapts to meet the understanding capabilities of humans. In revelation "God paints a self portrait which we are capable of understanding." For example God is portrayed in the bible with human characteristics (feet, eyes, hands), but that does not necessarily mean he is human, he is simply portrayed in such a way that we can understand his physical presence.

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List and describe the 4 senses of the scripture

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the literal sense in which the text was taken at face value
the allegorical sense, in which the text was interpreted for deeper meaning, making sense of obscure passeges that may have seemed unrelatable.
The tropological sense which interprets passages to produce ethical guidance for Christian conduct
The anagogical sense- which interprets passages indicating the grounds of christian hope and the future fulfillment of divine promises

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Karl Barth

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Swiss Protestant theologian who criticized natural theology as an attempt by humans to disregard the need for "divine self disclosure" in revelation. He contributed to the debate by adding that regardless of what natural theology claimed, revelation happend on God's terms and not our own.

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Theophany

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refers to the appearance of God, the sensible manifestation of God to a human in divine revelation. For example when God appears to Abraham in the form of messengers, or to Moses as the burning bush

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Charles Darwin

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19th century scientist who gave rise to the Darwinian controversy with his naturalistic theories of evolution and the origin of humanity. The debate raised a fundamental question regarding the relationship between science and theology

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William Paley

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Was an english theologian who contributed to the argument from design by analyzing Newton's discoveries of the regularity of nature and cosmos. Paley argued that the world was a mechanism constructed with a specific purpose, and God was the designer.

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David Hume

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Hume was important in the development of the argument from design. He criticized this approach by stating that understanding that a creator must exist, could not guarantee that this creator was in fact God. He also suggested that the notion of a designer of the universe leads to an infinite regression (Who designed the designer). Lastly he claimed that the argument placed by paley was presented in analogy to a machine (a watch)- which simply cannot be compared to God.

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Typology

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refers to a way of interpreting the bible, which sees certain old testament figures and events as anticipating aspects of the Gospel

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Analogia Entis

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theory developed by Thomas Aquinas, stating that there is a an analogy between the creator and the creation. The theory validates the divinity of conclusions drawn about God from the natural order of things

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Revelation

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is the notion that God chooses to be known and makes this possible through self-disclosure in nature and human history

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Natural Theology

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is concerned with obtaining knowledge of god through the natural order of things. It had major implications in establishing the relationship between science and theology