Theology I Introduction

106 Theology I

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Assignment - due 25th
January
Write your own creed
or statement of faith.
It should contain what
you believe are the
essential truths of
your Christian faith
No more than 12 lines.


There is one God who created all things.


God is triune, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.


The Bible is God’s inerrant word to humanity.


Jesus is the virgin born, eternal Son of God.


Jesus died as a substitute for sinners so they
could be forgiven.


could be forgiven.
Jesus rose from the dead.


could be forgiven.
Jesus will one day return to judge the world.


could be forgiven.
Josh Harris


could be forgiven.
Josh Harris
Dug Down Deep, page 14


Required Textbooks
Lewis Sperry Chafer and John
Walvoord, ed. Major Bible Themes


Tony Evans. Our God Is Awesome:
Encountering the Greatness of
Our God


Recommended Resources

Max E. Anders. 30 Days to
Understanding what
Christians Believe

Charles R. Swindoll. Growing
Deep in the Christian Life

Millard J. Erickson. Christian
Theology, 2 vols


Learning Outcomes
The student who successfully completes this
course will be able to:
1. Defend the biblical doctrine of the Bible.
2. Defend the biblical doctrine of the Trinity.
3. Defend the biblical doctrine of God the
Father.
Son.


Holy Spirit.
6. Defend the biblical doctrines of angels and
Satan.
7. Defend the biblical doctrine of mankind.
8. Explain Bible dispensations and covenants.


9. Contribute to a group presentation on
applying theology to worship.
10. Present a typed illustrated visual project
on theology.
11. Create a typed illustrated booklet/term
paper titled, Summary of Major Bible
Doctrines.


Course Objective. The mission is to bring
glory to God by assisting local churches to
equip believers of various cultures and
languages to live and minister biblically based
on the inerrant Word of God. The course
objective is to take student-leaders from
where they are and move them to where
they need to be.
Students will learn how:


(1) to read with their brains,
(2) to remember what they have read,
(3) to sharpen their thoughts through
journaling,
(4) to speak effectively before others,
(5) to work as learning teams of leaders
(5) to biblically apply what they are learning
to life, family, and ministry.


Time to think:


Time to think:
Are doctrine and
theology the same thing?


Time to think:
Are doctrine and
What do you think
doctrine is - how would
you deﬁne it?


Time to think:
Are doctrine and
What do you think
doctrine is - how would
you deﬁne it?
How many of the “10
Great Bible Doctrines” can
you name?

The 10 6. Man
1. Bible 7. Sin
2. God 8. Salvation
3. Christ 9. Church
4. Holy Spirit 10. Future
5. Angels Things


The 10 6. Man
1. Bible 7. Sin
2. God 8. Salvation
3. Christ 9. Church
4. Holy Spirit 10. Future
5. Angels Things
Max Anders suggests that there is a logical progression
through these, making them easy to remember

The course will have the following major sections:
Section 1: The Bible
Section 2: God the Father
Section 3: God the Son
Section 4: God the Holy Spirit
Section 5: The Dispensations and the
Covenants
Section 6: The Angels
Section 7: Man and Sin

Deﬁning Theology

“The study or science of God.”
–Millard Erickson
Christian Theology

“Thinking about God and
expressing those thoughts in
some way.”
–Charles Ryrie
Basic Theology


“Theology is for everyone. Indeed,
everyone needs to be a theologian.
In reality, everyone is a theologian
—of one sort or another. And
therein lies the problem. There is
nothing wrong with being an
amateur theologian or a
professional theologian, but there
is everything wrong with being an
ignorant or sloppy theologian.”
—Charles Ryrie
Basic Theology


Joshua Harris in Dug
Down Deep,
"When we talk about the
knowledge of God, we're
talking about theology. Simply
put, theology is the study of
the nature of God - who he is
and how he thinks and acts.
but theology isn't high on
many people's lists of daily
concerns...


Theology isn't for a certain group of
people. In fact it's impossible for anyone
to escape theology, it's everywhere. All
of us are constantly "doing theology. In
other words, all of us have some idea
or opinion about what God is like...
We all have some level of knowledge.
This level can be much or little,
informed or uninformed, true or false,
but we all have some concept of
God...and we all base our lives on what
we think God is like...


I've come to learn that theology
matters. And it matters not
because we want a good grade
on a test but because what we
know about God shapes the way
we live and think. What you
believe about God's nature -
what he is like, what he wants
from you, and whether or not
you will answer to him - affects
every part of your life...


Theology matters,
because if we get it
wrong, then our whole
life will be wrong”
Joshua Harris


A Deﬁnition of Systematic
Theology
Any study that answers the
question, “What does the
whole Bible say to us today?”
about any given topic
John Frame,

Quoted by Wayne Grudem


What the whole Bible has to say
on a topic - collecting all the
relevant passages on a subject and
then clearly summarising the
teaching

Application for us today -
throughout the Bible this is the
case

Organized and reasoned- As
opposed to disorganized

“A Doctrine is what
the whole Bible
teaches us today about
some particular topic”

Wayne Grudem

Systematic Theology p.25

In this way a doctrine can be
very large, e.g. God, or small,
God’s eternity


Easley’s levels of
Systematic Theology
Suggests 3 levels of doctrines
First-level: doctrines that deﬁne
orthodoxy (RAISED FIST)
To deny a ﬁrst-level doctrine is to be in
heresy and likely to be outside of Christ
and the gospel
The Ancient Creeds and the Pillars of the
Reformation serve as reliable guidelines
Example: the bodily resurrection of Jesus

Second-level: doctrines
that deﬁne
denominations
(OUTTHRUST PALM)
To deny a second-level
doctrine is to be in error
Those disagreeing here may
have difﬁculty sharing church
membership, but not
Christian fellowship
Example: the proper candidates
for baptism


Third-level: doctrines
that express personal
preference and about
which there is much
question (OPEN PALM)
Persons of all preferences
are welcome
Example: questions about the
nature of the tribulation


How does Systematic Theology
relate to other disciplines?

1. Biblical Theology

a. Old Testament - e.g.
What does Deuteronomy,
Psalms etc. teach about
prayer?

b. New Testament - e.g.
What does John’s gospel, Paul
etc. teach about prayer


Biblical theology as a whole
contains a. and b. but also gives
special emphasis to individual
authors, topics and to historical
development of a topic. - e.g.
What is the historical
development of the teaching
about prayer through the
history of the OT and then NT?
Additionally it takes into
account the understanding the
original hearers would have
possessed.


2. Historical theology -
historical study of how
Christians in different periods
have understood various
theological topics

3. Philosophical theology -
studying theological topics
without using the Bible, using
philosophical methods and tools
to reason what can be known
about God from the universe


4. Apologetics - defending
the Christian faith to
unbelievers

5. Ethics - what we should
do and what attitude we
should have - theology is
about believing and knowing
- abortion, birth control,
lying, war, owning property,
homosexuality, government,
care for the poor etc.


Why should we study systematic
theology?
To obey the Great Commission
Matt. 28:18-20(= to learn and
teach “all that Jesus
commanded”) - Teaching requires
summarizing and synthesizing
Scripture
It helps us overcome wrong
ideas
It helps us make better decisions
It helps us grow as Christians

How should Christians study
systematic theology?

With prayer
With humility
With reason
With help from
others
With rejoicing and
praise


Pride of Correct Doctrine
Closely akin to moral pride is doctrinal pride, the
assumption that whatever my doctrinal beliefs are,
they are correct and anyone who holds another
belief is theologically inferior...It doesn’t matter if we
are Arminians or Calvinists, whether we subscribe to
Dispensational or Covenant theology, or perhaps
have embraced some form of eclectic theology, we
tend to think our doctrinal beliefs are the correct
ones and look with some disdain on those whose
beliefs are different from ours. And then to complete
the spectrum of this type of pride, there are those
who don’t consider doctrine important and so look
with disdain on those of us who do.

If your Calvinism or Arminianism or
dispensationalism, or your view concerning the end
times, or your disdain for all doctrinal beliefs causes
you to feel doctrinally superior to those who hold
other views, then you are probably guilty of the sin
of doctrinal pride. I’m not suggesting that we should
not seek to know about the truths of scripture and
develop doctrinal convictions about what the
scriptures teach; I am saying that w should hold our
convictions in humility, realizing that many godly and
theologically capable people hold other convictions.
Jerry Bridges in Respectable Sins (p92-92)


At the end of each section 3
students will be assigned the
task of working together and
compiling a summary sheet,
the Irreducible Minimum, of
no more than 2 sides of A4
paper, for each section


Section 1: The Bible - Nelson, Lilly,
Leena
Section 2: God the Father - Muana, Moa,
Moashun
Section 3: God the Son - Pashungam,
Reisangmi, Repute
Section 4: God the Holy Spirit - Robin,
Sanga, Sharon

Section 5: The Dispensations and the
Covenants - Shimreishang,
Shontharla, Tenzin
Section 6: The Angels -Thanreihor
Vumginthang, Khashim
Section 7: Man and Sin - Khanyo, Vin,
Wungathing


Theology I Introduction

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