CHRISTIAN ORTHODOXY 1 - WHAT IS THEOLOGY 1
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
CHRISTIAN ORTHODOXY 1
“WHAT IS THEOLOGY” PART 1
I. Why This Study?
I. Why This Study?
A. The Need to Be Precise
A. The Need to Be Precise
Physicist lecturer / and the college sophomore
You guess is as good as mine
“No, no, no. My guesses are much, much, better than yours”
1. “We live in an age where passion is often considered an adequate substitute for precision” (Dort book, 13)
1. “We live in an age where passion is often considered an adequate substitute for precision” (Dort book, 13)
“Many of us, even Christians, have little patience of rigorous thinking and little interest in careful definition. We emote better than we reason, and we describe our feelings better than we define our words, which is one reason we need to study old confessions written by dead people … they were relentlessly passionate about doctrinal truth. They care about biblical fidelity They cared about definitions. And they care about precision. Praise God they cared enough to be careful” (Dort book, 13).
“Many of us, even Christians, have little patience of rigorous thinking and little interest in careful definition. We emote better than we reason, and we describe our feelings better than we define our words, which is one reason we need to study old confessions written by dead people … they were relentlessly passionate about doctrinal truth. They care about biblical fidelity They cared about definitions. And they care about precision. Praise God they cared enough to be careful” (Dort book, 13).
II. What Do We Need to Be Precise About?
II. What Do We Need to Be Precise About?
What we mean by Evangelical Theology.
A. What do we mean by theology?
A. What do we mean by theology?
1. Theology is the study of the Word of God
1. Theology is the study of the Word of God
“We have been studying cheerfully and seriously. As far as I am concerned it could have continued that way, and … now the end has come. So, listen to my piece of advice: exegesis, exegesis, and yet more exegesis! Keep to the word, to the scripture that has been given to us” (Karl Bart, in Bird, pg2)
“We have been studying cheerfully and seriously. As far as I am concerned it could have continued that way, and … now the end has come. So, listen to my piece of advice: exegesis, exegesis, and yet more exegesis! Keep to the word, to the scripture that has been given to us” (Karl Bart, in Bird, pg2)
Where exegesis is not theology, Scripture cannot be the soul of theology, and conversely, where theology is not essentially the interpretation of the church’s Scripture, such a theology no longer has a foundation” (Bird, 2)
Where exegesis is not theology, Scripture cannot be the soul of theology, and conversely, where theology is not essentially the interpretation of the church’s Scripture, such a theology no longer has a foundation” (Bird, 2)
“The disappearance of theology from the life of the Church, and the orchestration of that disappearance by some of its leaders, is hard to miss today but, oddly enough, not easy to prove. It is hard to miss in the evangelical world – in the vacuous (lack of thought and or intelligence) worship that is so prevalent, for example, in the shift from God to the self as the central focus of faith, in the psychologized preaching that follows this shift, in the erosion of its conviction, in its strident pragmatism, (the belief that something is good, right or acceptable if it is successful) in its inability to think incisively (intelligently analytical; to think clearly, about the culture, in its reveling in the irrational” (Sproul WIRT – 20
“The disappearance of theology from the life of the Church, and the orchestration of that disappearance by some of its leaders, is hard to miss today but, oddly enough, not easy to prove. It is hard to miss in the evangelical world – in the vacuous (lack of thought and or intelligence) worship that is so prevalent, for example, in the shift from God to the self as the central focus of faith, in the psychologized preaching that follows this shift, in the erosion of its conviction, in its strident pragmatism, (the belief that something is good, right or acceptable if it is successful) in its inability to think incisively (intelligently analytical; to think clearly, about the culture, in its reveling in the irrational” (Sproul WIRT – 20
The condition of the American church: “a church without theology and, therefore, a church without God”
The condition of the American church: “a church without theology and, therefore, a church without God”
2. Theology is “what the church believes, teaches and confesses on the basis of the word of God” (J. Pelikan, in Bird, 4)
2. Theology is “what the church believes, teaches and confesses on the basis of the word of God” (J. Pelikan, in Bird, 4)
a. Three Ways We Can Study Theology (WIRT – Sproul pg 13ff)
a. Three Ways We Can Study Theology (WIRT – Sproul pg 13ff)
- We MUST study theology BIBLICALLY:
- We MUST study theology BIBLICALLY:
Biblical (Special) Revelation - By studying scripture
Biblical (Special) Revelation - By studying scripture
Word or Voice of God
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
- We SHOULD study theology HISTORICALLY:
- We SHOULD study theology HISTORICALLY:
By historically I means
i) The church councils
i) The church councils
First Council of Nicaea (325) First Council of Constantinople (381)Council of Chalcedon (451)Second Council of Constantinople (553)Third Council of Constantinople (680–681)Second Council of Nicaea (787)
First Council of Nicaea (325) First Council of Constantinople (381)Council of Chalcedon (451)Second Council of Constantinople (553)Third Council of Constantinople (680–681)Second Council of Nicaea (787)
ii). The church creeds
ii). The church creeds
Apostles Creed, Creed of Nicaea (325), Nicene Creed (381), Chalcedonian creed (451), Athanasian creed (500)
Apostles Creed, Creed of Nicaea (325), Nicene Creed (381), Chalcedonian creed (451), Athanasian creed (500)
iii). The church’s confessions
iii). The church’s confessions
Ausburg Confession, Belgic Confession, Canons of Dort, Westminster Confession, London Baptist Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Westminster Larger Catechism, Westminster Shorter Catechism
Ausburg Confession, Belgic Confession, Canons of Dort, Westminster Confession, London Baptist Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Westminster Larger Catechism, Westminster Shorter Catechism
iv). Writings of Luther, Calvin, etc.
iv). Writings of Luther, Calvin, etc.
We should study theology naturally: (General) revelation
We should study theology naturally: (General) revelation
B. What Does It Mean By Evangelicalism or Evangelical?
B. What Does It Mean By Evangelicalism or Evangelical?
Evangelicalism:“The historic and global phenomenon that seeks to achieve renewal in Christian churches by bringing the church into conformity to the gospel and by making the promotion of the gospel the chief mission of the church” (Bird, xxv)
Evangelicalism:“The historic and global phenomenon that seeks to achieve renewal in Christian churches by bringing the church into conformity to the gospel and by making the promotion of the gospel the chief mission of the church” (Bird, xxv)
1. What an evangelical looks like/believes
1. What an evangelical looks like/believes
a. The authority of the Word of God to guide and shape all of life
a. The authority of the Word of God to guide and shape all of life
b. The exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the savior of sinful humanity because
He is God incarnate
b. The exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the savior of sinful humanity because
He is God incarnate
c. The deity of the Holy Spirit
c. The deity of the Holy Spirit
d. The need for personal conversion
d. The need for personal conversion
Gorman notes (Apostle of Crucified Lord, 71)
“A conversion may be defined, more fully, as a radical reorientation of one’s fundamental commitment that is expressed in three things”
“A conversion may be defined, more fully, as a radical reorientation of one’s fundamental commitment that is expressed in three things”
Convictions (beliefs)
Conduct (behavior)
Community affiliation (belonging)
e. The priority of evangelism
e. The priority of evangelism
f. The priority of Christian community for spiritual nourishment, fellowship
and growth
f. The priority of Christian community for spiritual nourishment, fellowship
and growth
C. What Does it Mean to Be a Theologian?
C. What Does it Mean to Be a Theologian?
1. All are theologians
1. All are theologians
2. To think deeply and relationally in the community of the saints
2. To think deeply and relationally in the community of the saints
a. God, as He is Our Creator, demands and deserves the best of our minds
a. God, as He is Our Creator, demands and deserves the best of our minds
b. God, as He is Our Creator, demands and deserves the best of our hearts
b. God, as He is Our Creator, demands and deserves the best of our hearts
c. God, as He is Our Creator can only rightly be understood in community
c. God, as He is Our Creator can only rightly be understood in community
3. To think deeply and relationally in community with the saints about
3. To think deeply and relationally in community with the saints about
a. What it means to and looks like to Behold God
a. What it means to and looks like to Behold God
b. What it means to and looks like to Believe in God
b. What it means to and looks like to Believe in God
4. To think deeply and relationally in community with the saints about
4. To think deeply and relationally in community with the saints about
a. How to Verbalize our relationship with God
a. How to Verbalize our relationship with God
b. How to Perform our relationship with God
b. How to Perform our relationship with God
5. To think deeply and relationally in community with the saints about the
Framework of the Drama of redemption
5. To think deeply and relationally in community with the saints about the
Framework of the Drama of redemption
a. He is the God who acts
a. He is the God who acts
b. We are acted upon
b. We are acted upon
c. We become actors in the divine drama of God’s plan to repossess the
world for himself
c. We become actors in the divine drama of God’s plan to repossess the
world for himself
That is a powerful phrase: God allows us to participate in his drama, pan and activity to repossess the world
· That is the work of the Christian and, therefore, the heartbeat of theology is to craft a people who feel that and execute that