Sermon Tone Analysis

NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL PENTECOSTAL HOLINESS CHURCH

SCHOOL OF MINISTRY

THEOLOGY 3

MCP 3.10

Falcon, NC

September 11-12, 2019

INTRODUCTION

The first question to consider is, what is theology?

We begin with an explanation of what it is not.

Theology is not a study of doctrine or dogma.

Doctrines and dogmas are statements of belief connected to systems of belief or religious orders.

Doctrine in the Christian sense is invariably supported by reference to scripture.

To study doctrine means to study its origin, formulation, implication, and place in the system to which it belongs.

Therefore, doctrine is limited to the belief system of certain people, groups, religious orders, denominations or religions, but theology is the overarching study of God as he is found in the Bible, and often includes philosophical implications and extrapolations of what that means in terms of metaphysics in general.

Theology involves a careful, but sometimes speculative and philosophical analysis of what the Bible says about God, and what can be known about God by observation of material creation generally.

Although Christian theology is based on the Bible, certain things are indeed revealed by God about himself in creation, but these revelations are confirmed and expanded to the point of clarity by his revealed Word (the Bible).

The term theology comes from two Greek terms, θεὸς (theos) and λόγος (logos).

The term λόγος can be translated by the noun word in English, with the meaning of words themselves, as elements of speech and communication, but also includes concepts like a revelation, reflection, teaching, message, accounts, doctrine and the act of speaking.[1]

λόγος can refer to the processes of the mind, including a reason for something, thinking, study, the process of reasoning and is used as a title for Jesus ().

In this way, theology is broadly speaking the study, of God, based on his revelation of himself.

In Christian theology, the assumption is made that what can be known about God has been revealed by God, both generally in nature and creation, and particularly and specifically in the Bible, the Word of God (cf. ; ).

Theology is different in type and scope.

Christian theology in its purest form is the study of God as he is revealed in the Bible, the Word of God.

Whereas doctrinal studies focus on a study of statements and belief systems - how to understand and interpret them; theology is concerned with a study of the Bible, and provides the raw material for the formulation of doctrinal and positional statements about God.

Theology formulates the understanding from which we derive doctrinal and positional statements of the particulars of what we believe.

The key difference between doctrinal studies and theological studies is that doctrinal studies seek to understand and interpret statements of belief, whereas the study of theology is concerned with understanding the revelation of God from the Word of God, which will eventually lead to the formulation of statements of belief or doctrinal position.

In our case we are not concerned with theology that has nothing to do with Christianity, that is pure metaphysical speculation, or that is one of the specialized theological branches into which Christian theology has been subdivided.

We are focused on Christian theology in the sense of what has been revealed about God in the Bible, the 66 authoritative books, comprised of the Old and New Testaments.

WHAT KIND OF THEOLOGY

It might not surprise us to know that there is more than one approach to ‘doing’ theology, the study of what the Bible says about God.

We will mention just two, systematic theology and biblical theology.

These two approaches employ different methodologies.

Systematic theology is more deductive and speculative, using logic and extrapolation from specifics and what is known to draw conclusions about what is not known or revealed.

The goal of systematic theology is to be as thorough and as complete as possible and to cover every topic as fully as possible.

Systematic theology is often speculative, i.e., the doctrine of the Trinity.

Biblical theology, on the other hand, is inductive, seeking to interpret the data, as specific elements of the revelation, and is less concerned with a systematic correlation or speculative extrapolation.

This does not mean biblical theology is unconcerned with the consistency of theological conclusions, but rather than the study of say, the love of God, is rendered in its native environment, the Word of God, rather than being analyzed as a concept and rendered in a series of bullet points.

In this way, systematic theology can often be academic and scholastic, with less concern for practical application or implication, and favor thoroughgoing statements of content.

Biblical theology, on the other hand, is more focused on an understanding of what we can know about of God from the original revelation found in scripture, and where the implications once understood demand a personal and moral response to God’s voice is heard through these words.

Systematic theology is interesting in content and implications of the content in terms of meaning in the pure sense.

Biblical theology is interested in the content and implications in the sense of a moral response to the message of God in the Bible.

While we do have an interest in both kinds of theology, we need to know that systematic theology has as its primary goal an accurate and complete statement of the truth concerning God and may extrapolate or speculate beyond the text through the use of logic and reason.

Biblical theology has as its goal an accurate understanding of how God has revealed himself through inductive interpretation, in order to secure a response from humanity with respect to his call for reconciliation and fellowship.

Our text for these classes takes the systematic approach.

Arrington’s Christian Doctrine: A Pentecostal Perspective, Volume Three, leans heavily on a discussion of theological concepts supported by scripture.

We, however, will take a more biblical approach, that is we will analyze and evaluates the concepts in our discussion from a biblical perspective, without necessarily trying to systematize them within the framework of an overarching theological framework.

In other words, we will trace and evaluate theological concepts within their native environment in the progressive revelation of God’s Word generally.

Furthermore, for the sake of time, we will narrow our focus to two topics, under a single general heading, and we will confine ourselves to prominent exemplars in scripture of the points under discussion (knowing that much more could be said, and many more scriptural passages could be adduced in support of a more comprehensive and thorough understanding of these topics).

THEOLOGY 3

We must begin with a statement about some fundamentals in doing theology.

The first thing we must do is to discuss the origin of our knowledge about God.

THE BIBLE

We assume that the Bible is the foundation for all theological studies, and for most Christians that would be absolutely true.

Views on the Bible, its importance and nature, are varied.

While most orthodox-evangelical Christians would have a high view of the Bible, calling it the revelation of God, God’s (holy) Word, others have a lower view of the Bible, that it is a human book of supreme importance, but quite ordinary human writing.

First, we need to understand on what grounds this difference of opinion rests.

Secondly, we need to consider where the notion of the high view of the Bible comes from, that it is the inspired revelation of God and his plan of redemption for humanity.

The Difference: Opinions about the importance and nature of the Bible divide into two camps.

The Bible is either an example of elevated but quite extraordinary human literature, thoroughly human in every respect of composition and origin, or it is the revelation of God, written by human beings under the guidance of God, in order to communicate a message of reconciliation to humanity.

Some hold views somewhere between these two extremes that the Bible contains the revelation of God but is not entirely infallible or without error.

We will not spend a long time arguing in the negative, opposing the first view, but we will concentrate on demonstrating reasons for believing in a high view of the Bible, and what the implications are of that high view.

For ‘proofs’ of the authority of the Bible, divine inspiration, as well as the miraculous nature of the Bible, see works by Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, William Craig Lane, etc.

How can we know?

How do we know the Bible is the Word of God?

What evidence is there that the Bible is, in fact, the revelation of God to a lost humanity, with whom he is seeking reconciliation?

The simple and most straightforward answer to these questions is that the Bible claims to be a special and complete revelation of God, God’s plan of redemption and of the message of the gospel, which once believed brings salvation and eternal life (cf.

; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ).

This claim rests on a common idea often articulated in the Bible from beginning to end, that it is and contains the Word of God, that God has spoken in a way whereby he intended to be heard by humanity and his people in particular.

Beginning with Adam, God is seen as desiring and engaging in deliberate communication and fellowship with humanity, those he created ().[2] Indeed, the whole business of the Bible appears to be about the loss and restoration of the fellowship between God and those he created in order that he might engage with them in conversation and communion ().

Every important person and significant character in the Bible has the distinction of being someone with whom God communicates and talks.

The terms scripture or scriptures, occurring 54 times in the NIV, mean what has been revealed and spoken by God, and which have been written down for the record.[3]

In the NIV, the phrase the word of God occurs 40 times, 3 in the OT and 37 in the NT.

In two instances in the OT the expression means a specific prophetic word revealed by God, to be communicated with someone by the man of God (; ).

The characteristic phrase for God speaking in the OT is the phrase word of the Lord, which occurs 221 times (look these up in an electronic concordance).

In 106 of these occurrences, the full phrase is “the word of the Lord came” with reference to the person to whom a revelation was made, and who was to then take action based on God’s communication with them.

In Proverbs, a reference is made to the word of God in the sense of a body of revelation about God ().

In the full body of what God has said to his people is often called your word, meaning the entirety of God’s revelation to his people, occurring 25 times is what God wishes to say even in the present to his people (, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ).

Although spoken and recorded in the past, the psalmist views the written word as what God wishes to say to his people in the present.

If God is engaged in anything with respect to humanity, according to the Bible, he is talking (see footnote 3, below).

And if God is speaking, it is primarily through his written word, which constitutes the scriptures, both Old and New Testaments.

For this reason, the NT uses the phrase the word of God as a way of expressing the idea that God has spoken to his people and is speaking to them through the written record that constitutes the Old Testament.

Many times the New Testament refers to the writings of the OT as the word of God, meaning that in the view of the NT writers, the OT as a whole represents what God said ( and continues to say) to his people and through them to the world at large (cf.

; ; ).

By calling the OT the word of God, the most obvious idea is that God has spoken in a way by which he intended to be heard and understood.

Very often, however, references to the word of God in the NT are to the message of gospel that originated in the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, who proclaimed the arrival of the promised kingdom of God, calling it good news of salvation (εὐαγγέλιον (or cognates) – occurring 118 times in the NT, often translated gospel).

This good news is viewed as a message from God which invites those who hear it to be reconciled to God, because not only does he desire it, but has taken the initiative to make reconciliation possible.

To respond to the message in a positive way, that is to accept the offer of reconciliation, repentance (turning away from sin through a sincere repudiation of it) and faith (trust in the provision God has made for reconciliation to be possible) in God are required – God made provision of redemption through Jesus Christ, which leads to pardon for sin for those who respond (; ; ; ; ; , ; ; ; ; , , ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; , ; ; ).

In other words, not only are the OT scriptures called the word of God, the revealed message of God to his people and to humanity in general, the gospel, including the words and teaching of Jesus himself and the preaching about him later in the church by the apostles, was also considered to be the word of God, in exactly the same sense.

God had been actively engaged in communicating with humanity from the outset of creation, revealing himself, his plan of redemption, and his desire for reconciliation to his people.

Lately, through the completed revelation found in the Bible he is still communicating his message of forgiveness and reconciliation ().

This is where we start in considering the Bible, its claim to be a record of God’s communication with men, by which he can be understood by anyone willing to listen.

The evident foundational dynamic of this communication by God is revelation.

The purpose of any communication is to impart information, the revelation by one person of something that it is desired another person should know, either about themselves, their feelings, and ideas, or to impart knowledge of which the other might not have or be aware.

This is no less true of God’s communication with men, both in the original giving of the word of God and now to those of us who are reading it in the Bible (as a completed or finished revelation from God).

The goal is for God to impart an understanding, a revelation of himself, his love, his desire to redeem humanity, and the provisions he has made to make reconciliation to himself possible so that it is accurate, genuinely authoritative and correct.

What we know about God must be accurate and truthful if we are to know God as he is and understand his purpose.

Rather than leaving it up to humanity to beat a path to the knowledge of God, he has chosen to reveal himself.

Any attempt by humanity to discover God is bound to fail because of man’s flawed perception on account of sin and the limitations it now imposes on the race.

Furthermore, an infinite God, though perceived and faintly understood from nature and human experience, cannot possibly be accurately and thoroughly comprehend in character, being, nature, and purpose by finite beings.

God must draw back the veil to reveal himself to us.

As such, reconciliation is God’s attempt to normalize (reconciliation) relations between God and his creation so that the fellowship, communion, and interaction begun at creation might continue into eternity.

But for humanity to understand his purpose, God must reveal it to them.