Basics
of Christian Theology
I. Revelation
A. What is
meant by “Revelation”?
1.
“Revelation” is the nominal form of the word “reveal.”
It means a “disclosure,” “divulgence,” or “announcement”;
some form of communication.
2.
In Christian theology the term is used to refer to God’s communication
to us of information about Himself as our Creator and Savior, our relationship
to Him, our Fallen (sinful) state and our need for His gift of salvation.
a.
In a roughly synonymous way, Christians refer to God’s
“self-revelation” or “self-disclosure” to refer to God’s communication
to us of information about Himself.
b.
Likewise, the expression “God’s Word” is often used in a manner
almost synonymous with divine “Revelation,” though the “Word” may also
refer more narrowly to either the Bible (God’s written Revelation) or to
Christ (the Word “made flesh”—viz., the Word “Incarnate”).
B. The distinction between "General" and "Special" Revelation
1.
“General Revelation” refers to God’s communication to us by natural
(as opposed to supernatural) means, by the use of our human reason (as opposed
to faith), by empirical data (as opposed to Bible verses).
2.
“Special Revelation” refers to God’s communication to us by
supernatural (as opposed to merely natural) means, through the teaching of the
Prophets, Apostles and Jesus, as well as the written record of their teaching in
the Bible (which requires faith, and not merely reason).
C. General Revelation
1.
See Romans 1:19-20: “For what can be known about God is plain to [the
Gentiles], because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature,
namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things
that have been made. So they are
without excuse.”
a.
Thus, God’s existence and nature are discerned in “the things that
have been made,” in the “book of Nature”—in the world outside of
ourselves (external nature), as well as our own humanity God’s (internal
nature).
b.
Likewise God’s nature is discerned through the existence of the world,
its beauty, its order and design, as well as the goodness of the moral order.
2.
The arena of General Revelation is often called the arena of “Natural
Theology”—that is, theology (theorizing about God) conducted by means of
reason alone without recourse to Special Revelation (e.g., Scripture).
3. Classic arguments (or types of arguments) for God’s existence from
Aristotle, St. Anselm, and St. Thomas Aquinas:
a.
Ontological: God is the
greatest conceivable being (GCB). Anyone
can imagine the existence of a GCB. But
what really exists (like a real $100) is greater than what exists in the
imagination alone (like an imaginary $100).
Hence, God must really exist, or else we could conceive of something
greater than God.
b.
Cosmological: the cosmos
(world) cannot be self-caused, cannot have created itself.
Nothing can come from nothing. But
if something exists, something must have always existed.
Thus, if the world has not always existed (e.g., if the “big bang”
caused the world), and there cannot be an infinite chain of causes, then there
must have been a First Cause, and Uncaused Cause (which caused the “big
bang”).
c.
Teleological: the world
exhibits an intelligible order, suggesting an Intelligent Designer, just as
apparent design of a watch suggests the existence of a watchmaker who designed
it.
d.
Moral: our experience of
objectively binding moral obligation suggests the existence of a objectively
existing moral Lawgiver who holds us accountable.
4.
Counter-arguments and rebuttals:
a.
All of the above types of classical arguments for God’s existence have
had their detractors, particularly stemming from the Enlightenment agnostics and
skeptics, such as David Hume and Immanuel Kant. Their counter arguments against God’s existence were met,
in turn, by rebuttals from theistic philosophers, who sought to defend the
arguments for God’s existence.
b.
An example of a counter argument and rebuttal:
1)
Hume’s counter argument from evil:
if God is infinitely powerful and loving, then not only could He have prevented
the existence of evil, but He would have wanted to. But evil exists. Therefore
how can we believe in the existence of an omnipotent and benevolent God?
2)
Rebuttal: If God were to prevent moral evil, He would have had to create
us without free will. But God gave
us the gift of free will, which means that we have the freedom to choose good or
evil. Hence the existence of human
moral evil cannot be used to argue against the existence of an omnipotent and
benevolent God.
5. The
content of General Revelation:
a.
Characteristics of God discerned through Natural Theology include:
- Immortal
(undying)
- Omniscient
(all-knowing)
- Eternal
(above and beyond time)
- Omnipresent
(present at all times and places)
- Omnipotent
(all-powerful)
b.
The content of General Revelation discerned
through Natural Theology would not
include articles of faith incapable of being demonstrated by reason alone apart
from accepting (by faith) Special Revelation (e.g., the Bible), such as
Christ’s
- Divinity
- Incarnation
- Virgin
Birth
- Ascension
D.
Special Revelation
1.
“Special Revelation” refers to God’s communication to us by supernatural
(as opposed to merely natural) means, through the teaching of the Apostles and
Jesus and the written record of that teaching in the Bible (which requires
faith, and not merely reason).
2. Why is Special Revelation necessary, in addition to General Revelation?
a.
Because the human mind, apart from the gift of faith and illumination
furnished by Special Revelation, tends toward darkness and confusion.
(Romans 1:21—“for although [the Gentiles] knew God they did not honor
Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and
their senseless minds were darkened.”)
b.
Because God loves us and desires the salvation of all, He has given us
the gift of Special Revelation that we might more clearly discern all that we
need to know for our salvation.
3.
How is God’s Special Revelation communicated and transmitted?
a.
Various Old Testament (OT) accounts portray God communicating directly
to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, etc.; also appearing to Moses in a burning
bush, to the Israelites in a pillar of fire by night, and a pillar of cloud by
day, and in various other theophanies
(divine appearances).
b.
More often, God is seen communicating through human representatives, such
as the OT prophets. Thus, Hebrews 1:1-2 says: “In many and various ways God
spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days He has
spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom
also He created the world.”
c.
Further, God’s communication to us is seen transmitted through oral and
written traditions. Thus St. Paul
writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:15—“So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to
the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by
letter.” This tells us that the
authoritative teachings of the Apostles (the “prophets” of the New
Testament) were handed down by word of mouth (oral tradition) and by letter
(written tradition, i.e., Scripture).
d.
In summary, God’s Special Revelation is communicated directly by God
Himself, or indirectly through the Prophets (or the Apostles), and transmitted
both through oral traditions and through the Bible.
In Protestant traditions, God’s Special Revelation is often viewed as
exhaustively communicated to us in the Bible alone (sola scriptura). In
Catholic tradition, the Church is understood not only as guardian of Scripture
but as authoritative interpreter of Scripture, in her continuance of the
prophetic office of the OT Prophets and NT Apostles.
4. The distinction between Public and Private Revelation (within Special
Revelation)
a. Public Revelation:
1)
The primary mode in which God offers His Revelation is public: this refers to God’s supernatural communication to us
through the public teaching of the
Prophets, Apostles and Jesus and the public, written record of that teaching in
the Bible, which is open to public investigation by all.
2)
Biblical testimony:
a)
Thus Paul spoke of Moses and the prophets and apostles and Christ,
declaring before King Agrippa, in Acts 26:26— “For the king knows about
these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these
things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner.”
Thus, the history of God’s Revelation is public, not private or occult
(as in the Gnostic sects).
b)
Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:20—“First of all, you must understand this,
that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own [private]
interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by impulse of man, but men moved
by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” Thus,
the interpretation of God’s Public Revelation is not a private, human matter;
for just as its source is divine, so its interpretation must be divinely guided.
3)
Public Revelation is often described as the “public deposit of faith”
committed to the Apostles, that is the record of the Apostles’ teachings as
preserved in oral and written tradition (Scripture).
4)
Public Revelation, unlike Private Revelation, is binding upon all
Christian believers (de fide).
b. Private Revelation
1)
In the Bible God sometimes reveals Himself and His will to individuals
privately. For example, in Matt.
2:13, we read: “Now when [the wise men] had departed, an angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child [Jesus] and His
mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about
to search for the child, to destroy Him.’”
2)
Christian believers throughout history have frequently attested to
instances private Revelation in which God intervened in some special way to
offer guidance and help.
3)
Private revelations are specific to the individual(s) and the specific
case in question, and are not binding (de
fide) for Christian believers in general.
4)
The test of authenticity of Private Revelation is conformity to Public
Revelation. If it contradicts
Public Revelation, it must be regarded as a deception.
E.
The Bible
1.
Composed of the Old Testament (written in Hebrew & Aramaic) and New
Testament (written in Greek)
2.
Divisions of the Old Testament (OT):
The Law (Torah), (2) the Prophets, and (3) the Writings.
a.
The Law includes the
Pentateuch, or the “Five Books of Moses” (first five books of the OT).
b.
The Prophets include the Former
and Latter Prophets, the latter subdivided into Major Prophets (longer books,
like Isaiah) and Minor Prophets (shorter books, like Amos)
c.
The Writings include poetry
(like the Psalms), wisdom literature (like Proverbs), history (like Ezra), and
apocalyptic literature (like Daniel)
3.
The Deuterocanonical books
(second canon) of the Old Testament
a.
Though the Palestinian canon of the OT concludes with the return of the
exiles from Babylon and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Ezra & Nehemiah), the
Greek-speaking Jews of the diaspora outside of Palestine included in their OT a
second canon (Deuterocanon) of books such as Judith, Tobit, parts of the Book of
Daniel omitted in the Palestinian canon, I & II Maccabees, etc.
b.
The Septuagint (abbreviated LXX), is the Greek translation of the Old
Testament, named after the seventy legendary rabbis who made the translation
arpimd 250 BC. It contains both the
books of the Palestinian canon (found in the OT of most Protestant Bibles) and
the Deuterocanonical books (omitted from most Protestant Bibles, often called
“the Apocrypha,” and included in Catholic and Eastern Orthdox Bibles).
c.
The OT used by the writers of the Greek New Testament was the Septuagint,
as attested by the numerous allusions and references to its Deuterocanonical
books found in the NT (as in Hebrews 11).
4.
Divisions of the New Testament
(NT): Gospels, Acts, Epistles, Revelation
a.
Gospels: four Gospels (roughly biographies
of Jesus, but written with a focus on His Messianic mission): Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John
1)
The first three Gospels are called “synoptic” because they share a
common point of view.
2)
The Gospel of John differs in having a more profoundly theological
character.
3)
Tradition regards Matthew as the earliest Gospel, while the modern
skeptical tradition regards Mark as the earliest.
4)
Despite differences in perspective, and despite modern skepticism, the
Gospel accounts are overwhelmingly well-attested historically and are generally
mutually corroborative (supportive).
b.
Acts: the Book of Acts, or Acts
of the Apostles is essentially a history of the early Church, written by the
Gentile physician, Luke, who also authored the Gospel by that name.
Paul’s missionary journeys to the Gentile countries of the
Mediterranean (Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, possibly Spain) are featured
prominently.
c.
Epistles: the Epistles, or
letters of the NT are mostly written by Paul to various churches (like his two
letters to the Corinthians, the church in Corinth, Greece), or individuals (like
Timothy). Others are written by
Peter, James, and John, and a few are anonymous (like Hebrews).
d.
Revelation: an apocalyptic book
of prophecy, was written by the Apostle John as a record of a vision he had
while exiled on the Island of Patmos.
5.
Canonicity:
a.
“Canon” means “measure,” or, in this case, the official list of
those books accepted by the Church as divinely inspired Scripture constituting
the written record of God’s Special Revelation to us.
b.
The NT books were written between ca. AD 47-120.
But they were not gathered into a collection as the NT we now know until
the fourth century.
c.
Furthermore, other books beside those now in the NT continued to
circulate among the churches and were not clearly distinguished from them.
These included both fraudulent pseudo-Gospels such as the so-called Gospel
of Thomas, as well as perfectly orthodox Christian writings such as the Shepherd
of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas,
and Didache (“Teaching”).
These were not conclusively sorted out until the end of the fourth
century.
d.
The first mention of the complete list of books in the biblical canon is
that of Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, in his Easter Letter of AD
367. Notably, his list includes not
only the 27 books of the NT and the 66 books of the OT found in the Palestinian
canon, but also all of the Deuterocanonical books found in the Septuagint.
e.
The first Church council to issue an official decree listing the
recognized books of the Bible was the Council of Rome (AD 382).
This was followed by the decree of the Council of Carthage (AD 397),
which reiterated the earlier listing. Thus
the Bible came to be “canonized,” thus establishing the Greek NT as part of
the Christian Bible, along with the OT.
f.
The Protestant Reformation excluded the Deuterocanonical books from their
translations of the Bible. Reformers
appealed to Jerome’s distinction between the Palestinian (Hebrew) canon of the
OT from the Greek Deuterocanonical books found in the LXX, though this rationale
is disputed on the ground that Jerome included the Deuterocanonical books in his
Latin translation of the Bible into the common (or “vulgar”) tongue of the
Western church, called the Vulgate.
g.
Luther excluded not only the Deuterocanonical books from those he
considered “canonical” in his German translation of the Bible, but also the
books of Hebrews, Jude, James, and Revelation, which he regarded as spurious.
In many cases, this was because they contained ideas that seemed to
conflict with his own theological interpretations (James 2:24, for example, says
“You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone,” whereas
Luther interpreted Paul as teaching justification by “faith alone” in Romans
3:28).
6.
Translations:
a. The LXX (Septuagint) -- 3rd century BC (see above, I, E, 3)
b. The
Vulgate -- 4th century AD, Pope Damascus and St. Jerome
c. Venerable Bede -- early Anglo-Saxon
translator of portions of Scripture
d. Wycliffe: Latin into English, AD 1382
e. Tyndale, "The Great Bible," AD
1539. Edited by Miles Coverdale.
f. Martin Luther, Hebrew and Greek
into German, AD 1520-27
g. Douay-Rheims, English translation, AD
1582
h. King James (KJV), English translation,
AD 1611
i. Twentieth
Century: Revised Standard Version (RSV)
New English Bible (NEB)
Jerusalem Bible
New American Bible (NAB)
New International Version (NIV)
II.
God
A.
God, as conceived in classic Judeo-Christian-Muslim “theism,” is
transcendent, immanent, infinite, and personal
1.
Dispite their differences, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share certain
basic understandings about God. This
stems from their historical interrelationships: Christianity emerged from
Judaism (the first Christians were all Jews), and Islam emerged from the
interpretation of OT and NT accounts found in the Muslim Bible, the Koran, written by Mohammed. All
three religions sustain a relationship to Abraham, the Jews as decended through
his son, Isaac; most Muslims as decended through his son, Ishmael; and
Christians as spiritual “sons and daughters” of Abraham, as a Gentile branch
“grafted” into the “trunk” of the Jewish tree.
2.
God is transcendent: this means
that God is independent of, other than, above and beyond the cosmos, its creator
and sustainer. If we believed that
God was only transcendent, but not immanent, this would make us deists, who believed in the “clockmaker” God who existed but had
nothing to do with the world after making it.
3.
God is immanent: this means
that God is not only transcendent, but also actively involved in the cosmos, the
history of humanity, working out His redemptive plan, intervening miraculously
in time and space, disclosing Himself and the truth about ourselves and our
relationship to Him in His Revelation to us (attested in the Bible). If we believed that God was only immanent but that He did not
transcend the cosmos, that would make us either (1) pantheists (the whole cosmos is seen as divine), (2) polytheists
(many gods populate the cosmos, as in the Olympain deities of Greek mythology or
Shintoism), or (3) animists (inanimate
objects in nature as viewed as animated by deities).
4.
God is infinite: this is
expressed in the divine attributes of God’s omnipotence, omniscience,
omnipresence, infinite goodness and love, etc.
God’s infinite attributes separate Him radically from human beings and
the rest of creation. In many
Eastern religions, such as Hinduism, God, or ultimate reality (Brahman)
is considered infinite, but not personal. Only
the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition is considered both infinite and
personal.
5.
God is personal: this is
expressed in many of the forms of address used by Christian believers in prayer,
preeminently the term “Father.” Jesus
amplifies this personal dimension by modeling the use of the term “Abba”
(“Daddy”) in addressing God (something almost unthinkable in other
religions). The fact that human
beings are created in the image of God (imago
Dei) attests to the unity that exists between God and ourselves in this
respect: we are both personal, capable of entering into interpersonal
relationships. Thus just as we can
offend, forgive, and be reconciled to one another, so we can offend God, seek
His pardon, and be reconciled to Him. In
many of the ancient Western religions, such as the Greek religion of the
Olympian deities (Zeus, Apollo, etc.), the gods are viewed as personal, but are
not infinite in knowledge or power (e.g., Zeus could not control the fates—viz., the future). Only
the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition is considered both personal and
infinite.
B. Trinity:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
1. History
a) Monotheism (Egypt, Israel)
b) world religion
c) Christianity
i) Gnostic heresy (Christ = divine, but not human)
ii) Adoptionist Christology; Ebionite heresy; Arian heresy (Christ = human, but
not divine)
iii) Church's response:
a. Apostles Creed (emphasizing the humanity of Christ)
b. Nicene Creed (emphasizing the divinity of Christ, AD 325, Council of Nicea)
c. Chalcedonian settlement (AD 451): Christ = fully human and fully divine with
hypostatic union of distinct natures with full and
complete unity of two natures in one person (communicatio idiomatum).
2. Philosophical implications (God is not a solitude)
3. Biblical data
a) God as Father
b) God as Son
i)
"Subordination" and "equality" texts
ii) NT
Christologies (portraits of Christ)
a. Kenotic
(Philippians 2:5-11)—emptied Himself of divine glory, took the form of a
servant, obedient (even unto death)
b. Johannine (John 1:1-18)—eternal Logos
(Word) became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
And we
beheld His glory, as of the only Son from the Father
c. Acts of the Apostles (Acts 10:34-43)—God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and with power. He
went
about doing good and healing, for God was with Him.
God raised Him up on the third day (Resurrection).
To Him all
the prophets give witness.
d. Cosmic
Christ (Colossians 1:15-20)—By Him all things were created.
He is before all things and in Him all things
cohere. In Him the fulness of God
was pleased to dwell. Through Him
God reconciled to Himself all things, in heaven
and on earth.
c) God as Holy Spirit
III.
Biblical
History
A. OT
History:
1.
Abraham (ca. 2000 BC).
a.
Abraham’s sons were Isaac (by Sarah) and Ishmael (by Hagar).
b.
Isaac’s son was Jacob (by Rebecca), whom God renamed “Israel.”
c.
The “Children of Israel” were twelve sons, beginning with Reuben and
ending with Benjamin.
1)
The last two brothers were Joseph and Benjamin, born to Jacob’s
favorite wife, Rachel.
2)
The older brothers, jealous of the affection Jacob showered upon Joseph,
Rachel’s first-born, secretly sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt.
3)
Joseph rose to prominence under the Pharaoh in Egypt, and rescued his
father and brothers from starvation when they came to Egypt for food.
4)
Subsequent generations of Jews in Egypt were enslaved, and delivered from
Egypt by Moses much later.
2.
Exodus and death of Moses (ca. 1250 BC)
a.
Moses, a Jew raised in the household of the Pharaoh, was appointed by God
to deliver the Children of Israel (now a large number of families, or tribes)
from Egypt.
b.
God sent plagues upon Egypt to compel Pharaoh to let the Children of
Israel go.
c.
The Children of Israel wandered for 40 years through the wilderness in
the Sinai Peninsula (because of their ungratefulness and idolatry) before God
allowed them to enter the Promised Land (Canaan, or Palestine).
d.
Moses died before reaching Canaan.
3.
David (ca. 1000 BC)
a.
David was the greatest of Israel’s Kings: He symbolizes the eternal
kingship of Christ, the Messiah (who is prophesied to occupy the “throne of
David”).
b.
There were three kings during the united kingdom of Israel in Canaan: (1)
Saul, (2) David, and (3) Solomon
c.
Following Solomon, whose kingdom was notorious for its wealth and luxury,
the kingdom of Israel was divided into a Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom
4.
Captivity:
a.
The Northern Kingdom, after years of idolatry, was conquered and taken
into captivity by Assyria in 722 BC. The
ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom were thus lost to history.
b.
The Southern Kingdom, after years of idolatry, was conquered and taken
into captivity by Babylon in 587 BC. The
descendants of the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom (Judah and Benjamin) were
eventually allowed to return from exile to Israel and rebuilt it.
5.
Exiles return from Babylon (ca. 422 BC), as chronicled by Ezra and
Nehemiah around 420 BC.
B.
NT History:
1.
Inter-testimental period (ca. 420 BC to AD 47)
a.
This is the period between the close of the Palestinian canon of the OT
(with the books of Ezra and Nehemiah) and the writing of the first NT books
(some of Paul’s letters, ca. AD 65).
b.
Most of the Deuterocanonical books appeared during this period.
c.
Politically Palestine was dominated by a succession of empires, Persia,
Greece, and Rome, and the Jews mounted the Maccabean Revolt after Antiochus
Epiphanes desacrated the temple in Rome.
2.
Jesus’ life on earth spanned some 33 years, roughly from 3 BC to AD 30
3.
After the departure of Jesus from the scene, following his Ascension, the
Gospel message was transmitted by oral tradition until the NT books came to be
written:
a.
Paul’s letters (ca. AD 47-65)
b.
Mark (ca AD 65-75, according to modern critical sources; Matthew preceded
Mark according to ancient tradition).
c.
Matthew (ca AD 80-90), according to modern critical sources (see above).
d.
Luke (ca AD 85-95)
e.
John (ca AD 90-100)
f.
Catholic Pastoral Epistles, Hebrews, and Revelation (ca AD 90)
g.
II Peter, last book of the Bible (ca AD 120)
4.
NT Canon formation:
a.
Athanasius’ Easter letter (AD 367) lists canonical books
b.
Council of Rome (AD 382) NT canon adopted
c.
Council of Carthage (AD 297) NT canon reiterated
IV.
Church
History
A.
The Apostles
1.
Of all the Apostles (12 disciples) only John died a natural death of old
age; the rest were martyred.
a. Peter
went to Antioch, then to Rome, where he was bishop, and where he was
crucified (upside down, at his own request), probably in the persecutions of
Nero around AD 65 (the same time as Paul’s martyrdom).
b. James
was bishop of Jerusalem (see his role in the Council of Jerusalem as described
in Acts 15), where he was martyred. According
to legend, his body was brought to Santiago de Compostela, in northwestern
Spain, where it is entombed.
c. Mark
was bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, where he was martyred, and his body was later
smuggled to Venice, where it is entombed beneath the high altar of St. Mark’s
Basilica.
d. Thomas
went to southern India as a missionary, where he was martyred.
e. John
lived out his years in Ephesus (on the western coast of what is now Turkey)
where he lived together with Jesus’ mother, Mary, with whose care Jesus had
entrusted him.
2.
Judas and Matthias:
the first example of “apostolic succession” is illustrated in the opening
chapter of the Book of Acts, where Peter supervises the appointing of a
successor to Judas, the betrayer of Jesus who had committed suicide.
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Matthias is appointed to take
Judas’ “bishopric” (Acts 1:20, KJV).
3.
Paul was not one of the twelve
disciples of Jesus, but he was converted on the road to Damascus by a direct
visionary encounter with the risen Christ.
a. God
changed his name from “Saul” to “Paul,” and he was converted from a
persecutor of Christians to a champion of the Christian Faith.
b. Paul
had been educated under the leading rabbi of Israel, Gamaliel, and was a highly
educated man, fluent not only in Hebrew and Aramaic, but Latin and Greek.
He was not only a Jew and Pharisee, but also a Roman citizen.
His willingness to go up to Jerusalem to meet with Peter, the common
fisherman whom Jesus appointed head of the disciples, must have been dramatic
(see Galatians 1:18).
c. Paul
was the author of most of the epistles (letters) that comprise the greater part
of the NT.
d.
Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles, just as Peter originally an Apostle
to the Jews. Paul made at least
three missionary journeys beginning from Antioch (in Syria) and traveling to
various parts of Asia Minor (contemporary Turkey) and Greece, establishing
churches throughout those regions (such as Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, and
Corinth).
B. Early Church History:
1.
Doctrine:
a.
The problem of Gentile converts
1)
The first Christians were Jews, who had been reared under the Old
Testament ceremonial laws, such as the requirement of circumcision, and various
dietary laws. One of the first
questions the Church confronted was whether Gentile (non-Jewish) converts to the
Christian Faith should be required to submit to these laws. The Judaizers said yes.
They believed that Gentile converts could not be saved without submitting
to Jewish laws.
2)
The Council of Jerusalem (ca. AD 40) was called by the early
Church to address the problem posed by the Judaizers. The
proceedings of the council are summarized in Acts 15, and the decision of the
Council was to avoid binding Gentiles to the demands of Jewish laws, but only to
require that they avoid offending Jewish sensibilities in several matters
(abstaining from eating blood, etc.).
b.
The doctrine of the humanity of Jesus challenged:
1)
Gnosticism: the earliest threat to the integrity of Apostolic
teaching came, not from those who denied the divinity of Jesus, but from those
who denied his humanity. In
his first Epistle, the Apostle John rails against those who would mislead the
faithful by denying that Jesus Christ has come “in the flesh,” calling them
“antichrists” (I John 4:1-3).
2)
Docetism is another name for this kind of heresy that acknowledges
the divinity of Jesus Christ, but holds that Jesus only appeared in human form,
but was not really human.
3)
The Apostles’ Creed, the earliest creed of the Church,
emphasizes the humanity of Jesus in response to this heresy, stressing
that Jesus was “conceived,” “born,” “suffered,” “was crucified,”
“died” and was “buried”—all things that only a human being could
undergo.
c.
The doctrine of the divinity of Jesus challenged:
1)
Adoptionism: the earliest view questioning Jesus’ full
divinity regarded Him as a good man who was adopted [at the time of His baptism
(Matt. 3:1-17), or transfiguration (Mk. 9:1-8), or resurrection (Matt.
28:1-20)]. The Ebionite
heresy held basically this view.
2) Arianism: the most serious threat to the Church’s
teaching that Jesus was divine came from the Eastern bishop, Arius, in the
fourth century, who denied that Jesus was God.
3) The Council of Nicea (AD 325), the first Ecumenical
(universal) Council of the Church, was called to address the threat of Arianism,
which dominated the Church for several generations until orthodoxy finally
prevailed.
4) The Nicene Creed: emphasizes the divinity of Jesus
Christ as the second Person of the Trinity in response to Arianism, stressing
that He is “God of God, Light of Light, True God of True God, Begotten, not
made, One in Being with the Father.”
2.
History:
a.
From persecuted minority to imperial religion
1)
The early Church suffered persecution intermittently from the time of
Christ down to the fourth century, especially under the Emperors Nero, and
Domitian. Christians had to live
“underground” (figuratively), and in fact did occasionally conduct their
Eucharistic services (observances of the Lord’s Supper) in the catacombs among
the tombs of their departed dead.
2)
The Edict of Milan (AD 313): the Emperor Constantine,
converted to Christianity and issued the Edict of Milan proclaiming official
toleration of Christians and eventually made Christianity the official religion
of the Roman Empire. Christians had
to re-think the task of the Church in the world, because they suddenly found
themselves faced with many new social and political responsibilities.
3) Fall of Rome: Rome was overrun by barbarians
several times and finally fell in AD 476. Constantine
had moved his capital from Rome to Constantinople (“City of Constantine”) in
the eastern part of the Empire well before this.
The Church rose out of the ashes of the fallen Empire to dominate the
reconstruction of Rome.
4) Fall of Constantinople (AD 1453): in the same year
in which Gutenberg invented the printing press and printed the Latin Catholic
Bible (Vulgate), Constantinople fell to the Turks, and came to be known
henceforth as Istanabul.
b.
Prominent Personages:
1)
St. Augustine (d. AD 431): North African convert who became a
great bishop in the Catholic Church
a) Augustine wrote a treatise, De Trinitate, in which he
developed the theology of the Trinity
b) He developed the Church’s theology of salvation by God’s grace,
opposing the heresy of the British monk, Pelagius, who claimed that human being
could achieve salvation through their own good works and free will.
i)
Pelagius viewed sin as incidental to human nature.
He viewed human will as essentially free
ii) Augustine viewed sin as
the fundamental condition of fallen human nature, a condition of rebellion
against God.
c) Augustine also developed the Just War Theory—a theory about what
conditions justify warfare for the Christian, such as fighting a defensive war
and to restore peace.
2)
Pope Gregory the Great (Bishop of Rome from AD 590-604) was a
brilliant administrator, reformer, and decent theologian and interpreter of St.
Augstine to the Middle Ages. Under
him the papacy was understood as “servant of the servants of God.”
He represents a high point of Western Christianity as shaper and former
of culture. He was responsible for
the introduction of Gregorian Chant into the Latin tradition of the Church.
3)
Pope Gregory VII (AD 1073-1085), named Hildebrand before becoming
pope, viewed the papacy as a divinely appointed universal sovereignty, which all
must obey, and to which all earthly sovereigns are responsible. Henry IV of Germany, himself a powerful ruler, was placed
under the excommunication and interdict in February of AD 1076.
In the contest over who would prevail, a divided Germany prevented Henry
from making good his threat to the pope to “come down, to be damned through
all eternity.” In order to obtain
absolution before the pope reached a congress at Augsburg, Henry stood as
penitent three days in the snow at Canossa, barefoot (January, AD 1077).
This illustrates a Christianity dominant over civil affairs, shaper
indeed of religious and cultural life.
4)
Pope Innocent III (AD 1198-1216): the most powerful pope of the
late Middle Ages, Innocent could both tax Prince John of England as his vassal,
and later complain that the Magna Carta limited the proper authority of John.
He placed nations under the interdict (no sacraments until ban lifted)
and annulled marriages of several monarchs.
He represents the zenith of papal temporal power in the Middle Ages.
5)
St. Thomas Aquinas (AD 1225-1274): the greatest philosopher and
theologian of the high Middle Ages, whose efforts were to synthesize
Christianity and the philosophical tenets of Aristotle.
6)
Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation by nailing up his
Ninety-Five Theses (against the abuse of indulgences) on the church door in
Wittenburg in AD 1517.
c.
Divisions in Church History:
1)
Early groups of self-styled Christians, such as the Gnostics,
Ebionites, and Montanists, were hiving off to start their own thing
from earliest times.
2)
The Great Schism (1054): This was the first great schism
(division, separation) in Church history, resulting in the Eastern churches
breaking communion with Rome and rejecting the jurisdiction of the papacy. The principal theological difference was over the “filioque”
(“and the Son”) clause in the Nicene creed, describing the procession of the
Holy Spirit not only from the Father “and the Son,” which they saw as an
interpolation. These churches came
to be known as Eastern Orthodox (Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc.).
3)
The Protestant Reformation, sparked by Luther in 1517, this
represents the fracturing of the Western Church into multiple Protestant
denominations
a)
Lutherans: founded by Martin Luther, who claimed to have only
intended to reform the Church in Germany. Most
of Germany today is Lutheran, except for Catholic Bavaria in the south.
b)
Calvinists: founded by John Calvin, a French lawyer and Bible
student who was asked by William Farel in Switzerland to come to Geneva and help
reform the Church there. Theocratic
Geneva became a training ground for reformers throughout Europe.
c)
Anglicans: founded by Henry VIII by his Act of Supremacy in 1534,
by which he declared himself supreme head of the Church in England, in response
to the Pope’s refusal to grant him a divorce from Catherine of Aragon so that
he could marry his mistress, Ann Boleyn. He
went on to marry many more wives, beheading some of them.
Anglicans retain most of traditional Catholic liturgy but accept
Lutheran, and especially Calvinist doctrine in their Thirty-Nine Articles of
faith.
d)
Presbyterians: founded by John Knox, who received his training in
Geneva under Calvin. Presbyterians
are Calvinists. The Westminster
Confession of Faith and Westminster Catechism are the primary documents of
Presbyterianism.
e)
Reformed denominations (Dutch Reformed, Hungarian Reformed, Swiss
Reformed, etc.). Founded by various
Calvinist reformers. The Heidelberg
Catechism is one of the primary Reformed documents in the Low Countries.
f)
Episcopalians: the American stepchildren of Anglicans.
They were first called the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United
States. The Protestant Church of Ireland and Church of Scotland are
similar stepchildren of the Anglican (English) Episcopal Church.
g)
Methodists: founded as a result of the reform movement within
Anglicanism in England spearheaded by John and Charles Wesley.
While the Wesley brothers remained Anglican priests their entire lives,
their evangelistic efforts yielded the birth of the Methodist denomination in
the United States.
h)
Anabaptists: these were “re-baptizers,” those who rejected infant
baptism and held that the Church was for (adult) “believers” only.
i)
Mennonites: founded by Menno Simons, a Dutch Catholic priest and
reformer in the 16th century, influenced by the Swiss Brethren, an Anabaptist
movement in Switzerland headed by Conrad Grebel.
The Mennonites stressed simplicity of life and pacifism.
j)
Amish: founded as a branch of the Swiss Anabaptists and Mennonites,
the Amish shun modern technology and electricity, use horses and buggies, and
refuse participation in national public life, including public education and
military service.
k)
Baptists: influenced by the Dutch Anabaptists, the Baptists
originated in England and trace their beginnings to Roger Williams in the New
World.
V.
Christian doctrines
A. Sin
1.
Original sin: refers to the sin of Adam and Eve, to the guilt
transmitted to their descendants (inherited guilt, as well as to the fallen
sinful nature inherited by all their descendants.
a. As
the Psalmist writes, we are “conceived in sin,” meaning that from the first
moment of our existence we are stained with the guilt of Adam’s sin.
b. Original sin is understood to be
washed away in Baptism. That is, the guilt is cleansed, even though the sinful
nature, habits, and inclinations may remain as part of our fallen human nature.
2.
Actual sin: refers to actual sins committed.
a. Actual
sins can be committed only if one does so willingly and knowingly.
Thus the mentally retarded and infants are incapable of actual sins.
b. Actual sins are subdivided into mortal and venial sins:
1) Mortal sins: these are sins, which, as the Apostle
John writes (I John 5:16-17), “lead to death.”
This kind of sin involves a conscious decision to turn one’s back on
God, to turn away from Him and His grace.
2) Venial sins: these are sins, which, as the Apostle
John writes (I John 5:16-17), are still wrong, but are “not deadly”; that
is, they don’t involve a decision to turn one’s back on God.
B. Sacraments
1. Definition: a "sacrament" is "the outward sign of an inward
grace."
2. All the constituent elements of a sacrament are illustrated in the New
Testament Story
of the woman with a hemorrhage who touched the hem of Jesus robe and was healed
(Luke 8:43-48): there is (1) faith, (2) a material element (the hem of Jesus'
robe), and
(3) grace (the healing when Jesus felt the power go out of him).
3. Seven Sacraments: Catholic tradition distinguishes seven Sacraments:
a. Baptism: water washes away of the guilt of original (and actual) sin
b. Confirmation: oil on forehead seals the gifts of the Holy Spirit to
strengthen the life
of the new believer.
c. Confession: the penitent confesses his sins to God in the hearing of a
priest, who
grants absolution in the name of God and His Church.
d. Eucharist: the believer receives the Body and Blood of Christ under the forms
of
bread and wine as a renewal of Christ's covenant. (John 6:53-58)
e. Matrimony: spouses give themselves to one another in Sacrament of Marriage
(A "covenant" (=sacrament) is distinguished from a
"contract," by the fact that
the parties involved give themselves to one another instead of merely exchanging
goods and services: a "covenant" is as different from a
"contract" as marriage is
from prostitution.)
f. Holy Orders: the transmission of the gift of ordained ministry through the
laying on
of hands in direct succession from the Apostles ("Apostolic
Succession").
g. Extreme Unction: anointing of the sick with oil, accompanied by prayer as
described
in James 5:13-15).
4. Catholic-Protestant differences:
a. From earliest times in the Church, Sacraments were described both as
symbols of grace and as symbols that effect what they
symbolize.
1) Thus
early Church leaders described the water of baptism as symbolizing an
internal spiritual washing away of sins, but also as effecting this
cleansing.
2) Likewise, they described the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper both as
symbolizing Christ's Body and Blood and as becoming Christ's Body
and
Blood.
b. Berengar of Tours (ca. AD 1000) was one of the earliest writers to
question this
view and to insist that Sacraments are only symbolic. His views
were quickly
condemned, but were revived by Ulrich Zwingli, a Swiss Protestant reformer in
the
16th century whose views prevailed among many Protestant denominations.
c. Most Protestants employ only two Sacraments (even if they do not call
them
"Sacraments"): (1) baptism, and (2) the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper.
1) Catholics recognize two Protestant Sacraments as valid: (1) baptism and
(2) matrimony.
2) Catholics do not recognize Protestant celebrations of the Eucharist as
valid,
because, in their view, Protestants lack the Holy Orders (ordination in direct
succession from the Apostles) necessary to consecrate Bread and Wine.
d. Most Protestants do not recognize Confirmation, Confession, Matrimony,
Holy
Orders, or Extreme Unction as "Sacraments." Still there are many
residual
vestiges of these traditional Sacraments in various Protestant denominations:
1) The Lutheran Book of Worship retains a form for private auricular confession
of sins in the presence of a minister, though it is hardly ever used.
2) Episcopalians and Anglicans have services of "healing," in which
the priest
lays his hands on an individual and prays over him-- a vestige of what used
to be Confession, but no longer requires the actual confession of sins
3) Presbyterians and Lutherans have "confirmation" rites for their
young, though
these are not understood as "sacraments."
e. Some Protestants have done away with the practice of any Sacraments at all,
surmising that their significance is spiritual and that their practice, hence,
is
superfluous. Such denominations include Quakers and the Salvation Army.
VI.
Salvation
A.
Theories of Atonement (views/aspects)
1. Christus Victor
2. Christus
Exemplar (focus
of Abelard, ca. 1079-1142)
3. Satisfaction
(focus of St. Anselm, Archbishop of
Canterbury, ca. 1033-1109)
a) Ransom
b) Redemption
B.
Justification, Sanctification, Glorification
1. Event or process?
a) "Born again" vs.
"regenerated"
b) "conversion" - once
vs. daily
2. Justification/sanctification =
identical or different?
a) legal declaration / imputation
b) effective change
C.
Faith & works
1. Law/Gospel (Lutheran sense)
2. “faith” (2 senses) Romans,
Corinthians, James
3. “works”/”works of the law”
(2 senses) Romans
4. Justification by faith, the
doctrine on which the Church stands or falls (not mentioned once by C.S. Lewis
in Mere Christianity)
D.
Sola gratia, sola fide,
sola Scriptura, sola Christus
1. Christians understand
humanity in need of redemption, resoration to a right relationship to God.
a) Lest there be
“eternal death,” i.e., an afterlife without God [contrast between
heaven/hell]
2.
Humanity is basically unable to accomplish the task, because a
righteous God in effect requires righteousness, and humans are fundamentally
flawed, in rebellion.
3.
Christians understand Jesus to have been God Incarnate, the
Messiah (the Christ, the Anointed One), whose innocent death and subsequent
resurrection accomplished the redemption-in-principle, the restoration, the
atonement (at-one-ment).
E.
Glorification:
1.