Aquinas, Thomas – 13th c. theologian, great thinker, great theologian, Schaeffer did not appreciate his bringing of Aristotle’s ideas of the “particulars” into theology
Aristotle – mid 4th c. Greek thinker, Schaeffer credits him with the emphasis on the “particulars,” an emphasis of the things around us which Schaeffer later credits Aquinas with bringing into theology
Atheism – the view that there is NO GOD, early Christians were charged with atheism because they would not worship the emperor along with their God.
Bibliology – the study of the Bible, how did we get the Bible? What is Inspiration? The transmission of the original texts (autographs) to the modern translation
C-F-R – Creation-Fall-Redemption, the system of viewing the world that views life taking the fact that God made it, man messed it up, and God will make it right again, especially in that God offers a right relationship again with man through the work of His son Jesus.
Christology – the study of Christ: the nature and work of Christ
Constantine – Roman emperor who allowed the legalization of Christianity which led over time to its becoming the state religion
D-B-R – The elements of Paul’s gospel: death burial and resurrection of Jesus, also known as the components of the gospel
divided kingdom – the period of time after Solomon when the Davidic dynasty warred amongst themselves resulting in the Southern kingdom of Judah and the Northern Kingdom of Israel
Epistemology – the study of knowledge, how do we know what we do? Related to this is the notion that one should be able to differentiate between know, think, and believe. In a Christian epistemology, what one knows is often different than what one believes, which, in turn, has yet a different meaning than what one thinks.
Eternality – God has always been, is, and always will be. To think of eternality is to think of that which is beyond (that is – outside of) what we understand as space and time, it is certainly beyond linear thought.
Exile of Israel – Seventy years that Israel was removed from Palestine, first by the Babylonians, their return was under Medo-Persia.
faith – “firm persuasion, a conviction based upon hearing…”(Vines Dictionary, Vol. 2, p. 71)
“four empires” – Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman
“four views on how stuff got here” – naturalistic evolution, theistic evolution, day-age theory (also known as age-day or old earth views), 6-24 hour day (also referred to as classic or young earth view)
General Revelation – the creation around us gives us enough information that we may extrapolate from this the existence of God (see Special Revelation)
Grace – an undeserved gift, ‘getting what you do not deserve’
Holy – a key attribute of God: meaning of the word is different, other, separate
Inerrant - Click here to browse defs. To say the Bible is inerrant in many circles is to say it has no errors, in some circles, this is taken to mean the Bible is literally true.
Infallible – “absolutely trustworthy or sure” – - ”infallible.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 28 Jan. 2009. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/infallible>.
Inspiration – the process by which God-breathed His message through the writer using the writer’s education, personality, and experience
justice – in the context of Romans 3, justice means that an appropriate payment has been made for an infraction, particularly – my sin was paid for by Jesus blood and was effectual for me in particular because of my faith in His work. If the appropriate payment were not made, I could not be in a right relationship with God.
justified – the state of being when God has proclaimed you righteous in response to your faith in the work of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection.
Law and Prophets – New Testament folk referred to the OT this way.
Mercy – just punishment withheld, not getting what you do deserve
Nebuchadnezzar – Babylonian general then emperor, some think he believed in God
Omnipresent – transcends time and space, He is not limited to time and space, everywhere and everywhen.
Omnipotent – greater than physics, no bound to the laws of physics, all powerful
Omniscient – all knowledge
Particulars – things; all individual things; Schaeffer discussed the particulars and credits Aristotle with the emphasis upon them contrasting Aristotle to Plato
Plato – 5th-4th c. Greek thinker; according to Schaeffer, emphasized absolutes, pictured as such in Raphael’s “The School of Athens” pointing up while Aristotle extended his hand emphasizing the world around us in the particulars
redemption – when I finally take my $5 coupon to Five Guys and get a burger, they will give me the burger because I have redeemed the burger (BTW, it will be a little cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, raw onion, pickles and mustard) with the coupon. I have “freed” the burger with the payment of the coupon. I am redeemed because Jesus paid for my sin with His blood.
Reformation – Schaeffer lauded for bringing thinking back to a biblical base but he did not consider it perfect because of the way the reformers treated some people, specifically mentioned were the Peasants Uprising and the persecution of Anabaptists and even between the reformers themselves.
Revelation – God speaking to man, there are two types: general and special (sometimes called special)
Revolutions in Schaeffer: American and British had a biblical base, French and Bolshevik did not, Industrial did not treat people in a humane manner.
righteousness – this is not a description of actions, nor is it a statement about what one is because of what one does… this is a word that describes the position of human who is in a right relationship with God.
Schaeffer, Francis – mid 20th century thinker in the film series “How Should We Then Live?” based on his book of the same name.
Special Revelation – (sometime called Specific) the very words of God to man, whether in actual word or via inspiration of the Bible.
Syncretism – the mixing of religious ideas
Systematic Theology – The system of breaking theology into categories (in this course): Bibliology, Theology Proper, Christology, Pneumatology and Biblical Anthropology
The Way – an early name for the followers of Jesus, the church, used in the book of Acts.
Theocracy – a government with God at the head as King, Israel was a theocracy administered by Judges prior to the first human king (Saul)
Theology – the study of God
Theology Proper – The study of the nature and attributes of God: omnipotent, eternal, trinity, etc.
Transcend – above and beyond
Transmission – (an extra-Biblical argument that applies to NT studies) Autographs ([A]) were copied to manuscripts (MSS) which were themselves copied over a wide geographical area and a long period of time, the result is that there are a huge amount of MSS, in excess of 25k fragments, partial books, and whole books and over 5k complete NTs. The oldest fragment dates to 120AD and the oldest NT dates to 350AD (Codex Sinaiticus)
“trial phase” – The time Paul spent in Palestine, after the third trip, during which he was arrested and held for a long period and was able to share the Gospel with many government officials, he appealed to Caesar and was sent under guard to Rome where he remained under house arrest while ministering to the church at Rome as they were able to visit him.
Trinity – God is one being in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Trustworthy – in relating to the Bible, to say that the Bible is trustworthy is to say that one trusts the content to be dependable and then therefore worth following.
“deserving of trust or confidence; dependable; reliable.” ”trustworthy.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 28 Jan. 2009. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trustworthy>.
voluntary subordination – is a theological idea which considers why one person of the Trinity sends another according to the will of God, “the father sent the Son, the Son, in unity of purpose with the will of God voluntarily allows Himself to be sent by the Father.
“we” passage – a text in Acts in which Luke joins Paul’s team and writes his narrative including himself.
