THEOLOGY

Theology



Table of Contents

I.  McGrath, E. Alister (13 Oct 2006) “Christian Theology: An Introduction”, Wiley-Blackwell.2

A. The Doctrine of God.2

B. The Doctrine of the Church.4

C. The Doctrine of the Sacraments.4

II.  Ryrie C. Charles (January 11, 1999) “Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth”, Moody Publishers.9

A. Angels9

B. Demon12

C. Salvation15

III. Frame M. John (May 2006) “Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology”, P & R Publishing.19

A. Trinity19

B. Holy Spirit25

C. Sacraments27

References30

Theology

I.  McGrath, E. Alister (13 Oct 2006) “Christian Theology: An Introduction”, Wiley-Blackwell.

A. The Doctrine of God.

A belief in a supernatural Deity, often with the characteristics of omniscience, omnipotence, omnibenevolence, infinitude, and so on, is central to a religion. Three of the predominant proofs for the existence of such a Deity, or God, are the ontological, the cosmological, and the teleological. (McGrath, 2006)

The ontological argument purports to prove God's existence from the idea of God a priori. Anselm, an eleventh-century monk, argued that what we mean by “the Deity” is the Greatest Conceivable Being. Such a being that exists in reality is greater than one that exists only in the understanding, so in order to be the Greatest Conceivable Being, such a being must necessarily exist in reality. For René Descartes, the seventeenth-century rationalist, God's existence cannot be separated from God's nature, just as three-sidedness cannot be separated from a triangle or a mountain from a valley. (Wendel, 1987)

The cosmological and teleological arguments, on the other hand, proceed a posteriori, grounded in facts in and about the world. The cosmological argument begins with the fact that the universe exists at all, and the teleological argument draws inferences from the universe as an effect that exhibits certain features to its cause and the nature of that cause.

These arguments are found in St. Thomas AQUINAS' (1225-1274) Five Ways, or proofs of God's existence (although elements of these proofs may be found in Plato and ARISTOTLE). They begin with the empirical fact that the universe exists and, from given certain known facts about that existence, prove the existence of God. The cosmological argument is the basis of four of the Five Ways: that there is motion in the world shows there must be an Unmoved Mover; causal chains prove an Uncaused Cause; the contingency of the world leads to a necessary Being; and varying goodness in the world leads to an all-good being.

Aquinas' fifth way is the teleological argument, or Argument from Design, that the orderly character of worldly events entails the existence of an intelligent Orderer. Found also in Cicero's De Natura Deorum (The Nature of the Gods) and William Paley's Natural Theology, this argument is given its fullest expression and criticism in David HUME's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion. In this text, the Argument from Design is presented by Cleanthes, who urges us to look to the world for evidence of God's existence and nature. As the world resembles machines of human design, in that they exhibit similar features of means-to-ends relations and coherence of parts, and as we know ...