random
What are five questions we all must answer?
Origin: Where did I come from?
Identity: Who are we?
Meaning: What is real and what is true and how do we know?
Morality: How should we live?
Destiny: What happens next?
What is the result of the human search for answers?
ideas
Two ways God reveals his character
Special revelation: scripture
General revelation: nature
What are 8 characteristics of God's authority?
God's authority is both hard and soft, extrinsic and intrinsic, obligatory and persuasive, hierarchical and relational.
define authority
influence or command
What do you know about the composition of the Bible?
39 books in the Old Testament
Old testament sections: history, poetry, and prophecy
27 books in the New Testament
New Testament sections: history, letters, and apocalyptic books.
What are the most common objections to the authority of the Bible?
The most common objections are:
The bible was only written by men
The bible has been corrupted over time
The bible is incomplete; important books have been left out
Worldviews and their sacred texts:
Muslims : Quran
Secular Humanists: Humanist Manifesto
Libertarians: Altas shrugged
Marxists: Communist Manifesto
Hindus: Bhagavas Gita
Christianity: Bible
What are the incommunicable and communicable attributes of god?
Incommunicable attributes are possessed by God and God only.
holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present, righteous
Communicable attributes are possessed by God and his creation.
Wisdom, righteousness, love, mercy, and grace
Benefits gained from careful study of the Bible
Blessings
Insight into how to bear spiritual fruit
Freedom from spiritual bondage
Direction in life
The ability to grasp truth and defeat error
4 Important reasons to study the Bible
The bible is part of world literature
The bible changed west Civlization
Knowledge of the Bible is the mark of an educated person
Knowledge of the bible is the mark of a moral person
American’s concept of God can be arranged into what 4 categories?
31% believe in an authoritative God (engaged and judgmental) *conservative
24% believe in a benevolent God (engaged and nonjudgmental)
16% believe in a critical God (disengaged and judgmental)
24% believe in a distant God (disengaged and nonjudgmental) *liberal
Describe what the Bible is and is not
The bible is not a book of rules or a book of heroes but is a story of how God loves and rescues his children.
What is the only proper response to the scriptural understanding of God?
worship
How the Bible is different from other holy books
The bible is:
Special revelation from God
Inspired by God
Innarent in the original documents
Influential in human history
If God is beyond comprehension, how can we get to know him?
God has revealed himself in creation and the Bible. However, the fullest way we can know God is through Jesus Christ.
What is a metanarrative?
An overarching grand story that explains the world and everything i it. Its the story by which we make sense of all other stories.
How do postmodernists treat all metanarratives, including the biblical one?
They treat all metanarratives as only subjective truths and don’t affect anyone else
Outline the biblical story as a drama about the kingdom of God
The outline is
creation the fall
[initiation of redemption, complicated redemption, predicted redemption], redemption accomplished
redemption applied (the church)
redemption completed (new creation)
What different contexts will help us understand the creation story in Genesis?
literary, historical, and theological
4 benefits of understanding the metanarrative of Scripture
Helps us better understand God and his kingdom
How we understand the way in which God has revealed himself
Helps us understand ourselves as image-bearers of God
Resolve apparent contradictions.
What can we learn about God’s nature and character from the creation account?
Elohim ("God") is a generic designation for deity and focuses on God as the creator of the whole world.
Yahweh ("the LORD") is the personal and covenantal name of God. Preeminently, he is the God who redeemed his people from Egypt and brought them into covenant relationship with himself.
What does the biblical creation account affirm about creation and the creator?
affirms the direct hand of one God in every phase of creation
affirms the distinction between creation and the creator
affirms that creation is purposeful and good
affirms the special creation of humanity
What role did God assign human beings in creation?
God assigned us to be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth, and have dominion
What is the doctrine of original sin?
The belief that Adam’s first sin corrupted the nature of his descendants leading to humanities present tendency toward committing sin.