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Categories & Principles CATEGORIES & PRINCIPLES Personal Advice: Academic Theology & Theologians Theology = Theo (God) + logy (word) 1. Slippery Slope Suggestion: plant the Cross in the slope & cling to the Cross 2. Theology is a contact sport!!! Suggestion: insulate yourself & thicken your skin don’t be reactionary (controlled by idea), but discretionary (free to select idea) 3. Perspective on Origins Problem: Conflation of origins & the Cross º wobbling Cross Suggestion: put origins on a CD and not your Hard Drive 4. God & GPA Greek Alphabet Why bother? YOUR ownership of ideas/concepts èåïò (theos) God ëïãïò (logos) word êïéíå (koine) common New Testament in Koine Greek “Don Cherry Greek” for the average 1st century guy I. Key Thoughts 1. Science vs. Religion Conflict Myth • Messages in Popular Culture: 1. Forced to choose between only TWO positions: • either Science or Religion • either Evolution or Creation 2. Judgmental Statements & Mixed Messages: • Science ((happily() explains away Religion (;unhappy;) • Evolution negative & Creation positive Therefore: “I love Jesus & I love evolutionary biology” º MAKES NO SENSE 2. PROBLEM Categories DEF: the foundational concepts that direct the way we: 1. look at the world 2. think about it NOTE TWO VERBS. Categories are like: 1. Glasses º give a view of the world 2. Software º process information thru a program or worldview iPopulari (Public & Pews) Categories L entrenched in the mind & force people to think in: Dichotomies äé÷á (dicha) ‘in two’ ôåìíù (temnô) ‘to cut’ DEF: division of an issue into only two simple positions thinking & issues cast in ‘black-and-white’ & ‘either/or’ EG: science vs. religion evolution vs. creation More accurately º these are False Dichotomies 5 Conflations Latin com ‘together’ flare ‘to blow’ DEF: careless collapsing & co-mingling of distinct ideas into ONE undifferentiated concept EG: science & Truth science & unbelief evolution & negative nuance creation & positive nuance 3. SOLUTION C Introduce iProfessionali (Academic & Theological) Categories C This is a goal of university education C Major Theme of CHRTC 350: Challenge POPULAR categories & replace with PROFESSIONAL categories 4. RESULT C Widen spectrum of possibilities C Make informed decisions º YOUR worldview YOUR personal philosophy II. THEOLOGY: GENERAL CATEGORIES BE CAUTIOUS WITH THE TERM ‘GOD’ C very wide range of meanings & nuances: from a personal spiritual being to only beauty & harmony in physical world (Einstein) Theism èåïò (theos) God DEF: belief in a personal God a Supreme Being that is all powerful & all loving EG: God of Jews, Xians, Muslims 40% US scientists are theists Deism Deus (Latin) God DEF: belief in an impersonal God a Supreme Being who creates the world and then has nothing to do with it. C Began in the Enlightenment (18th century [1700s]). C aka ‘God-of-the-philosophers/Enlightenment’ PICTURE: God who winds the clock of the universe & leaves it EG: God of Charles Darwin for most of his life Atheism á (a) as a prefix: negation èåïò (theos) God DEF: belief that God does not exist EG: Richard Dawkins 1. “The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at bottom no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but pointless indifference.” Quoted in Gregg Easterbrook, “Science and God: A Warming Trend?” 277 Science (15 Aug 1997), 892. COMMENT: “nothing but” º often used by atheists Agnosticism á (a) as a prefix: negation ãíùóéò (gnosis) knowledge DEF: belief there is no knowledge regarding existence or non-existence of God Term coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869 EG: Charles Darwin late in life 6 Theodicy èåïò (theos) God äéêç (dike) justice DEF: arguments justifying the presence of evil & suffering in a world created by an all loving & all powerful God NOTE: existence of evil & suffering is the best argument against God’s existence L Where was God 26 Dec 04 (SE Asian Tsunami)? EG: Charles Darwin throughout his life º wrestling with pain a HUGE part of his story III. CHRISTIANITY: GENERAL CATEGORIES Christianity C Define by HISTORY & 3 main divisions: 1. Roman Catholicism (325 AD/CE [Latin anno ‘year’ Domini ‘Lord’ OR Current Era]) 2. Eastern Orthodoxy (1054) 3. Protestantism (1517. Martin Luther & Reformation) C Define by CREEDS (major statements of belief): 2 . Apostles’ Creed (150 AD) I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. COMMENT: C Doctrine of the Trinity: Father, Son & Holy Spirit Three people in One º Is this rational? Or a mystery? C Historicity of Jesus, miracle of birth & bodily resurrection; future day of judgment, reality & forgiveness of sin, eternal life Conservative Christianity Conserves the theological principles of the Apostles’ Creed C Jesus = God C Resurrection of Jesus’ body C Bible Inspired by Holy Spirit (capital “I” inspired) Liberal Christianity Rejects the Apostles’ Creed C Jesus = enlightened man C Resurrection of Jesus’ teaching C Bible inspiring (small “i”) literature written by humans only 7 NOTE: Science a significant factor in birth of Liberal Christianity in mid-19th C C Astronomy & birth of modern science Galileo’s Dialogue (1632) C Geology & Biological Evolution º Evolutionary science Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) SCIENCE IMPACTS RELIGION!!! Fundamentalism Reaction to Liberal Christianity º Modern science an enemy to religion Post-1920s in North America C Strict Literalism C Anti-evolutionism C Sc-Rel Conflict Model Catholic & Evangelical Distinguish ADJECTIVES from NOUNS C Cat/holic: êáôá (kata) with respect to Òëïò (holos) whole C Ev/angelical: åõ (eu) good áíãåëïò (angelos) messenger LAMOUREUX: Pre-Reformation Christian ‘Catholic’ º in original sense & embraces Universal Church ‘Evangelical’º focus on Good News Graduate education: Masters at Regent College (Evangelical Protestant) Doctorate at U of St. Michael’s College (Roman Catholic) Divine Revelation DEF: belief that God communicates with humanity WARNING ON PARADIGMS: Only heuristic devices º teaching tools to organize information Allows YOU to start sorting out categories in order to make informed decisions 1. Special Revelation DEF: belief that God communicates SPECIFIC information to humanity • Incarnation Latin: in (in) carnis (flesh) Ultimate act of revelation: God in the Flesh º Jesus “The Word was God . and became flesh” (Jn 1:1-3, 14) • Biblical Revelation Holy Spirit inspired the biblical writers “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim 3:16) The Old Testament contains the “very words of God” (Rom 3:2) • Personal Answered prayer, visions, dreams, signs & wonders EG 40% of US scientists who believe God answers prayer 8 2. General Revelation DEF: belief that God communicates GENERAL information to humanity • Natural Revelation (aka Natural Theology) Nature reflects an intelligent mind & points to a Creator “The heavens declare Glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” (Ps 19:1-4) “God’s invisible qualities . clearly seen and understood from what has been made” (Rom 1:19-20) • Moral Revelation Conscience & sense of morality “The law written on the heart” (Rom 2:14-15) Two Divine Books Model DEF: belief that God communicates (reveals) to humanity through two “books”: the Bible & Nature L Time-honoured view of Sci-Rel relationship EG Bacon, Galileo, Pope John Paul II Book of God’s Words VERBAL (Latin verbum ‘word’) º uses words º specific information Book of God’s Works NON-VERBAL º does not use words º general information Bible Huge question in Sci-Rel dialogue: What is Gen 1-11? History? Myth? or Ancient Origins Account? ASSIGNMENT: READ GEN 1-11 Divine Action DEF: belief that God acts with people and in nature Basic categories: 1. CONTEXT of Divine Action (with who or what) • Personal DEF: divine acts with people • Cosmological êïóìïò (kosmos) universe, cosmos DEF: divine acts in nature º (1) origins & (2) operations 2. MODE of Divine Action (method of action) • Interventionism DEF: dramatic divine acts breaks into regular routines in lives/nature • Providentialism DEF: subtle divine acts works through regular routines in lives/nature so-called “co-incidences” DISTINGUISHING DIVINE ACTION: 1st determine CONTEXT Is it in a Personal relationship or in origins/operations of Cosmos? 2nd determine MODE Is it Dramatic (interventionism) or Subtle (providentialism)? TIP: Personal overrides Cosmological EG Joshua & the miracle of the sun stopping “Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: ‘O sun, stand still’ . The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.” Josh 10:12-13 9 Sin C 10 Commandments Two Types: 1. God Commandments 2. Human Commandments C Jesus’ 2 Great Commandments Two Relationships: 1. Love God 2. Love other humans & yourself DEF of Sin: C belief that certain acts are culpable (blameworthy) because they break God’s intention for joyous and peaceful human living. COMMENT: God is NOT a cosmic kill-joy!!! Conservative Position on Sin: C real, culpable & accountable before God C determined by God º 10 Cs & Jesus’ 2 Great Cs Secular (at times Liberal Christian) Position on Sin: C ONLY cultural artifact, social convention & relative C determined ONLY by humans Lamoureux on Sin C Biblical–-from 1st page to last page C Historical–-major doctrine throughout Church history C Experiential/Existential (life experience)–have a look around the planet! Any doubt? Is Sept 11th nothing but the clash of cultural notions? IV.
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