Systematic Theology Part 2

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Systematic TheologyPart 2

• The Doctrine of God

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Review of Part One

• Different Forms of the Word of God (2)
• The Canon (Official List) of Scripture (3)
• The Characteristics of Scripture
• Authority (including Inerrancy)
• Clarity
• Necessity
• Sufficiency

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The Existence of GodHow Do We Know That God
Exists?

• Humanitys Inner Sense of God
• Believing the Evidence in Scripture and Nature
• Traditional Proofs for the Existence of God
• Cosmological Argument
• Teleological Argument
• Ontological Argument
• Moral Argument
• Only God Can Overcome Our Sin and Enable Us to Be
  Persuaded of His Existence

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The Knowability of God

• Can We Really Know God?How Much of God Can We
  Know?
• The Necessity for God to Reveal Himself to Us
• We Can Never Fully Understand God
• Yet We Can Know God Truly

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The Character of God

• Incommunicable AttributesHow Is God Different
  from Us?
• Introduction to the Study of Gods Character
• Classifying Gods Attributes
• The Names of God in Scripture
• Definitions Used Will Be Balanced

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Independence (Self-Existence or Aseity)

• God does not need us or the rest of creation for
  anything, yet we and the rest of creation can
  glorify him and bring him joy.

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Unchangeableness (Immutability)

• God is unchanging in his being, perfections,
  purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel
  emotions, and he acts and feels differently in
  response to different situations.
• Evidence in Scripture
• Does God Sometimes Change His Mind?
• The Question of Gods Impassibility (Does God
  Have Emotions?)
• The Challenge from Process Theology (Does God
  Become Something Other?)
• God Is Both Infinite and Personal
• The Importance of Gods Unchangeableness

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Eternity (Infinity of Time)

• God has no beginning, end, or succession of
  moments in his own being, and he sees all time
  equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and
  he acts in time.
• God Is Timeless in His Own Being
• God Sees All Time Equally Vividly
• God Sees Events in Time and He Acts in Time
• We Will Always Exist in Time

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Omnipresence (Infinity of Space)

• God does not have size or spatial dimensions and
  is present at every point of space with his whole
  being, yet God acts differently in different
  places.
• God Is Present Everywhere
• God Does Not Have Spatial Dimensions
• God Can Be Present to Punish, to Sustain, or to
  Bless

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Unity (Simplicity)

• God is not divided into parts, yet we see
  different attributes of God emphasized at
  different times.
• Gods Being Is Not a Collection of Attributes
  Added Together
• Gods Attributes Are Not Additions to His Real
  Being

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The Character of God (1)

• Communicable Attributes
• How Is God Like Us in His Being, and in Mental
  and Moral Attributes?

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Attributes Describing Gods Being

• SpiritualityGod exists as a being that is not
  made of any matter, has no parts or dimensions,
  is unable to be perceived by our bodily senses,
  and is more excellent than any other kind of
  existence.
• InvisibilityGods total essence, all of his
  spiritual being, will never be able to be seen by
  us, yet God still shows himself to us through
  visible, created things.

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Mental Attributes (1)

• Knowledge (Omniscience) God fully knows himself
  and all things actual and possible in one simple
  and eternal act.
• WisdomGod always chooses the best goals and the
  best means to those goals.

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Mental Attributes (2)

• Truthfulness Gods truthfulness means that he is
  the true God, and that all his knowledge and
  words are both true and the final standard of
  truth.
• FaithfulnessGods faithfulness means that God
  will always do what he has said and fulfill what
  he has promised.

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Moral Attributes (1)

• GoodnessGod is the final standard of good, and
  all that God is and does is worthy of approval.
• LoveGod eternally gives himself to others.
• Mercy and GraceGods mercy is his goodness
  toward those in misery and distress.Gods grace
  is his goodness toward those who deserve only
  punishment.

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Moral Attributes (2)

• PatienceGods patience is his goodness in
  withholding punishment toward those who sin over
  a period of time.
• HolinessGod is separated from sin and devoted to
  seeking his own honor.
• Peace (Order) In Gods being and in his actions,
  he is separate from all confusion and disorder,
  yet he is continually active in innumerable
  well-ordered, fully controlled, simultaneous
  actions.

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Moral Attributes (3)

• Righteousness (Justice) God always acts in
  accordance with what is right and is himself the
  final standard of what is right.
• JealousyGod continually seeks to protect his own
  honor.
• WrathGod intensely hates all sin.

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The Character of God (2)

• Communicable AttributesHow Is God Like Us in
  Attributes of Will and in Attributes that
  Summarize His Excellence?
• Attributes of Purpose Will
• God approves and determines to bring about every
  action necessary for the existence and activity
  of himself and all creation.
• Gods Will in General
• Distinctions in Some Aspects of Gods Will
• Necessary Will and Free Will
• Secret Will and Revealed Will

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Attributes of Purpose

• FreedomGod does whatever he pleases.
• Omnipotence (Power, Sovereignty) God is able to
  do all his holy will.

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Summary Attributes (1)

• PerfectionGod completely possesses all excellent
  qualities and lacks no part of any qualities that
  would be desirable for him.
• BlessednessGod delights fully in himself and in
  all that reflects his character.

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Summary Attributes (2)

• BeautyGod is the sum of all desirable qualities.
• GloryGods glory is the displayed brightness
  that surrounds Gods revelation of himself.

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God in Three Persons The Trinity

• How Can God Be Three Persons, Yet One God?
• God eternally exists as three persons, Father,
  Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully
  God, and there is one God.
• The Doctrine of the Trinity Is Progressively
  Revealed in Scripture
• Partial Revelation in the Old Testament
• More Complete Revelation of the Trinity in the
  New Testament

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Three Statements Summarize the Biblical Teaching
about the Trinity

• God Is Three Persons
• Each Person Is Fully God
• There Is One God
• Simplistic Solutions Deny One Strand of the
  Biblical Teaching
• All Analogies Have Shortcomings
• God Eternally and Necessarily Exists as the
  Trinity

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Errors Have Come by Denying Any of the Three
Statements Summarizing Biblical Teaching

• ModalismThis error claims there is one person
  who appears to us in three different forms or
  modes.
• ArianismThis error denies the full deity of the
  Son and the Holy Spirit.
• The Arian Controversy
• Subordinationism
• Adoptionism
• The Filioque Clause (Does the Spirit Proceed from
  both the Father and the Son?)
• TritheismThis error denies there is only one God.

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What Are the Distinctions Between the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit?

• The Persons of the Trinity Have Different
  Functions in Relating to the World
• The Persons of the Trinity Have Existed Eternally
  as Father, Son, and SpiritThe only distinctions
  among the persons of the Trinity are in the ways
  they relate to each other and to creations. The
  persons of the Trinity are equal in being but
  subordinate in role.

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What Is the Relationship Between the Three
Persons and the Being of God?

• Gods being is not divided into three equal parts
  belonging to the three persons of the Trinity
• The Personal distinctions of the Trinity are not
  something added onto Gods real being
• The persons of the Trinity are not just three
  different ways of looking at the one being of God
• There are three distinct persons, and the being
  of each person is equal to the whole being of God

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Can We Understand the Doctrine of the Trinity?

• Application So What?