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THE DOCTRINE OF GOD

THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. THEOLOGY PROPER. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. The existence of God Non-Christian concepts of God Understanding and knowing God The attributes of God The Trinity. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. Definition of God Names of God Scriptural evidence for the existence of God

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THE DOCTRINE OF GOD

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  1. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD THEOLOGY PROPER

  2. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD • The existence of God • Non-Christian concepts of God • Understanding and knowing God • The attributes of God • The Trinity

  3. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD • Definition of God • Names of God • Scriptural evidence for the existence of God • The rational proofs for the existence of God

  4. Definition of God • “God is a Spirit, holy in nature and attributes, absolute in reality, infinite in efficiency, perfect in personality, and thereby the ultimate ground, adequate cause, and sufficient reason for all finite existence” – Orton Wiley

  5. Names of God • Rationale for considering • Covenant name – YHWH • Tetragrammaton • Prominent name; not pronounced • Background usage of this name • Meaning(s) of YHWH

  6. Names of God (cont’d.) • Compound names built on YHWH • Yahweh Jireh • Yahweh Nissi • Yahweh Shalom • Yahweh Tsidkenu • Yahweh Rappha • Yahweh Shammah

  7. Names of God (cont’d.) • El • Background of this name • Meaning ofEl

  8. Names of God (cont’d.) • Compound of names built on El • El Shaddai • El Elyon • El Olam • El Roi

  9. Names of God (cont’d.) • Elohim • Background • Meaning of Elohim • A plural used in a singular sense • Name emphasizes power of deity • Ways to deal with the plural concept

  10. Names of God (cont’d.) • Adonai • Lord – more a title than a name • Used almost exclusively for YHWH • Septuagint translates it with Kyrios

  11. Summary regarding the names of God • He is here, ready to help • He is able to cause things to be • He is God, powerful and mighty • He is the most high God • He is eternal, He sees me, and He keeps the covenant • He can be called the Lord

  12. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD • Definition of God • Names of God • Scriptural evidence for the existence of God • The rational proofs for the existence of God

  13. Scriptural evidence of God’s existence • What is the correct question here? • General scriptural data • Specific passages • Genesis 1:1 • Isaiah 40:10-31 • 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 • Hebrews 11:1-6

  14. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD • Definition of God • Names of God • Scriptural evidence for the existence of God • The rational proofs for the existence of God

  15. Rational proofs of God’s existence • The ontological argument • The cosmological argument • The teleological argument • The moral argument • The historical argument • Summary of the arguments

  16. NON-CHRISTIAN CONCEPTS • What is the Christian concept of God? • Concepts denying God’s existence • Concepts stressing immanence • Concepts stressing finiteness • Concepts stressing transcendence

  17. CHRISTIAN CONCEPT OF GOD • “God is a self-existent, self-conscious Person of infinite perfections, who works all things according to His plan. He is both transcendent and immanent.”

  18. DENIAL OF EXISTENCE • Atheism • Practical – live as if • Theoretical – declare that

  19. STRESS IMMANENCE • Pantheism – everything is • Existentialism – stress inwardness and experience

  20. STRESS FINITENESS • Polytheism – many finite gods • Henotheism – a god for each people group

  21. STRESS TRANSCENDENCE • Deism – removed God from His creation

  22. UNDERSTANDING/KNOWING • God is incomprehensible, yet knowable • Some historical ways of reconciling this tension • How to balance the two • Innate versus acquired knowledge of God

  23. INCOMPREHENSIBLE YET KNOWABLE • Confession of the Church • Scriptural evidence

  24. HISTORICAL WAYS • The Scholastics – thirteenth century • The Reformers – sixteenth century • Modern Liberals – nineteenth century • Neo-Orthodoxy – twentieth century

  25. HOW TO BALANCE • Admit some limitations on our knowledge of God • The method by which we may know God

  26. INNATE VERSUS ACQUIRED • Innate – God has placed some capacity for knowledge of Him in all humans • Acquired – knowledge of God gained through studying His revelation and experiencing Him

  27. THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD • What is the essence of God? • God is a personal being • God is Spirit • How can we apprehend God? • By the attributes of Himself that He has revealed

  28. THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD • What do we mean by attributes of God? • “Attributes are those aspects of God’s self-disclosure that are proper to Him.”

  29. THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD • How do we determine what the attributes of God are? • Through human reasoning • Study the self-revelation of God in Scripture

  30. THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD • What organizational scheme can we use to consider the attributes of God? • Incommunicable – those for which there is nothing analogous in the creature • Communicable – those to which the properties of the human spirit bear some analogy

  31. INCOMMUNICABLE • Self-existence – John 5:26 • Immutability – Malachi 3:6 • Infinity • Perfection – Job 11:7-10 • Eternity – Psalms 90:2 • Immensity – Psalms 139:7-10 • Unity – Deuteronomy 6:4

  32. COMMUNICABLE • Spirituality – John 4:24 • Knowledge – Psalms 139:1-6 • Wisdom – Romans 11:33-36 • Veracity – Numbers 23:19-20 • Goodness – Psalms 145:9, 15-16 • Love – John 3:16

  33. COMMUNICABLE • Grace – Ephesians 2:8 • Mercy – Psalms 136 • Longsuffering – Exodus 34:6-7 • Holiness – Isaiah 6:1-5 • Righteousness – Nehemiah 9:8 • Justice – Daniel 9:14 • Power – Genesis 1

  34. THE TRINITY • Athanasian Creed – “We worship one God in Trinity, and the Trinity in unity. We distinguish among the persons, but we do not divide the subsistence. The entire three persons are co-eternal and co-equal with one another, so that we worship complete unity in Trinity and Trinity in unity.”

  35. THE TRINITY • The Orthodox View Maintains: • The unity of God – one God • In the one God there are three persons • Each person in the one God is fully God

  36. THE TRINITY • Problems with the Orthodox View of the Trinity • Scripture does not sketch out a clear doctrine of the Trinity. • The very concept of the Trinity is hard to understand rationally. • The language used to talk about the Trinity is mystifying.

  37. INCORRECT VIEWS • Subordinationism – one God, two lesser gods FATHER-GOD SON HS

  38. INCORRECT VIEWS • Tritheism – three Gods FATHER SON HOLY SPIRIT

  39. INCORRECT VIEWS • Modalism – subsequent expressions FATHER SON HOLY SPIRIT

  40. ATTEMPTED EXPLANATION • Maintain the unity of God – one God • Problem of the word “person” • Redefine “person” – persona • One God with three ways of being, all eternal and simultaneously expressed

  41. ATTEMPTED EXPLANATION GOD SON HOLY SPIRIT FATHER

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