...Term Paper Martin Luther By Austin Belger Easily one of the most influencial men to Christianity in the early 16th century was Martin Luther. Born in Germany 1483 to a lower class family where his father Hans Luther had made a little money in the mining industry. Knowing that he wanted better for his promising child he sent him to school to become a lawyer. At a school in Madgeburg, young Martin studied grammar, rhetoric, and logic. He later compared his time and experience there to “Purgatory and Hell”. In 1501 he went to the university of Erfurt where he continued his studies and got his masters degree in grammar, logic, rhetoric, and metaphysics. Now almost 20 year old Martin was well on his way to becoming a lawyer just as his father wanted for him. But in mid 1505, Martin got caught in a terrifying thunderstorm and that’s when he called out to St. Anne, the patron saint of miners, “Anne if you save me from this storm ill become a monk. And to his surprise the storm subsided and passed leaving Martin un-harmed. Some may say he already wanted to become a monk and be involved in Catholicism but that’s besides the fact that he was on his way of finish training to be in the monastery. Short after becoming a monk , Martin Luther wasn’t seeing the religious enlightenment happen for him like he had originally hoped for. So in an attempt to find salvation he was told to try and focus all his religious turmoil on Christ by a friend of his and it will sort it self out and get him...
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...Practice of Theology My Life as a Theologian Adventurer The practice of theology from the perspective of the adventurer looks at conversion and transformation of a person towards a new perspective and understanding of reality. McIntosh outlines how a person moves away from reality, undertaking a journey of transformation from their current reality and return never being the same. The idea of ego is discussed as a way of distorting reality, and it is not until a person sees something that is simply amazing or truly beautiful that they may be forever trapped in a prison of small certainties. Suggesting that a person will begin to undergo a transformation once they see the world differently to their current view. Simon Weil looks at transformation...
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...Pastor as Theologian in the Wesleyan Spirit Student: Ken Miller Part #1 Simply stated, theology is the study of God. But, it’s much more than that. It’s how God reveals himself to us through divine revelation. To begin our understanding of what theology is, we must examine the deeper question of why theology is. We must consider the purpose of theology…. the why and the how it is done. Theology can easily be viewed as a discipline with many facets. It is viewed in many ways. These are not necessarily to be considered as “stand alone” explanations, because they compliment each other. Five facets of theology are: explaining reality (often times looked upon as much more than an explanation of how things work, but a view of their place in God’s plan), systematization of Christian doctrine ( the practice of presenting Christian doctrine as an ordered or coherent whole), defending the faith and as a bridge for nonbelievers (this “apologetic theology” strives to help us refute the argument of those atheists who state that it’s not reasonable to believe in God), a critique of the life and proclamation of the church (an evaluation of the church and its teachings - often a cross check to evaluate if our sermons, lesson and writings are true to the gospel), and also contemplation (seeking a deeper understanding and intellectual appreciation). Theology and philosophy frequently are at times confused by those not actively engaged in either of the two disciplines. The...
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...dead, the city destroyed and the faith of thousands of Christians in jeopardy. The resulting blaze that torched the city for a week afterwards acts as a symbol for the catalyst of the intellectual crisis that resulted. More than a thousand years of faith was called into question as intellectuals searched for a superior explanation for the disaster other than it playing a small role in Gods plan. The disaster opened the door for openly questioning God’s role in the natural world allowing for the growth of new ideas and the rejection of old and antiquated ones. In the end the earthquake in Lisbon presented such an intellectual crisis because it forced Philosophes and Theologians alike to question their own faith as well as the core beliefs that society was built upon. The sheer destruction of the event placed Theologians on the defensive as they attempted to rationalize the event while pushing Philosophes ever further from the core views of the church. While every disaster is a tragedy, the Lisbon earthquake sparked an intellectual crisis because of the disturbing nature of its destruction and the time period in which it happened. Occurring on All Saints Day 1755, disaster struck during the beginning of the Intellectual revolution, a period during the 18th century marked by a conviction in the “expanding literate sector that the human condition could be improve through science, education, philosophy, economic growth, and political reform.” Predated by nearly 1,000 years of near total...
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...between women and men' Discuss. Feminist theology is a movement found in many religions. Feminist theology aims to reconsider the traditions, scriptures and theologies of those religions from a feminist perspective. It can be argued that feminist theology just wants equality between men and women, however, It can also be put across that seeking equality is not their only aim. Liberal feminist theology is fundamentally rooted in the Enlightenment philosophers who place a high value on reason and recognise that men and women share the same powers of reason. Key thinkers, such as Immanuel Kant, think that whilst there may be physical differences between men and women, there is no difference in terms of human reason. Liberal feminist theologians argue that although the Bible is often patriarchal and biased against women, there is nevertheless a strand which runs from Genesis to Galatians which consider men and women to be created equally in the image of God and therefore entitled to equal respect. They would argue that the Bible shows that women can perform a wide variety of roles and that certain texts are particularly important in demonstrating this. One is the story of Deborah. The scripture characterises Deborah as a prophet, judge and poet. She summons the Israelite commander Barak, addresses him forcefully with a command from the Lord and gives him specific tactical orders. A stark contrast to the strength and leadership of Deborah is the submissiveness of Jephthah's daughter...
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...1.) Tokunboh Adeyemo - Nigeria evangelical theologian Tokunboh Adeyemo was born into a royal Muslim family in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State in western Nigeria on October 1, 1944. Adeyemo was an African Christian statesman of high repute: He was a very brilliant, level-headed and one of the true African-Christian leaders with exemplary virtues. Tokunboh Adeyemo died on March 17, 2010 due to cancer. His working verse through life was Zechariah 4:6: "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord." Publication. Author: Adeyemo, T. Book title: Is Africa cursed?: A vision for the radical transformation of an ailing continent. Place of publication: Nairobi, Kenya: Publisher: WordAlive Publishers. Year of publication: 2009 2.) Manasseh Kwame Dakwa Bediako – Ghanaian theologian Manasseh Kwame Dakwa Bediako was born on 7 July 1945 in Ghana. He was the son of a police inspector and the grandson of a Presbyterian catechist and evangelist. Kwame Bediako was an outstanding African theologian of his generation. He was an ardent promoter of Bible translation into African languages. He was a man of towering intellect, but he didn’t use it to crush others, but to build them up and encourage them. After a serious illness he died on 10 June 2008. Publication. Author: Bedieko, K. Book Title: Theology and identity: The impact of culture upon Christian thought in the second century and in modern Africa. Publisher: Oxford: Regnum Books. Year of publication: (1992). 3.) Bosch,...
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...Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s. As it was during the Cold War era, there was great sceptism towards capitalism and Marx’s teaching played an important role in the development of liberation theology, although liberation theologians were anxious to emphasise that Marx was only a useful ‘companion’ along the way, but there was only one teacher, Jesus (Boff). Alienation is important in liberation theology because it gives liberation theology a useful tool to critique capitalism, which many liberation theologians consider to be unjust. Marx teaches that the root cause of alienation is capitalism. Ownership of land gives individuals power over others; those without property and land are dispossessed and dehumanized. Those do not have control over the factors of production, i.e. the proletariat, have to work for those who have and sell their labour as a commodity and gives up his creative power. In this sense the worker is alienated from himself because the process of creation is a projection of his humanity and humans are designed to work and be productive, as Marx says, ‘In my production I would have objectified my individuality and so when I look at the object I would have the satisfaction of knowing my personality to be objective.’ Liberation theologians agree with this critique of capitalism because according to Genesis 1:28, men are created to work and be productive. When workers are alienated from themselves, they cannot do what God wants humans to do, and therefore the...
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...Introduction In this essay, I am going to explain one definition of theology together with a definition from a few great theologians. Everyone has their own thoughts on what theology means. We all do theology; we don’t learn it or find it in a book or on television or at Church on a Sunday. Theology is something we all can do. What is Theology? Some people would define theology as the study of God but they are wrong. God is a spiritual being who knows all about us, what we are doing and what we are thinking. In my opinion, it is very difficult to study something that you can’t see. The wind blows but you can’t see it but you can see the trees swaying and the sea crashing against the rocks. This is the action of the wind even though it is invisible. God is like this. Even though God cannot be seen, God is portrayed in the beauty of God’s creation. Theology means to talk about God. It comes from the Greek Theos meaning God and Logos meaning word or talk. It doesn’t just mean theologians talking about God or ministers and priests talking about God or God talking about God; it means that every individual can talk about God. Indirectly, everyone has their own experience of God. Everyone has an understanding about theology and their different experiences of God and may have something to offer within their communities. Doing one’s own theology is far better than learning it. Many questions are asked when talking about...
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... and while the person of Jesus the “Son” as an actual person in the course of human history is well documented in history and scripture, the person of the Holy Spirit is a person whose characteristics are not well defined. While the responsibilities of the Holy Spirit are often documented throughout scripture, the question of how to address the Holy Spirit is sometimes vague. While there is plenty of scriptural attestation to the Holy Spirit, and while Jesus does use personal pronouns to describe the Holy Spirit, the modern depictions of the Spirit are often amorphous, lacking definition, and sometimes even pictures that do not infer personhood as much as substance, such as depictions of the Holy Spirit as a, “tounge of fire.” Some theologians have pointed to the scripture to attest to the personhood of the Holy Spirit in the same way as Jesus and the Father (with some scripture point to personal pronouns such as “he”) while others are more concerned with the function of the Holy Spirit rather than the form. This begs the question as to whether or not it truly matters what the Holy Spirit is rather than who the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit is first mentioned in the first verses of the Old Testament book of Genesis. Genesis 1:2 states, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Stanley Grenz points out that in the history of the Old Testament, many Jews saw the Spirit of God as...
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...understand Him because if God is based off one’s self-knowledge, the content of Christianity changes. Theologians Karl Barth and Thomas F. Torrance raise questions concerning the understanding of the doctrine of the immanent Trinity today. Despite Barth and Torrance’s belief that theology must allow the unique nature of its object to determine what is said about the triune of God, the beliefs of Arianism and Gnosticism are wrongly evident in the thinking of some theologians in their attempts to understand the doctrine of the Trinity. Even though the Church has rejected the beliefs Arianism and Gnosticism, they still continue to threaten Christian theology. Arianism states that Christ was not truly divine, but a created being. Fourth century priest Arius believed if God is ‘one and absolute’ then Jesus, the Son, could only be considered divine in a ‘subordinate sense.’ If Arius thought of Jesus as God Himself, then he believed he was compromising God’s oneness. The Council of Nicaea condemned Arius, and declared the Son to be ‘of one substance with the Father.’ St. Irenaeus rejected the heresy of Gnosticism in the second century. The heresy states humans save themselves through knowledge that they acquire through reflection. Eventually, they discover that in some sense, they are identical twins with Jesus and no longer rely on Him for salvation. According to theologian Gordon Kaufman, the human imagination uses the image/concept of God as the ‘ultimate point of reference...
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...Jürgen Moltmann and Wolfhart Pannenberg both theologians from different upbringing and different walks of life, both come up with a theology understanding that will help them, and they draw closer to God, and to teach others to do the same thing. God made men in own likeness, but with different understanding of scriptures are to be applied to ones’ walk with God. In this essay, one will be able to grab a hold of both Moltmann’s and Pannenberg’s theology and see which theology will be suitable to their own understanding of theology, by comparing and contrasting the theologies of Moltmann’s and Pannenberg’s Comparing the Theologies of Moltmann and Pannenberg Jürgen Moltmann followed the theology of eschatological because of the new teachings...
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...Survey of Theology by Barbara A Servello May 8, 2015 Humanity and the need for divine grace in this day and age seems to be out of our grasps. The world and humankind seems to be in chaos. No one can see that it does not matter the color of skin, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, etc. that we are all made by God and for God. Pick up the newspaper and we see that our world is out of control. Many theologians have voiced their views on humanity and the need of grace over the years. Today I can see where we may question that humankind has been created in Imago dei, the image of God. “So God created humankind in his image.”[1] John Wesley stated that the image of God can be summed up in three dimensions; the natural image, the political image and the moral image. [2] I question John Wesley’s summation that the image of God can be summed up in the dimensions of natural, political, and moral image. I will explore through other theologians if this assessment is viable. I will also use those same theologians to assess the idea for humanity to need, want and receive grace from God. “The concept of the imago Dei has been widely recognized as central to a Christian understanding of human beings, yet the paucity of biblical references has left the way open for a wide variety of philosophical and theological interpretations of this notion. “[3] Natural image of God according to Wesley’s sermon, The New Birth, is simply stated as “reason...
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...heaven. Original sin is still present, but God, being free and independent of us, freely chooses to save infants who are not capable of making a choice to commit their lives to Christ. Introduction Infant salvation is a complex issue, sometimes controversial and a topic of much debate within Christendom. The issue of infant salvation first arose with the institution of infant baptism, done so that infants who died would be baptized, and thus saved in case of death. Though that debate has subsided in recent years, it is not due to a consensus conclusion of the arguments among theologians and denominational leaders, but instead, it has subsided due to more pressing issues facing Christianity and theology. As infant salvation is explored, it must be done through a historical viewing of the topic as well as an emphasis on scripture. It is simply not enough to look at opinions of historical theologians. We must look at...
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...Counter to Christian end time theology, promoted by popular books and movies, there will not be an evil man over a ten nation confederacy, ruling the entire world at the second coming of Yeshua. There will not even be a seven year tribulation. We will have no warning of the imminent destruction of the planet Earth. In Luke 17:26-30, Yeshua said, the end will be like the Days of Noah and Lot. Christian theologians completely miss the mark when interpreting the prophecies in the Bible. They try to apply the mysteries of the Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel as future events relating to the world as a whole. But the first step in correctly understanding Biblical prophecy is recognizing that prophesy is all about Israel and Judah. Another disadvantage Christian theologians suffer is their lack of knowledge concerning Israel and Judah. Christian theologians are unaware that most of the prophecies in Revelation and Daniel are fulfilled, with the evidence being, Jewish history. Some theologians might call my views Preterism, a Christian belief that...
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...JOURNAL ARTICLE CRITIQUE Of Moises Silva “Old Princeton, Westminister, and Inerrancy” Westminister Theological Journal 50(1988) 65-80 THEO 525 B10 LUO (Spring 2014) Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary Thomas O. Elder24618510 Lynchburg, Virginia 25 March, 2014 I Contents Introduction 2 Summary 2 Interaction 3 Conclusion 4 Bibliography 5 2 Introduction The occasion of the Journal article’s content is the inauguration of the speaker’s call as “…professor of New Testament at Westminister Theological Seminary. The date is February 19, 1985.” The purpose of the speech and hence the article is to make a command statement for all time to any who will hear the speech or read the article that the professor is publicly, fully committed to the argument that “…The scriptures are truly God’s very...
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