Quiz 1 Study Guide
Towns: Chapter I
What does “prolegomena” mean? ➢ Things that are said before; introduction to the study of theology.
What are the three presuppositions of prolegomena? ➢ 1) There is a God, 2) truth exists, & 3) person can know truth.
What is the contemporary usage of the word “theology?” ➢ 1) Science of God and relations between God and the universe, and 2) essential being and His relationship to the universe as set forth in the Holy Scriptures. pg. 7
What is catechism? ➢ A scheme of questions and answers.
What are five presuppositions for the task of theologizing? ➢ 1) there is a God and He has revealed Himself, 2) there are laws that are self-evident, 3) man has the ability to know things to the degree to which he directly observes them, 4) truth does not contradict itself, but is consistent and corresponds to reality, & 5) the mind accepts that which is logical and rejects that which is illogical.
What are the tests used to verify theological truths? Explain. ➢ 1) test of consistency, 2) test of correspondence, 3) test of priority of data (what’s essential or irrelevant?), 4) test of cohesiveness, & 5) test of thoroughness (examine beliefs) pg. 12
What is the aim of Biblical theology? ➢ To arrange and classify the facts of revelation, confining itself to the scriptures for its material, and treating of doctrine only so far as it was developed at the close of the apostolic age.
Where does Biblical theology get its material? ➢ Apostolic age
What does historical theology study? ➢ The expression of theology in each age with an examination of its expressed aim, emphasis, omissions and forces that change its expression from generation to generation since the closing of the canon.
What does dogmatic theology study? ➢ Study of varied beliefs and creeds of different religious sects and orders throughout church history with a view of producing a deeper understanding of Christianity in other generations and cultures and producing a deeper understanding of one’s unique theology.
What is philosophical theology? ➢ The collecting, scientifically arranging, comparing, exhibiting, and defending of all data including logic, experience, reason, and facts from the natural world.
What is contemporary theology? ➢ Study of the men, movements, institutions, and trends found in the current theological world.
What is systematic theology? ➢ The collecting, scientifically arranging, comparing, exhibiting, and defending of all facts from any and every source concerning God and His works.
What does practical theology seek to do? ➢ Treats the application of theology in the regeneration, sanctification, edification, education, and service of men. IT SEEKS to apply to practical life the things contributed by the other three departments of theology.
What is the theology of Scriptures called? ➢ Bibliology
What are the six uses for reason? ➢ 1) to recognize and receive truth, 2) to interpret truth, 3) to accept and confirm the evidence that supports truth, 4) to correlate truth with other truth, 5) to apply truth, 6) to defend truth.
What are the four tools for accurately arranging a systematic theology? ➢ 1) Inspired revelation, 2) Faith, 3) Language, & 4) History. Pg 19-21
What four questions must we ask about faith? ➢ 1) Is the present-day Christian faith in harmony with and growing out of that continuous faith of Christians found in the NT? ➢ 2) (Predictability) if faith is a reality and is available to all, then the method of acquiring it and expressing it must be predictable; is your concept of faith available to others? ➢ 3) (Private faith) is private faith based on objective faith? ➢ 4) (Symbols and expressions) are the symbols of one’s faith meaningful?
What six factors can limit our theology? ➢ 1) human understanding, 2) language, 3) ignorance of scripture, 4) the silence of God, 5) the nature of science, & 6) spiritual blindness.

Towns: Chapter II
What is revelation? ➢ The act whereby God gives us knowledge about himself which we could not otherwise know.
What is inspiration? ➢ The supernatural guidance of the writers Scripture by the Spirit of God whereby they wrote the divine Word of God, transcribed accurately and reliably.
What is inerrancy? ➢ Recognizes that what God revealed and inspired is accurate, reliable, authoritative without error.
What is the canon? ➢ The standard by which the sixty-six books in the Bible and their content were determined and the basis upon which they were included in Scripture.
What is hermeneutics? ➢ The science of biblical interpretation.
What is illumination? ➢ The works of the Holy Spirit in helping the believer understand and apply the spiritual meaning of the Scripture.
What is the primary motivation of revelation? ➢ Was not to give man doctrine, but the end product is doctrine. Was no to communicate with words, although these are the results. It is that God reveals Himself to us.
What does Hebrews 1:1–2 teach about divine revelation? ➢ It is progressive; “in time past unto the fathers by the prophets” and “hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son”.
What are the two areas of revelation? ➢ General revelation (Nature, Conscience, & History) & Special Revelation (Bible & Christ) pg. 34
What is reason? ➢ Intellectual and moral faculties of man as exercised in the pursuit of truth apart from supernatural aid. Can perceive the message of God’s special revelation in the Word of God, and when aided by the Holy Spirit, man can come to know God through His Word.
What does the cosmological argument state? ➢ God is first; something (nature) cannot come from nothing, and something (creation) does exist by itself, therefore there must have been a force more powerful than nature to create the world.
Upon what three things is the cosmological argument dependent? ➢ 1) That every effect must have a cause, 2) that the effect is dependent upon its cause for its existence, & 3) that nature cannot produce itself.
What does the teleological argument state? ➢ Implies a creator because of the design that is apparent in the world; Based upon the recognition of the operations of an intelligent cause in nature. Pg. 38
What does the anthropological argument state? ➢ Reasons that the higher parts of human nature could never come from non-intelligent matter (moral or psychological argument).
What does the anthropological argument reason? ➢ 1) Man’s intellect and freedom must have an adequate explanation because matter does not have the properties of freedom and intelligence, it is not an adequate explanation for man.
What does the ontological argument state? ➢ Prove the existence of God from man’s idea of a perfect being. The most perfect being is God, therefore God must exist.
What does congruity mean? ➢ Means agreement, harmony or correspondence.
What does the existence of laws imply? ➢ The existence of a Lawgiver.
Of what do laws in society give evidence? ➢ Judgment of others.