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What is salvation? essay
Summary of theology 1
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Everybody has some idea of theology. Sikhs, Muslims, Confucionists and Buddhists have
a theological standpoint. Agnostics, Mystics, and Atheists have theological arguments for what
they believe. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Christian Scientists have strong theological
points for their beliefs. Webster’s definition of theology is “the study of religious faith, practice,
and experience: the study of God and God’s relation to the world: a system of religious beliefs or
ideas.” Everybody has a thought about theology.
Christian theology is the thinking and talking all Christians engage in so they can learn
and grow in the scope of their experience and understanding of their faith.1 All Christians engage
in Christian theology. The term, all Christians, is inclusive of all persons who experience the
faith of Christ: both genders, all nationalities, and every sexual orientation. Christian theology is
sourced by a like-minded community of believers. This community shares its social and religious
experiences and its beliefs developed over time about sin, salvation, grace, faith and so forth.2
Christian theology encompasses a number of study areas which include Bibliology, Christology,
Theological Anthropology, Pneumatology, Ecclesiology, Soteriology, and Eschatology. Defining
or exploring Christian theology is undertaken for the purpose of clarifying, understanding, and
solidifying one’s thoughts and ideas of Christ’s message.
1 Tyron Inbody, The Faith of the Christian Church (Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
2005 ), 11
2 Delores S. Williams, a Womanist Perspective on Sin, from a Troubling in My Soul, Womanist Perspective
on Evil and Suffering. Edited by Emile M. Townes, (Marykn...
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...e, not just Adam. Adam and Eve were caretakers of the
Garden of Eden. They were told not to eat fruit from a certain tree. They ate the fruit and a sinful
nature was born. According to many theologians, this ‘original sin’ was passed on to every
generation. This sinful nature had to be dealt with by God. Man had to be forgiven for his sin.
Jeremiah 31:30 says, “Everyone shall die for his own iniquity.” No human escapes the
consequences of sin. Paul confirms this in Romans 3:10, “There is none righteous, no not one.”
St. Augustine, probably the most ardent proponent of original sin says, “If Christ did not die in
vain, then human nature cannot by any means be justified and redeemed from God’s most
righteous wrath except by faith and the sacrament of the blood of Christ.”10 Calvin and Luther
both agree that man is totally depraved and could do no good.
“Theology is not superior to the gospel. It exists to aid the preaching of salvation. Its business is to make the essential facts and principles of Christianity so simple and clear…that all who preach or teach the gospel…can draw on its stores and deliver a complete and unclouded Christian message. When the progress of humanity creates new tasks…or new problems…theology must connect these old fundamentals of our faith and make them Christian tasks and problems.” (WR 6)
It is clearly evident that the five principal beliefs in Christianity, the divinity and humanity of Jesus, the death and resurrection of Jesus, the nature of God and the trinity, the revelation and salvation all deeply impact on and influence the lives of its adherents.
The word “Christian in the university’s name means a group of people that believe in one God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Accepting of any Christian denomination and teaches the word of God, as it is written in the bible. “So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” (Acts 11:26, New International Version). Leading and guiding others to acquire the wisdom that God wants us to have. Identified as evangelical, meaning “relating to, or being in agreement with the Christian gospel, as it is presented in the four gospels.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said “The word 'Christianity' is already a misunderstanding - in reality there has been only one Christian and he died on the Cross.” That leaves the unanswered question of what is a “true Christian.” Some may learn and adapt to everyday things because of what we are taught. Others may have to see it or witness it to believe it. Justin Martyr and Tertullian both took on the concept of truth within Christianity, believed that the Word of God was the only thing to be accepted; however their approaches were contrary to one another.
Theology is a broad spectrum, with many different views. Some include, Proper, Epistemology, Metaphysics and philanthropists. These are just a few of the mainstream studies of today. Each topic is very different in its own way, some are religious and some are scientific theories. Everyone has their own spin in their world view. World views should not be based off assumption and belief but trusting in God, along with using the bible as a main source.
God warned Adam not to eat the fruit of "the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" (Genesis 2:15-17). The serpent persuaded Eve, who in turn persuaded Adam, to disobey this commandment.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Augustine believed that the original sin of our ancestors, Adam and Eve, is the product of pride. Augustine describes pride as the end result of one becoming too pleased with themselves, the consequences on one relying on their own accordance as oppose to that of God. Adam and Eve were so content in the beautiful home God provided for them that Eve but apparently she based on the Christian world views of this chapter humans are sinful creatures with unlimited capacity for doing evil. We are inclined towards a secular world, because that is where we live. The spiritual realm is where we inspire to be, and we aim to imitate Jesus, but constantly fall short due to our unlimited capacity for evil
In the beginning, God did not want anyone to be sinful. God created mankind in the image of himself. The purpose of humans is to maintain the Earth. He placed a man and woman into a tempt-full location. He commanded for them to not eat off the tree of forbidden fruit. However, a serpent inquired about what God had stated. After gaining that knowledge, the serpent tricked the woman, into eating the fruit, from the forbidden tree. The woman then persuaded the man, to also eat fruit, from the forbidden tree. God then checked up on the man and woman. He asked the man why he ate the fruit; the man had blamed the woman. God then asked the woman why she ate the forbidden fruit; the woman had blamed the serpent. God was angered and disappointed by Adam’s and Eve’s action that in return, He punished the serpent,
One might ask, What exactly are sins and where did they come from? According to Oxford Dictionary, a sin is an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. Sin is what started the fall of humanity that is still manifested in today’s time. Adam was the first of God’s human creation. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:16–17). Sin entered the world when Adam disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. “God gave to man the power of contrary choice. Man of his own will, by no external compulsion or determination, used that power in the commission of sin… ” (Reddit 10). The effects of Adam’s sin are profound and and they affect everyone. A few things that stand out in Reddit’s explanation of it is that “sin is lawless, universal and results in satanic bond”. Sin is lawless because its is breaking God’s divine law. “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness” (1John 3:4). Sin is universal because, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” and the evil one who is Satan. An objection could be that
...ugustine about the human condition. Throughout life we are faced with many decisions both right and wrong, however the wrong option always seems more fun or better in someone even though we know its wrong. Something so basic like breaking the speed limit is a choice we know is wrong and could end it punishment but we do it anyway, because we just enjoy doing the wrong thing, its part of our human nature to do wrong. However in Augustine’s time there was no question that God existed, if you broke a law or sinned you where doing so against God, now if you sin or break a law, the human population focuses more on how the law will punish you, rather than how God will feel about it. Happiness and sin are two sides of the same coin, you cant achieve one without the other, and because of our human nature sinning and choosing false happiness will always “look’ better to us.
Although the concept of original sin is derived from the story of Adam and Eve's disobedience recorded in Genesis, the term "original sin" and the concept of a hereditary sin passed on to the entire human race are totally absent from the Old Testament and the gospels. Jesus is not recorded as ever having mentioned original sin, and Genesis relates only that the sin of the first parents brought consequences upon them. The theology of original sin developed out of questions that arose in the third century concerning the custom of infant baptism. “St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.) is credited with developing the traditional doctrine in response to Pelagius, who denied original sin.”# Augustine appealed to Scripture to blame Adam for original sin and to the existing practice of infant baptism to defend the idea that the sin is passed on to all Adam's descendants, an idea subsequently endorsed by St. Thomas Aquinas. Original sin was taught by the Council of Carthage in 418 A.D. and the Second Council of Orange in 529 A.D. “The doctrine was formally defined by the Council of Trent in its Decree on Original Sin (1546 A.D.)”# The basis of ...
Pojman, Louis P., and Michael C. Rea. "Religious Experience." In Philosophy of religion: an anthology. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2012. 224-240.
The doctrine of original sin can be defined as the belief that “all of humanity is born with a built-in urge to do bad things… stemming from Adam and Eve's disobedience to God” (BBC). The traditional story as imprinted in the Christian Bible claims that original sin emerged in retaliation to Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit despite God’s clear commands, “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (New International Version, Genesis 2:4-3:24) This friendship, or covenant, with God was then broken, marking a separation. From a theological standpoint, we are the children of our parents – Adam and Eve – who inherit this submission to sin. Nonetheless, regardless of theological background, original sin is merely a sense of weakness humanity has imbedded to yield to sinful or evil acts. Moreover, this embedded drive in humans to commit evil doings is additionally used to rationalize “the need for police, the collapse of great civilizations, suicide, war, suffering and so on” (CNA).
But it is the corruption . . . offspring of Adam, whereby man is . . . original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.” The Bible informs us that we are servants or slaves to whom we obey. “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” ( Rom. 6:16 NRSV ) Sin can be described as a cosmic power responsible for the enslavement of its prey. This scenario is analogous to the enslavement of subjected peoples by force of the armies who had become their conquerors. We too, are in danger of finding ourselves in bondage to an adverse, and alien influence known as sin. Rendered unable to choose freely we are resigned to surrender in obedience to sin because it now exerts power over us. In the account of Abel and Cain offering sacrifices to God we have an example of just how elusive sin can
...from generation to generation, which would possibly also include original sin. Because humans are created in the image of God, however, humans also inherit and overall goodness, as God is a perfect being.