Philosophical Theology

Introduction

The word philosophy is a Greek term which means love of wisdom (“Philosophical theology” par. 1). Theology is generally defined as a systematic and progressive study of religion. Theological studies primarily involve the influence of natural aspect of truth gained after completing religious studies course. This paper will focus on philosophy as theology. Under this title, the entire discussion focuses mainly on the use of philosophy in solving or interpreting theological concepts (“Philosophical theology” par. 1).

Overview

This entire paper will focus on highlighting the philosophical implication and relationship between philosophy and theology. Currently, there are three globally known philosophically complicated Christian doctrines. They include; the trinity, incarnation and the atonement. Notable to mention is that, these doctrines have been the subject of discussion internationally as far as philosophical theology is concerned. This is because philosophy can be broadly used in the analysis of various theological doctrines.

The first category of philosophy reveals the truth behind religious beliefs in addition to the available evidence from divine revelation. In this category, natural theology is used. The second category of philosophy involves the use of divine revelation (“Philosophical theology” par. 1). Under this category, philosophical techniques are employed in attempt to demonstrate the truth of all theological claims (“Philosophical theology” par. 1).

Significance of philosophical theology

Philosophical theology is considered to be an essential study since it helps in acquiring knowledge to explore beyond normal reasoning. Furthermore, it allows students to solve puzzles concerning human life and Metaphysics (Peter par. 3). On the other hand, theology also plays an important role in creating a society that respects religion.

Universities that offer philosophical studies have excelled both spiritually and academically. Contrary to the expectation, many people criticize philosophy for the contradiction it develops on theology. According to scholars, philosophy instead of strengthening religious faith, it facilitates in weakening it. Critics say that, philosophy is only relevant in issues concerning moral behavior in the society (Luke par. 5). This concludes that a good philosophy definitely contributes to the development of the best theology (Peter par. 8).

Analysis of philosophical theology

For many years, the relationship between philosophy and theology has been undergoing hot debate across the world. Many theologians globally have been campaigning against philosophical interpretation of religion. Theologians claim that philosophy has very little to do with theology.

They also claim that the use philosophical concept corrupts the interpretation of theology (Luke par. 1). These two disciplines were once considered to be mortal enemies; especially during the times of practitioners. This was supported by some early Christian thinkers like Tertullian (James par. 1).

Tertullian further advanced with his arguments concerning the inclusion of secular philosophy into the theological doctrines. He termed this inclusion to be a reflection that was out of order. However, according to history, the use of philosophy has always been accepted as a natural complement to theology. These doctrines were developed by Saint Augustine of hippo (“Essential philosophy for theologian’s” par. 2). According to Saint Augustine, the entire legitimacy of philosophy was firmly developed from the underlying Christian faith and beliefs.

Saint Thomas Aquinas also came up with another version explaining the relationship between theology and philosophy. According to Thomistic model, this relationship was equated to be like distinct enterprises. Thomistic model also clarified that, these two enterprises only differed primarily with their intellectual origin.

According to Thomistic model, any philosophical concept starting point begins with data that can be seen, heard or felt (Murray and Rea par. 3). On the other hand, any theological doctrines starting point also depends on divine revelation recorded in the bible.

Relationship between philosophy and theology

It was not long before the deliverance of these two disciplines. The marriage between philosophy and theology led to the birth of philosophical theology. This meant that philosophy could be incorporated in theology or vise versa. It was more advantageous to employ philosophical concepts in persuading people to accept the theological teachings.

In most cases, it was difficult for people to plainly trust the divine revelation contained in religious scriptures. Therefore, philosophy through arguments succeeded in persuading people to accept that God truly exists (Murray and Rea par. 3). Philosophy could also be used by theologians in clearing up ambiguous theological claims (Murray and Rea par. 4). A good example is the case of Jesus Christ. The theological details revealed that Jesus existed in both human and divine nature.

The most contradicting question was; how did Jesus relate in these two natures on earth? At this point, theological claims cannot satisfactorily explain the contradiction. This is where distinctive philosophical techniques can be used in explaining logic on the contradiction. The marriage between philosophy and theology went on well throughout the entire 20th century. Nevertheless, towards the end of 20th century, the great divorce came about.

One of the contributing factors to the divorce between philosophy and theology was advanced education. This changed most theologians who previously depended on traditional Christian doctrine to interpret the scriptures (Murray and Rea par. 5). Most theologians were able to think and fluently speak about God. This advancement encouraged many of them to abandon the metaphysical methods of interpreting the divine revelation. The divorce was also steered on by the belief that all theological doctrines were meaningless.

According to the philosophers, any doctrines that did not have any empirical content were considered to be meaningless (Murray and Rea par. 5). The divorce did not last for long. After 40 years, theologians reconsidered the employment of contemporary philosophy in theology. Nevertheless, the use of philosophy was more eclectic as compared to how it was used during the St. Augustinian and Thomistic model era (Murray and Rea par. 5).

Roles of contemporary philosophical theology

The trinity theory

According to theological doctrines, Christians are all affirmed to the claim that there is only one God. In addition to this, Christians also believed that God exist in three forms. God the father, son and holly spirit (Murray and Rea par. 10). Each of them was considered to be God.

The argument facing the trinity statement was deeply puzzling. Critics argue that although the three persons are openly professed, in real life, people do not profess three substances but only one substance (Murray and Rea par. 10). In other words, every Christian believed in one God. According to the trinity, there were three Gods. Therefore, basing on philosophical theology, it is professed that there is only one God yet they exist in three (God the father, the son and the Holy Spirit) (Murray and Rea par. 11).

Cornelius Plantinga, a well known philosopher, suggested that the trinity statement possessed highly puzzling power. According to him, the trinity statement was an understatement. Due to this understatement, many critics across the world have challenged the statement.

This is because of the statements incoherence. Furthermore, many contradicting versions of the trinity have been created. The first group claimed that there was only one God. They argue that God the father, son and Holy Spirit are all distinct (Murray and Rea par. 12). They believe that there was only one identical God.

Critics further argue that if both the father and the son were identical, then the father by due to identity transitivity should also be identical to the son (Murray and Rea par. 12).

This was contradicting according to the theological teachings on holy trinity. Furthermore, another version suggested that; if both the father and the son were considered to be divine, then automatically, the father was distinct from the son (Murray and Rea par. 12). This generally concluded that there were two existing divine persons contrary to the theological doctrines.

Incarnation theory

The theological doctrine of incarnation revealed that over 2000 years ago, the second person in the holy trinity (the son) took a human nature and became distinct among humans on earth (Murray and Rea par. 24). According to the doctrines, the son came to earth in two natural forms; as human and as a holy divine.

The council of Chalcedon in the year 541 C.E also commented on the doctrine. The counsel supported the doctrines insisting that it respected the two natures without confusion. However, critics challenged the doctrine referring it to be impossible, absurd and self contradicting (Murray and Rea par. 24).

Philosophers argued that it was impossible for one person to bear two characteristics that were not compatible with each other logically. Critics analyzed the statement and justified that humans were created and that they possess limited natural power. Human beings according to the critics had limited knowledge and wisdom (James par. 2).

Therefore, it was impossible for a person to possess both human and divine natures. This was because, divine beings were considered to be superior since they created humans. Logically, it was impossible for one person to be both the creator and the created (Murray and Rea par. 24).

Theology through the kenotic view explained the possibility of accepting the bible passage. According to the passage, Jesus took a human form. Jesus was born, grew up and even died like human beings. All this happened to him though he was in divine form and God. Moreover, philosophers have strongly criticized the passage and challenged the logic of this doctrine. According to critics, it was impossible for the son of God to voluntarily abandon his divine responsibility and become human.

Atonement theory

Traditional Christian theology strictly binds to the fact that human beings once in their lifespan are liable to die. This is a direct separation from God that developed due to the sinful behaviors committed by humans. However, according to Christianity, humans have only one way to salvation. That is through the work of Jesus Christ (Murray and Rea par. 28). Jesus suffering progressed until his death on the cross. The theory of atonement explains in depth on how the entire life of Jesus contributes to human salvation (Murray and Rea par. 28).

Notable to mention is that, the theory of atonement was used both in philosophy and theology doctrines. However, the term was also considered not to be neutral. This is because it partially explained on how human salvation entailed. If it was not for the work of Jesus, then there would be no human salvation. The other theory that best describes the work of Jesus is the ransom theory. This theory was also known as the christus victor theory. The main idea stipulated by this theory was the victory of Jesus over sin and death.

Human beings were considered to be in bondage with devil and death. The most crucial information was the strong competition believed to exist between God and devil. The competition developed over human souls. The agreement between God and Devil was that any human committing a sin should dies. But because of Gods love for humans, he came up with the plan to save mankind. This is why Jesus Christ came to earth and lived and died among human to bring salvation. However, Philosophers strongly reject this theory. Critics have launched argument that it was impossible for God to enter into any competition with another being.

Moreover, critics have further challenged the fact that salvation only comes between God and devil (Murray and Rea par. 29). They claim that Jesus victory over devil was partly achieved via divine deception. The divinity of Jesus Christ was entirely kept a secret until his death.

Jesus surprisingly resurrected from the dead through his divine power. More critics have also challenged the fact that God can not forgive without punishment. According to philosophy, forgiveness basically involved rejection to demand reparation. Forgiveness also allowed offenders to go unpunished. Based on this information, critics have argued that it is totally impossible for one to substitute another person’s death penalty.

Conclusion

In summary, it is evident that philosophy can be used to interpret and explain theological doctrines. However, acceptance in this case depends on interpersonal faith.

Works Cited

. 2006. Web.

James, South. Philosophy and Theology. 1986. Web.

Luke, Muehlhauser. Why Philosophical Theology Fails. 2010. Web.

Murray, Michael and Rea, Michael. “Philosophy and Christian Theology” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2012). Edward N. Zalta (ed.) Web.

Peter, Kreeft. Why Study Philosophy and Theology?. 2009. Web.

2012. Web.

Religious Studies and Theology: The Old Testament

The Bible offers a collection of stories that explore past happenings involving God and his interactions with human beings. This book comprises two sections namely The New and Old Testaments. Even though, there are many Bible versions all of them offer similar coverage on past events. The Old Testament focuses on prophets and their relationships with God and human beings. On the other hand, the New Testament focuses on the work and life of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. In this reflection paper, a discussion is based on the story and encounters of Abraham as one of the greatest men in The Old Testament.

According to the readings “The Story of Abraham”, Abraham is regarded as the father and founder of today’s nations. From the outset, it should be noted that Abraham was a man of faith (The Patriarchs 139). He had unshaken faith in God starting from when his story begins to unfold in the Bible. God’s appearance to Abraham in a dream and advised him to wake up and travel to a foreign land is as strange as anything that can happen to human beings. However, Abraham was unshaken and did what God told him. Even though he never knew where he was going he pinned his hope in God to take him anywhere.

This reading, therefore, shows Abraham’s faith in God that supersedes all other personal issues (The Patriarchs 141). Abraham’s faith continues to develop, and his bond with God strengthens when he is asked to take his son to a place where he will offer sacrifice to God. Abraham did not hesitate or ask God where or what the sacrifice was. In addition, he was told to sacrifice his son, and he was ready to do so since he knew God will give him another son. Secondly, Abraham’s obedience is undoubted. He did everything he was told without hesitation or questions. This enabled Abraham to do everything according to how God wanted. The fact that Abraham left his homeland and went to a strange land shows obedience and trust in God (The Patriarchs 138). He was ready to sacrifice his son according to how God wanted regardless of the truth that he had Isaac as his only child. Despite his old age, God gave him a son called Isaac.

In addition, Abraham’s faith and obedience to God was rewarded with promises that until now continue to be fulfilled. Abraham has many descendants just like the number of stars in the sky. His nation and family continue to receive blessings long after his death. There was an unusual relationship between God and Abraham and this is a good reason to justify Abraham’s faith in God. On the other hand, Abraham went out of God’s way by trying to fulfill his promise. He gave false information regarding his relationship with Sarah in order to save his people. Even though, these actions were done ignorantly they were meant to strengthen his relationship with God.

Abraham was a man of faith and his actions were unequalled to those of his peers in the Bible. His relationship with God was without doubt one of the greatest in the Bible. Therefore, this proves Abrahams obedience, faith and respect for God’s word. Even though, Abraham did some “sinful” things they were for the best interest of his life and his covenant with God.

Dispensationalism: Is It Biblical?

History of Dispensation

The ideology of dispensation is one of the most significant aspects when it comes to religion. By definition, it is considered as a range of time where God tests human beings with regards to the respect and compliance to revelation or guidance of God’s will.

In other words, it is a time when God seeks to test the extent to which man obeys the revelation given to him in respect to God’s wills and intentions. From this definition, it is evident that dispensation has three critical and distinct aspects that define it.

First, dispensation embodies a revelation which seeks to provide knowledge about God’s will. In that regard, therefore, it implies that God provide insight concerning his intention for man to make decision in respect to whether he will obey or not.

The second aspects, which is portrayed in the definition, relates to the fact that God has allowed man the power of choice.

As such, the man is responsible of making the decision as to whether he will obey or neglect the revelation. Indeed, the idea of allowing man to make decision dates back to the time of creation when God permitted Adam to choose between good and bad deeds.

Thirdly, the definition of dispensation encompasses a period of time in which the revelation and the test prevails.

As such, during this period, God sustains the revelation in order to test whether man is prepared to act in accordance to God’s will. Indeed, the ideology of dispensation has evoked heated debates worldwide due to the differing perspectives in respect to its definition and components.

In addition, the clear difference between dispensation and covenant theology has evoked critical controversy bearing in mind the near similarity. With regards to these debates, this paper seeks to discuss some of the issues revolving around dispensation, including its history, biblical support, and biblical contravention among others.

The history of dispensation is quite deep and extensive in terms of scope and period. In this regard, dispensation dates back to 110-165 A.D during the reign of Justin Martyr (Couch 2000, 72). This was a strong believer who was persecuted in 165 A.D in Rome following his stringent and outspoken faith.

Justin displayed the ideals of dispensation because he believed in premillennialism. As such, he believed that Jesus will come back after one thousand literal years to pass judgment to the world. This implies that God will be evaluating humankind for the next 1000 years in order to test their obedience.

Indeed, if Jesus will come after the specified period to pass judgment, it means that the martyr believed in dispensation. This implication is based on the fact that the judgment cannot be passed without conducting a prior test.

In fact, it is evident that Justin used the bible as the basis of supporting and propagating the ideology of dispensation. He supported it by quoting the words of Isaiah because the prophet promised Israelites of the endless happiness in heaven.

This shows that Justin believed in the ideology of judgment where obedient people will be rewarded in heaven and the rest punished in hell.

Similarly, Irenaeus, who lived between 130 and 200, A.D, acknowledged the ideology of dispensation. However, the author did not acknowledge this aspect in direct terms or instilled the ideology of obedience. Instead, he made a clear distinction between the three covenants provided by God.

In this case, the acknowledgement of these covenants can be viewed as the revelation of God’s will. This is based on the fact the covenants were meant to provide instructions in respect to God’s will. Importantly, he acknowledged the new and old testaments as different as well as separate period of where God sought to intervene in human life.

As such, the acknowledgment of separate periods and revelation of God’s will is a characteristic of dispensation.

Clement of Alexandria furthered the ideology of dispensationalism in fairly specific and clear terms. In his work, the author sought to classify dispensation in terms of four phases of human activities. According to him, the first was Adamic dispensation where God tested the obedience of Adam in the garden of Aden (Dunn 2009, 87).

The second dispensation was manifested during the time of Noah when God decided to destroy the people due to extreme commitment of sins. The third dispensation was found during Abraham’s phase when the people of Israel were tested severally to determine their commitment to God.

Augustine closed this early age since he reigned between the 354 and 530 A.D. In his views, Augustine believed that the changes in the economy were part of God’s successive epochs (Hunt 1997, 143). Indeed, this was a perfect ideology of dispensation.

During the middle ages, Pierre was probably the earliest emerging dispensationalist in theology. In his case, however, the author did not approach dispensation from the previous Calvinistic perspective or the pre-millennial approach.

Instead, he focused on the various stages of human development, such as childhood, adulthood, and adolescence, as some of the dispensations set by God to reveal and test the obedience of human beings at different ages (Jecks 2007, 154).

Indeed, the stages were viewed as classification of specific biblical periods which essentially amounted to the millennial approach. After Pierre, John Edwards took over from 1637 to 1716 as the next dispensationalist. In his work, Edward adopted an extensive approach with respect to the issues of dispensation.

There are two interesting things that strengthen the ideology of dispensation in Edward’s work. First, he acknowledges that God has provided a finite limit to life. This implies that life will exit for a certain period of time. During this time, the author provides a step-by-step description of God’s plan for human kind.

Secondly, the author acknowledges the end of the world and earthly living. As such, however, the end of living on earth does not mean that the life of man will stop. Whereas the life of man will continue, it will be subjected to critical scrutiny. From a critical point of view, this evaluation will be based on the period lived on earth.

As such, the author includes all the aspects portrayed in the ideology of dispensation. In this case, it has a period during which God evaluates human kind in respect to whether they obey or disobey the Lord.

In addition, they will be evaluated on the basis of their own choices because, under dispensation, man has the stewardship to make decisions that inform God’s view.

During the same period and later, Isaac Watts envisaged dispensation from 1674 to 1748. Indeed, the author was more defined as to what dispensation encompassed. Although a close review of his outline shows that his views resemble the approaches of Scofield, he tried to provide an individual perspective.

In fact, the only difference between Scofield’s perspective and Isaac’s approach was the exclusion of millennialism as component of dispensation (Karnowski 2010, 75). In particular, his outline of dispensation included the Adamical period, Noahical era, the Abrahamical experience, the Mosaical factor as well as Christianity.

Inaddition, dispensation was manifested in the works of people such as John Nelson, Lewis Sperry, Charles Rayrie, Dwight Pentecost as well as John Walvoord. All these people supported the ideology of dispensation by portraying certain beliefs.

As such, it is evident that the history of dispensation if far-reaching in nature bearing in mind that it started as early as A.D 110. In fact, there have been arguments that the ideology of dispensation is very recent in the history of the world. However, this analysis shows that dispensation is an extensive and deeply rooted aspect in theology.

As such, the problem with some analysts lies in their incapability to analyze behavior appropriately in order to determine whether it manifests dispensation or not. Indeed, it is understandable that author may not have talked about it directly.

As such, their close and critical review of their behaviors is necessary in order to notice the portrayal of dispensation.

Biblical Support for Dispensation

The bible shows vast and extensive support for the ideology of dispensation both in the old and new testaments. First, portrayal of dispensation in the bible appears in the story of creation. In this chapter, God created man in his own image in order to protect the garden of Aden and to cultivate it.

However, God put a restriction which was essentially intentional in nature (Paley 2006, 98). As such, the direct instructions from God to Adam can be taken as the revelation of God’s will to man. In that regard, he expected the man to obey the instructions and keep away from the tree at the center of the garden.

However, the Satan in form of a snake misled Adam on the basis that he could become more knowledgeable if he ate the fruits. This was a real test directed to Adam to decide and choose whether he could obey God or go against his will. However, Adam chose the adversary so that he was forced to work in order to eat.

The story of Abraham was a very important and direct portrayal of dispensation in the bible. Indeed, the nature of Abraham’s test is a straightforward indication that God tests man to determine their obedience. In this case, Abraham was required to make a sacrifice for God at far place from home.

God instructed him to sacrifice his only son who was born after many years of struggle. Indeed, it could be hard for a typical human being to agree. However, Abraham took Isaac, a bunch of firewood, and started the journey to the place of sacrifice. When Isaac questioned of the sheep of sacrifice, his father told him that God would provide later.

Once they reached the destination, Abraham and Isaac prepared the altar for sacrifice. When he laid Isaac on the altar, God stopped him and provided a sheep. This was a clear indication that God engages in dispensation where he reveals the will and tests mankind’s obedience.

Another important and critical story which supports the ideology of dispensation is the experience and the test of Job. Indeed, this is another direct indication that God tests people in order to determine their faithfulness to him. In his experience, Satan approached God and claimed that Job was not essentially faithful to God.

As part of challenge, Satan asked for permission to test the faith and obedience of Job. As such, God allowed Satan to test Job by inflicting pain and suffering.

However, despite the bodily suffering and the disappearance of wealth, Job remained faithful to God and his will. In fact, his wife advised him to insult this God because she thought that the Lord had forsaken Job. However, Job remained steadfast and focused all through the period of suffering (Penney 2001, 167).

As such, his obedience led to the doubling of his wealth and reinstatement of his earlier position as far as health and other factors were concerned. This story shows that God provides tests to human beings in order to test their faithfulness. In the story of Job, it is evident that Job was conversant with the will of God.

As such, he was mandated to make a choice to either abandon it or obey him. In this case, Job obeyed the will of God as opposed to Adam who agreed to eat the forbidden fruit despite the instruction from God.

The experience of the Israelites in the wilderness is yet another illustration that shows the bible supporting dispensation from a critical point of view. In this experience, Moses was given a chance to take them from Egypt to Canaan. However, the journey was too long and difficult in nature.

At a point, Moses was called by God at the mountain to get the commandments. However, he stayed for a considerable amount of time without coming back to the Israelites (Sanders 2001, 57). Due to the lengthy period that Moses stayed at the mountain, the people of Israel decided to make a god with the resemblance of a calf.

Indeed, the people of Israel knew that God had saved them from many challenges. He provided manna from heaven during the time of hunger and enabled them to pass through the red sea. In addition, he helped them to escape the wrath of the Egyptian soldiers when they fled the land of slavery.

As such, they basically knew that God was their savior and because the entire deeds of God were meant to act as a revelation to them. In addition, they were allowed to choose between patience and the use of other Gods. However, they chose the wrong path because they decided to make a god against the well of God.

In the same script, Moses was subjected to a critical test which determined his fate as far as the Israelites were concerned. In this case, Moses was given the Ten Commandments by God written on a tablet. However, when he reached at the bottom of the mountain, he was shocked at the Israelites’ decision to pray the artificial god.

This irritated him until he decided to break the tablet provided to him by God. Moses actions did not please God because he went against the will of the Lord and broke the commandments which should have been relayed to the Israelites.

As such, he was subjected to a test in which he failed and God punished him by ensuring that he did not reach Canaan.

Lastly, the Bible’s story of Noah was a portrayal of how the bible supports the ideology of dispensation.

During this time, the people had sinned against the will of God and chose to go against the Ten Commandments. Indeed, God gave them a chance to either worship idles or stand by him but they chose to continue with the sinful acts (Wilkinson 2003, 43).

As a result, they were destroyed using water and that only a few animals were allowed to enter the Noah. This is manifestation of dispensation in the sense that God passed a judgment based on at test which was failed by the people.

Biblical Support against Dispensation

The New Testament seems to break the ideology of dispensation in various direct and indirect ways. Indeed, the teaching of Christ changed the perception of dispensation and replaced it with other philosophies. First, Jesus advanced the ideology of forgiveness with a view to change the Christian’s mentality.

In this case, Christ imparted the idea that God is forgiving in nature (Beach 2007, 87). This implies that God does not cling to punish his people for the mistakes they do. Instead, he seeks to bring Christians closer to him. As such, this philosophy invalidates the entire idea of God’s tendency to test humanity.

Understandably, if God is forgiving, he will tend to reveal more about himself to the human race. Indeed, the idea of forgiveness also prevents the extensive thought that God keeps of tempting human kind. In this regard, Jesus taught the disciple how to pray.

In the prayer, Christians pray to God not to put them into temptations but deliver them from sins.

Secondly, the coming of Christ was a fundamental undertaking that invalidated the idea of dispensation. In this case, it is evident that Jesus was sent to die on the cross and save human kind. In this sense, therefore, God sent his son to liberate the human race from earthly sins.

This implies that God has the will to save his people rather than punishing them. It shows that God understand the weaknesses of human beings and considers them as sinners. It is for that reason he sent his only begotten son to liberate the entire humankind from sins.

As such, it implies that God is not a testing God. Instead, he is a God who is prepared to save his people from darkness and sins. In fact, it is an indication that God understands the inability of human being to make perfect decisions.

As such, it is not within his best interest or priority to test people and punish them based on their decisions.

Fundamentally, the seven sacraments also contravene the ideology of dispensation in critical ways. As stated before dispensation concentrates on testing and allowing people to make their decisions in order to reward or punish people.

On the other hand, the seven sacraments present God in manner that portrays his willingness to guide and save human race. For example, baptism is one of the sacraments that seek to cleanse the original sins committed by Adam during creation when he ate the forbidden fruit.

This implies that God sets out to cleanse the human sin rather than to tempt Christians. The Eucharist seeks to form a direct connection between Christians and the God. This implies that God has opened his doors to human race and made the more capable.

Indeed, the human race has become more empowered due to the Eucharistic connection with God. Importantly, the coming of Christ was an evangelical factor of theology which weakened the ideology of dispensation.

In this case, God enabled his only son to preach to people in order to increase human understanding about God. In addition, he left his disciples to propagate his word across the world and redeem the human understanding about God.

Discussion of Effects on Premillennialists, Postmillennialists and Amillennialists

The ideology of dispensation supports the perspective of premillennialists in an extensive way. In essence, it is evident that premillennialists believe that Jesus will come before 1000 years in order to pass judgment to human race based on the choices and decisions they made in life (Booke 2009, 48).

In that line of thought, therefore, dispensation supports the perspective of premillennialists because it shares the idea that God tests people over a given period of time. As such, dispensation strengthens the premillennialists’ ideology in terms of testing, judgment and time limit.

The same case happens when it comes to the postmillennialists because they also believe in the coming of Jesus and the passing of Judgment. It follows, therefore, that Jesus will come to pass his judgment to humankind based on the decisions that people made during the time of test.

On the other hand, amillennialists hold an essentially different view as compared to the premillennialists and postmillennialists. In this case, amillennialists consider the 1000 years that were mentioned in the book of revelation to symbolize a given time which is not necessarily literal.

Whereas the amillennialists differ from the other two, they agree that Jesus will come to judge humankind (Brown 2003, 124). As such, it implies that the dispensation strengthens the ideology of amillennialists too.

Conclusion

It is evident that the Old Testament supports the ideology of dispensation where God tests human beings based on whether they obey his will in accordance to his revelation.

In this case, it is evident that the Moses, Abraham, Job, and Adam were put under tests by God in order to determine whether they obeyed him. In this case, Abraham, and Job passed the test of obedience and they were awarded accordingly.

On the other hand, Moses and Adam failed the test of God and they were punished for the decision they made. In particular, Adam was punished by putting him under a condition where he must work and sweat in order to eat. Moses was punished when he was denied the opportunity to reach Canaan which was the Promised Land.

In addition, it was noted that the ideology of dispensation has a deeps and extensive history. This finding was contrary to many believes which indicated that this is a new theological aspect. In this case, it was noted that the aspect of dispensation date back to the A.D 110 during the reign of Justin.

In that regard, therefore, Justin and other early believers made the framework of the modern and post-modern dispensation. Lastly, dispensation has strengthened the ideologies of premillennialists, amillennialists, and post-millennialists. Dispensation and these ideologies converge on the basis of judgment.

In this regard, they believe that Christ will come after or before 1000 years to pass judgment to human beings.

Bibliography

Beach, Mark. Christ and the Covenant: Francis Turretin’s Federal Theology as a Defense of the Doctrine of Grace. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2007.

Booke, Paula. Politics of the Apocalypse: The Effect of Premillennial Eschatology on American Political Behavior. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2009.

Brown, Alan. Christianity. London: Chrysalis Education, 2003.

Couch, Mal. An Introduction to Classical Evangelical Hermeneutics: A Guide to the History and Practice of Biblical Interpretation. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2000.

Dunn, Craig. The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times: A Discussion of the Last Days for Latter-day Saints. Orem, Utah: Granite Publisher, 2009.

Hunt, Julian. Points to Ponder: Premillennialists Who Teach Things That Are Not Taught by Other Premillennialists. Jeffersonville, Ind.: Julian Publishers, 1997.

Jecks, Michael. Dispensation of Death. London: Headline, 2007.

Karnowski, William J. Dispensation. New York: Universe, 2010.

Paley, William. Natural Theology Or, Evidence of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Penney, Sue. Christianity. Chicago, Ill.: Heinemann Library, 2001.

Sanders, Carl. The Premillennial Faith of James Brookes: Reexamining the Roots of American Dispensationalism. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2001.

Wilkinson, Philip. Christianity. New York: DK Publisher, 2003.

Holy Trinity: A Modern Theological Approach

The concept of the Trinity of God’s person is developed by Cornelius Plantinga as an attempt to revive this religious idea. The Trinity as an image is at the heart of the Christian concept, but it gradually fell out of use throughout the 19th century. The concept of the Trinity is revealed by the theologian using the example of the structural analysis of the Gospel of John. This is a famous New Testament text describing Christ in the metaphysical categories of eternal values ​​”Word-Wisdom-Reason.” Plantinga analyzes the compositional elements of the text and discovers a certain dynamic in Gospel. According to Plantinga, John’s Gospel provides the reader with crude material that, through patterns of reflection and internal pressure, successfully captures the presence of God in life.

Fred Sanders, theologian, and editor of various companions in Christian Theology, set out to develop Plantinga’s description and deduce a conceptual framework from these metaphors. “Raw material” for Sanders is nothing more than the naked presence of spiritual entities in the text of John. If Gospel were limited to this, claims Sanders, the entire Christian concept would be reduced to the existence of separate divine personalities, similar to ancient mythologies.

However, “patterns of reflection” turn a mythological text into a religious-philosophical one since John asks epistemic and logical questions about the relationship of three essences. Through reflection, the metaphysical equality of Christ to two other entities is established. But this also happens due to pressure, which, according to Sanders, implies a feat not only of faith but also of philosophical perception. To be able to think of God as simultaneously containing the world and at the same time showing a clearly expressed personality.

Despite an appeal to a senior religious scholar, Fred Sanders is convinced that religious studies in relation to the doctrine of the Trinity are in deep crisis. He refuses to list any noteworthy names of his contemporaries in his monographs. The theologian claims that the Trinity has become something in the spirit of presupposition, that is, a concept from which meaning has been taken away, leaving only a shell, a term. Only by reflecting on these polysemantic images and applying them to the surrounding life and one’s own perception is it possible to experience God in life. Trinity for Sanders is the absolute harmony of all-encompassing love that finds comfort in being multiple and one at the same time.

21st-century theologian John Feinberg offers his unique perspective on the Trinity power alignment. The researcher revises classical texts based on the idea of ​​the ontological presence of God himself. According to many traditional texts, for example, Byzantine, God exists “in himself.” At the same time, man encounters him “economically” – through the Son and the Holy Spirit. Feinberg considers this concept unconvincing and puts forward his own hierarchy, in which God lies behind the Trinity. God is at the heart of the Father, and so is the situation with the Son and the Holy Spirit.

God appears to be an even more powerful but even less visible essence, and the significance of each of the elements of the Trinity is thus downplayed. By rejecting the eternal presence of the Son and the Holy Spirit in human life, Feinberg runs the risk of rhetorically depriving them of their relevance for modern society, striking a blow to collective faith. The researcher uses a hierarchical structure aimed at separation much more than unity, so his ideas deviate significantly from Plantinga’s concept.

The concept of the Trinity is deeply philosophical in itself and requires not only thoughtfulness but the ability to reflect and ask questions. The beauty and perfection of the concept of the Divine Trinity can be discussed in church meetings and provide motivation to talk about God and learn about the purpose. Religious texts, on the basis of which modern theologians develop the concept of the Trinity, are considered one of the highest points of knowledge of Christ. The doctrine of the Trinity, in all its mysteriousness and metaphysical complexity, should stimulate the religious person to study the Bible. It is by meaningfully working with the biblical text and looking for answers to philosophical dilemmas in it that not only faith but also the consciousness of a religious person can be strengthened.

Another innovation of Plantinga was that the theologian drew an interesting analogy between the Trinity of divine essences and the social order on Earth. Moved by love and action, divine unity appears as a single Personality, including literally everything. It is safe to say that such a sociological approach to the concept of Trinity found its distribution in the 20th century. This metaphor can be applied to the relationship of oneness between God, humans, and the Christian Church. Unity, perceived on a symbolic and practical level, implies the work of a coherent social mechanism. The doctrine of the Trinity is able to unite Christians not only within one church parish but also on a more global level of a common religious mission.

Bibliography

Armstrong, Aaron. Book Review: “The Deep Things of God” by Fred Sanders. Blogging Theologically (2010): Web.

Horrell, J. Scott. “The Eternal Son of God in the Social Theory in Jesus” in Trinitarian Perspective: An Introductory Christology ed. Fred Sanders (Tennessee: B&H, 2007): 46-79

Morrison, John. D. Review of “No One Like Him” by John S. Feinberg. Liberty University (2003): Web.

Sanders, Fred. . The Scriptorium Daily (2014): Web.

Sanders, Fred. The State of the Doctrine of Trinity in Evangelical Theology. Southwestern Journal of Theology 47, no. 2 (2005): 153-176

Sexton, Jason S. The State of the Evangelical Trinitarian Resurgence. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54, no. 4 (2011): 787-805

Chapters 1-12 in Frame’s Systematic Theology

Key Learning from Chapters 1-12 in Frame’s Systematic Theology

Chapters 1-12 from John Frame’s Systematic Theology provide the background for understanding the idea of theology in general and systematic theology in particular and present the information on the basic definitions, the Biblical Story, and the Doctrine of God. This reflection paper provides the detailed discussion of significant points learnt from Chapters1-12 of Frame’s book.

The first part of the book is “Introduction to Systematic Theology”. Chapter 1 titled as “What Is Theology” is important to explain the approach to theology used in the whole book. I have learnt that it is important to remember that definitions, in spite of being long and short, are the products of theologians, and many of them are rarely found in Scripture.

I received the opportunity to focus on different kinds of theology and determine the aspects characteristic for the systematic theology. For instance, referring to the systematic approach, today I can learn what the Bible tells about the effectual calling while focusing on the words of Jesus, Paul, and others on the topic1. From this point, the systematic theology is important to teach the words of the Bible as the net of significant concepts.

Chapters 2 and 3 titled as “The Lord” and “God’s Lordship as a Unique Worldview” provided me with the opportunity to think about the importance of themes related to theology. Thus, I have learnt that God’s Lordship should be discussed as the central topic of theology.

However, I have also learnt that there are many critics of this statement, and not all the theologians discuss God’s Lordship as the central topic. Now, I can state that God’s Lordship is the central concept, all the other concepts in Scripture are perceived through the ideas that God as the creator is absolute, tripersonal, transcendent, and immanent. I have understood that if God is transcendent, God is also immanent because of His unique nature.

The second part of the book is important because it presents the Biblical Story described and analyzed in three chapters. According to Chapter 4 “The Lord’s Covenants”, systematic theology is based on the analysis of one topic with references to different passages and descriptions presented in the Bible, and the Bible is composed of many literature genres such as narratives, hymns, and apocalyptic2. As a result, there are three Biblical themes which are the Lord’s Covenants, the Kingdom of God, and the Family of God.

I received the opportunity to focus on the relationship in the covenants, the Kingdom of God, and the Family of God separately. The book discusses all the covenants in detail, and I can concentrate on their universal and stable character. The Bible is the story of covenants, but it should be discussed while analyzing the Kingdom of God and the Family of God.

Now, I can stress on God the King and Christ the King, and a kingdom of law and a kingdom of gospel, according to Luther3. I also focused on the family image related to God, and this knowledge is important for me to conclude about God’s Lordship as the unique phenomenon discussed in theology.

In the third part of the book titled as “The Doctrine of God”, I focused on chapters 7-12. I have learnt the details associated with such important concepts as miracle, providence, creation, and decrees as God’s acts and on love and goodness as God’s attributes. Chapters on miracle, providence, creation, and decrees impressed me significantly because I am interested in these topics during a long period of time.

Thus, I have learnt that the person’s knowledge of God’s attributes depends on the knowledge of His acts4. It is important to see at miracles not only as exceptions in relation to the natural law but also as the evidences to state God’s grace. The miracle as an act is immediate and extraordinary. The acts of providence are of the holy and wise nature5. Persons pay much attention to miracles and events of providence, and now I can explain their significance from the perspective of systematic theology.

Creation is one of the most controversial questions in theology, and I have learnt how to answer this question while referring to Chapter 10 of Frame’s book titled as “The Acts of the Lord: Creation”. Frame’s discussion added to my vision of creation as the act of creating the world which is closely associated with the concepts of worship, redemption, and lordship6.

The question of God’s decrees is also problematic, and Chapter 11 helped me look at the eternal decrees as normative in a way because they determine the order of events. These ides contribute to improving my knowledge of the topic.

Chapter 12 titled as “God’s Attributes: Love and Goodness” is one of the most interesting in the book because it helps understand the nature of God’s love in the context of such ideas as the language of God’s love, the love’s extent, God’s saving love, and grace7. I have learnt that God’s love is always associated with God’s grace in people’s minds, but the nature of God’s love is more complex.

The information presented in Chapters1-12 of John Frame’s Systematic Theology provided me with the opportunity to use the systematic approach to discussing the concepts retrieved from the Bible.

Bibliography

Frame, John. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief. USA: P&R Publishing, 2013.

Footnotes

1 John Frame, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (USA: P&R Publishing, 2013), 12.

2 Frame, Systematic Theology, 55.

3 Ibid., 97.

4 Frame, Systematic Theology, 123.

5 Ibid., 144.

6 Ibid., 189.

7 Ibid., 234.

Chapters 23-32 in John Frame’s “Systematic Theology”

While focusing on Part IV “The Doctrine of the Word of God” and Part V “The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God” from John Frame’s Systematic Theology, it is possible to note that these parts are helpful to understand how people perceive God’s Word and how they form their knowledge of God. This reflection paper provides the proper discussion of key points learnt from Chapters 23-32 of Frame’s book.

Part IV of the book is titled as “The Doctrine of the Word of God”, and the ways to receive, perceive, and understand God’s words are discussed in Chapters 23-28. I have learnt from Chapter 23 “God and His Word” that the divine word is not only in the written or verbal form, but it is in the acts. Thus, the Word is the attribute of God, and this idea is closely associated with such important phenomena as creation and providence1.

Those people who have learnt the Word of God are not the same anymore. Chapter 24 “God Speaks to Us in Events and Words” provides more details to understand the fact. Thus, I have learnt that there are many ways in which the Word comes to people, and they are human words or historic events, and natural events. These ways are the media for revelation2.

It is stated in Chapter 25 “God’s Written Words” that the prophets who heard the divine voice represented their knowledge in the written word. From this point, it is also the direct Word from God. Referring to Chapter 26 “The Nature of Scripture”, I can state that God’s Word is truth in its nature because the principles of infallibility and inerrancy are followed in Scripture3. Now, I understand that I can discuss Scripture as the reflection of God’s direct words.

Chapter 27 “From God’s Lips to Our Ears” and Chapter 28 “From the Text to Our Hearts” are very interesting and important for me because they present the information on the ways of receiving and understanding God’s Word. I received the opportunity to understand that God’s Word comes directly to prophets who write it, and these copies are extremely important for believers.

Although many autographs are lost, God uses many media to come to the person’s heart4. I can guess that the reason is in the fact that Scripture includes the message that comes directly to the believer’s heart and mind.

I have learnt from Part V “The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God” how God and person can know each other. In Chapter 29 “God and Our Knowledge”, it is stated that God knows everyone in spite of the personality’s aspects. Thus, there are many perspectives from which God can see the person.

That is why, there are no ideas or acts which can be unnoticed. Our knowledge of God is more limited, but we need to know more about God in order to learn more about us. In Chapters 30-32, there are ideas on how people can learn more about God5. I have learnt that the human heart, mind, intuition, and imagination are the strong sources to learn more about God and to understand the revelation principle.

There are many important facts presented in Chapters 23-32 of John Frame’s Systematic Theology which provide the important framework to conclude about God’s Word and the roots of the knowledge. The chapters provided me with the opportunity to understand how the persons can learn more about their nature and the nature of God.

Furthermore, I have realized that the knowledge of God and the knowledge of a man are interconnected, and the most important information associated with the divine word can come with the help of the human words, written words, and natural and historic events.

Bibliography

Frame, John. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief. USA: P&R Publishing, 2013.

Footnotes

1 John Frame, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (USA: P&R Publishing, 2013), 520.

2 Frame, Systematic Theology, 536.

3 Ibid., 596.

4 Frame, Systematic Theology, 638.

5 Ibid., 739.

Biblical Context of Women and Theology

Introduction

Women have portrayed significant roles on theological issues in modern world. Major issues such as; environmental, politics and women ordination have largely played an epicenter for women theologians. This paper will discuss women theological issues. The focus will encompass; assessment of women ordination, diaconate and empirical biblical view. Further, the paper will embrace modern religions and the role of women theology.

Ordination of Women

The challenge of women ordination is a theological question in contemporary ministries. According to Sawyer (158), the conventional theology of orders embraced by theologians was articulated to reflect church practices and understanding. However, the practices have still persisted in modern practices and largely appears to appropriate with conventional theory. Without ordination in the early church, neither man nor woman would be assigned responsibilities equivalent to modern laymen and women in executing his or her duties (Sawyer, 177).

Ordination is termed as a process in which a person is consecrated, in other words, it is a process in which a person is entrusted with responsibilities in executing or administering religious rites or duties. Women consecration is a contentious issue in religious groups or denominations where either the ritual of consecration or the role of an ordained person accomplishes (Sawyer, 259). The ordination rite has traditionally been a preserve for a man basing on cultural proscriptions and theological canons.

Biblical Context of Women and Theology

The New Testament in recognizing the old covenant refers to priesthood as a preserve for male. The practice was anchored on strong guidelines of Hebrew masculine society. This indicates that women did not posses a religious or political privilege in Israel. The interpretation of this statement may seem wanting but women marginalization in formal worship may have been attributed to being sanctified prostitutes in antique Canaanite sects. However, it can be attested that several rites froths that women were exposed to and susceptible legislations limited women from ascending to priesthood. Besides, “Male-controlled” conjecture of early Israelites was also re-enforced by firm mystical elucidations of “compliance of women to men” (Clifford, 69).

New Testament brings in a new theological perspective of women ordination. According to Isherwood (69), it is noted that, Christianity spread quickly because of strong patriarchal inclination. It did not favor the imperative of social and public roles of women. The Leviticus doctrines in the Old Testament contributed to patristic replication on Christian ministry. To illustrate this point, Isherwood explains that, Christian ministers were not referred to as “priest” till the third century(68).The ascription of “priest” is linked to two major growths; the tendency in distinguishing the establishment of old and New Testament and elucidation of sacrificial context of Eucharist. Therefore, a priest was asserted as a person who directed sacrifice of the Eucharist. In the New Testament, priesthood was engulfed with codes, laws, philosophies and practices which replicated the sacral context of Old Testament. One of these phenomenon was perception of sacral cleanliness as a compromise when charming definite actions. These actions encompassed sexual powers. Isherwood (107) states that, this laid a basis for growth of church laws regarding religious continence which, on the other hand, served to limit the notion of women priests from actively taking role in church matters because they were seen as unclean than men.

Women Deacons

The difficulty in affirming the extent to which the term diaconate” means or the connotation of the rite by which women were ordained to diaconate is challenging to fix. The Roman Catholic for several centuries admitted women in this order by ordination. The practice of ordination was similar to the one practiced on men (Isherwood, 89).However, women diaconal ministry was limited than that of men, they were limited to duties or ministries which were less inappropriate for men. In this case, women diaconate was favored in administering the sacrament of orders. Besides, women ministry was preserved for a “diaconate of service” non-liturgical and non sacramental ministry (Isherwood, 72).

Creation

The New Testament explains that, men are “leaders” and women are subordinated to them hence this equally applies to a church setting. Thus, ordination was a preserve for men not women. Paul notes in 1cor 14:3-12, it was the divine order of creation for subordination of women to men. He builds his basis on the fact that, man was created for woman and not the other way (Hinsdale, 54). This establishes a link between the order of mediation and subordination. Further, Hinsdale alleges that, the authority of power progresses from God, man and woman in a descending order. These explanations provide basis as to why women may not conduct prayers or prophesy with a veiled head.

World Religions and Women Theology

Chinese Culture

According to the Chinese culture, the society viewed the men as the dominant superior beings, this contributed to Confucianism. Cosmic order was conserved in religious matters such as sanctity of the family and ancestral spirits worship. Women were theoretical in streamlining the galactic order (Sharma, 129). The society greatly

supported the biological responsibilities of a woman. The role of women was analyzed by their conformity to social circles and exemplifying the traditions governing their sexual life. Failure to abide by the values in an ethnic group resulted to harsh treatments and cruelty by the society (Sharma, 72).

A vast number of women in the lower ethnic religions were governed by the trends in the society and religion. A clear set of norms and values was in place for the society to clearly distinguish a ‘man’s world’ from a woman’s. All these were about rituals. Women were not allowed to voice their opinions. For instance, only boys would attend school while girls at a tender age often years were initiated into young women and were expected to learn how to behave like women (Borg, 69). Women were collectively regarded as a unit rather than being based as individuals and a ritual code was in place to judge their behaviors. Women were viewed as home keepers and were supposed to be prudent (Sharma, 152). The fame of a woman was measured by her career path growth and the number of concubines and husbands she possessed.A faithful woman was respected more than an unfaithful one. A woman’s sexual desire was an object of both condemnation and envy from the men. But only those women who were capable of conception and motherhood were susceptible to religion and were free to express their opinions. It created unfairness among ethnic religions and discrimination against unprivileged women who had low self esteem (Borg, 190).

An unmarried woman and one who could not conceive were independent on the society thus subjected to cruelty from both the male and their fellow women, contrary to their fertile counterparts who were dependent. According to Sharma (187), barrenness was seen as a major setback to a woman punishable by God. The society positively regarded women who adhered to social ways and exercised sexual values. Failure to adhere to family values led to a woman being accused of indulging to wicked ways. The ethnic religions, which depended on particularism, faced threats due to identity issues. For instance, all Jews had to be converted into Judaism. The need of loyalty and unity gave birth to universalism with the kingdoms coming into place. Women had a voice in the initial reforms and had direct involvement with the group experiences and marriage was sacramentalized as affirmed by Sharma (149). Universalism reduced the effect of male chauvinism as it put emphasis on equality to religion. Women were no longer viewed simply as homemakers and mothers.

Islam

According to Islamic, marriage is seen as normative. Islam clearly defined and outlined the roles of men and women. The categorical disarray of the roles of men and women formed a basis of Islamic law. The holy Quran view men to be superior to women and expected them to act as protectors. Women were viewed as homemakers and source of property when it came to bride price (Sharma, 235). The women had to cover themselves with a veil and be hidden from the public glare. The mosque and any other formal place was a limited go zone for women. All this took a new leaf when Prophet Mohammed discovered that Islam women even without soliciting them they were strongly committed to him (Clifford, 89). This made him to come up with reforms which improved women’s position. It was also observed that through dancing and singing, they motivated the warriors during wars. Henceforth, the women were viewed as no lesser gender to men.

Vigil (78) points out that, the equality points are firmly emphasized in the holy Quran which quotes that before God’s eyes, all men and women are equal. Islam was an open forum to reforms, for instance, women could keep dowry, determine her husbands’ number of wives, abolish female infanticide and granted permission to inherit (Sharma, 237). Purdah showcased clearly that men were superior to their women counterparts and segregation was taking roots. Thus, women were stopped from being modest in the public view and their bodies’ veiled while in public. In order to protect their identity. Purdah customs ensured control and protection of women whether far away from home or near. The Arabs resolved to selfishly protect their women. Islam also proposed direct access to God and the marriage stage was seen as a must.

Christianity

According to Christianity, clarity had not been established yet as to the findings so far reached. Christianity began as a reform and belonged to middle range scale. Two conflicting views were realized, one stating the equality of the two human genders while the other dictating that men are dominant over women in all aspects of life. The entire family was brought into the limelight implying how Christianity valued the family life (Sharma, 222). In Christianity, women were involved in other roles which were previously viewed as men’s such as evangelizing, teaching, leading congregations and prophesying. Men view powerful and independent women as a major threat that needed to be closely watched and controlled.There was a constant emergence of conflicts which were either resolved by either hanging or a trial.

To counter these problems, men would come up with stern measures such as killing defiant women in order to regain control over them.Whenever massive killings took place, the protesting women would flee the scene to be missionaries in different areas and carry on with their duties (Vigil, 109).During this constant relocation process they met and partnered with fellow women from different churches with similar agendas. These women were faced with a lot of hindrances but they managed to overcome them due to their commitments to their work. They regarded their mission with utmost seriousness it needed but male resistance was strongly felt mostly at their homes and in their local churches. The men resolved to brutally define women’s role in the house and implement equality measures in marginalized communities. In the whole protestant community, the male gender was dominant but in other denominations, the female gender was the majority (Vigil, 98).

Buddhism

Buddhism doctrine speculates it as being democratic. Buddhism had a preference of simplicity but they also hold strong family ties. Both the male and their female counterparts were looked upon as being equal but the male gender was accorded high esteem. The monastic order was put in place for women and with it came an additional eight rules for the control of monks and safeguarding of authority. Tantra had a positive influence on women as it permitted appropriate religious roles and activities which were viewed as men’s obligations (Sharma, 88). Tantra reversed preset cultures and presented women with alternative measures to the normative measures of religion.

A number of high class and independent women could not participate in Tantra due to its radical stance. Majority of women were previously regarded as lay people but they were later transformed into siddhas (accomplished ones) (Sharma, 128).Basically, the principal of fairness and equality was displayed; despite the fact that monks disregarded women whenever it came to issues of power and leadership.The first priority was fulcrum to the male gender and his ways but it also attracted women. Over the evolving years, Buddhism has been perceived as a religion though it initially started as a reform. Women, as mothers were highly regarded in the society though neither marriage nor motherhood was highly accorded (Clifford, 113). The woman was seen as a giver which was employed in her daily kitchen operations.Buddhists believed in life after death and the women figure was also included in salvation which, they held, took place in some future birth (Sharma, 131).

Women were generally viewed as a channel of continuity through procreation. Simplicity was highly regarded in Buddhism because of their belief that it brings salvation. Buddhist Tantra, the leading among Buddhist learning institutions, had recorded enormous statistics of highly ranked female teachers and practitioners. A female siddha (accomplished ones) has an option of denouncing traditionally her feminine duties contrary to a female tantric (Sharma, 128). A woman would in a nuns order find a home, practice religion and exercise her scholarly talents. The co-existing relationship between the female gender and nature led to an improved status of women. Despite the fact that a monastic order and spiritual equality was put in place, the status of the nuns was eventually lost. Buddhism eventually disappeared due to the order for women, and its place was taken by Hinduism. Nuns were blamed by the monks for the fall of Buddhism.

Taoism

Taoism was a general substitute of Confucianism. It was in direct contact with the people at the ground levels. Confucianism controlled women but with the emergence of Taoism, a relief for women was realized. Taoism had a great impact on the image of a woman. According to Ruether(52),woman was clearly distinguished from a male based on their sexuality and anatomical structure though they were not accorded due consideration. Immortal beings were free to have sex.

In Taoism, women were regarded as models. The symbolisms of feminism such as water, river gorge valley and mother could highly be linked to darkness, openness, moistness and concavity of a woman reproductive system and the womb. These symbols were to measure against the aspects of male dominance that was extreme in the political control Ruether (160). In Taoism women were in a position to reach great heights and achieve all eight grades of perfection. Women were in a position to own a monastery, play key roles as shamanistic agents and be very successful alchemists. Taoism based as a perfect ground for women to measure up against Confucianism but neo-Confucianism was very harsh to women.

Conclusion

The power of religion can be compared to the power of nature, where a woman’s contribution determines the overall result of a performance. Women in the present day society are engaged in various ministries in the church than ordained women deacons than it would have been done in ancient church. This is where the unordained” frequently performed once only the “ordained” could frequently do. Women have contributed significantly in modern Christian churches in areas of; preaching, pastoral duties and teaching.

Most people in Anglican, Roman Catholic or Orthodox would be satisfied to “ordain” women to these ministries. The crusade for ordination of women is a shift inclined in exerting importance of sacramental ministry in the church and the festivity of the Eucharist.

Works Cited

Borg, Marcus J. The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering A Life Of Faith. California: San Francisco, 2004.

Clifford, Anne M. Introducing Feminist Theology. Michigan: University of Michigan.

Hinsdale, Mary Ann. Women Shaping Theology New York: Paulist Press, 2006.

Isherwood, Lisa. Introducing Feminist Christologies New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001.

Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Integrating Ecofeminism, Globalization, and World Religions. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.

Sawyer, Mary R. The Church on the Margins: Living Christian Community. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003.

Sharma, Arvind. Women in World Religions New York: SUNY Press, 1987.

Vigil, José M. Theology of Religious Pluralism.Berlin: LIT Verlag Münster, 2008.

Foundations of the Living Science of Moral Theology

Whether God really exists or not is something beyond human conception. However, this belief has lived with human beings since time immemorial. People have ever since live with the conception that God exists such that people tend to associate everything happening in their lives.

In most cases, the existence of god is questioned during difficult times or calamities. Further, the inequalities that have persisted with human nature put to the fore the Christian teachings that God care for all that everyone are equal before God.

Moreover, those things that are beyond human explanation are directly related to the super natural nature of god

Gennaro, like those who have gone through difficulties also questioned the existence of God. In the novel, he criticized the inequalities that are ever present in human existence. He asked why he could undergo such problems yet others just like him are doing better.

He questioned the care that god provide to humans and the equality before the eyes of God. However, after facing such difficulties he came to realize that God works in different ways.

Moreover, Gennaro claim that god rewards but in a slow process that human beings could hardly understand1.

Engulfed in the memory of the painful past, Gennaro argue that human beings may involve in sin without their knowledge. Sometimes it is the circumstances that force people to act contrary to the expectations of God or fellow human beings.

God, with his supernatural knowledge knew that human beings have sinful orientation therefore they need redemption. Christians must accept that in as much as they would want to be holy, sin cannot be avoided.

The only way they can remain holy is through redemption. Gennaro argue that sanctification or purification is required since most of the since human beings commit are unknown to them.

In Christianity, there are different types of doctrines which people have to believe including the doctrine of redemption and sanctity. The main principle behind these doctrines is the acceptance that human beings cannot escape sin.

According to the Christian teachings, sin cannot be avoided and therefore human beings must be redeemed. Sanctification is the ability of God to purify sins through the gracious nature of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is the doctrine that makes us believe in the holiness of God.

According to the biblical teachings, the holiness of God is beyond reproach and because God is holy he requires those in fellowship with him to be holy. It is the God’s work that makes human beings holy2.

In a more complete way, sanctification is the holy spirits gracious operations, concerning our answerable contribution, through which we are delivered from the contamination of transgression, replenish our complete personality in accordance to the reflection of God and make it possible for us to exist in a way that are gratifying to him.

In other words, sanctification is the practice in which human beings are transformed accordance with the likeness of God and obey the rules of Christ.

Sanctification work has been attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit. Gennaro came to realize the work of sanctification after he started to see light. In the prescribed manner, dedication is to help us be as secretive as possible rather than being disrespectful.

However, this is the dissimilar phase of consecration that sets distant the decent surroundings or measures of the advocates. This is the moral foundation that Gennaro was arguing about. That is, after all the sinful acts, believers became the few select after sanctification.

Once human beings have been purifies from the sinful acts of the past, they are kept secret by the Holy Spirit. Any evil activity may easily be avoided or that evil that may have existed during the redemption automatically falls.

Gennaro believed that the only way people can be purified from evil is through being one with Christ. The novel clearly indicates to us that human sanctification takes place when they are in union with the Christ and by means of truth.

It is the truth of God that is being applied to the lives of human beings that they are made holy and free from sin. Generally Gennaro argued that it is the Gods graciousness that human beings are redeemed from their sins and sanctified3.

Many people including some Christians hardly believe that God really exists. According to me, this contradicts the scripture teachings. In fact, when one is in trouble and encounters the dark side of life, he or she questions whether God cares and if He actually knows that humanity exists.

At this point, it is important to know that lack of faith and doing evil things makes us feel that God hates us. If we have chilling memories about our painful past, we attribute that to imaginary God who does not care and love His creations.

However, if both the past and present moments are crowned with good things and happy occasions, we tend to attribute such occurrences to the transcendence of God’s love and care.

Based on spiritual principles of moral theology, these could be attributed to being spiritually immature and the resurgence of faint love for God.

To know how to cope up with painful past, hate and love as well as in both darkness and light, we need to understand the basis of moral theology with respect to our cooperation with God’s operations4.

Our cooperation and God’s operations

The sanctification process should be observed as an operation where all believers become dynamically engaged in the word of God. In fact, as Christians we know that God is our creator, redeemer and sanctifier.

The consecration procedure is essentially Almighty’s cordial work through which He functions so as to put together the humanity to match to Jesus likeness and become blessed. Thus, we ought to completely understand that people only become holy through God’s permission.

In the scripture, Jesus really prayed that God should sanctify whoever believed in Him. In truth and consistent with the scripture, this was the primary occasion when the son of deity initiated the idea of supporters being redeemed and blessed.

From Half-Wits, Fr. Peter Genaro believes that people do have brighter days and enjoy better life on in darkness. Such past occurrences are attributed to God’s love, care and acts.

When we encounter grotesques and devastating evils, we attributed these to lack of loving, caring, sanctifying and redeeming God. The moral theology according to the Bible tells us that, the sanctifying task is carried out by God.

However, the sanctification process requires us to be vigorously engaged through cooperating with the Almighty who works in us. We are obliged to cooperate with God who works in us if anything good has to happen to us.

Furthermore, the scripture tells us not to conform to the humankind but rather transform through renewing our minds. Evidently, questioning whether God really cares, loves, redeems, creates and sanctifies hardly helps the human race.

In fact, Fr. Peter Genaro as a believer encourages us that we should responsibly take part in the work God which is geared towards transforming each and every believer into Christ’s image.

When faced with challenging moments and hardships, we need to cleanse ourselves from all spirits and body defilements. This implies that, when we actively engage in the operations of God within us, we will surely be redeemed and sanctified by the Almighty.

This will enable us to forget the painful past and chilling memories which draw us back and take us far away from God5.

Works and faith

In conclusion, we might produce good works which hardly justify our deeds and ourselves. This shows that we cannot be redeemed and sanctified because of the good works we have done. When cooperate with God as He works in us, we are bound to being sanctified.

Sanctifications and redemption is come as a result of the fruits materializing from the sanctified and redeemed lives. Therefore, we need to know that God frees His people from being polluted by sins. God conform us into Christ’s image to allow human race to live as He had planned.

When the Holy Spirit also known as God operates in us, we are blamed for failure to freely take part in all the actions. Indeed, God cares, loves, redeems, sanctifies and guides His creation.

He is not happy seeing us living in the darkness and languishing in chilling memories because of being spiritually immature and having faint hearts6.

Bibliography

Goggins, Gerard. Half-Wits. Worcester, MA: Ambassador Books Incorporated, 2001.

Pinckaers, Servais. Sources of Christian Ethics. CUA Press: Washington D.C, 1995.

Footnotes

1 Goggins Gerard, Half-Wits (Worcester, MA: Ambassador Books Incorporated, 2001), 56.

2 Pinckaers Servais, Sources of Christian Ethics (CUA Press: Washington D.C, 1995), 91.

3 Goggins Gerard, Half-Wits (Worcester, MA: Ambassador Books Incorporated, 2001), 62.

4 Pinckaers Servais, Sources of Christian Ethics (CUA Press: Washington D.C, 1995), 93.

5 Pinckaers Servais, Sources of Christian Ethics (CUA Press: Washington D.C, 1995), 93.

6 Goggins Gerard, Half-Wits (Worcester, MA: Ambassador Books Incorporated, 2001), 62.

Krishna, Vedas, Kami and Other Theological Concepts

Every world religion is based upon a particular divine notion that predetermines its direction and establishes its functioning principles. This work analyzes seven crucial concepts that represent the leading theological beliefs. Moreover, the striking facts about every religious idol are presented in the coursework.

Krishna is a divine creature that is often regarded as the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. It is a powerful deity that possesses the peculiarities of a great teacher, a wise philosopher and a strong warrior. Krishna is a highly revered idol in Hindu religion since Lord Vishnu represents the highest theological avatar. According to Goswami, the early Indian deity became deeply worshiped in the USA in 1960, when the Hare Krishna society was established (13). Interestingly, Krishna created a powerful impact on the development of Indian theatre. Moreover, the traditional Indian dances rely on the story about this figure.

Vedas are the ancient Indian texts that were composed in Vedic Sanskrit. The concept is recognized in Hindu religion. There are four core Vedas that describe the major Indian Gods and Goddesses (“Hinduism – Gods and Goddesses in the Vedas” par. 1). Despite the Vedas have a material nature, they are treated as supernatural creatures.

Kami is a natural phenomenon that is deeply worshipped by the representatives of Shinto. This religion has functioned in Japan since ancient times. Today, however, Shinto is said to become an ideological agenda with no meaning. Thus, Kami are mentioned at various festivals and celebrations, though modern Japanese do not regard them as religious concepts anymore (Breen and Teeuwen 3).

Laozi deity is correlated with a real historical personage who is central to Chinese Daoism. The legendary figure is claimed to be a leading philosopher of the 6th century BC. Laozi is highly appreciated by both Chinese government and ordinary people. Due to Feldt, this figure turned Daoism into an anarchic religion (324). A curious peculiarity of Laozi worshipping is the tendency to consider all Li surname citizens to be the direct descendants of the philosopher.

The Confucian Virtues represent the central concepts of Confucianism and include such characters as Jen, Li, Yi, Hsiao, Chih, Chun-Tzu, and Te. The figures embody certain human features. For instance, Jen denotes heartedness while Li is a depiction of profit and gain.

The Zhuangzi’s dream is a religious dogma of Daoism that refers to the real and non-real revelations of life. The concept has great significance in the Chinese religion and the philosopher, who introduced it, is considered to be a follower of Laozi. Today, however, the Zhuangzi’s dream is called a philosophical whimsy that questions human existence (Tallis par. 1).

Noh theatre serves as a traditional Japanese form of performance. Its religious roots date back to the 14th century. The concept is a central issue within Buddhism since it shows its theological principles through highly aesthetic activities such as dances, poetry, etc. Interestingly, the actors of the Noh theatre do not use any makeup, for specially carved masks are worn by all the characters. It is typical for such performances to depict various emotions through the appliance of the expressive masks (“Noh and Kutiyattam – Treasures of World Cultural Heritage” par. 9).

A complex study of religious beliefs helped me to master the art of analyzing the underlying principles of theological directions. For instance, through the examination of Buddhism dogmas, I learned the basics of personal deeds’ analysis and explored the links between self-awareness and external events. Moreover, I gained some constructive knowledge about such major spiritual practices as fasting, ritual praying, and Shabbat observation, which demonstrate the religious traditions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism respectively. Finally, the course helped me to find a reflection of religion in the various daily activities.

Works Cited

Breen, John, and Mark Teeuwen. Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami, London: Routledge, 2013. Print.

Feldt, Alex. “Governing Through the Dao: A Non-Anarchistic Interpretation of the Laozi.” Dao 9.3 (2010): 323-337. Print.

Goswami, Tamal. A Living Theology of Krishna Bhakti: Essential Teachings of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.

Hinduism – Gods and Goddesses in the Vedas 2011. Web.

Noh and Kutiyattam – Treasures of World Cultural Heritage 2004. Web.

Tallis, Raymond. Zhuangzi and That Bloody Butterfly. 2009. Web.

John Hick Philosophical Theology

The soul- making theodicy is founded on the concept that many individuals have a belief in God, despite the apparent physical and moral evils prevalent in the world. It involves the development of a theory that elaborates the real world, considering that a perfect God is in existence.

The theory’s hypotheses are internally coherent, in consent with the Christianity religious tradition, and the world is revealed from the natural and moral evil facts, and scientific inquiry.

John Hick changed the manner in which theodicy was thought about in the traditional philosophical theology, by conceiving the globe as a soul- making vale. According to John, God is just and fair. Hence, He subjects suffering to His creatures. According to John, suffering enables individuals to grow morally and spiritually, which is essential for individuals to become mature.

In the absence of suffering, individuals are unable to foster personality and virtue. God is the world’s designer. Hence, He does not prevent hardships and challenges. On the contrary, He exposes His creatures to challenges.

Through this way, God’s people are able to trust and believe that He will deliver them from the challenges, and save them from temptations. Via misfortunes, challenges, and dangers, temptations are meant to promote people’s growth towards perfection. John Hick’s arguments are founded on Irenaeus Greek church priests.

John traces the Augustinian reaction to the man’s fall in the Garden of Eden. God is regarded as benevolent and all- powerful and He created an amazing world and humanity. At one moment, Satan and some angels misused the freedom they had, and descended to the earth. Consequently, they made Adam and Eve sin, through convincing them to eat the forbidden fruit. This ushered in misery and evil.

Therefore, human and angelic free will is the foundation of morals. Misuse of the free will lead to natural evil, which is prevalent in the universe. It is worth noting that God is not the creator of evil; it originated from the Satan when he misused his free will. As such, evil has no substantial existence.

At the end of the world, God will pass judgement to His creation. Evil is a parasite to God’s creation. On judging humanity, sinners will be condemned to hellfire and the righteous to eternal happiness. Through this, God will bring back justice to His creation and balance to the world. John asserts that perfection is acquired at the end, as opposed to the start. While suffering, individuals are being subjected to a unique form of creation.

Perfection comes after an individual has experienced an arduous and long process. Sometimes, God sends suffering to His people to test their faith. Moreover, God is always concerned about the welfare and well- being of His creation. He is aware that His people are not complete and mature spiritually and morally on creation. Therefore, He sends suffering because of His concern to make the people complete.

Through suffering, people are subjected to a more complete creation. God’s creations have an epistemic distance from Him. However, they have an amble opportunity for knowing and having a close relationship with God. According to the first book of the Bible, Genesis, God created people in His own image.

This implies that God’s creation have the chance of becoming His children. However, people are given the chance to realize the potential as moral and personal human beings. God has immense love for His people. In regard to this, people possess a greater level of moral awareness, cognition, and spiritual knowledge. In addition to this, they are continuously being created.

The epistemic distance between God and His creatures allows them practice their free will. On the contrary, people would be too excited and would not consider to use their free will to know and love God. God had a choice of creating people with a solid moral nature and freedom.

However, God had a reason why He did not create people with a strong moral nature. Virtues that individuals acquire as a result of making the right decisions during temptations and misery are extremely valuable compared to ready- made virtues. In this regard, the efforts that people make in the struggle to win temptations make them endure. Endurance results to a strong character and righteousness.

A true virtue is what constitutes the ability to be virtuous, which is achieved through temptations and misery. Through exposing His creatures to starvation, accidents, misfortunes, diseases, violence, and difficulties, God is demonstrating His concern for His people. God is aware that through misfortunes, people enhance their moral nature, which makes them appreciate God’s presence and ability.

In there was a perfect deity, pain and misery would be inexistent. This implies that there would be no moral preferences and, hence, the opportunity for developing and growing morally. Moreover, God knows that the heavenly fulfilment that the winners will experience is more than the worldly diseases, miseries, and starvation.