...EXPERIENCE WITH THEOLOGY When I hear the word theology, the first thing that comes to my mind is the study of God’s word and how His word relates to me and my thoughts about God and how His word applies to my life. It’s the study of God’s existence and His creation. Basically, I think theology is the study of who God is and what He is like. My experience with theology was developed as a child when my Mother would take me and my two brothers to Sunday school and church service at the Baptist church in our neighborhood. I learned about God and studied His word. I was taught as a young child who God and Jesus is, as well as, verses from the Holy Bible in Sunday school class. It goes without saying that I want to pass this class, but more importantly, I want to learn as much as I can about theology and what it means to me. Over the next eight weeks, I hope to learn more about Christian doctrine and the basic beliefs of the Christian faith. I would like to gain a general understanding of the foundation and historical developments of Christianity, as well as, learn a variety of beliefs, literatures, theologies and histories concerning Christianity. I would like to understand more about who God is and learn more about the Christian faith. I lost my way for a while as an adult, but I believe God is leading me to fulfill my purpose in...
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...When I hear the word theology, what comes to my mind is the meaning that I learned many years ago. The definition of theology that I learned is the study of the nature of God and religious belief. Growing up in a religious home, I have always had a desire to study God and the bible. Being able to study for myself has given me a deeper meaning and understanding of who God is. My personal study has also afforded the opportunity for me to understand what other religions believe, how and what they worship and how they live. Having the opportunity to gain personal knowledge and understanding of God, his word and other religions have helped me a lot. When I have conversations relating to different religious topics and worldwide views, I am able to remember what I have learned. Even in conversations where there is a difference of opinion, I have learned to do as it says in the A portion of Isaiah 1:18, “Come now and let us reason together”. What I hope to get out of this course is more knowledge and understanding. As a bible student, who has attended Sunday School and Bible Study since age six, I believe that an individual never gets to a place where they stop learning about God and his word. Aside from personal Bible Study, church Bible Study and Sunday School, I took a theology course, Survey of the New Testament when I was enrolled as a student at Jefferson State Community College. I am grateful to God that there are courses like these, made available to college students, regardless...
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...connection between psychology and theology. The connection between psychology and theology is a topic of great argument. (Entwistle, 2010) Some scholars believe it is a great idea to connect psychology and theology, while others believe it would be harmful to do so. Entwistle focuses on the similarities of psychology and theology, instead of their differences. Psychology focuses on finding the cause of behavior through biological and environmental methods as well as past experiences. Theology focuses on the cause of behavior being linked to sin. Psychology focuses on healing through theories. Theology focuses on healing through Christ. Even though psychology and theology have different methods they have similar goals to achieve overall wellness. Entwistle stated that both psychology and theology focus on the cause of behavior and healing. (Entwistle, 2010) Psychology and theology also both contain truth. Entwistle believes “All truth is God’s truth.” (Entwistle, 2010) Psychology and theology are not so different and both can be combined to help achieve overall wellness in the lives of others. Entwistle made a point that theology and science have been embattled throughout history. Entwistle explains that how a person views the world determines how they view the truth in their lives. Entwistle also emphasizes that a worldview is learned instead of selected. (Entwistle, 2010) Entwistle suggests that beliefs must be examined concerning theology and the world. Only when you examine...
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...Introduction In this essay, I am going to explain one definition of theology together with a definition from a few great theologians. Everyone has their own thoughts on what theology means. We all do theology; we don’t learn it or find it in a book or on television or at Church on a Sunday. Theology is something we all can do. What is Theology? Some people would define theology as the study of God but they are wrong. God is a spiritual being who knows all about us, what we are doing and what we are thinking. In my opinion, it is very difficult to study something that you can’t see. The wind blows but you can’t see it but you can see the trees swaying and the sea crashing against the rocks. This is the action of the wind even though it is invisible. God is like this. Even though God cannot be seen, God is portrayed in the beauty of God’s creation. Theology means to talk about God. It comes from the Greek Theos meaning God and Logos meaning word or talk. It doesn’t just mean theologians talking about God or ministers and priests talking about God or God talking about God; it means that every individual can talk about God. Indirectly, everyone has their own experience of God. Everyone has an understanding about theology and their different experiences of God and may have something to offer within their communities. Doing one’s own theology is far better than learning it. Many questions are asked when talking about...
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...Marxism Within Black Theology of Liberation. This study seeks to expose the ways in which Black Theology of Liberation was shaped by Marxism through the writings of its founders, concentrating predominantly on the need to bring about the liberation of the poor African-Americans from their repressive white racist oppressors by any means necessary, and the redistribution of wealth to those deprived of it by their white capitalist oppressors. The theme of this researched remained embed in my mind during, and after the 2008-09 presidential campaign of former Sen. Barack Obama, when some of his political opponents thought it beneficial to disclose Obama’s connections to a Black Theology of Liberation. Through this research I seek not only to obtain a broader understanding of this particular theology of liberation, but also to understand the Marxist ideological concept within the Black Theology of Liberation. Towards the culmination of the decade which witnessed the peak of the Civil Rights movement, black churches throughout America in the 1960s began to search for avenues through which they could help their communities cope with racial discrimination. Caught between the contradicting preachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, a peculiar young theology student from Union Theological Seminary of New York City, James H. Cone, published his proposal for a Black Theology of Liberation titled Black Theology and Black Power (1969). This first scholarly work served...
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...Luther's theology is, unsurprisingly, is centred on God compared with Zinzendorf’s theology by experiences. Luther's theology benefits from past sources of tradition, complementing his academic background. While, Zinzendorf’s passage is merely rhetorical. FAITH INFLUENCED BY THEOLOGY SOURCES - HOLISTIC VS. EXPERIENCE For Luther, his coming to faith was holistically influenced by Scripture, tradition, reason and experience. Even with an academic background, his attempt to interpret Scripture was misguided. He interpreted Paul’s ‘righteous of God’ as a command for lawfulness. Luther faced a crisis, after he realised his experience as a monk living according to human rules, was futile. The guilt of ‘still being a sinner’, led him to question (reason) his idea of ‘righteousness’. Luther sought tradition, when his own inquiry failed him. His revelatory experience, was instantaneous and dramatic, that he converted from an intellectual, into a ‘born-again Christian’. Luther may have realised that Paul, as a Jew, was as lawful as he was as a monk, and found righteousness through law impossible. The Pauline passage stressing ‘justification by faith’, changed Luther’s understanding. This was reinforced by the influence of Augustine, whom also reads a Pauline letter (Romans) which also rebuked his lawfulness. Luther was also influenced by the tradition of reading and interpretation of Scriptures, theological training, philosophy....
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...that evangelical theology is the ‘drama of gospelizing’. Included are some key areas where the Wesleyan Quadrilateral mirrors to a great extent many similarities of Birds theology and some differences. WESLEYAN QUADRILATERAL The term ‘Wesleyan Quadrilateral’ devised by Albert Outler in the 1960’s, with its fourfold reference, is a good deal more refined and ‘preserves the primacy of Scripture, profits from the wisdom of tradition, accepts the disciplines of critical reason and its stress on the Christian experience of grace, and gives it a pragmatic experience.’ These four sources lead a believer to be a worshiper and to serve God with maturity. (After all, worship is the ultimate goal of God’s Mission.) Primarily, Scripture serves as the primary source for theological reflection and is the foundation and centrepiece for the other three sources. Secondly, Tradition is considered as an experience of the witness of development and growth of faith through the nations and various cultures but notwithstanding the writings of the early church fathers. Wesley also maintained that right reason and interpretation would never result in inconsistency. Oden supports this statement, adding, until one has a right mind set and understanding is attained divine matters cannot be apprehended. Yong and Wesley agree in part on the basic Spirit grounding of reason itself – at least as reason interprets theological knowledge.He urged Wesley conceived incorporating experience to the traditional...
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...BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY HOW PRACTICAL THEOLOGY GUIDES MY LIFE A RESEARCH PAPER ON HOW PRACTICAL THEOLOGY GUIDES MY LIFE BASED ON THE ESSENTIAL WORKS OF ANDREW MURRAY SCHOOL OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES BY August 26, 2014 OUTLINE 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. HOW PRACTICAL THEOLOGY GUIDES MY LIFE 2 A. What prompts men to seek theology 3 1. How Andrew Murray views practical theology 4 2. How practical theology causes a deeper Christian life 5 3. The purpose of Practical Theology for a new life in Christ 6 A. How one comes to need practical theology 7 1. Absolute surrender 2. Practical Theology as a tool to abide in Christ 8 4. Conclusion 9 5. Bibliography 10-11 INTRODUCTION How practical theology guides a Christian life has been inspired by...
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...“STABILITY & FLEXIBILITY” St. Anselm said that theology was “faith seeking understanding”. What appeared to me at first reading to be a simple statement has proven to be even more profound than I first thought. The idea of combining faith and reason is by no means simple, but as I reflected on it, I found myself wanting to go even deeper as I saw connections to other ideas presented in the most recent weekend and subsequent readings. Anderson’s statement that “theology is a contextual enterprise, conditioned by time and space” immediately resonated with me, as did Dulles’ quote that “theology does not simply repeat what is in its sources…it reflects on the sources with a view towards answering contemporary questions…” My Church strives to be, and rightly so, a meeting of God and God’s people, of tradition and the real world. Theology needs to be the melding of those two worlds. Contemporary culture and theology need to be in dialogue with each other as the Church works to bring relevance to its teachings as it addresses the challenges of contemporary life. Theology needs to provide us with the resources to make connections between our faith and the practical issues we face on a day-to-day basis. When theology collides with the world, that theology has to provide strength to those facing the challenges engendered by that collision. Anderson’s statement in his lecture that theology is "paradoxical in that it is both relativistic and universal” is something I feel very much in agreement...
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...The creative and critical thinking involves the contributions of both the known and unknown thinkers. There are numerous contributors in various fields such as technology, philosophy, theology, mythology, science and art. The focus of this paper is on two creative thinkers in the fields of theology and art, James Hal Cane and Ai Weiwei. Both of them have made tremendous contributions to their specialized fields and have sort solutions to various problems in they identified. This paper covers their ideas/contributions, journey of creativity and how they impacted their fields of specialization. James Hal Cone is a theologian famously known for advocating for Black liberation theology. This kind of theology relates to the experience of African Americans, Black culture and history. It was to put Christianity in a context that would help African American people overcome oppression. He sought to deal with questions raised by African Americans in relation to the bible. He has also written a number of books including; Black Theology and Black Power (1969), and For My People: Black Theology and The Black Church. Currently, Hal is the Charter Augustus Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. Ai Weiwei is a Chinese activist and contemporary artist. He is famous for his architectural projects, sculptural installations and his open criticism of the Chinese government. Ai also uses videos and photographs to express his art...
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...to “Celebrating God” and now towards “Transforming the World” You are now in your fourth and last theology subject in Adamson University’s Theology curriculum on “Faith Journey towards Social Transformation.” Let us spend a little time to recall what you went through from our previous theology classes. Let us start with our Theology 1, Searching for God in the World Today. In this subject, “theology” was defined as a process or a practice of consciously and methodically reflecting on our experience of God in the ordinariness of life and social and historical events of the world. You were introduced to “do theology” using the methodology of see-discern-act/pray. The objective of theology is not only to know God but to have a deeper and intimate relationship with God-in-Jesus. Theology 2, Responding to God’s Call by Becoming Fully Human, continues our journey of discipleship. The subject dealt with what is to be truly and fully human from a Christian perspective as a way of responding to God-in Jesus’ invitation having found Him in our lives. Thus, in this course, we paid attention tried to focus our “virtues” or good habits as the way to follow Jesus of Nazareth and St Vincent de Paul. You were guided, using the scriptures and Christian tradition, to acquire and develop good habits or practices that will help us become good persons in our everyday life. In Theology 3, Celebrating God’s Presence as a Christian Community, we realized that we are not alone in...
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...theologians have been trying to establish the relationship between Christianity and African traditional religion. One bone of contention that theologians face is on the relationship between Christians and their dead ancestors. Among the Africans death does not mark the end of the human relationship as they consider those who die to have entered the spirit world. African theology is the key to understanding Christianity in Africa. The saying that it is ill-advised to run randomly in African forests is quite applicable in the case of African theology. It is always advisable to get the guidance of someone who identifies with its paths and the landscape. This essay will, therefore, look into the life of Bediako Kwame as a guide as to understanding African Christian theology. The essay will look into the biographical details and description of historical, social, cultural, economic and political factors within which he lived and worked. Moreover, it will examine the ways in which his work relates to the discussed context and appreciate four of his major themes. Lastly, it will study the contributions of Bediako Kwame to the theology field in general and discuss how his thinking has challenged my understanding of the gospel. Bediako Kwame was born on into a Presbyterian family on 7th July 1945 in the Ghanaian capital Accra. His father...
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...the second coming of Christ. Personal, Physical, Visible, Unexpected, Triumphant and Glorious. 3 prominent millennial views. Postmillennialism – believes that the preaching of the gospel will be so successful that the world will be converted. Premillennialism – believes that Christ will return in person and body to commence the millennium. Amillennialism – believes that there will be no earthly reign of Christ. What are the 3 tribunal views and what distinguishes each? Pretribulationism – 2 phases in Christ’s coming and 3 resurrections. Posttribulationism – 2 resurrections; the resurrection of believers at the end of the tribulation and the resurrection of the ungodly at the end of the millennium. Midtribulationism – the church will experience tribulation, but will be removed before the wrath of God is poured out. The basis of the final judgment? Those who appear will be judged in terms of their earthly lives. Identify 5 reasons to study eschatology? It is a major topic and...
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...THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY The Working of the Holy Spirit: Charismatic Theology Submitted to Dr. Lee Mitchell in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of THEO 510 Survey of Christian Doctrine by Teri Washington July 4, 2015 Table of Contents Thesis Statement 1 The Need for the Study 1 The Procedure for the Study 1 Introduction 1 Defining Charismatic Theology 1 History of Charismatic Theology 2 Declarations 2 Baptism of the Holy Spirit 2 Speaking in Tongues 3 Gift of Healing 4 Gift of Prophecy 5 Slain in the Spirit 7 Personal Views 7 Opposing Views 9 Conclusion 10 Selected Bibliography 11 Thesis Statement Charismatic Theology gives contemporary Christians faith that they may experience declarations of the Holy Spirit in the same manner as first century Christians. The Need for the Study There is controversy surrounding the declarations of Charismatic Theology. This research will provide ways in which Scripture is manipulated to meet ones individual needs. Biblical exegesis will be utilized to provide clarification between Scripture and its alterations. The Procedure for the Study Introduction Charismatic Theology takes an in-depth look at the supernatural experiences explained in the Bible. These experiences are considered gifts that Christians receive from God. Not everyone...
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...REFLECTION PAPER IN THEOLOGY 12: MAN AND MORALITY SUBMITTED BY: CALIMAG, MARRIELL B. AAT-2A SUBMITTED TO: SIR ANTHONY MERENCIANO Moral theology is a term used by the Roman Catholic Church to describe the study of God from a perspective of how man must live in order to attain the presence or favour of God. While dogmatic theology deals with the teaching or official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, moral theology deals with the goal of life and how it is achieved. So, the goal or purpose of moral theology is, simply stated, to determine how man should live. Moral theology examines such things as freedom, conscience, love, responsibility, and law. Moral theology seeks to set forth general principles to help individuals make the right decisions and deal with the details of everyday living in a way that is in accordance with the Church’s dogmatic theology. Moral theology is essentially the Roman Catholic equivalent to what Protestants usually refer to as Christian Ethics. Moral theology deals with the broad questions in life and attempts to define what it means to live as a Roman Catholic Christian. Moral theology addresses the different methods of moral discernment, the definitions of right and wrong, good and evil, sin and virtue, etc. Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are "good" (or right) and those that are "bad" (or wrong). It is based on human existence that refers to human experience. Human existence...
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