Christian Theology: Salvation, Sacraments, and Eschatology

Solid Notes

• God's rescue operation occurs in a moment, leading to placement in a saving reality.
• Salvation is commonly viewed as rescue from a storm-tossed sea via a ship or "ark".
• Central gospel message: God in Christ has nullified sin's consequences so humans can be made righteous.
• Christian disagreements exist between God's grace and human freedom in salvation.
• The timing of the Second Coming remains unknown.
• The "general resurrection" refers to the resurrection of all people, not just Jesus.
• The intermediate state's nature is mysterious among Christians.
• The Holy Spirit is both divine and personal.
• Christian marriage is viewed as having sacramental significance in the bodily union of partners, representing Christ and the Church.
• The Eucharist is seen as having a sacramental presence of Christ in the bread and wine.
• The memorial view of the Eucharist focuses on remembrance whereas sacramental views focus on God's grace and presence.

Term Definitions

• Soteriology involves studying salvation.
• Constantinianism describes church collusion with worldly power and wealth.
• Sacrament is seen as a visible means of spiritual grace from Christ.
• Justification is when God declares sinners righteous through faith.
• Donatist controversy involves the belief that the church's purity was compromised by including sinners.
• Ordinance comprises symbolic acts of obedience to Christ's commands without the belief that they convey grace.
• Imputed righteousness refers to Christ's righteousness credited to believers, enabling them to stand justified before God.
• Apostolic affirms the church's foundation in the apostles' teachings, maintaining doctrinal continuity and fidelity to the gospel.
• Eucharist is the Lord's Supper, a central act of Christian worship (giving thanks).
• Sanctification involves becoming holy and pleasing to God through the Holy Spirit.
• Catholic means universal.
• Eschatology involves studying the end times.
• Antinomianism suggests moral laws are not obligatory under grace.
• Marks of the church include unity, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity, drawn from the Nicene Creed
• Already-not-yet describes the tension where God's kingdom is inaugurated through Christ's first coming but not fully realized.
• Calvinism emphasizes God’s sovereignty, predestination and the doctrines of grace
• Ecclesiology is the study of the church.
• Parousia refers to the second coming of Christ
• Monergism references the belief that God alone acts in salvation, without human cooperation
• Cessationism holds that certain spiritual gifts ceased with the apostles/new testament age
• General Resurrection is where all the dead will be raised to life, affirming Christian hope in Jesus
• Arminianism emphasizes human free will and God's grace.
• Intermediate state describes the condition of the soul between death and the final resurrection
• Anthropomorphism means talking about God as if God were human

Previous Exam Info

• Hell awaits those who ultimately reject God's offer of salvation.
• Purgatory refers to a postmortem space where God purges sin's remnants for those who died in Christ but are not yet holy.
• Evangelical has to do with the gospel or good news.
• Heresy refers to a wrong belief that undermines Christian truth.
• Pantheism conveys the belief that God and the world are the same reality.
• Theodicy defends God given the problem of evil.
• Theopneustos means God-breathed.
• Redeem means to buy back or purchase.
• Messiah refers to the Jewish anointed one who would bring deliverance.
• Kyrios: Greek term for God's name.
• Incarnation is God becoming man in Christ.
• Hypostatic is personal
• Homoousios is the same substance
• Corruption is a tendency toward decay or disintegration
• Atonement reconciles humanity to God
• Ontological disparity is God being a different reality than reality itself
• Meticulous and Limited providence are the two types
• Deism: God created the world long ago, is disinterested and does not get involved
• God is triune and this explains love
• Romans 1: text affirming God reveals himself through the created order
• Modalism: one God expresses himself in three different ways
• Creatio ex nihilo: God created the universe from nothing
• The Trinity: both the Father and the Son are God and they are not each other
• The three main branches of Christianity are Catholicism, Orthodox and Protestant
• The teaching of Pelagius was rejected because of the church. It did not emphasize enough the brokeness of humanity
• The functional view is the image of God phrase: task of authority given to humans in genesis 1
• Christian teaching: idolatrous pride is the fall
• The legal model is atonement
• Pelagius argument for people's abilities to obey God's law, just as unfallen Adam did
• Docetism is Jesus's existence by appearing to be human, he was actually God himself and not human at all
• The council of Nicaea took place in 325
• What is not assumed is not healed
• Arius taught that the Son is a created being
• Romans 5: doctrine of original sin
• Hypostatic Union: refers to Christ's two natures in one
• God accomplishes salvation before he explains it

Q & A

• Christian salvation is rooted in the doctrines of sin and Christ.
• The doctrine of sin explains humanity's separation from God because of disobedience, hence the need for redemption.
• The hypostatic union underscores that salvation is a divine effort through Christ's life, death, and resurrection.
• "Good news" announces what God has done through Christ, while "good advice" is guidance for personal achievement.
• The guiding principle of Christian salvation is God's grace.
• Salvation is initiated and completed by God through faith and the Holy Spirit.
• Faith has two dimensions: cognitive assent and trust.
• Calvinists emphasize God's grace draws individuals to salvation, while Arminians highlight human free will to resist or cooperate with God.
• Christians reject Pelagianism because it undermines the necessity of divine grace, affirming salvation is a gift from God.
• Christ's righteousness addresses human guilt by fulfilling the law's demands and offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice.
• His righteousness is imputed to believers because of Christ's perfect obedience.
• Christ's resurrection demonstrates victory over sin and death. Through union with Christ, believers receive the Holy Spirit for transformed lives.
• Catholics view justification as both God's grace and human cooperation. Protestants emphasize justification as a declarative act of God through believers' faith in Christ.
• Resurrection involves bodily transformation leading to eternal life. Reincarnation suggests the soul's transmigration which is not a Christian belief and resuscitation refers to the revival of the body to its previous state

Essay Questions

• Christian salvation is connected to the person and work of Jesus Christ including the doctrine of hypostatic union
• Personal salvation involves union with Christ to be spiritually united with Christ
• Being deep in Christ signifies a transformative union relationship with Him
• In the traditional Christian narrative, understanding life as a story provides coherence and purpose
• A Sacramental Worldview sees the material world as a means through which God communicates His grace.
• A non-sacramental worldview tends to view the material world as separate from the spiritual.
• The Bible supports a sacramental worldview.
• The Eucharist exemplifies the sacramental worldview.
• It can include a literal transformation, a symbolic representation or a spiritual presence.