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Systematic Theology

Preface. Why Grudem wrote this Bible aidSix distinctives of the book. Preface (p.15-18). Six distinctives of the book what systematic theology is and how it should be taught:A Clear Biblical Basis for DoctrinesClarity in Explanation of DoctrinesApplication to LifeFocus on the Evangelical Worl

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Systematic Theology

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    1. Systematic Theology An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine By Wayne Grudem

    2. Preface Why Grudem wrote this Bible aid Six distinctives of the book

    3. Preface (p.15-18) Six distinctives of the book – what systematic theology is and how it should be taught: A Clear Biblical Basis for Doctrines Clarity in Explanation of Doctrines Application to Life Focus on the Evangelical World Hope for Progress in Doctrinal Unity in the Church A Sense of the Urgent Need for Greater Doctrinal Understanding in the Whole Titus 1:9 “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

    4. Preface (p.15) For the layman – “I have written it for students – and not only for students, but also for every Christian who has a hunger to know the central doctrines of the Bible in greater depth.” Avoids technical language – “most Christians are able to understand the doctrinal teachings of the Bible” Grudem’s Goal: to present theology clearly, simply, and thoroughly Grudem’s book is not a substitute for the Bible – it is an aid for studying and understanding the Bible I. A Clear Biblical Basis for Doctrines “Theology should be EXPLICITY based on the teachings of Scripture… I have attempted to show where the Bible gives support for the doctrines under consideration.” *** Theology must come from the Bible – why? “the words of Scripture themselves have power and authority greater than human words” Be Bereans (Acts 17:11) who daily examined the Scriptural evidence for themselves – why Grudem included Scripture memory passage at the end of each chapter II. Clarity in Explanation of Doctrines God intended theology to be clear not confusing – but it still requires hard work

    5. Preface (p.16) “I do not expect that everyone reading this book will agree with me at every point of doctrine; I do think that every reader will understand the positions I am arguing for and where Scripture can be found to support these positions.” We will disagree with Grudem on several points – of his summary of “disputed points” – what do we agree or disagree with? 1. View of the Bible - Inerrancy (International Council on Biblical Inerrancy) 2. Background - Reformed Theology (Presbyterianism/strong Calvinism) a. Salvation - Sovereignty of God (vs. human ability) b. Atonement - Limited (vs. universal provision/limited application) c. Election - Predestination (vs. free will) d. Security of the believer – Certainty (vs. loss of salvation) 3. Gender Roles - Complimentarian (vs. Egalitarian) 4. Church Government - Congregational (vs. Elder Rule) 5. Baptism - Believer’s Baptism (vs. infant baptism) 6. Spiritual gifts – Continuationist (vs. cessationism) 7. Church Offices - No apostles today (vs. Apostolic office & sign gifts continue) 8. Eschatology – Eminency/Post-Tribulational/Premillenial return of Christ (vs. Pretribulational Rapture and Premillenial Return of Christ)

    6. Preface (p.16-17) III. Application to Life Theology is ultimately for application and growth that worships/pleases/glorifies God. “I do not believe God intended the study of theology to be dry and boring . Theology is the study of God and all his work! Theology is meant to lived and prayed and sung!” “True theology is teaching which accords with godliness, and theology when studied rightly will lead to growth in our Christian lives, and to worship.” 1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness… This is why he includes questions for personal application and hymns at the end of every chapter

    7. Preface (p.17) IV. Focus on the Evangelical World Against liberal theology – “those who deny the absolute truthfulness of the Bible, or who do not think the words of the Bible to be God’s very words.” Liberal theology has a low view of Scripture by denying verbal and plenary inspiration Grudem has a high view of Scripture and like us in that he is a “conservative evangelical” Conservative evangelicals believe the Bible is inerrant, infallible, authoritative, clear, and sufficient. “I think that ultimately we will attain much more depth of understanding when we are able to study it in the company of a great number of scholars who all begin with the conviction that the Bible is completely true and absolutely authoritative.” The starting point is belief/faith/trust that the Bible is 100% true and God’s WORDS – making it authoritative not opinion Why does he include Roman Catholic sources and why is that dangerous? (Principle - Influence/popularity does not demand or legitimize giving error a platform)

    8. Preface (p.18) V. Hope for Progress in Doctrinal Unity in the Church Goal of unity – “hope for the church to attain deeper and purer doctrinal understanding, and to overcome old barriers, even those that have persisted for centuries.” Biblical goals/mission statements for the church Ephesians 1:4 He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love. Ephesians 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 5:27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. Good to hope for greater unity, but unity can never come at the expense of the truth Danger – we must be careful that the goal is to be true to Scripture and pleasing to God NOT agreeing with others as the spirit of the age – ecumenicalism - is alive and well just as Satan and the Anti-Christ want it to be Dangerous statement – “New examination of the doctrines ..may prompt some movement not just toward greater understanding and tolerance of other viewpoints, but even toward greater doctrinal consensus in the church.” (I wrote ‘Careful Brother Wayne’)

    9. Preface (p.18-19) VI. A Sense of the Urgent Need for Greater Doctrinal Understanding in the Whole Church Every Christian needs to know and grow in doctrine – “Not only pastors and teachers need to understand theology in greater depth – the whole church does as well.” Unfortunately we often study the wrong things – “by God’s grace we may have churches full of Christians who can discuss, apply, and live the doctrinal teachings of the Bible as readily as they can discuss the details of their own jobs or hobbies – or the fortunes of their favorite sports team or television program.” Disagree – “It is not that Christians lack the ability to understand doctrine; it is just that they must have access to it in an understandable form. (The Bible is understandable) Agree – “Christians will find that understanding and living the doctrines of the Scripture is one of their greatest joys Appreciation – his honesty about being fallible and his approachability/openness/eagerness for people to correct him – “I am sure that this book, like all merely human books, has mistakes and oversights, and probably some faulty arguments as well…send me suggestions for changes and corrections.”

    10. Chapter 1 Introduction to Systematic Theology What is systematic theology? Why should Christians study it? How should we study it?

    11. Chapter 1 (p.21) A. Definition of Systematic Theology “Systematic Theology is any study that answers the question, ‘What does the whole Bible teach us today?’ about any given topic.” -Wayne Grudem “Systematic Theology is an attempt to construct a comprehensive and consistent whole out of all revelation from God, whether special(Biblical) or general(natural).” - Norman Geisler “Systematic Theology correlates the data of Biblical revelation as a whole in order to exhibit systematically the total picture of God’s self-revelation.” -Charles C. Ryrie “Systematic theology is a science which follows a humanly devised scheme or order of doctrinal development and which purports to incorporate into its system all the truth about God and His universe from any and every source.” - Lewis Sperry Chafer “Systematic theology is a discipline which sets forth an organized set of doctrines, concepts and ideas which it judges as being the best expression of the truth about God and his relation to His creation (and to man in particular) in language tested in the history of theology and in the contemporary philosophical and cultural environment to faithfully express revelation.” – Craig Blaising “Theology [systematic] is the topical and logical study of God’s revealed nature and purposes … Systematic theology not only derives coherent doctrines from the entirety of written revelation but also systematically relates them to each other in developing a comprehensive world view and way of life.” - Gordon Lewis and Bruce Demarest

    12. Chapter 1 (p.21) A. Definition of Systematic Theology Systematic Theology involves… Collecting and understanding all the relevant passages in the Bible on various topics Summarizing their teachings clearly Believing – “we may know what to believe about teach topic”

    13. Chapter 1 (p.21-22) 1. Relationship to Other Disciplines Historical Theology “historical study of how Christians in different periods have understood various theological topics” is a discussion of the theology of the great theologians of the Christian church. It traces the historical development of doctrine through the history of the church. Philosophical Theology “studying theological topics largely without use of the Bible…by using the tools and methods of philosophical reasoning and what can be known about God from observing the universe.” Apologetics “providing a defense of the truthfulness of the Christian faith for the purpose of convincing unbelievers.”

    14. Chapter 1 (p.22-23) 1. Relationship to Other Disciplines Biblical Theology “giving special attention to the teachings of individual authors and sections of Scripture, and to the place of each teaching in the historical development of Scripture.” is a study of the biblical basis for theology and is the larger category that contains both Old Testament and New Testament theology. It considers doctrine in time and history – how theology was understood and applied to specific people at specific times Systematic theology incorporates Biblical Theology but is different in that “its focus is on the collection and then the summary of the teachings of all the biblical passages on a particular subject. Thus, systematic theology asks, for example, ‘What does the whole Bible teach us today about prayer.’”

    15. Biblical theology is a proper input into Systematic Theology and should be properly viewed as foundational to it!

    17. Chapter 1 (p.23) 2. Application to Life Systematic Theology considers the whole Bible and attempts to summarize and formulate (belief/worldview and action/application) for modern day Christians “What the whole Bible teaches us today…implies that application to life is a necessary part of the proper pursuit of systematic theology.” Matthew 7:24-27 24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. James 1:22 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

    18. Chapter 1 (p.23-24) 3. Systematic Theology and Disorganized Theology GOOD SYSTEMATICAL THEOLOGY REQUIRES OR INVOLVES… Asking what does the whole Bible teach us TODAY? (Ex. What is the Purpose of life or the purpose/mission of the church?) Arranging Biblical topics in carefully organized/systematic way Giving balanced consideration in that all Biblical doctrines are complimentary (they cannot be contradictory) Giving thorough consideration by looking at all of Scripture – the full biblical presentation of a specific doctrine Precision and doing detailed analysis that explores the full implications of a doctrine (Ex. What it means to “believe in Jesus Christ”) Forming summaries of Biblical teachings for greater accuracy, to guard against misunderstandings, and exclude false teaching Careful and consistent exegesis/hermeneutics Challenging ourselves - are we consistent in our hermeneutic? Have we considered all that the Bible says in determining our view/belief on a subject/doctrine? Convincing ourselves and others “from the text of Scripture itself.” Statements like “The Bible says…(our summary/paraphrase)”

    19. Chapter 1 (p.25-26) 4. What are Doctrines? “A doctrine is what the whole Bible teaches us today about some particular subject?” The book is divided up into 7 major sections: The Doctrine of the Word of God (Bibliology) The Doctrine of God (Paterology/Theology) The Doctrine of Man (Anthropology/Hamartiology) The Doctrines of Christ and the Holy Spirit (Christology/Pneumatology) The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption (Soteriology) The Doctrine of the Church (Ecclesiology) The Doctrine of the Future (Eschatology) Why these 7? Most emphasized in Scripture, significant in history, relevant/critical to the church today (Agree?) “Theology tells us how we should think while ethics tells us how we should live?” (Agree/Disagree?) TBC adds Cosmology, Angelology/Demonology to these categories in its Statement of Faith

    20. Chapter 1 (p.26) B. Initial Assumptions of this book (Grudem’s Presuppositions) The Bible is true…only absolute standard of truth The God who is spoken of in the Bible exists, and that He is who the Bible says He is: the Creator of heaven and earth and all things in them.

    21. Chapter 1 (p.26-28) C. Why Should Christians Study Theology? The Basic Reason – Help us know and obey EVERYTHING He has commanded us Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." “The task of fulfilling the Great Commission includes not only evangelism but also teaching.” “To effectively teach ourselves and to teach others what the whole Bible says, it is necessary to collect and to summarize all the Scripture passages on a particular subject.” Saves time and helps us be more efficient in our Bible study Disagree with “Why is it not sufficient simply to continue reading the Bible regularly every day of our lives” (p26) and “Just keep reading your Bible and you’ll find out… there is simply not time in our lifetimes to read through the entire Bible looking for an answer for ourselves every time a doctrinal question arises.” But agree can be a useful tool that does save time and help our effectiveness, but we cannot be dependent on Bible helps/aids or take a shortcut in not knowing the Bible cover to cover.

    22. Chapter 1 (p.28-30) C. Why Should Christians Study Theology? The Benefits to Our Lives Overcome our wrong ideas/theology Colossians 3:16-17 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Able to make better decisions (that please God) later on new questions of doctrine that may arise Colossians 1:10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Help us grow in godliness as Christians (towards maturity/Christ-likeness) Colossians 1:28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. Helps us separate primary from secondary/tertiary issues (1 Tim. 6:20/Titus 3:9) Helps us identify and defend against false doctrines/cults (2 Peter 3:17) Helps us have grace with brothers and to have fellowship even when we disagree (Colossians 3:12-14, 4:6, Ephesians 4:2) Discussion: How do we decide what is minor or major doctrinal issue?

    23. Chapter 1 (p.30-32) D. A Note on Two Objections to the Study of Systematic Theology 1. The conclusions are “too neat” to be true Danger of making everything fit a man-made/artificial mold (hyper-Calvinism) Danger of incompetent or incomplete exegesis Rebuttal – Systematic Theology is only possible because God wrote the Bible and it has no contradictions/errors – therefore it is 100% congruent and able to be systematized/harmonized “This skeptical view point must be rejected by evangelicals, who see Scripture as the product of human and divine authorship, and therefore as a collection of writings that teach non-contradictory truths about God and about the universe He created…true facts and ideas are all consistent with one another…we should expect our conclusions to ‘fit together’ and be mutually consistent. Internal consistency is an argument for, not against, any individual results of systematic theology.” 2. The choice of topics dictates the conclusions Danger of determining the starting point and therefore the conclusion “The sequence of topics in this book is very common one and has been adopted because it is orderly and leads itself well to learning and teaching.” Its OK to be logical and arrange by what helps us learn and teach – just don’t insist it is “God’s order” or the only way (Ex. Gary Ezzo – Growing Kids God’s Way)

    24. Difference between dispensational and non-dispensational approaches of Systematic Theology The theological method or step of progression for a dispensational systematic theology: The recognition of ones own preunderstanding. Formation of a Biblical theology of the OT based upon a literal interpretation (grammatical-historical approach) of the OT text. Formation of a Biblical theology of the NT based upon a literal interpretation (grammatical-historical approach) of the NT text. Production of a systematic theology by harmonizing all inputs to theology including 2 and 3 above. This is in sharp contrast with the non-dispensational approach: The recognition of ones own preunderstanding. Formation of a Biblical theology of the NT based upon a literal interpretation (grammatical-historical approach) of the NT text. Formation of a Biblical theology of the OT based upon the NT understanding of the OT text. Production of a systematic theology by harmonizing all inputs to theology including 2 and 3 above. (Example of this Danger – New Covenant Theology)

    25. Chapter 1 (p.32-35) E. How Should Christians Study Systematic Theology? With Prayer (Psalm 119:18, 1 Cor. 2:14, Eph. 1:17-19) With Humility (1 Peter 5:5, James 1:19-20, 3:13-18, 4:7-8, 1 Cor. 8:1) With Reason (Matthew 22:37/Mark 12:30/Luke 10:27, Titus 2:6, 1 Peter 4:7 - swfrone,w sophroneo to be of sound mind, i.e. to be temperate) “We are free to use our reasoning abilities to draw deductions from any passage of Scripture so long as the deductions do not contradict the clear teaching of some other passage of Scripture.” Discussion – Are there Paradoxes in Scripture that we can’t fully understand? Psalm 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. Shin. Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

    26. Chapter 1 (p.35-37) E. How Should Christians Study Systematic Theology? With Help from Others (1 Cor. 6:2, 12:28, Eph. 3:11, Rom.15:14) God uses human teachers to sanctify us/help us understand and apply His Word – so check yourself and your doctrine with other respected and godly Christians By Collecting and Understanding ALL the Relevant Passages of Scripture on Any Topic Find all the relevant verses Summarize the parts (points in the relevant verses) Summarize the whole (one or more points that the Bible affirms about the subject) Example: Church doctrinal statements (TBC Statement of Faith) With Rejoicing and Praise “Not merely a theoretical exercise of the intellect…we cannot study this subject dispassionately! We must love all that God is, all that he says and all that he does.” (Deut. 6:5, Psalm 19:8, 119:14,103,111,162, 139:17)

    27. What are the different forms of the Word of God? Next Week Read Chapter 2 The Word of God

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