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29 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What does sensus divinitatus mean? |
“Sense of the divine” |
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What philosopher coined the term sensus divinitatus? |
Cicero, in “The Nature of the gods” |
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How does Romans 1:18 describe what the lost person does with the internal witness? |
Suppress it: by their wickedness and in their disobedience/turning away Misdirect it: idolatry |
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What is the relationship between internal/external witness to God’s existence? |
There is an internal awareness that is confirmed by an external witness |
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Internal witness to God’s existence |
Sensus divinitatus- the sense of God that every human being has |
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External witness to God’s existence |
Every day, creation reminds us of sensus divinitatus |
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What does ex nihilo mean |
Out of nothing |
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Theological and philosophical implications of ex nihilo |
God did not need to create First God, then everything else Contingent/necessary |
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Arguments for God’s existence |
Cosmological argument Teleological argument Ontological argument Moral argument |
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Cosmological argument |
Every known thing in the universe has a cause- therefore, the universe itself must have a cause |
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Teleological argument |
Focuses on the evidence of harmony, order, and design in the universe argues that it’s design gives evidence of an intelligent purpose |
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Ontological argument |
Begins with the idea of God, who is defined as being “greater than which nothing can be imagined” Argues that the characteristics of existence must belong to such a being, since it is greater to exist than not to exist |
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Moral argument |
Begins from a man’s sense of right and wrong and the need for justice to be done Argues that there must be a God who is the source of right and wrong and who will someday mete our justice to all people (God has written His law on human hearts) |
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God’s incomprehensibility and it’s implications |
Two factors: 1. God is inexhaustibly great which means we will never fully understand him 2. We will never fully grasp any one part of God (we will never know God exhaustively) |
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Incommunicable attributes |
Attributes that God does not share with others - essence: attributes that speak of God’s nature - beyond our comprehension |
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Communicable attributes |
Attributes God shares with us - action: when God acts, we see in His actions a lot of things that are human/like |
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How God’s glory is related to creation |
Refraction: when God creates, His glory is refracted in creation - God creates the world to bear witness to His glory |
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What is the most important principle to keep in mind when thinking about God |
The Creator/creation distinction |
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What is simplicity? |
- whatever we say about God applies to the totality of His being - God’s essence is his existence - not an exemplification of universal traits; He is those things |
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What is aseity |
God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything yet we and the rest of creation can glorify him and bring him joy - God’s underived fullness - necessity vs contingency |
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What is purus actus and how does it relate to immutability |
“Pure actuality” - there is nothing potential in God; therefore, he is his own actuality- nothing outside of Him can act on him in such a way to change him - unmoved mover |
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What is God’s eternality |
God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in His own being, and he sees all time equally and vividly yet God sees events in time and He acts in time |
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Why is eternality important and what is it’s relationship to creation? |
Infinite in relation to time Without externality God would be limited God can act in time and will changes in time without being time bound God creates with time, not in time |
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What is God’s omnipresence? |
God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point with his whole being, yet God acts differently in different places |
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Omnipresence’s relationship to infinity |
Infinite in relation to space Where God is, all God is God is immanent with, but not part of creation |
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Definitions of trinity |
God eternally exists as three persons: father, son, and holy spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God - 1 in essence, 3 in persons |
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Opera ad intra and ad extra and other terms |
Ad intra- operations (or works) inner-trinitarian (internal to the being of God) - immanent or ontological trinity Ad extra- God’s external activities - economical trinity |
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Inseparable operations |
How all the works of God ad extra involve every member of the trinity “The one thing God is/does, enacted as Father, son, and spirit” |
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How to distinguish between the persons of the trinity |
Origins of relation: - Father: “paternal”- the eternal begetter of the son - son: “filiation” the eternally generated - spirit: “spiration” eternally breathed forth by the father and the son |