My Mission

Introduction

            Of all doctrines and theological concepts in the Christian faith, the Holy Trinity is quite possibly the most difficult to fully grasp. The Holy Trinity is the three persons of One God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The divine and infinite nature of the Trinity makes it impossible to explain in our human, finite language; however, this does not mean we cannot discuss it further and understand it to the best of our ability. Today, we will be discussing specifically how the Trinity’s relationship with each other affects each individual person’s abilities, actions, and responsibilities.

The Father

            The Father, as do the Son and the Spirit, has a unique personality and responsibility within the Trinity. The Father is referred to by name frequently throughout the entire Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. There are many misconceptions of the Father which will need to be addressed first and foremost.

            The first misconception is that the Father is higher than the other two persons of the Trinity, the Son and the Spirit. Many people think that He is somehow more powerful or more divine than the other two, worthy of more praise and glory (this such heresy about the Trinity is known generally as subordinationism[1]). Different subcategories that fall under the scope of subordinationism present different reasons for why they believe this to be true, one example being a heresy known as Arianism.

            Arianism is the belief that God is unknowable, unchangeable, unreachable, and impassible. Thus, a God with that description could never incarnate as a human on earth to be known and seen by all and to have a personal relationship with humanity; therefore, Arianism stakes the claim that Jesus of Nazareth was simply a man that God the Father chose to be His tool for salvation and made Him divine. Since this would mean that Jesus was the created and not the creator, according to this tradition the Son is not worthy of the same worship that the Father is, and to worship Him in such a way would be blasphemy.

            Another misbelief is that God the Father does not personally care for or love us. The Father is seen as the hard, old man calling the shots, and we only receive any grace or love because the Son and the Spirit beg Him to. The entire story of the Bible shows otherwise, of course, but this tends to happen because of the way stories are told and verses are interpreted within the Church. For example, one of the reasons this happens is because some people take the verses speaking about how the Son and the Spirit advocate for us as to mean that the Father does not care about us but He helps us anyway just because He cares about them. One of the most famous verses in the Bible states specifically otherwise, of course: “For God so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”[2] God the Father sent the Son to earth because He loves us. He has loved us from the beginning and does everything He does because He still loves us today and forevermore.

The Son

The Son of course is just as unique as the Father. The Son has quite the spotlight in the New Testament, but He is referred to consistently throughout the Old Testament as well. While the Old Testament calls Him the Messiah, we finally get a name for Him come the New Testament: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is fully God and fully Human, contradictory to the Arianism we discussed previously.

The Son is the incarnation of God. He is the physical person of God taking the form of a human body to represent both Himself and the Trinity to us. Many times in the Gospel, He will say that you can see the Father through Him. The Son is on the same level as the Father and as the Spirit, He simply holds different responsibilities that require different things from Him. This understanding gets tricky, though, as we do not want to mistakenly fall into the heresy of Modalism.[3]

Modalism is the belief that there is no true distinction between the three persons of the Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It believes that they are merely the same person taking on different roles to accomplish certain purposes. This is incorrect, as we believe these words from the Nicene Creed:

“We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God… We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.”[4]

            So, the Son is the sacrificial lamb of God, sent by the Father to come to earth as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, that we might be able to receive the Spirit as a guide for this life until we join God in the next. He loves us and lived a perfect life as an example of how we should live out the teachings that God has given us. He reached down to us to give us a way to find the Father and live in step with God forever. The Son sent the Holy Spirit to us before ascending to heaven, where He prepares for His return at the resurrection.

The Holy Spirit

            The Holy Spirit is a very interesting person of God. I say this because of the way in which the Spirit is spoken of throughout the Bible. One of the names for Him that stands out the most is the “helper.” This being because not only is He our helper, but He is the helper of the other persons of the Trinity as well. As Thomas A. Noble puts it, “[Jesus] continued to sanctify human living by His obedience in the power of the Holy Spirit. The inner secret of His holy life was His loving relationship with His Father in the Spirit.”[5]

            The Holy Spirit is frequently called on by the mightiest characters of the Bible, including Jesus Himself. Jesus relies on the Spirit during His life on earth to guide Him and to give Him strength. “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.”[6] This verse from Romans is a statement that the Holy Spirit lives in us, yes, but I would like to focus on the saying that it was the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. This is intriguing in that it implies that different abilities are given to the different persons of God. So, it is interesting to see that the Son and the Father both rely on the Spirit just as much as He relies on Them.

Conclusion

            The persons of the Holy Trinity are each unique individuals who are all fully and equally God while remaining distinct from each other, yet They are reliant on each other and on Their dynamic to accomplish the purposes which They have set out ahead of Them. They have all been together from before the beginning of time and all have equal standing. The Father sent the Son to earth to be the salvation for our sins, and the Son sent the Spirit to guide us along the right path after He left. They exist and move in harmony with each other, working together to collectively rule with grace, justice, and love.

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Bibliography

Dunning, H. Ray. Grace, Faith, & Holiness. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1988.

CREED, NICENE. The Nicene Creed. S.P.C.K.: London, n.d.

Noble, T. A. Holy Trinity: Holy People: The Historic Doctrine of Christian Perfecting, 239. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2013.

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[1] H. Ray Dunning, Grace, Faith, & Holiness (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1988)).

[2] John 3:16.

[3] H. Ray Dunning, Grace, Faith, & Holiness (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1988)).

[4] CREED, NICENE. The Nicene Creed. S.P.C.K.: London, n.d.

[5] T. A. Noble, Holy Trinity: Holy People: The Historic Doctrine of Christian Perfecting (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2013), 239.

[6] Romans 8:11.

Introduction

            Once one has a grasp on the concept of systematic theology, the next step is to discover just how to organize what makes Christian theology possible; that is, the sources on which our beliefs are based. Without having a set of established, legitimate sources, theologians would be unable to reliably interpret and relate the doctrines of the Christian faith to others. By sources of theology, we mean the events or artifacts that reveal God to us. Having these sources in place gives us a starting point on our journey to uncovering the crevices and depths of Christian theology. Here we will discuss the four major sources of Wesleyan systematic theology.

What Are the Four Sources of Systematic Theology?

The Bible

            Naturally, the first and most important source of Christian theology is the Holy Book that God has given as a graceful, loving gift to us: the Bible. As put by H. Ray Dunning in Grace, Faith, and Holiness, “All sources carry only derivative authority… they are authoritative to the degree that they adequately bear witness to the primary revelation, what carries final authority. From the Christian perspective, this is the Christ-event and, in the light of it, the salvation-events of the Old Testament, of which it is the fulfillment.”[1]

            God makes it clear throughout all of Scripture that He wishes to have a relationship with us[2]. Because of His great love for us, He gave us His words through the Holy Spirit giving inspiration to the writers of the collective work we call the Bible.[3] Our belief is that the primary way that God chose to reveal himself to us is through the Bible. Since we believe that His word is inerrant, this means that we can rely on everything in the Bible to teach us thorough and true theology; the challenge arises when we attempt to translate very complicated concepts into words that anyone can understand.

            As the primary source of theology, all secondary sources should comply with the teachings of God’s word. If a source does not align with the Bible, there is one of two explanations; either the secondary source is incorrect, or it is being interpreted incorrectly. Whatever the reason may be, we need to carefully evaluate each and every source with each other to make sure that they are not contradictory – that is why systematic theology is very important.

Tradition

            Tradition is defined as the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction.[4] Traditions have been present since the first generation to walk the earth, and they are still as prevalent as ever today. While many might think of tradition as nothing more than old people pushing their lifestyle and worldview on the younger generations, that is a viewpoint that ought to be reconsidered.

            If we take a close look at the definition above, it can be drawn that not only is tradition a valuable set of teachings from the work and research of the people before us, but it is also something that we ourselves are making every day. As developing theologians, we should not underestimate the importance of tradition as a secondary source of theology. Rather, we should take a good look at the ways of the past generations and evaluate them in the light of the new knowledgeable discoveries we have today (such as the Dead Sea Scrolls) and adjust them as necessary.

Reason

            One of the most important sources that we have in theology is the very mind and conscience that God gave us. As humans, we do not go without a day in our life when we have an existential crisis. There are many questions that we cannot avoid as humans that point to this, such as: what is the purpose of humanity? What is the purpose of the universe? What is my purpose as an individual? Asking yourself these questions does not necessarily challenge the integrity of your faith; it is how you respond to them that shows where your faith lies. Everyone asks themselves these questions in at least one point in their life (often many more than that), and their answer to that question becomes what is known as their worldview.

A worldview refers to “a culture’s orientation to supernatural, human, and natural entities in the cosmological universe and other philosophical issues influencing how its members see the world.”[5] As Christians, we have taken upon ourselves the worldview answers (relative to the questions above) that God created humanity to have a relationship with Him, the universe was made for His glory and originally as our domain, and we are to live our life in pursuit of His kingdom.

Experience

            The last and perhaps most overlooked of the four sources is experience. By experience, we mean what we call the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. We discussed earlier how God wishes to reveal Himself to us so that we can have a relationship with Him (after all, that is ultimately what theology is about); one of the ways in which He does this is by living in us, walking beside us, and guiding us along the way. When you devote your life to the will of God and the expansion of His kingdom, you will find that your life changes in such a way that He is the only possible explanation. Many Christians, especially those who grew up in the church, do not recognize this power working in their life. While it is true that we might not see drastic changes being made in our life every day, it is also true that the righteous living we strive to attain day-by-day does make a difference, even if that difference does not become apparent right away. Proverbs 3:5-6 says it in this way, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”[6]

            Overlooked as it may be, experience is one of the most impactful of the secondary sources. While tradition speaks to our nature and reason speaks to our mind, experience speaks to our soul. Jesus sent the Helper to us for a purpose; that purpose being to help guide us and reveal the Trinity to us in a way we could not otherwise hope to achieve.

Proper Application

            Identifying the proper application of these sources can, at times, be challenging. However, as previously stated in this paper, the fact that all secondary sources must align with the theological teachings of the Bible is the best way to start. While it may be difficult for us developing theologians, with time and effort we will eventually find ourselves naturally comparing everything we learn from outside Scripture to what lies within it. When we accurately and effectively apply the technique of discovering the parallels between the primary and secondary sources, we begin our path to becoming good theologians.

Conclusion

            If we properly apply all of the sources above to our study and to our lives, we will be able to build a relationship with God that will bring an understanding we could not otherwise attain. While this certainly does not mean that we will gain the wisdom to know every theological concept with certainty, it does mean that we will have sound doctrine in the essentials of the Christian faith. With this knowledge of and about God paired with our close relationship with the Holy Trinity, we will find that our lives will make an impact for the good of God’s kingdom that we could never hope to achieve on our own.

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Bibliography

Dunning, H. Ray. Grace, Faith, & Holiness. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1988.

“Tradition.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Accessed February 24, 2020. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tradition.

Quintanilla, Kelly M., and Shawn T. Wahl. Business and Professional Communication: Keys for Workplace Excellence. Thirded. Thousand Oaks, CA, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2020.

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[1] H. Ray Dunning, Grace, Faith, & Holiness (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1988)).

[2] James 4:8a; 1 John 4:19 (NRSV).

[3] 2 Timothy 3:16 (NRSV).

[4] “Tradition,” Merriam-Webster (Merriam-Webster), accessed February 24, 2020, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tradition).

[5] Kelly M. Quintanilla and Shawn T. Wahl, Business and Professional Communication: Keys for Workplace Excellence, Third (Thousand Oaks, CA, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2020)).

[6] Proverbs 3:5-6 (NRSV).

Introduction

            Before any further insight can be found on a topic, one must educate themselves on just as exactly what it is that they are studying; otherwise, there will always be a central piece of the puzzle missing. This is just as true for the study of theology as it is for the study of any other science, soft or hard alike. With that in mind, the meaning of theology (specifically systematic theology) must be uncovered before continuing into doctrinal study.

What is Systematic Theology?

Term Definition

            The word theology comes from the combination of the Greek words “theos,” meaning god, and “logia,” meaning words or talk.[1] Thus, the literal meaning of the word theology is “words about God.” The English dictionary, however, defines the term as such: “the study of the nature of God and religious belief.”[2] A conclusion can be drawn from these two definitions that theology means to discuss and interpret God and His divine nature.

            To venture one step further, the fact that there are several types of theology, specifically Christian theology, must be acknowledged. A few of these are biblical theology, historical theology, and systematic theology. For the purposes of this paper, systematic theology will be the center of discussion. So, what is systematic theology and how does it differ from other forms of theology? “Systematic theology concerns those beliefs (of God and cognate beliefs) in ordered elucidation and in their relation to contemporary thought and life – ‘contemporary’ in each age, the task of theology falling to be done continually as the intellectual outlook and even the meanings of words undergo change.”[3] This differentiates it from the others mentioned in that while the others focus on fixed history and tradition, systematic theology attempts to join traditional context with current context to find the purpose in each generation theologizing, blindly following the teachings of the ages with no personal insight or knowledge.

History

            Systematic theology has not been around since the beginning of Christianity; therefore, the history of how and why it came about must be studied. As put in Alan Richardson’s “A Dictionary of Christian Theology:”

“Before the Enlightenment it was held by Catholics and Protestants alike that the propositions contained in the Scriptures were collectively the total revelation of God to man, given through the Holy Spirit. But these propositions did not present the truth in a systematic form, and thus it was necessary for theologians to systematize the truths contained in the thousands of biblical propositions and construct a ‘system’ which should present the whole range of revealed truth from Creation to Last Things… Since the Enlightenment it has become impossible to regard the task of theology as that of systematizing the biblical propositions regarded as inerrant, but the task of presenting in an orderly fashion the content of Christian truth still remains.”[4]

In other words, the propositions of older theologians were without form, so they introduced a way of putting all of the biblical propositions in a systematic presentation. However, it eventually became evident that there is no way to perfectly systematize all of those truths; therefore, it developed into the more adequate approach of putting them in an order that could be understood clearly.

Why Does Theology Matter?

Original Purpose

            As previously stated, systematic theology was created to give order to all the principles of the relation between God and man presented by the Bible. Such a method makes a relatively complicated subject slightly easier for the common people (those without a significant background in biblical studies) to understand. It modernizes biblical propositions without compromising their integrity and original importance.

Modern Application

            The fact that time changes most anything – with the exception of God – is well known. The interpretation of theology is included in this scope. While there is value to the history and traditions of theology, they are not necessarily a timeless truth. Factors as simple as a change in the connotation or context of a word can drastically impact the meaning of a statement.

For example, if one looks into the history of the word “naughty” they might be surprised with what they find. Originally, naughty meant someone who has naught (nothing); in today’s world, naughty is used to describe a person who acts poor or disapproved behavior.[5] Similarly, the words “awesome” and “awful” have changed with context. “Awe” used to mean fear or terror; when it was used to describe an attitude we should have towards God, people ascribed the word awesome to it, meaning respectful fear. Awesome and awful used to mean the same thing, but over time that context has changed in such a way that those two words no longer apply implicitly to God. Now, awesome means something wonderful or outstanding, while awful means something tragic or disastrous.[6]

Those are prime examples of why it is important to adapt to the current world and its climate. Far too many things would be lost in translation and commonly misunderstood if it were not for systematic theology. People would need to have more formal education to be able to grasp biblical propositions. While formal education is indeed a wonderful thing, it is unrealistic and uncalled for that everyone should be formally trained in the historical study of the Bible. Each individual has a different call and for many Christians that call is not to full-time ministry; this certainly does not mean that their call is any less important, for God gives to each person according to His will.[7]

Conclusion

            Let it be known that there is far more studying to do to truly get to the bottom of systematic theology; that statement being made, the purpose of this paper is to provide a simple introduction of the topic. All being said and done, the ultimate meaning of theology (particularly Christian systematic theology) is the orderly fashion in which one can research the relationship between God and man. The reason for putting in the effort to do so is that God gave us His word that we might learn more about Him and who He is, as well as what that has to do with us. If one brings together the meaning and the purpose of systematic theology, they will be fulfilling an important piece of the puzzle of Christianity.

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Bibliography

Dunning, H. Ray. Grace, Faith, & Holiness. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1988.

Hermin, Judith. “11 Words With Meanings That Have Changed Drastically Over Time.” Mental Floss, December 22, 2015. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/61876/11-words-meanings-have-changed-drastically-over-time.

Richardson, Alan. A Dictionary of Christian Theology. London: S.C.M. Press, 1981.

“Theology Definition.” Google Search. Google. Accessed February 7, 2020. https://www.google.com/search.

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[1] “Theology Definition,” Google Search (Google), accessed February 7, 2020, https://www.google.com/search).

[2] Ibid.

[3] H. Ray Dunning, Grace, Faith, & Holiness (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1988)).

[4] Alan Richardson, A Dictionary of Christian Theology (London: S.C.M. Press, 1981)).

[5] Judith Hermin, “11 Words With Meanings That Have Changed Drastically Over Time,” Mental Floss, December 22, 2015, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/61876/11-words-meanings-have-changed-drastically-over-time).

[6] Ibid.

[7] John 3:17.