1. II. theologies Christianity
1. Christians adhere to Trinitarian Monotheism – the belief that one God exists in three persons.
2. Christians believe that God reveals Himself via general revelation and special revelation.
3. The Bible is the main source of influence for Christians.
J.C. Ryle – “Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing which is not in the Bible, nor can be proved by the Bible.”

2. II. theologies Christianity – The Formation of the Trinity
Normative Christians embrace the Trinity because the Bible upholds the following three affirmations:
1 – The Oneness of God
2 – Diversity in Unity
3 – Three Distinct Persons Partake of the Divine.

3. II. theologies 1) The Oneness of God
The Israelites were adamant on avoiding the polytheism of their pagan neighbors.
Deut 6:4 – Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Is. 45:5 – I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is none besides me.
Monotheism is also upheld in the New Testament.
1 Tim. 2:5 – For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

4. II. theologies 2) Diversity within Unity
Does the concept of oneness rule out Trinitarianism? When we look at Scripture, this is not the case; many times oneness includes, or even requires, multiplicity.
Example
When a couple marries, the two become “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). This oneness does not exclude but actually requires two distinct persons. Also, the same word for “one” is use in Deut. 6:4 – “The LORD is ONE.”
Israel’s one tabernacle was composed of many parts (10 curtains, fifty loops, etc.).

5. II. theologies 2) Diversity within Unity
Gen 1:26 – God said, “Let Us make man in our image.”
It is very unlikely that the Us refers to angelic hosts because only humans were created in the imago dei. Thus, this is referring to the triune Godhead.
Ps. 110:1 – The Lord says to my Lord; sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.
Matt. 28:19 – baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Name = Singular
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit = plural
John 1:1 – The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

6. II. theologies 3) Three Distinct Persons Partake of the Divine.
Father – undisputed
Son
Mark 2 – Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sins
John 1:1 – The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 8:58 – Before Abraham was born, I am.
Holy Spirit
Equal with God - Acts 5:3-4 - But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not your own? and after it was sold, was it not in your own power? why have you conceived this thing in your heart? you have not lied unto men, but unto God (also see 1 Cor. 6:19)
Personal –
1) The Holy Spirit has intellect..
1 Corinthians 2:10 - But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
2) The Holy Spirit has knowledge.
1 Corinthians 2:11 - even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
3) The Holy Spirit has emotions.
Ephesians 4:30 - And grieve (to make sad or sorrowful, heavy of heart) not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
4) The Holy Spirit has his own will and he makes decisions.
Acts 16:6 - Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia (pronounced froog-ee'-ah) and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
5) The Holy Spirit Loves.
Romans 15:30 - Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;

7. II. theologies Question: Is the Trinity a contradiction or a mystery?
Law of non-contradiction – something cannot be x and non-x at the same time in the same way.
Mystery - anything that is kept secret or that cannot be fully explained.

8. II. theologies Islam 1. The word Islam means “submission.”
2. Muslims believe in Unitarian Monotheism - the belief that one God exists in one person.
3. The Pillars of Islam
a. The Confession – There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet
b. Prayer – Muslims are commissioned to pray 5 times, facing Mecca.
c. Ramadan – During this period, Muslims are expected to fast food, smoking, and sex during daylight hours.
d. Almsgiving – Muslims are expected to give 2.5% of their annual income to the poor.
e. Pilgrimage – Every Islamic believer is obligated to travel to Mecca at least one time in his or her lifetime.

9. II. theologies
4. There are three prime sources that Influence Islamic thought.
a. Qur’an
b. Hadith
c. Sunna
5. The Concept of Jihad
Jihad - means holy war. This concept is primarily used in two ways.

10. II. theologies
Marxism
1. Marxists embrace atheism. The idea of God is an enemy to progress.
2. The Communist Manifesto (1848) is the Bible of the Marxists. It was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
*Ludwig Feuerbach – “It is clear as the sun and evident as the day that there is no God; and still more, that there can be no God.”
*Frederick Engels – “We have once and for all declared war on religion and religious ideas and care little whether we are called atheists or anything else.”
*V.I. Lenin – “Religion is opium for the people. Religion is a sort of spiritual booze …”

11. II. theologies Secular Humanists 1. Secular Humanists embrace atheism.
2. Participants in this camp are humanists. Humanism is the belief that humans are the highest of all beings; thus, science and rationality are the best sources to utilize in one’s quest for truth.
3. This view has been greatly influenced by the Humanist Manifestos (1933, 1973, and 2000).
Humanist Manifesto I - “The time has passed for theism.”
Humanist Manifesto II - “We find insufficient evidence for belief in the existence of a supernatural; it is either meaningless or irrelevant to the question of the survival and fulfillment of the human race. As non-theists, we begin with humans not God, nature not deity No deity will save us; we must save ourselves.”
4. A current Secular Humanist voice is the Free Inquiry, a magazine for skeptics and non-theists.

12. II. theologies Postmodernism 1. Postmodernists are practical atheists.
2. Because Postmodernists reject universal truth-claims, they embrace religious pluralism.

13. II. theologies Pre-Modern Era (Before 1700)
3. The Evolution of Postmodernism
Pre-Modern Era
(Before 1700)
-Most individuals in this era believed that the ultimate sources of truth to describe reality are the Bible and the Church.
Modern Era
( )
-Many persons in this era believed that the ultimate sources of truth to describe reality are reason and science. Religious texts and traditions are less reliable.
Postmodern Era
(1960-Present)
- Many individuals in this area believe in the inaccessibility of truth claims in the field of religion; however, they still believe truth about reality can be found within the scientific disciplines; this is moderate postmodernism.
- Full postmodernism denies that truth about reality (universal truth) can be found in any discipline, including the sciences.

14. II. theologies
4. Postmodernists believe that theological expressions should be expressed in communities, but they reject all religiously-based metanarrative claims (an explanation about everything).
5. Postmodernists are deconstructionists. Deconstruction is a fairly recent interpretive method; this method allows the reader to determine the meaning of any given text.
*Richard Rorty – “I might have written an account of how even atheists like myself are impressed, improved and morally instructed by reading Pilgrim’s Progress.”

15. II. theologies

16. II. theologies Cosmic Humanism
1. Cosmic Humanists embrace pantheism. They believe that everything is god, and god is everything.
2. This worldview is also referred to as the New Age movement.
Kevin Ryerson – “What is God? God is the interlinking of yourself with the whole.”
David Spangler – “We can take all the scriptures, and all the teachings, and all the tablets, and all the laws, and all the marshmallows and have a jolly good bonfire and marshmallow roast, because that is all they are worth.”
John White – “Sooner or later every human being will feel a call from the cosmos to ascend to godhood.”
George Lucas, produce of Star Wars, said the following in an interview: “With Star Wars, I consciously set about to re-create myths and the classic mythological motifs. I wanted to use those motifs to deal with issues that exist today … I see Star Wars as taking all the issues that religion represents and trying to distill them down into a more modern and easily accessible construct … I’m telling an old myth in a new way.”