20 Theological Questions Answered Under Reformed Lenses

 I am currently taking ThM at Westminster Theological College and Seminary Cambodia and the first subject for this fall semester has just concluded although not fully over since we are still working on our papers. Grateful that by God's grace I have just accomplished the first part which is answering the following 20 Theological questions. I hope that one way or another, these will also help you if these are some things that would be of your interest.  

Please note that the main textbook in this class was Michael Horton's "Pilgrim Theology". So without further ado, here are the questions and answers.

1. What is Verbal-Plenary Inspiration?

This is about the Word or the Bible being “inspired” of God-breathed. “Inspiration means that God supernaturally guided the authors of the Bible to write the exact message that He wanted to communicate to humanity. Now “Verbal” means that every word of Scripture is God-breathed while “Plenary” means “complete or full”. Hence all parts of the Scripture are equally of divine origin and equally authoritative.

 

2. How does magisterial authority differ from ministerial authority?

Magisterial authority, i.e. the magisterium of the Roman catholic church, refers to the special teaching authority of the church even outside the Scripture. This authority resides within the Pope and Catholic bishops. Such teaching  covers the attribute of the church especially the pope being infallible. Catholicism hold to magisterium because they say that it is vital since without it, humanity cannot correctly understand God’s revelation. In contrast, Ministerial authority is preaching the Word and administering the sacraments having Jesus Christ as the source of such authority and not the church.

 

3. What is Homoousia? What triggered the church to formulate Homoousia?

Homoousia is the belief that the Son and the Father are of one substance. It was formulated at the Nicene Creed in AD 325. Gnosticism and heretical teachings like Arianism, Apollinarism, Origen's and so forth about the Trinity were rampant for many years. The Nicene Creed formulated not the unity of the Godhead but rather the coeternity of the Son with the Father, which is now part of the doctrinal teachings of many mainstream Christians.

 

4. What is Trichotomy and Dichotomy? Why did John Calvin seldom mention Trichotomy?

Trichotomy is the belief that we are composed of the body, soul and spirit while dichotomy believes that soul and spirit are relatively the same.  Dichotomists believe that  soul and spirit are two different terms but refer to only one entity of humanity. Calvin holds dichotomous anthropology. According to his writings, it seems that he believes that although Scripture speak of the soul and the spirit separately at times, it just explains that either soul or spirit is more comprehensively the incorporeal part of the human being, hence it seems to be identical.

 

5. Why does the book reject Dualism? Can Monism correct the error of Dualism?

Radical dualism is about having human divine soul being trapped in the physical/bodily prison house. Monism does not correct the error since it is also denying the distinction between the body and soul. As per the book, “Biblical duality-in-unity recognizes a distinction without denying the unity of the human person.

 

6. How does Pelagianism differ from Augustine/Calvin?

Pelagianism, coined after Pelagius, taught that human will was capable of spiritual good without God’s grace. Hence, it almost sounds like  humanism on another note Augustine was among the church fathers who criticized this school of thought. For him, Jesus did not come to give us a “self-help” gospel, as what Pelagius teaches. And Calvin on the other hand emphasizes that we are saves by God’s grace and not by our works, which are mere evidence of salvation.

 

7. What is the difference between the Covenant of Work (or law) and the Covenant of Grace?

The Covenant of Grace is traced from God’s unconditional promise of salvation to Adam and Eve going down to the next generations of faith from Seth to Noah and to Abraham and Sarah all the way to the New covenant, as inaugurated by Christ’s work on the cross. God said “I will be your God and you will be my people..”
The Covenant of Work or Covenant of Creation is simply the conditional covenant between God and humanity in Adam. In Adam’s disobedience, humanity will die like him. Hence, work is needed. Both covenants (COG and COW) have to be understood in order to understand the Old Testament.

 

8. What is the active and passive obedience? Why was it necessary to divide the Christ’s obedience into two?

Active Obedience is Jesus Christ’s fulfillment of the law on behalf of His people. On the other hand, Passive Obedience is Jesus Christ’s suffering the penalty of sin and death on behalf of His people. The book states that the division is necessary because Christ’s fulfillment of  all righteousness (active) is imputed to the believers, which their sins are imputed to Christ in His death (passive).

 

9. What is the difference between Kingdom of Grace and Kingdom of Glory, and how are they relate to Christ’s humiliation and exaltation?

Christ is the King of grace as He took the sufferings that were actually meant for us to carry. This was Christ’s season of humiliation. On the other hand, Christ is the King of Glory as He has risen to glorification proving that He has conquered death. This has marked Christ’s exaltation and that He will come again for His millennial reign.

 

10. How does Arminianism differ from Calvinism (using 5 points to explain the differences)?

Arminianism holds that sinners can do good and respond to God while Calvinism holds that Man is unable to respond to God. The goodness that come after being saved is an evidence and not as something to manipulate God’s decision for man.

 

Armianism holds that God elects on basis of the foreseen faith while Calvinism holds that God elects according to His good pleasure. God being an omniscient God knows what is ahead and He does things according to His pleasure since He is the sole sovereign creator who knows what is righteous and what is just so He permits things to happen and nothing escapes from His hands.

 

Arminianism holds that Christ died for all while Calvinism holds that Christ died for the elect. The New Testament speaks a lot about the conditional nature of salvation as John 3:16 for example, where it says that only those who believe will receive eternal life. God’s work on the cross is sufficient (for all) yet it is efficient (for those who believe/elect).

 

Arminianism holds that Man can resist God while Calvinism holds irresistible election. Since God already knows who will be saved since He is not bound by time, when He says one is saved, that person is saved indeed and he cannot resist that.

 

Arminianism holds that Believer may lose salvation while Calvinism holds that the elect can never lose salvation. When a believer is truly salvation, that is if he/she receives Christ genuinely in his/her heart, they he/she is an elect and will never lose salvation.

 

11. What are the characteristics of believers’ union with Christ?

Being the elect, who share in Christ’s eternity, the believers undergo union with Christ. In the process from justification and sanctification, to glorification, the elect experience changes which lead to the likeness of Christ. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is manifested as: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control.

 

12. What is the New Perspective on Paul?

The “New Perspective on Paul” is an attempt to redefine and sort of deny some key biblical doctrines that are the foundation of the Christian faith. One of the lead proponents of this new perspective is N.T. Wright, a Bible scholar from the Anglican Church. He and other scholars introduced different interpretation of the Pauline theology such as regarding the doctrine of justification. These scholars say that Paul was not speaking of personal and individual justification wherein a guilty sinner is declared righteous on the basis of faith in Christ and succeeding that is the imputation of God’s righteousness, instead, they say that Paul was speaking of how one could tell if a person was “a member of the covenant family.

 

13. What are three uses of the law? Briefly explain each use.

The first use is to give knowledge about sin. The law gives a reflection of God’s righteousness and the unrighteousness of human. Hence, it teaches how humans were in the beginning, when created in His image. The second use is for civil use. The law itself cannot change the heart but it gives warning for the offenders as backed by the civil code for the punishment against particular offenses. The third use is to guide the believers. The law directs God’s children to undergo regeneration into the good works that God has planned for them.

 

14. What is Eternal Security? How can a believer be assured of their salvation?

The Scripture says that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will have eternal life. Hence, if a believer genuinely receives Jesus Christ in his/her life, then he/she receives that eternal security. Salvation will never be lost. An important note is that eternal security or blessed assurance is a result of God keeping us and not us maintaining our own salvation. Receiving Christ should be genuine and true in order that eternal security is assured.

 

15. Why do the church baptize only once?

Genuine baptism is done only once in a person’s life since baptism in the Holy Spirit happens once as well. If a person is baptized more than once, then the previous baptism/s has/ve never been genuine. Jesus gave us an example that before He went to fasting and later to ministry-proper, He was baptized only once. He rendered it as one of the two ordinances for all believers hence it has to be taken seriously.

 

16. What are Transubstantiation and consubstantiation?

In Roman catholic eucharist, the bread and wine materially changes and become the body and blood of Jesus Christ while both objects remain as they are. This is Transubstantiation. On the other hand, Consubstantiation describes the real presence of Christ in the eucharist. It holds that during the sacrament, the total substance of the body and blood of Christ are spiritually present along with the total substance of the bread and wine. Lutherans hold to Consubstantiation.

 

17. How do the Roman Church, the New Apostolic Movement and the Reformed theology understand “we believe in the apostolic church”?

The Roman Catholic church identify itself as an apostolic church by being office bearers tracing the pope's ordination to the early Church apostles. The New Apostolic Movement (NAM) on the other hand identify itself as apostolic through the charismatic ministry of revelation and prophecy, to the point of extreme display of the gifts such as tongues, healing, and prosperity. An Apostolic church is generally referring to being a Church moving forward to do Jesus’ great commission, which is proclaiming the Gospel to all the earth. This is how Reformed and Lutheran traditions identify themselves with.

 

18. What is the difference between the Normative Principle of Worship and the Regulative Principle of Worship?

The regulative principle of worship maintains that Scripture provides specific guidelines for how corporate worship services are to be done. Doing beyond such guidelines is not encouraged. Some regulative principles is specific use of musical instruments or not using them at all. On the other hand, the normative principle provides greater freedom in worship as the church can do anything as long as it is not expressly forbidden by Scripture. can be used in corporate worship. The regulative principle is common in Reformed churches, while the normative principle is usually happening in modern evangelicalism. For whatever the worship style is, it is still the Lord who tests the heart of the worshipper.

 

19. How do amillennialism, premillennialism and postmillennialism understand “thousand years”?

Amillennialism maintains that there will not be a literal 1,000-year reign of Christ in contrast with what Premillenialism and Postmillenialism believe. The most widely accepted view is premillennialism as it holds that Christ’s second coming will occur prior to His millennial kingdom which will take place literally for 1,000-year reign. The less-widely accepted view is postmillennialism that maintains that Christ will return after Christians, not Christ Himself, have established the kingdom on this earth, again literally for 1,000-year reign. Amillenialists believe that Jesus is already sitting on the throne of David. The reason why Amillenialists do not interepret the millennial literally is because for them, unfulfilled prophecy is to be interpreted spiritually, or non-literally as symbolic, figurative, spiritual language and so forth.

 

20. What is Apokatastasis?

Aposkatastasis is Origen’s theory of Universal restoration. It held that all spirits, even including Lucifer, will be saved. Barth’s doctrine of election and reconciliation suggests an agreement to such teaching. Some Arminians also agree since Arminianism was once known as “hyphothetical universalism”. Nonetheless, Christ’s work is sufficient for the whole world but efficient for the elect alone.