In the previous section, I have argued that Barth’s understanding of God’s being in act helps us preserve the ontological integrity of the triune God in the incarnation. In this section, I will delve into the theological understanding of Christ’s death with respect to the Trinitarian atonement. First, I elaborate how Barth understands the death of Christ in terms of God’s being in act. I then argue how his understanding enriches our theological understanding of the Trinitarian atonement. The ontological chasm in the Trinity also causes a problem in interpreting the death of Jesus Christ. Since it is considered that the humanity of the Son does not touch God’s own proper being, God in eternity also does not “feel the assault of pain by definition.” If this is the case, what incarnate Jesus Christ has experienced in time remains his human experience ad extra. As a natural consequence, the second person of the Trinity suffered and died only as man or in the flesh. In other words, all Jesus has done in time strictly remains an economic phenomenon. The question is, is there disconnection between the person of the Son and the locus of his suffering? Barth’s answer would be negative. He denies such separation and posits a different perspective, derived from his understanding of God’s being in act. He writes, “The reality of God in His revelation cannot be bracketed by an 'only, ' as though somewhere behind His revelation there stood another reality of God; the
John of Damascus was another prodigy of the early Church, having extensive knowledge of a wide range of subjects during his life, which spanned from the late 7th century to the mid-8th century. In this brief excerpt of his book, John of Damascus discusses the same fundamental ideas Augustine covers, namely the in-depth understanding of the Holy Trinity. His purpose, as previously stated, is to clarify misunderstandings the Trinity and to expel false teachings such as modalism and polytheism.
God become man, one of the profound mysteries of the Gospel and the Christian faith, is evidenced and affirmed throughout Scripture, yet it all too often is neglected in modern Christian thought and practice. In the work, The Incarnation of God, John Clark and Marcus Johnson do just the opposite. They bring the truth from scripture to robustly discuss a theology of the incarnation of God. Throughout their discussion, it becomes evident that the book strives to address the centrality of the incarnation, to the whole of the Christian faith, finding it’s support both in scripture and also the historic understandings of the catholic Church.
Fee completes his writings with his own conclusion: “The Spirit must be reinstated into the Trinity, where he has never been excluded in our creeds and liturgies, but has been practically excluded from the experienced life of the church.” Moreover, he argues that the very nature of the Triune God, as being three yet one, must become the character of the church both in its oneness and in its function, by the very application of the Spirit’s threefold work of the Trinity. Without this experience, the witness of the churches to the Resurrection today will remain generally ineffective in comparison with the witness of the early Christians, though they lived in a culture very similar to ours. As the title of Fee’s book emphasizes, we are meant to find God’s Spirit empowering for us in the present era while at the same time awaiting the consummation of Christ’s final return.
The word “trinity” is used to describe the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Though all three are used in scripture there is no description of the “trinity.” Throughout this paper the concept of the “trinity” will be examined. First, the paper will have a summary of relevant sections from three sources: the New Catholic Encyclopedia, the older Catholic Encyclopedia, and a peer-reviewed theological article from a contemporary journal. Two concise analyses will follow the summary. In the first analysis there will be a comparison between the older and newer Catholic encyclopedias to see how over time theological reflection has changed. In the second analysis there will be a comparison between the New Catholic Encyclopedia and a contemporary theological article to show the differences between the two theological perspectives.
A Christian apologetic method is a verbal defense of the biblical worldview. A proof is giving a reason for why we believe. This paper will address the philosophical question of God’s existence from the moral argument. The presuppositional apologetic method of Reformed thinkers Cornelius Van Til and John Frame will be the framework. Topics covered here could undoubtedly be developed in more depth, but that would be getting ahead, here is the big picture.
Introduction In his work, On the Incarnation of the Word, Athanasius of Alexandria provides a systematic approach to explaining why the Incarnation was needed and how to interpret the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Athanasius seeks to clear up any misconceptions as to why the Son of God needed to humble himself to become man, only to die a humiliating death, that would later be scorned. Athanasius ends with evidence as to the truth of which all Christians celebrate and seek to share with all who will listen. I will explain Athanasius logical approach to the Incarnation by explaining the need for God to respond to man’s sin, the manner in which God brought redemption, and the grace that can now be celebrated.
The Trinity consists of God, the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. The Christian faith recognizes there is one God and He is one with His Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The purpose of this essay is to describe the interrelationship of the three persons of the Trinity. This will include the concepts of the economic trinity, the essential trinity and the social trinity.
Moltmann argued that the cross of Christ and death in God namely that Christ suffers death on the cross while God the father suffers the death of Jesus where he also states that God is in Christ to the point that God becomes the victim of victim and that on the death of Christ on the cross affected not only humanity, but also God himself. Moltmann emphasized, the suffering that the Son endured when He had been separated from the Father and the Spirit.
our confession as well as the implications of a God who is three in one. In the following essay, I
Barth’s high view of the unique revelation granted to Christianity in the person of Jesus Christ leads to tension concerning how Judaism and Islam relate to God, apart from Jesus Christ. When discussing the failings of the church in the medieval era, Barth asks, “To what extent could heathen and Jews find … a power which was genuinely different…the power of God which humbles and therefore blesses all men, the power of the Gospel?” Barth lumps the Jewish people together with heathens, and relegates them both to the category of those who do not have an understanding of God and who will not experience said power because of the Church’s failings. This is a dangerous statement, as it undermines the significance of the relationship and covenant
“To be sure, some scholars have in recent decades argued that justification is not the center of Pauline thought but is rather a subsidiary doctrine. In its place they have proposed other integrating doctrines. Barth thinks that the confession of Jesus Christ is more basic than justification, which he defends—although he offers a novel doctrine of both: Justification he considers but a new insight into an already universally effective Christological salvation. Yet many others, including J. Gresham Machen and Leon Morris, have championed the evangelical mainstream view that justification is basic and central.”
I see God working through the history of mankind and God working throughout the history of Israel as well. I believe one can see that God is at work in the church as well. He is working to fulfill God 's plans that has been in place before the foundation of the world. God’s plan as the Apostle Paul says is to redeem his people in Ephesians 1:6-7. The Apostle Paul said, “to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, (Ephesians 1:6-7 ESV). It is Genesis chapter 3 that we see the broken state of mankind, but God offers grace to mankind when He tells Eve her child (Jesus) would crush the serpent (Satan).
As believers, we are constantly reminded that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. His death and his resurrection are fundamental to our Christian faith. Without his death, the relationship between God and His creation would have remained broken. Unfortunately, many believers do not take the time to consider the complex and deep meaning of Jesus’ death. If I have learned one concept throughout this class is that if I do not have a personal comprehension of Jesus’ death, I will never be saved. His death signifies salvation. It motivates us to imitate Jesus’ life as he was completely human and never sinned, yet he died on the cross in the cruelest way. Personally, Jesus’ death means love, reconciliation, redemption, and victory.
Barth regularly discussed the flaws of 'man ' and how it is 'man ' whom Jesus saves.123 Although it shall be assumed when Barth refers to 'man ' instead of 'a man ', he will be discussing the entire of humanity, his choice of language alone poses issues in his theology. However, this is a complex matter and will be discussed shortly. Ambiguity is found again in Barth 's writings in his consistent writing of “we” and “our”.456 He does not
This paper will provide an understanding the theories of theology of the history of the church, the celebration of the atonement; Jesus Christ being the vicarious substitutionary lamb slain for the sins of mankind.