Practical Theology_The Wonder of God_Thought Journal Reflection

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Practical Theology: The Wonder of God Thought Journal Justin Schalow THEO525-B11: Systematic Theology I September 17, 2023

Contents Introduction………………… .... ……………………………...………………….………………1 God is Knowable…..……………………………………………………………………………..1 God Speaks…………..…………………………………………………………………………...3 God is Sovereign ...……………………………………………………………………………….4 God is Eternal…………………………………………………………………………………….5 God is Holy, Benevolent, and Good……………………………………………………………..6 Holiness…………………………………………………………………………………….6 Benevolence………………………………………………………………………………..7 Goodness…………………………………………………………………………………...7 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………...9 ii

1 Introduction For the purposes of this assignment, I will present several thought journal entries that detail both my own grasp on understanding and how I intend to use these Theological principles within discipleship endeavors as a ministry leader as an Army Chaplain. Furthermore, the focus of these entries will be Theology Proper, or the attributes of God, or theology related directly to God. Journal Entry I: God is Knowable 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Rom 1:18-20). Two things strike me as I read through this exclamation of Paul: 1) God reveals Himself generally in all that He has created (nature, the world); 2) God reveals Himself specifically through His word and His people (Scripture). To restate Paul, he says, “God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness,” evidencing God’s revelation through the historical accounts of His people captured within the Bible. While “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived… in the things that have been made,” evidences that we can observe the creative power, majesty, and nature of God just by looking at what He has made. Erickson assists with understanding by clarifying, “There are two basic classifications of revelation. General revelation is God’s communication of himself to all persons at all times and in all places. Special revelation involves God’s particular communications and manifestations of himself to particular persons at particular times, communications and manifestations that are available now only by consultation of certain sacred writings. 1 Therefore, 1 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed . (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 122.

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2 if my understanding is correct, general revelation is available to anyone, at least those who would credit deity for design and sustainment. Specific revelation deals more with how God speaks to you directly through His Word, prayer, and that still small voice in your heart, which interacts with the Holy Spirit. However, it is my personal theology that a person must experience some kind of special revelation in order to validate any general revelation. Allow me to explain: If an unbeliever does not have an encounter with God that causes them to connect faith and reason, then it is my belief that a true conversion would be difficult. Special revelation causes general revelation because it opens the heart and mind to the knowledge of God in that which was previously unacknowledged. Nonetheless, special revelation can be spawned from general revelation. Meaning an unbeliever may radically encounter God while reading a scripture of hearing worship, which brings about a special revelation that allows insight to general revelation. This was the case in my story. While an unbeliever for the first 28 years of my life, I had been to church with my wife and had conversations with my in-laws (all believers). However, even though I had been exposed to these forms of general revelation, I still had no connection to God. However, in the middle of some catastrophic events, God spoke directly to me, and I can still remember the effect it had on my heart. But it wasn’t until I attended a local church that God began to broaden my understanding of what He was doing. His special revelation enlightened me to His general revelation. Even though I had previously been exposed to His general revelation, it wasn’t until He spoke to me directly (special revelation) that I connected with Him. Erickson gives this definition for special revelation: “By special revelation, we mean God’s manifestation

3 of himself to particular persons at definite times and places, enabling those persons to enter into a redemptive relationship with him.” 2 God knows and wants to be known by the people He has created. This is the reason for the call within the Great Commission to “Go and make disciples” (Matt 28:19). Mankind is made in the image of a relational God, bent toward relationships—with God and with other humans. I am blown away that the God of the universe would even have time for me, much less that He wants to be my most intimate friend. Yet somehow, we still neglect this relationship and focus on self far too much. Journal Entry II: God Speaks All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). The Apostle Paul declares God as the origin of scripture within this verse. Though God used human authors to transcribe and even insert their own writing styles and personalities, God was the originator and author of the objective truths captured within His Word. This is why Paul explains that they are holistically good for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. Objective morality requires an objective lawgiver. Man cannot fulfill this burden because of the influence of sin on this world. Because of this, we are all inherently selfish and will always default to what benefits “me” the most. This is not objectivity and, therefore, a fallacy. However, because of the inspiration of Scripture, by a Holy God, we have access to objective truth and morality every time we open the Word of God. C.F.H. Henry captures a helpful definition, stating, “Inspiration is a supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit upon divinely chosen agents in consequence of which their writings become trustworthy and 2 Erickson, Christian Theology , 144.

4 authoritative.” 3 God Himself is the original author of the scriptures, who supernaturally used human authors to capture exactly what He intended to communicate throughout the ages. Delving into apologetics a little here, “scripture was written by man and therefore can't be accurate” is one of the most common arguments against the faith you will encounter. We must adopt a theology that understands that God can be trusted (i.e. holiness, sovereignty, providence) and that nothing happens without His allowing it. With this theology in mind and applied to the inspiration of scripture, it develops an understanding that while Scripture may not always make sense, it is infallible, inerrant, perfectly said, and 100 percent accurate because God authored it. Inspiration of Scripture denotes the divine, supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit upon the writers of Scripture, ensuring that their compositions serve as precise accounts of revelation and, thus, represent the very Word of God. 4 Journal Entry III: God is Sovereign Discussing the divine attributes of God brings encouragement into the life and faith of the believer, helping to bring God’s people into a closer relationship as they acknowledge His strength in their own lives. According to William Leonard in the Holman Bible Dictionary , “Sovereignty means that God is in all and over all.” 5 Leonard goes on to explain that the Bible teaches that God is the ultimate source of all power in creation and provision. Everything comes from and depends on God. 6 However, the concept is beyond finite understanding because it is transcendent and originates with God. To understand and accept that God is sovereign is to give 3 C.F.H. Henry, “Bible, The Inspiration of,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology , second edition, ed., Walter A, Elwell (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 160. 4 Erickson, Christian Theology , 169. 5 William Leonard, “Sovereignty of God” in Holman Bible Dictionary: The Complete Guide to Everything you Need to Know About the Bible . eds., Trent C. Butler, Marsha A Ellis Smith, Forrest W. Jackson, Phil Logan, and Chris Church. (Nashville: Holman, 1991), 1296. 6 Leonard, “Sovereignty of God” in Holman Bible Dictionary, (Nashville: Holman, 1991), 1296.

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5 him credit for the creation of all things, including objective truth and morality. But mankind, even some believers, struggle with this intersection: is it good because God commanded it, or did God command it because it is good? Nevertheless, when I assess the attributes of God or the wonder of God, this is the first attribute that comes to mind and gives me great comfort. Knowing that I am incapable and lack the complete perspective, yet still exist on this earth, provides evidence to me that God has a purpose for my life. Knowing that He maintains the perfect spacing between planets to create ecologies for life on earth and that He makes the seed grow, though I cannot comprehend how (Mk 4:26-29), strengthens my faith and creates unshakable trust. Journal Entry IV: God is Eternal It is challenging for humans to grasp the concept of eternity because we measure everything in this life against a clock that keeps up with all our minutes, hours, and days. Nonetheless, the Bible teaches the eternality of God throughout its writings, even crediting his creational, sustainment, and provisional power with both the beginning (alpha) and the end (omega) (Rev 22:13). Without this nature of eternal existence, He wouldn’t be God. Yet we have a difficult time comprehending that an unchanging force has been the sustainer of this world since its creation and will continue in that presence until its destruction. Evidence of this struggle within the heart of man is the ongoing debate regarding origins. Secular science continues to argue that all of life has come together as some cosmic coincidence that developed both life as well as an ecological system that would sustain that life. Alternatively, an eternal view of God challenges this theory and places a creative designer at the helm of bringing forth life and ecosystems, placing God’s existence even before any measure of time, as we understand it, could possibly have been recorded.

6 Lending to the understanding of the eternal nature of God, are His attributes of perfectly knowing all things (omniscience), knowing no limitation to any particular space and time (omnipresence), and His limitless power to do all things in harmony with His nature and perfection (omnipotence). 7 Journal Entry V: God is Holy, Benevolent, and Good Elmer Towns declares, “These absolute attributes of God are those things man cannot know apart from the revelation of God to him. If any man has holiness, love or goodness, he first recognized it in God and then received it from God.” 8 Holiness Probably the first attribute I think of when I think of the wonder of God is His holiness or complete separation from sin and evil. However, just as several attributes discussed above, God’s holiness can be challenging for the finite human mind to understand. Why? Simply because no man can completely comprehend what it might look like to exist absent of sin and evil. Holiness implies the perfection of God, as the author of objective morality and truth, and moreover implies His perfection, sovereignty, and eternal existence. God’s holiness is the driving force for both remunerative justice (reward for compliance with the law), and punitive justice (consequences for violation of the law). 9 Benevolence Moving from the attribute that first comes to mind to perhaps my favorite attribute of God, his loving nature. However, this love must not simply be understood as virtuous but rather who He is—not how He acts. God’s love separates Christianity from other world religions, 7 Elmer Towns, Theology for Today , eds. Michele Baird, Maureen Staudt, and Michael Stranz. (Mason: Cengage, 2008), 117-121. 8 Ibid., 117. 9 Towns, Theology for Today , (Mason: Cengage, 2008), 113-114.

7 which teach that their faith tradition worships a God of punishment who demands obedience. Mankind understands love as an attitude or presentation expressed in actions emanating from its source. With God, this only scratches the surface, as His existence is love; therefore, all of His emanations are love in every way. However, we may not fully understand how, because man will always be tainted by a sinful and selfish nature, God commands us to exist with this same presentation of love both for Him and for our neighbors (Matt 22:40). God is capable of presenting a love that mankind is not able even to understand. God can love unconditionally, even though it is unmerited and undeserved and does not serve Him in any way. Man, poisoned by the influence of sin, will always be affected by these, and any love presented, no matter how genuine, will almost always be self-serving in some way. Goodness God’s goodness encompasses both His holiness and His benevolence and captures an aspect of trust for Him from the heart of man. There are times in my own faith journey when it has been difficult to lean into God’s holiness or benevolence for comfort, but knowing His goodness has helped me to have a better understanding of the latter. Goodness is a foundational attribute of God that makes Him relatable to mankind and one which is imputed into the lives of humans but mastered only by God Himself. Jesus explained, “There is none good but one, that is God” (Mark 10:18). However, as we answer the call to emulate these attributes of God within our own lives, we are called to seek to be the manifestation of goodness toward others. How is goodness expressed? Through being holy and all-loving. These attributes understood, in contrast with the presentation of mankind, we understand that God is the master of the attributes, the author, the perfector, and the one from whom we have learned them. Therefore, we, as coregents of God’s authority here on earth, are to seek to

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8 exemplify these very attributes to a world that does not know God so that by seeing these present within us, they have a keyhole glimpse at the vastness of holiness, benevolence, and goodness that awaits them within a relationship with the one who has perfected them. If we fail to acknowledge and understand these fundamental attributes and apply them within life, how will God reach the nations of this world with His gospel? His attributes taught and demonstrated through His people to a lost and dying world, communicate His presence to others. Bibliography Erickson, Millard J., Christian Theology, 3rd ed . Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013. Henry, C. F. J., “Bible, The Inspiration of,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology , second edition, ed., Walter A, Elwell. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001.

9 Leonard, William “Sovereignty of God” in Holman Bible Dictionary: The Complete Guide to Everything you Need to Know About the Bible . eds., Trent C. Butler, Marsha A. Ellis Smith, Forrest W. Jackson, Phil Logan, and Chris Church. Nashville: Holman, 1991. Towns, Elmer, Theology for Today , eds. Michele Baird, Maureen Staudt, and Michael Stranz. Mason: Cengage, 2008.

Practical Theology_The Wonder of God_Thought Journal Reflection

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