The God’s Greatness Essay

The God’s Greatness Essay Paper

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The God’s Greatness Essay Paper

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Each doctrine we studied over the semester posed unique challenges to my systematic theology. However, as we studied what God is like, I was confronted with the reality that so much of our theology relies on how we understand what he is like.

As I read through the theological perspectives of major contributors like Karl Barth, Paul Tillich, Augustine, or Harrison Elliot, every time their theology departed from a biblically sound doctrine was due to an attempt to rationalize or limit God. Erickson rightly presents God as spirit, personal, life, infinite, unchanging, and more than we can fathom (Erickson 2013, 238-253).

When we try to limit God, we depart from his biblically-based revelation. In his Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul prays that God will bless the believers in Ephesus with the power of the Holy Spirit to begin understanding how great and unlimited God’s love is. This truth of immeasurability applies to every quality of God.

When we fail to put our trust in God in the hard things, such as this COVID-19 pandemic, our heart attitude reveals that we do trust God is big enough. J.B. Phillips penned a book titled, Your God is Too Small, that addresses much of my thoughts here. We can fall into the trap of thinking God as a benevolent handyman, only stepping in when things need adjusting. Or a vengeful distant father, showing up to punish our sins, leaving us alone to deal with the aftermath.

Worse, we may view God as powerless to do anything to help us. Worst of all, we only turn to God as a last resort. Revealing an attitude of, “I tried everything else, I guess now all I can do is pray.” We serve a mighty God. The God who parted the Red Sea. Lead Israel as a column of fire in the wilderness and filled the Temple during Solomon’s dedication. And, the very same God who resurrected Jesus from the grave.

I believe the second hindrance in our ability to comprehend how great and perfect our God is our realization of unworthy we are to know such a God. I recall times in my life where God was leading me into an area, I felt entirely unworthy. I found myself thinking these tasks were impossible, not only for me to complete, but for God to fulfill through me.

We confess with our mouths that we serve the only God who can do the impossible. However, when he seeks to do the impossible through us, or we need him to do the impossible for us, our faith disappears like chaff in the wind.

I agree with G. R. Lewis’ summary from his article on the attributes of God. “God is a living, personal Spirit worthy of whole-soul adoration and trust (because of his many perfect attributes), separate from the world yet continuously active in the world” (Elwell 2001, 499). May God help us all to believe for and seek to accomplish the impossible in our ministries.

References

Elwell, Walter A., ed. 2001. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

Erickson, Millard J. 2013. Christian Theology. 3rd Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic,

Phillips, J. B. 2004. Your God is Too Small, New York, NY: Touchstone.

The Only Inerrant God

Topic: Which doctrines studied caused you to reconsider, change, or develop your position on theology during the course and why?

Throughout this course, we have studied many doctrines in theology. I have come to a greater understanding of systemic theology. Systematic theology helps us to understand our origination, from the Old Testament in (Genesis 1:1) [1] to the New Testament which tells us we have a purpose (Psalm 57:2).

It opens our understanding of the historical character of Christian ethics. Systemic theology is important, and it is the knowledge of God that allows us to know our purpose. Thus, takes us to a deeper level of understanding of a God that is inerrant.

To deny God is to deny our very existence. Erickson writes, “Kant was a philosopher rather than a theologian, his three famous critiques—The Critique of Pure Reason (1781), The Critique of Practical Reason (1788), and The Critique of Judgment (1790)—had an immense impact on the philosophy of religion.6 In the first of these, he refuted the idea that it is possible to have theoretical knowledge of objects that transcend sense experience.”  

Kant has drawn followers who were like-minded or have become like-minded to his dogma. Another philosopher was Friedrich Schleiermacher who rejection religion, resorted to his creation of religion, “Rather, he said, religion is a matter of feeling, either of feeling in general or of the feeling of absolute dependence.

Schleiermacher, did not regard God as the almighty one, but view religion as a feeling we depend upon to live and move. Thus, dismissed God from the biblical, and historical narrative, as well as refused to believe all creatures are God’s creation. Waking up daily is a testament that God lives, reign, and we as his people have much to be grateful for by being alive and breathing.

Rejection of God is also rejecting the breath we breathe, thus, taken God for granted, and perhaps believe that we are in control of reinstating our unconscious to conscious when we awake from our sleep. Without God we are nothing. The scripture tells us, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” [4] Thus, I have learned and gained in-depth biblical, historical, knowledge of different doctrines.

Thus, my position systemic theology knowing God, what he desires for us to accomplish here on earth that we may have life and not damnation. Before this course, I was very thought that biblical theology was my position but there is much more to learn about the way we study the bible especially its historical context. Thus, metaphorically, one cannot love coffee and care not for what the coffee is made of or whether there is benefit from drinking it.

This Document Contains Words:502

Bibliography

Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Edited by Walter A. Elwell. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company, 2009.

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Third Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books A division of Baker Publishing Group, 2015.

[1] Unless otherwise noted all biblical passage are referenced in, The New International Version

[2]   Millard J. Erickson (2015). Third Edition, (p. 5). Christian Theology. Baker Academic. Retrieved from https://app.wordsearchbible.lifeway.com]

The God’s Greatness Essay Paper

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