#1 Theology Proper - Introduction

Founda ons in Chris an Doctrine #1 THEOLOGY PROPER - INTRODUCTION He who says, I believe in God, says more than he can jus fy, more than he knows, more even than he senses or suspects; he says that God’s reality is more real than his own life, that God is nearer than hands and feet, that he is the most sublime, but also the most common, that he is a God “in heaven above and on earth below,” the furthest away and the closest at hand, the una ainable One, who was already nearby us before we were born. —Gerardus Van der Leeuw1 God is not only incomprehensible, but He is also knowable. INCOMPREHENSIBLE Psalm 139:6 Psalm 145:3 1 Timothy 6:16 KNOWABLE John 14:6 John 17:3 1 John 5:20 “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us” (A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy). OUTLINE 1. The Triunity of God 2. The Names and A ributes of God 3. Paterology (The study of the Father) KEY ISSUES 1. One Essence, Three Persons 2. The Problem of Evil (If God is all-good and all-powerful, then why does evil exist?) 3. God’s Sovereignty & Human Responsibility HOMEWORK Think of Scripture that would support the teaching of the “Trinity” or “Triunity” - that God is One yet eternally exists in three Persons. Can you demonstrate from Scripture that the Father is God? That the Son is God? That the Spirit is God? That these Three are One? 1 20th Century Dutch Theologian ti ti tt ti tt 1