diff options
author | Camil Staps | 2016-05-27 11:38:45 +0200 |
---|---|---|
committer | Camil Staps | 2016-05-27 11:38:45 +0200 |
commit | d5e1caa156a9c57a0b97db22fb392768f106fed1 (patch) | |
tree | c4aa7f9c9f5b193e1852696d342224610660adfc | |
parent | Summary chapter 16 (diff) |
Summary chapter 6
-rw-r--r-- | sum-chap-6.tex | 68 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | summary.tex | 6 |
2 files changed, 72 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/sum-chap-6.tex b/sum-chap-6.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..efdedbc --- /dev/null +++ b/sum-chap-6.tex @@ -0,0 +1,68 @@ +\setcounter{section}{5} +\section{The world as creation} +\begin{description} + \item[Old Testament] The prophets, writing against the background of the + exile, wonder if the Babylonian gods were stronger than Yahweh. The answer + is that Yahweh is the God of all the earth (Is.~44:6--24; Jer.~10:1--16). + Also Gn.~1:1--2:3 is from this period; it declares God King of all creation + and dethrones common other gods, like sun and moon. The idea of God as + \index{God!Creator}Creator King resonates through the OT, e.g. in Ps.~8; + 33; 104; 139 and Job~38--41. + + In this setting, creation is the proper place of the God--world relation. + Humanity plays a key role, being created in the \index{God!Imago Dei}image + of God. + + \item[New Testament] The NT introduces Christ as mediator of creation + (1~Cor.~8:6; Col.~1:16): creation has its basis and goal in Him. + + The promise to Abraham of a good and wide land has been universalised to + the whole earth, and analogously the good news is available to all + (Rev.~5:9). + + While the OT talks about the promise of land, the NT puts more emphasis on + \index{Creation!New}\emph{new} creation. In Christian theology, the + `earthy' OT is sometimes forgotten, but it should not be: the NT + presupposes the OT's emphasis on a good material creation. +\end{description} + +\index{Gnosticism}Gnostics, pure dualists, believed that the material world is +a mis-creation of a lesser divine being, typically called +\index{Demiurge}\emph{Demiurge} and associated with the OT God. Spiritual souls +have fallen into that world and should be freed. To this end, the true, +spiritual God descends into the world (like unto Jesus) to reveal the +\emph{gnosis}, special knowledge, of the origin of these souls. They may then +begin to ascend to the spiritual realm. + +\index{Irenaeus}Irenaeus of Lyon counters this position: \index{Creation!Ex +nihilo}creatio ex nihilo was a free act of an omnipotent God, but also had a +good product because that God is benevolent. + +While gnosticism was early condemned, its ideas have influenced Christian +theology nevertheless, for example in the idea of a good heaven. + +\medskip +Interestingly, it were the implications of Christian criticism on Greek +creation ideas\footnote{Nature is (1) contingent (divine will); (2) good (a +good God); (3) orderly (a wise God); and (4) its flourishing is a cooperative +endeavour of God and humanity (humanity, created in God's image, has +responsibility).} that in the end gave rise to \index{Science}science and the +\index{Evolution}evolution theory. Although at first not enthusiastic, by the +twentieth century much of mainstream Christianity had reconciled itself to the +possibility of evolutionary process as the means by which God created life. + +\subsubsection*{Implications of \emph{creatio ex nihilo}} +\begin{itemize} + \item God is the source of all that there is. The biblical basis of this is + slim, since Genesis 1 presupposes the primeval watery chaos. We can + consider Rom.~4:17 and Heb.~11:3 though. + \item What is eternal, is also divine, and vice versa, thus excluding + \index{Dualism}dualism. + \item Creatures are dependent, yet real and good, thus excluding + \index{Monism}monism (the idea that only one thing possesses reality). + \item God creates in freedom: He didn't \emph{need} to create the world. + \item God created with purpose: creation is meaningful. + \item God is \index{Transcendence}transcendent and \index{Immanence}immanent. + \item God is not a creature. It is not contingent but necessary, and + self-sufficient. Since God is not a creature, faith transcends reason. +\end{itemize} diff --git a/summary.tex b/summary.tex index 3a50997..3f558da 100644 --- a/summary.tex +++ b/summary.tex @@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ \usepackage{dogmatics} \showquestionsfalse% -\usepackage[top=2cm, bottom=3cm, inner=3.6cm, outer=3.6cm, heightrounded, marginparwidth=2cm, marginparsep=0.6cm]{geometry} +\usepackage[top=2cm, bottom=3cm, inner=4cm, outer=4cm, heightrounded, +marginparwidth=3cm, marginparsep=0.6cm]{geometry} \usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref} \usepackage[english]{babel} \usepackage{multicol} @@ -46,8 +47,8 @@ % Show index entries in the margin notes; see http://tex.stackexchange.com/q/236373/23992 \usepackage{xparse} -\renewcommand\qindex[1]{\oldindex{#1}} \let\oldindex\index% +\renewcommand\qindex[1]{\oldindex{#1}} \renewcommand{\index}[1]{% \oldindex{#1}% \marginpar{\bfseries\splitentry{#1}}% @@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ \input{sum-chap-3.tex} \input{sum-chap-4.tex} +\input{sum-chap-6.tex} \input{sum-chap-16.tex} \vfill\eject% |