Geisler Study Guide Sys Theo I
Geisler Study Guide Sys Theo I
One
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here are certain essential beliefs. These include, but are not limited to:
the unsaved.
and consistent whole our of all revelation from God, whether, special
__________________ God.
This belief presupposes that many things are true—most of which are
Study Guide for Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, Chapter Two
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theology.
The name given for the view that God created everything else that exists is
List and define the seven major world views listed by Geisler
1. ________________: ____________________________________________
2. ________________: ____________________________________________
3. ________________: ____________________________________________
4. ________________: ____________________________________________
5. ________________: ____________________________________________
6. ________________: ____________________________________________
Study Guide-7
7. ________________: ____________________________________________
1. ___________________ :
___________________________________________
2. ___________________ :
___________________________________________
3. ___________________ :
___________________________________________
4. ___________________ :
___________________________________________
and ___________________.
1). Whatever exists but can/could not exist needs a ______________ for its
existence, since the mere possibility of existence does not explain why
something exists. There mere possibility of something is
_______________.
2.) But ______________ cannot produce __________________.
3.) Therefore, something necessarily exists as the ground for everything
that does exist but can not exist. It is a violation of the principle of
causality to say that a _________________ being can account for its own
_______________.
If we deny the possibility of infinite regress of causes, then we must accept the
fact of the _________________ ________________, which scientists desire to
avoid.
1.) Every part of the universe is right now _________________ for its
existence.
2.) If every part is right now dependent for its existence, then the who universe
must also be right now ________________ for its ________________.
3.) Therefore, the whole universe is dependent for its existence on some
____________________ ____________ beyond itself.
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all; it could simply be a natural event for which the observer, as yet, has not
natural explanation.
The strong view is that a miracle is beyond nature’s power to produce and
3.) _____________ (Heb. koak) is sometimes used of human power, very often
of divine power, often in direct connection with events called “signs” or
“wonders” or both.
Three New Testament Words for Miracles
Be familiar with the objections, and the answers to the objections against
miracles.
Study Guide-14
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apologetics.
Human can both ____________ beauty and they can also ____________
beautiful things.
music. He writes, “We learn something more about God’s nature through
Means of Means of
____________________ in ______________________ in
____________________ ____________________
_____________ end.
Study Guide for Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, Chapter Five
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Logic deals with the methods of valid thinking; it reveals how to draw
Without the law of noncontradiction we could not say that God is not
_______________.
If the law of identity were not binding, we could not say that God is
_______________.
If the law of excluded middle didn’t exist we could not affirm that it is either
God or ________ _________ that we are speaking about.
Categorical Syllogisms
A categorical (__________________) syllogism is one where a
categorical (________________) proposition is deduced from two other
categorical propositions. For example:
1.) All human being are sinful.
2.) John is a human being.
3.) Therefore __________ is _____________.
Propositions
A proposition is a _____________________ sentence that
_____________ or _____________ something. A proposition is
composed of a subject, a predicate, and a copula.
In the example above, identify the
Subject _____________________
Predicate ____________________
Copula ______________________
Hypothetical Syllogisms
Hypothetical syllogisms are an “____ . . . _______. . .” type of reasoning.
If A, then B follows. For example:
Disjunctive Syllogisms
A disjunctive syllogism is an ________________/_________ type of
reasoning. For example:
1.) It is either A or not A (but not both)
2.) It is not non-A
3.) Therefore, it is ______.
A theological example:
1.) Either God is existent or He is nonexistent.
2.) God is not nonexistent.
3.) Therefore, God is _____________.
There are two ways to draw a valid conclusion from a disjunctive syllogism:
Either by denying one ________________ or by denying the other
_______________. An alternate is the statement on one side or the other of the
“or.”
Exercises:
In the examples below, identify the type of syllogism, and if it is a
categorical syllogism identify whether it is modus pollens, or modus tollens.
After identifying the type of syllogism, insert the conclusion that must
follow the premises.
Type of
Syllogism
later
Logical
Conclusio
n
INDUCTIVE LOGIC
Broadly speaking, deductive reasoning is from the ________________ to the
____________________, while inductive reasoning is from the
_______________ to the ______________________. Inductive logic
begins with any number of particulars and makes a generalization about
them.
Kinds of Probability
A priori probability is _____________________ in nature, dealing with
the advanced likelihood or odds of an even occurring. In other words,
the probability or likelihood of an event occurring is
hypothesized/theorized based on previous examples.
Degrees of Probability
Good reason does not subject God to ______________ minds, but rather
subjects our ______________ minds to His infinite Mind (2 Cor. 10:5; 1
Cor. 1:21).
True or False: According to Geisler the Scriptures declare that there are
many things that are impossible for God to do.
True or False: The laws of physics are created and can be transcended by
God like everything else that was created.
Given the laws of logic, be prepared to defend the Orthodox view on the
topics of: The Trinity, the Incarnation, and the doctrine of predestination/free
will.
Study Guide-25
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meanings.
Religious beliefs have ____________________ force; that is, they orient our
lives.
REALISM:
CONVENTIONALISM
be
Note how Geisler applies these six causes to the meaning of a written text (pp.
105-106).
Words are only parts of a whole (the whole __________________), which does
have meaning.
The Locus of Meaning
• A text’s meaning is not found _______________ the text (in the author’s mind)
• A text’s meaning is not found _______________ the text (in the mystic’s mind)
• A text’s meaning is not found ________________ the text (in the author’s
unexpressed intention).
• A text’s meaning is found ________ the text (in the author’s expressed
meaning).
Seven
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________.
Christianity claims that there is _____________ truth and also insists that truth
is that which ____________________ to the way things are.
Eight
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_______________ claims that one religion is explicitly true, and all others
are implicitly true.
______________ is the belief that only one religion is true, and all others
opposed to it are false.
First, it is debatable that anything the “______ of the Spirit” can be found in
other non-Christian religions.
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Second, moral equality of practice does not prove that there is no moral
______________ in the teaching of Christianity over other religsions.
Fifth, in the final analysis, the moral superiority of Christianity does not rest
on our _______________ as Christians, but on Christ’s unique
__________________.
First, it’s based on the __________________ that all religions have a proper
relation to what is truly Ultimate.
Third, this denial of the truth of any particular religion is itself a form of
_______________, for it favors the worldview known as pantheism in order
to deny the particularity of the worldview known as Christian theism.
Fifth, the argument for redemptive equality implies that all truth claims are a
matter of _________/_________and not __________/__________.
Hicks argues that Jesus never claimed to be unique, but that this was the
view of the writers who portray Jesus.
Hick also argues that it is impossible for Jesus to be God incarnate. He asks,
rhetorically, “Is it really possible for infinite ___________________ to be
housed in a finite human ____________?”
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words.
1.) It is ______________ (totally different from the way God actually is).
2.) It is _____________ (totally the same as God actually is).
3.) It is _____________ (similar to the way God actually is).
The Bible is emphatic about two things in this connection. First, God is
beyond our __________________ and ________________ in that our finite
can never fully comprehend the infinite.
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There are many forms of subjectivism in hermeneutics, but that all involve
self-defeating statements, and any attempt to deny an objective interpretation
implies that one is possible, namely, the one by which the subjectivist’s view
is expected to be understood.
OBJECTIVITY IN HERMENEUTICS
Eleven
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Response: That historians must select his materials does not automatically
make history purely ______________________________. Jurors make
judgments “beyond reasonable doubt” without having all the
_____________________.
Response: There is no reason to assume that the historian cannot arrange the
historical materials without _________________________- the past.
The Unavoidability of Worldviews
Third, in reality neither the scientist nor the historian can attain objective
meaning without the use of some ________________ by which he
understands the facts.
Study Guide-48
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Zeno (c. 495 – c. 430 B.C.) Argued that nothing existed except one solitary
________________-. Nothing, he argued could move from point A to point
B, since there are an infinite number of points between them, and it is
impossible to traverse the __________. Therefore, by reducing pluralism to
the _______________, he believed he had proven monism (that all is one.).
The method itself does not necessitate any view contrary to Christian belief.
Socrates (c. 470 – 399 B.C.) This could better be called the _____________
method or the method of interrogation, for it is based on the simple
technique of discovering truth by asking the right _____________. The true
Socratic Method is based on the belief in _______________; however,
others have abstracted this methodology from the belief in
_______________ and use it to lead a mind down the path of truth by asking
the right questions.
Study Guide-49
Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.) Credited with being the first to record the canons
of deductive logic (Prior Analysis). These deductions are done by way of
logical ___________________-, which take on either a categorical,
hypothetical, or disjunctive form. In the categorical form the conclusion
follows from the truth of the _________________________. In the
disjunctive form, the conclusion is true if one of the two disjuncts
(statements on either side of the “or “in the premise) is negated.
Joseph Butler (1692 – 1752) is best known for his famous Analogy of
Religion. It is a presentation of the plausibility of Christianity in terms of
the analogy between _________________ and ________________ religion.
1.) The Use of Probability: Argued that our knowledge of nature is only
_______________. From this he concluded two things in the defense of
Christianity. First, since this is the case, “one is always in the position of a
potential ______________________, and so one never can posit what one
knows of nature as the standard to judge what is natural.” Second, probability,
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4.) The Relation of Natural and Supernatural Revelation: Butler agrees that God is
the Author of ________________ and that Christianity contains a republication
of this original revelation. He writes: “The essence of ____________________
religion may be said to consist in the religious regards to “God the Father
Almighty”: and the essence of revealed religion as distinguished from the
natural to consist in religious regard to “the Son” and to “the Holy Ghost.”
5.) The Defense of Miracles: In Butler’s words: “No presumption, from analogy,
against the general Christian Scheme; for (1) although undiscoverable by reason
or experience, we only know a ________________ _______________ of a
vast whole; (2) even if it be unlike the known course of _________________-,
(a) the unknown may not everywhere resemble the ___________________;
(b)we observe unlikeness sometimes in _________________; (c) the alleged
Study Guide-53
F. C. Baur (1792 – 1860) claimed that that first century’s supposed tension
between Peter’s Judaistic form of Christianity (thesis) and Paul’s anti-
Judaistic form of Christianity (antithesis) found its reconciliation (synthesis)
in John’s second-century gospel. The tragedy has been that this dialectic
tended to determine the facts rather than discover them, and it has led to an
overlooking if not rejecting of the evidence that points to a much earlier date
for John.
Karl Barth (1886 – 1968) employed a dialectical method, stating that the
thesis of ____________________ was opposed by the antithesis of
_______________________ that he synthesized into neo-orthodoxy.
TOWARD DEVELOPING
AN APPROPRIATE THEOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY
Evangelical theology is based on a belief that the Bible and the Bible alone
is the only _______________________, infallible and inerrant revelation
from God; as a result, any adequate methodology must be based on sound
exposition of ______________________. Using the Socratic method of
interrogation of a piece of literature we might ask:
______________ wrote it?
______________ did he write it?
______________ were they located?
To _____________ was he speaking?
______________ was said (or done) according to the text?
The word systematic in systematic theology implies that all the teachings of
both general and special revelation are _________________ and
________________. The entails the use of another methodology—logic.
The law of _____________________________ affirms that A is not non-A.
To two truths can be contradictory, which is why all biblical truth and
extrabiblical truth must be brought into a consistent whole.
BIBLIOLOGY
Study Guide for Chapter Thirteen
Biblical inspiration is not only verbal (located in the words), but it is also
_________________________, meaning that it extends to every part of the
words and all they teach or imply.
The inspiration of God includes not only what the Bible teaches explicitly,
but also what it teaches _____________________,, covering not only
spiritual matters but factual ones as well.
While the Bible was not dictated by God to secretaries, the final product is
as ____________________ and _____________________ as though it were
dictated.
Study Guide-59
Give and support one argument (Geisler offers three) that shows that the
Bible is without error.
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SHORT ESSAY
Defend the proposition that in addition to being a book of divine origin, it is
also a human book.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
There is one human characteristic that the Bible does not have;
_______________.
The degree of accuracy between copies is greater than that of any other book
from the ancient world, exceeding _____________ percent.
It should be noted, that the Bible is not ______________, and should not be
______________________.
Whatever Jesus taught about the ______________ is the last word on the
topic.
Over and over Jesus declared, “It is _____________” (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10).
Jesus employed several terms that refer to the Old Testament as a whole:
First, “law and __________________” its equivalent
Second, the term “the __________________”
Third, Jesus used a phrase equivalent to our “from Genesis to
__________________”
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Not only did Jesus confirm the Old Testament to be the Word of God, He
also promised the same for the New Testament, affirming that the Holy
Spirit would __________________ the apostles “all things” and
__________________ them into “all truth.”
Paul cited the words of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, calling them
“__________________” right alongside the Old Testament.
respect to the divine authority of the Old Testament. Geisler proves this
false on my counts:
Accommodation to error is contrary to the __________________ of Jesus’ life.
Accommodation to error is contrary to Jesus’ __________________
taught
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Papias Wrote five books titled Esposition of the Oracles of the Lord, which
is the same title given to the Old Testament by the apostle Paul in Romans
3:2, revealing Papias’s high regard for the New Testament as the very
__________________ of God.
Origen Held that God “gave the law, and the prophets, and the
__________________, being also the God of the apostles and the of the Old
and New Testaments.
The Syrian School at Antioch They viewed the Holy Spirit as providing the
content of __________________ and the prophet as giving it appropriate
expression and form.
The Victorines Their respect for Scripture was based on the belief of their
predecessors—that the Bible is the __________________ inspired Word of
God.
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Martin Luther did not depart from the doctrine of Scripture held by his great
mentor, Augustine. He firmly adhered to the divine __________________,
__________________, and __________________ of Scripture.
The Eastern Orthodox View of Scripture The Eastern Church has maintained
a high view of the __________________ of Scripture, in line with both the
Roman Catholic and Protestant view.
Study Guide-72
There are two basic kinds of _________________ criticism: lower and higher.
Higher criticism can be divided into two categories: positive and negative, also
called _________________ and _________________.
Inductivism: _________________
_________________: Thomas Hobbes
Antisupernaturalism: _________________
_________________: David Hume
Agnosticism: _________________
_________________: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Scientism: _________________
Study Guide-73
REPRESENTATIVES OF NEO-EVANGELICALISM
G. C. Berkouwer
Berkouwer believed that in the Bible we can distinguish between the Word
of God and the words of man. The ________________ of God could be
heard within Scripture—a confession that falls short of the clear orthodox
proclamation that the Bible is the Word of God and not merely contains the
Word of God.
Jack Rogers
Rogers was one of the faculty members of Fuller Theological Seminary who
successfully push through a neo-evangelical view of Scripture, which led to
the departure of several of the notable evangelical faculty members of the
seminary.
Rogers holds that “evangelicals believe the Bible is the authoritative word of
God.” However, he also maintained that it included accommodation to
human finitude and even error is involved in the this process. Follower
Berkouwer, he argued that the nature of inspiration is not verbal and plenary,
it is ________________.
Rogers was willing to speak of the inerrancy of the Bible, but regarded it in
terms of truth being determined by ________________ and not
correspondence. That is to say, the Bible is without error in what it intends
to do, not in all that it actually states. As such, Rogers believes that the
Bible does in fact have historical and scientific errors.
How does the neo-evangelical view differ from the evangelical view of
Scripture? (See summary on page 197)
C. S. Lewis
With respect to the inerrancy of the Bible, Lewis believed that there is a
________________ between the Word of God and the word of man
contained in Scripture.
Lewis’s view of the New Testament was more ________________ than his
view of the Old Testament. He had no difficulty with the liberal view that
there are myths in the Old Testament.
Study Guide-83
Positive aspects
Negative aspects
NOTEABLES
Francis Turrentin
Turrentin believed that the ________________ Hebrew and Greek texts are
without error. He also believes that the Hebrew and Greek texts are the
standard and rule to which all ________________ should be applied.
Jonathan Edwards
Edwards believed that the Bible was the very ________________ of God.
Edwards believed that the Bible was also a ________________ book. When
Edwards refers to the divinely authoritative product of inspiration and not to
the human means by which it was produced.
C. Hodge argued that “all Protestants agree and teach that ‘the word of God,
as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only
________________ rule of faith and practice.’”
These men believed that the Bible is the Word of God; it is not merely the
thoughts but the very ________________ of Scripture that are infallible.
They do not deny the ________________ element in the Scriptures and this
“obvious humanness” eliminates any notion of a “mechanical” or “verbal
dictation” view of inspiration.
Study Guide-87
Historical Fundamentalism
Historic fundamentalism held the standard ________________ view of
Scripture, the view of the Fathers and Reformers of the church.
Contemporary Fundamentalism
Current fundamentalists do not hold a ________________ view of Scripture.
They range from the standard evangelical view to a verbal dictation and
even beyond to a KJV only view.
Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible in this seventeen-century book as time
has passed them by.
Why choose only this ________________ Bible as inspired? Why not some
other English translation, such as the more popular NIV?
Why are recent edition of the KJV? Why not the ________________ one?
Even the two editions issued in 1611 differ from each other.
The original KJV had the ________________ books in it. They were not
taken out until the 1629 edition.
such as Creation and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, claim
The historicity of the Old Testament is based on two major factors: The
reliability of the Old Testament text, and the reliability of those who put the
text together.
Third, the phrase, “this is the _______________ of,” is used to record later
history.
Sixth, _______________ referred to Adam and Eve as the first actual “male
and female.”
Tenth, logically there had to be a first real set of human being, male and
female to account for present _______________.
Fourth, Noah and his sons are listed in a later ___________ record in 1
Chronicles.
Fifth, Isaiah the prophet referred to ________ and the Flood as historical
events (54:9).
Sixth, during the time of Ezekiel the prophet, Noah was still considered one
of the great figures of _______________ history.
Eight, the writer of _______________ places Noah in the great Hall of Faith
along with other historical figures like Abraham, Moses, and David (Heb.
11:7).
Ninth, the apostle _______________ twice refers to Noah and the Flood as a
literal person and event (1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:5).
Law codes have been found from the time of Abraham that show why the
Patriarch would have been hesitant to throw Hagar out of his camp, for he
was _______________ bound to support her.
Evidence has revealed that all five cities mentioned in the Bible (Sodom and
Gomorrah and three other cities in the area) were in fact centers of
_______________ and were geographically situated as the Scriptures say.
The date and authenticity of the book of Acts is crucial to the historicity of
early Christianity and, thus, to apologetics in general. If Acts was written
before _______________ while the eyewitnesses were still alive, then it has
great historical value in informing us of the earliest Christian beliefs.
If Acts was written by A.D. 62 (the traditional date), then it was written by a
_______________ of Jesus (who died A.D. 33).
Study Guide-96
Five strong reasons, given by Colin Hemer for accepting the traditional early
date of Acts:
Since the apostle _______________ was still alive (Acts 28), it must have
been written before his death (c. A.D. 65).
DEFINITIONS:
Jesus said God’s Word was exalted above all _____________ authority
(Matt. 15:3-6).
This very phrase or its equivalent is used many times of the Bible in part or
as a whole.”
Paul speaks of the “God who does not lie” (Titus 1:2), a God who, even “if
we are faithless, he will remain _______________, for he cannot disown
himself” (2 Tim. 2:13).
Study Guide-102
God is truth (John 14:6), and so is His Word; Jesus said to the Father, “Your
Word is _______________” (John 17:17).
The Psalmist said, “All your __________ are true” (Ps. 119:160; cf. Rom.
3:4).
Mistakes
_______________infallible revelation
_______________ones
_______________ characteristics
language
_______________devices
Mistake 15: Forgetting that only the original text, __________ every copy of
revelation
Although the Roman Catholic canon has _______________more books than the
Protestant Bible, only _______________extra books appear in the table of
contents of Roman Catholic Bibles.
There may be New Testament allusions to the Apocrypha, but there are no
clear New Testament _______________from them—not one.
The fact that the New Testament often quotes from the Greek Old Testament
in no way proves that the apocryphal books contained in Greek manuscripts
of the Old Testament are _______________.
Although some individuals in the early church had a high esteem for the
Apocrypha, there were many individuals who vehemently
_______________it.
There are some important reasons why citing these church councils does not
prove the Apocrypha belonged in the canon of the church.
Second, these books were not part of the Christian (New Testament period)
writings, and hence, they were not under the providence of the Christian
_______________to decide.
Third, the books accepted by these Christian councils may not have been the
_______________ones in each case,
Fourth, the local councils of Hippo and Carthage in North Africa were
influenced by _______________, who is the most significant antiquated
voice that accepted the same apocryphal books later canonized by the
Council of Trent. However, his position is ill-founded.
The Greek Orthodox Church has not always accepted the Apocrypha, nor is
its present position _______________.
Study Guide-108
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran included not only the
community’s bible (the Old Testament) but also their library, with fragments
of hundreds of different books. There were some Old Testament apocryphal
books, but there were no _______________ on any of the apocryphal books,
only on canonical books.
Canon
The reasons for believing that the _______________ books of the current
New Testament and those alone, belong in the Christian canon are very
strong.
Third, the apostles of Christ lived and died in the first century, consequently
the record of this full and final revelation of Christ to the apostles was
completed in the _______________century.
Study Guide-111
First, a _______________ of these books was made from the earliest times;
even within the New Testament itself this preservation process was put into
action.
CONCLUSION
The Bible is the only _______________ written revelation of God to man.
It is complete and as such is sufficient for _______________ and
_______________; nothing more is needed; the spiritual guide to life needs
no new chapters. The Author inspired a complete manual from the
beginning and has _______________ all of it, intact.
Study Guide-114
Yet, in spite of all this vast diversity, the Bible reveals an astounding
unity
First, it is a _______________, unfolding drama of redemption.
Second, the Bible as one _______________theme: the person of Jesus Christ
Third, the Bible has one unified _______________: humanity’s sin and
salvation through Christ.
The rocks cry out in support of the historicity and authority of the Bible. No
archeological find has ever _______________ a biblical claim.