Theological Term of the Week

natural knowledge (God’s)
The knowledge which God has by His very nature or essence: his knowledge of himself and what he could do, of every possible combination of causes and effects, of the truths of logic and mathematics; also called necessary knowledge (because given God’s nature, it could not have been different than what it is), or the knowledge of simple intelligence.

• From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof: 
  

  [The necessary knowledge of God] is the knowledge which God has of Himself and of all things possible, a knowledge resting on the consciousness of His omnipotence. It is called necessary knowledge because it is not determined by an action of the divine will. Is is also known as the knowledge of simple intelligence, in view of the fact that it is purely an act of divine intellect, without any concurrent action of the divine will.

Learn more:

1. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry: Natural Knowledge
2. Paul Helm: Molinism 101
3. Theopedia: Molinism
4. Turretinfan: Middle Knowledge - Part 1

Related terms:

• omniscience
• Molinism
• free knowledge
• middle knowledge

Filed under God’s Nature and His Work

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

author of sin
A term sometimes used to describe God’s agency in regards to evil, usually used negatively (as in “God is not the author of sin”), but rarely defined; possible definitions: efficient cause of evil, tempter to sin, doer of evil.

• From scripture:

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5, ESV)

• From the Westminster Confession of Faith:

Chapter III, Of God’s Eternal Decree

I. God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.

• From Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, Book 1, Chapter 18, on one objection raised to the teaching that God “ govern [the] counsels and affections” of the wicked:

4. In the same way is solved, or rather spontaneously vanishes, another objection—viz. If God not only uses the agency of the wicked, but also governs their counsels and affections, he is the author of all their sins; and, therefore, men, in executing what God has decreed, are unjustly condemned, because they are obeying his will. Here will is improperly confounded with precept, though it is obvious, from innumerable examples, that there is the greatest difference between them. When Absalom defiled his father’s bed, though God was pleased thus to avenge the adultery of David, he did not therefore enjoin an abandoned son to commit incest, unless, perhaps, in respect of David, as David himself says of Shimei’s curses. For, while he confesses that Shimei acts by the order of God, he by no means commends the obedience, as if that petulant dog had been yielding obedience to a divine command; but, recognising in his tongue the scourge of God, he submits patiently to be chastised. Thus we must hold, that while by means of the wicked God performs what he had secretly decreed, they are not excusable as if they were obeying his precept, which of set purpose they violate according to their lust.

• From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, on one objection raised to the teaching that God decrees whatever happens:

3. IT MAKES GOD THE AUTHOR OF SIN. This, if true, would naturally be an insuperable objection, for God cannot be the author of sin. This follows equally from Scripture, Ps. 92:15; Eccl. 7:29; Jas. 1:13; I John 1:5, from the law of God which prohibits all sin, and from the holiness of God. But the charge is not true; the decree merely makes God the author of free moral beings, who are themselves the authors of sin. God decrees to sustain their free agency, to regulate the circumstances of their life, and to permit that free agency to exert itself in a multitude of acts, of which some are sinful. For good and holy reasons He renders these sinful acts certain, but He does not decree to work evil desires or choices efficiently in man. The decree respecting sin is not an efficient but a permissive decree, or a decree to permit, in distinction from a decree to produce, sin by divine efficiency. No difficulty attaches to such a decree which does not also attach to a mere passive permission of what He could very well prevent, such as the Arminians, who generally raise this objection, assume. The problem of God’s relation to sin remains a mystery for us, which we are not able to solve. It may be said, however, that His decree to permit sin, while it renders the entrance of sin into the world certain, does not mean that He takes delight in it; but only that He deemed it wise, for the purpose of His self-revelation, to permit moral evil, however abhorrent it may be to His nature. 

Learn more:

1. John Frame: Does God Author Sin?
2. John Piper: Is God the Author of Sin? Jonathan Edwards’ Answer
3. John MacArthur: Is God Responsible for Evil?
4. Lorraine Boettner: Does the Doctrine of Predestination Make God the Author of Sin?
5. Steve Hays: Is God the Author of Sin? Part 1, Part 2
6. On this blog: The Authoring of Sin

Related terms:

• decree(s) of God
• decretive will
• providence

Filed under Reformed Theology

Do you have a term you would like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

Marcionism
The teaching of the second century heretic Marcion, who made a distinction between what he believed was the inferior God of justice, the God of the Old Testament, who was the Creator and the God of the Jews, and the God of the New Testament, the Supreme God of goodness, of whom Christ was the messenger. Accordingly, he rejected the Old Testament; in fact, his canon included only Luke and Paul’s writings, which he edited to remove whatever he disagreed with, especially the quotes from the Old Testament found in them.

• From Marcionism and the New Mood (Kevin DeYoung):

Marcion’s theological errors (and there were many) came from one main root. He refused to believe that the God of the Old Testament was the same as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Marcion could simply not believe in a God full of wrath and justice. So he threw away the Old Testament and took for his Bible a truncated version of Luke’s Gospel and selectively edited versions of Paul’s epistles. When all the cutting and pasting was finished, Marcion had the Christianity he wanted: a God of goodness and nothing else; a message of inspiring moral uplift; a Bible that does away with the uncomfortable bits about God’s wrath and hell. Marcionism was antinomian, idealistic about human potential, and skittish about dogma and rules.

• From Know Your Heretics: Marcion (Justin Holcomb):

Marcion’s heresy prompted the church to push back and officially recognize the Old Testament as Scripture. Furthermore, his rejection of the humanity of Jesus energized the church to develop a complete defense of it. Tertullian did exactly this in his work Against Marcion in 207-208. Tertullian saw Marcion’s denial of Christ’s humanity as detrimental to Christianity: “The sufferings of Christ will be found not to warrant faith in him. For he suffered nothing [if he] did not truly suffer; and a phantom could not truly suffer. God’s entire work therefore is subverted. Christ’s death, wherein lies the whole weight and fruit of the Christian name, is denied.”

Learn more:

1. Theopedia: Marcionism
2. The Development of the New Testament Canon: Marcion and the Marcionites
3. Justin Holcomb: Know Your Heretics: Marcion
4. Robert I Bradshaw: Marcion: Potrait of a Heretic
5. Kevin DeYoung: Marcionism and the New Mood
6. Tertullian: Against Marcion
7. Kevin DeYoung: Marcionism (audio)

Related terms:

• adoptionism
• Arianism
• docetism
• modalism
• Nestorianism

Filed under Defective Theology

Do you have a term you would like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.