Scripture, Symptism And The Great Awakening

Salvation could be felt only in relation to God’s redemptive activity in Jesus’ unique person and work, particularly his self-proclamation by word and deed. It always concerns relationship to God within the Christian community.

The grace declared by Jesus was a response to humanity’s need for redemption from both original sin and actual sin. According to him, salvation should be considered as the transformation of the self into total God-consciousness.

11.1.4. Church:

He emphasized the need to belong to the church and to do theology in light of church tradition and confessions, particularly those of the Reformation. The church has six essential, undeniable elements: Scripture, preaching, baptism, the Eucharist, the power of excommunication,

In his view, the preacher was considered as guru.

12. Theological Basis for Holiness Movement

The Methodist movement, the Great Awakening, and the Second Awakening prepared the ground in the United States and Great Britain for further revival and evangelistic efforts.

The Holiness groups taught that everyone should seek two distinct experiences with God. First, a person needs to be saved. When he repents of sin, believes on the Lord, and confesses Jesus as his personal Saviour, he is justified, forgiven of sins, and born again, and has Christ living within. At this point he needs a second work of grace, called Christian perfection or entire sanctification. In this experience, God “eradicates” the indwelling nature of sin, thereby enabling the Christian to live a victorious, holy life.

Holiness people sought this experience with prayer, weeping, and soul searching, much as they did the initial experience of conversion.

They exhorted all Christians to seek a distinct encounter with God’s Spirit in which they would receive power for Christian service and power to bear spiritual fruit. It could happen at conversion or

Acknowledgment of it is faith and this knowledge is the knowledge of faith. The knowledge of God does not come from the knower. God is known through God.

The second is that the knowability of God. The knowability of God means that God is ready to be known with an eternal readiness that is grounded in his very nature, being, and activity as God. Barth revealed that the incarnation and revelation of Christ in God is that purely by the grace of God.

13.2. Scripture:

The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself. The bible was considered more important in neo-orthodox theology. His concept of the word lies in three forms. The preached, the written, and the revealed were those three. In the preached Word, he reflects the relation between the church's preaching and proclamation as God's word.

The written Word refers that the proclamation does not takes place in a vacuum. It rests on recollection of revelation that has already been enacted in the biblical canon.

The third form of the Word is the revealed Word. The revelation is an act and scripture record. Revelation is directly God's Word while scripture is man's word. Barth considers three senses in which the Word of God "holds"