In the very beginning of class, we were exposed to three categories of belief. These three categories were dogma, doctrine, and opinions. Each is important to know when studying theology. When learning theology, these categories can be viewed in a pyramid, with dogmas on the bottom, doctrine in the middle, and onions on top. Dogmas are non-negotiables, they are the essential truths that are to be believed in the church before any doctrine or opinions can take place. Examples of some dogmas would be that Jesus is God and the belief of salvation. Doctrines are beliefs that are particular to a certain faith tradition and opinions are areas of Christian faith where there is no clear conclusion. Along with learning the beliefs of theology, we learned …show more content…
People may ask how the Bible is reliable because of the long time span it was written over, but it is reliable because the scribes who copied the inerrancy of the Bible were very professional and carefully executed it. Not only that, but the Dead Sea scrolls which were found in 1947 contained writings from scripture and confirmed the accuracy of 1000 years of text. On top of that, many archeology findings verify scripture. When the Bible was first written, it was written in Hebrew and Greek, today it is translated into more languages than any other book and the best-selling book in all of history. Being composed of 39 books in the Old Testament (OT) and 27 in the New Testament (NT), all parts of scripture point back to Christ to tell the grand story from the beginning. We learned that throughout the Bible, we see God, keeping His covenant promises. Covenant promises are when God makes a promise and we are to be obedient. It’s a two-way compromise between two people. The Bible can be spilt into 7 different sections. Each pertaining to different parts of the Bible from both the OT and NT. When reading scripture, it’s important not to take scripture out of context, but to read the whole story and capture the full meaning behind it. You will never understand all of scripture, just when you think you understand it, you turn the page and …show more content…
It is important to note that God did not create evil. Evil came when an angel was cast down from Heaven taking one-third of the other angels and at that moment creating hell. God is control of all things, yet God gives free will the same way He gave Adam and Eve free will. How do we have free will if God knows everything? Because God created us in His image, not physically, but as relational beings with spiritual capacity, and the ability to represent God in the world. God is not going to force us to love Him, love is rooted in free will and choice. Without free will, it would not be true love as represented in the Trinity with the Father Son and Holy Spirit. The purpose for us on earth is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, the more we enjoy Him, the more God is glorified. I once heard from an author that theology that is not put into practice is useless. I will use what I learned, to remember that when we study the Bible we are studying God and all things related to God. It is easy when having conversations to get caught up in either meaningful or meaningless conversations, and it’s important to ask yourself what one you are in. When studying doctrine/opinion I will ask myself, is this a dogma or doctrine/opinion, and that will give a better understanding of