"Holy baptism" : a reconsideration of the doctrine of holy baptism in the light of recent research
- Authors: Moore, Robert Humphrey
- Date: 1974
- Subjects: Baptism in the Holy Spirit , Holy Spirit -- Biblical teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1239 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007686 , Baptism in the Holy Spirit , Holy Spirit -- Biblical teaching
- Description: Conclusion: This study has helped us to perceive the significance of Christian Baptism as it arose from its antecedents, and yet differed decisively from them in meaning and significance. We have seen how Baptism grew from the New Testament situation into the life of the Early Church. We have considered the sacramental nature of Baptism, that here, while the Community is visibly active, in this holy sacrament, God is the doer of what is done. It is by Him, whose Grace is seen in Jesus Christ, that we are brought to new life within the Community of His Covenant and what He can do for adults, He can do for infants as well. However, it is good for us to remember that His presence is also for our judgement, and that there therefore remains upon us as individuals and as Community the requirement of faith and faithfulness. We have seen how it is that the Holy Spirit is given in Baptism, and we believe it is through His indwelling presence and power that we are able to come into the Family of God and enjoy that fellowship with Him, which is salvation. We have also seen that, despite many centuries of thought and study, no final doctrinal definition of Baptism is yet achieved, and that the Churches are still giving this serious attention.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Moore, Robert Humphrey
- Date: 1974
- Subjects: Baptism in the Holy Spirit , Holy Spirit -- Biblical teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1239 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007686 , Baptism in the Holy Spirit , Holy Spirit -- Biblical teaching
- Description: Conclusion: This study has helped us to perceive the significance of Christian Baptism as it arose from its antecedents, and yet differed decisively from them in meaning and significance. We have seen how Baptism grew from the New Testament situation into the life of the Early Church. We have considered the sacramental nature of Baptism, that here, while the Community is visibly active, in this holy sacrament, God is the doer of what is done. It is by Him, whose Grace is seen in Jesus Christ, that we are brought to new life within the Community of His Covenant and what He can do for adults, He can do for infants as well. However, it is good for us to remember that His presence is also for our judgement, and that there therefore remains upon us as individuals and as Community the requirement of faith and faithfulness. We have seen how it is that the Holy Spirit is given in Baptism, and we believe it is through His indwelling presence and power that we are able to come into the Family of God and enjoy that fellowship with Him, which is salvation. We have also seen that, despite many centuries of thought and study, no final doctrinal definition of Baptism is yet achieved, and that the Churches are still giving this serious attention.
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An evaluaton of the subjective element in atonement doctrine
- Authors: Perkins, Edwin Alfred
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Atonement , Subjectivity -- Religious aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1266 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013025
- Description: The Church has never formulated an official doctrine of the atonement. Unlike the Trinitarian and Christological doctrines, the atonement was never a major issue in the early ecumenical councils. This central mystery of the faith, which speaks of the restoring of the relationship between God and man through Jesus Christ, has resisted every attempt at 'a formulation or statement in a nutshell'. Tillich has suggested that the Church's refusal to state the doctrine in definite dogmatic terms, is the instinctive recognition of the indefiniteness which is introduced by the human element. This element means that the doctrine has a subjective as well as an objective element. Since in his view the subjective element depends on the incalculable reaction of men to God's provision of a Saviour the formulation of the doctrine must remain uncertain. While we will agree with Tillich that the atonement has an objective as well as a subjective side, we cannot agree that the failure to formulate a doctrine has only to do with the uncertainty implied by the will of men. Intro. p, 1.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Perkins, Edwin Alfred
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Atonement , Subjectivity -- Religious aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1266 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013025
- Description: The Church has never formulated an official doctrine of the atonement. Unlike the Trinitarian and Christological doctrines, the atonement was never a major issue in the early ecumenical councils. This central mystery of the faith, which speaks of the restoring of the relationship between God and man through Jesus Christ, has resisted every attempt at 'a formulation or statement in a nutshell'. Tillich has suggested that the Church's refusal to state the doctrine in definite dogmatic terms, is the instinctive recognition of the indefiniteness which is introduced by the human element. This element means that the doctrine has a subjective as well as an objective element. Since in his view the subjective element depends on the incalculable reaction of men to God's provision of a Saviour the formulation of the doctrine must remain uncertain. While we will agree with Tillich that the atonement has an objective as well as a subjective side, we cannot agree that the failure to formulate a doctrine has only to do with the uncertainty implied by the will of men. Intro. p, 1.
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Confirmation : an analysis and assessment
- Authors: Maker, Derek Alan
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Confirmation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1262 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012797 , Confirmation
- Description: Intelligently to discuss Christian initiatory rites we must begin with Baptism. In recent years many scholars have attempted a critical re-assessment of baptism based upon a renewed exegetical study of the New Testament. This chapter is written in the light of that work. Most theologians are agreed upon the cardinal importance of baptism. Calvin is generally representative in saying, "Baptism is a sign of initiation, by which we are admitted into the society of the Church, in order that, being incorporated into Christ we may be numbered among the children of God". Wheeler Robinson, a Baptist theologian, asserts that, "Baptism is the door of entrance to the Church". Intro. p. 1.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Maker, Derek Alan
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Confirmation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1262 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012797 , Confirmation
- Description: Intelligently to discuss Christian initiatory rites we must begin with Baptism. In recent years many scholars have attempted a critical re-assessment of baptism based upon a renewed exegetical study of the New Testament. This chapter is written in the light of that work. Most theologians are agreed upon the cardinal importance of baptism. Calvin is generally representative in saying, "Baptism is a sign of initiation, by which we are admitted into the society of the Church, in order that, being incorporated into Christ we may be numbered among the children of God". Wheeler Robinson, a Baptist theologian, asserts that, "Baptism is the door of entrance to the Church". Intro. p. 1.
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The Resurrection and early eucharistic liturgy : an investigation into the influence of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the eucharistic liturgy of the early Christian church
- Authors: Harris, Vivian W
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Liturgics Jesus Christ in the liturgy Lord's Supper Resurrection
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1256 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012153
- Description: The Christian Church has always found the origin of the Eucharist to be the Last Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ with His disciples. So firmly rooted has this idea of the origin of the Eucharist become that it is commonly referred to as "The Lord's Supper"- a title with obvious reference to the Last Supper. J.H. Srawley says, "The fact that Jesus suffered at the Paschal season, that He had the Passover in mind at the Supper (Luke 22 : 15) and that He had come to be thought of as 'our Passover' (I Cor. 5 : 7) would naturally lead to the conception of the solemn memorial of His death as a Christian Passover, and this influence may have affected the Synoptists' account of the actual setting of the Supper". This tradition has persisted until the present, so that it is now generally accepted that the origin of the Eucharist is the Jewish Passover. If this is true, then the Eucharist is associated chiefly with the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ, and there are only tenuous and indirect connections with the Resurrection of the Lord. In that case, the subject of this study would need to be abandoned. If, however, there is proof that the Eucharist is closely related to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in origin, then it is natural to look for the influence of the Resurrection on eucharistic liturgy. Cahp. 1, p. 1.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Harris, Vivian W
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Liturgics Jesus Christ in the liturgy Lord's Supper Resurrection
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1256 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012153
- Description: The Christian Church has always found the origin of the Eucharist to be the Last Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ with His disciples. So firmly rooted has this idea of the origin of the Eucharist become that it is commonly referred to as "The Lord's Supper"- a title with obvious reference to the Last Supper. J.H. Srawley says, "The fact that Jesus suffered at the Paschal season, that He had the Passover in mind at the Supper (Luke 22 : 15) and that He had come to be thought of as 'our Passover' (I Cor. 5 : 7) would naturally lead to the conception of the solemn memorial of His death as a Christian Passover, and this influence may have affected the Synoptists' account of the actual setting of the Supper". This tradition has persisted until the present, so that it is now generally accepted that the origin of the Eucharist is the Jewish Passover. If this is true, then the Eucharist is associated chiefly with the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ, and there are only tenuous and indirect connections with the Resurrection of the Lord. In that case, the subject of this study would need to be abandoned. If, however, there is proof that the Eucharist is closely related to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in origin, then it is natural to look for the influence of the Resurrection on eucharistic liturgy. Cahp. 1, p. 1.
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The cost of discipleship and the reward of righteousness
- Authors: Samson, Robert McNeil
- Date: 1960
- Subjects: Jesus Christ -- Teachings , Christian life -- Biblical teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1272 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013158
- Description: CHAPTER ONE. In the Old Testament we meet with the problem of suffering and reward, and the attempts made to resolve it. It becomes the one great problem after the time of the Exile. Most commentators are agreed that it grew to hold that place in relation to the increase of importance of the individual in Hebrew thinking. While certain aspects of the problem are presented in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Psalm 73, the most important contributions are made by the Deuteronomist and the poet who wrote the Book of Job. The Deuteronomist theory presents the belief that there is a rigid correspondence between the sins of the individual and his suffering. The reply in Job makes it clear that this is not so. Job himself passes through the desperate situation of feeling deserted by God to a certain faith that whatever happens to him, God is faithful. CHAPTER TWO. Jesus' teaching on "discipleship". Basically Jesus's teaching centres around Mark 8 : 34, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me". The cost of discipleship from this point of view means, then, that even as Jesus Himself bears the cross for the salvation of the world, so the disciple is called upon to bear that cross in association with his Lord. Jesus offers the reward of both a present foretaste and a future consummation of eternal life, as the disciple shares in His resurrection. St. Paul's teaching of "Life in Christ". The central teaching of Paul is found in Romans 6 : 11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." The cost of discipleship is death, the death of self- will. It means being crucified with Christ. The reward of the righteous man is both a present and future participation in the risen life of Christ. CHAPTER THREE The need of man. Because man is a sinner, being estranged from God in whose image he was created, he stands in need of being reconciled to God. This he cannot do himself because, to his sin, he is not able to make the full sacrifice of his self-will. "Man requires to be put right with God because as a matter of fact he is not right." The Christ. Only in the person of the God-man is God able to effect man's resolution. Jesus, the Christ, who alone of all men did not participate in the sinfulness of man, is this God-man, realising in Himself the fact that salvation can only be wrought by one who is both God and man. The necessity of the Cross. The death of the Christ is seen to be necessary both from the side of man and from that of God. It was essential that the Christ should give His life for man; everything for His purpose of salvation turns on the will to die. He must give himself to reconcile man to God. The sacrifice of the Cross. Seen in the context of the Old Testament sacrificial system, what is important about the sacrifice of the Christ is that on the cross He offered up His life for man. The sacrifice of the Christ is both in the category of divine revelation and that of human response. It is the love of God in its utter self-offering making a way whereby the sinner might be reconciled to Him. The use of the Ransom Theory of the atonement is regarded as inadequate for expressing this cost. Basically it is a costly sacrifice because it is the self-offering of the Son of God upon the cross. CHAPTER FOUR The New Testament picture. A closer analysis is made of the New Testament teaching of discipleship, where it is seen that it is required of men that he should make, like the Christ, the costly sacrifice of himself. Soren Kierkegaard. This existential thinker felt the need of awakening men to a full recognition of the costliness of life. Despair. Man, due to his state of sinfulness is in despair, for "sin can be defined as despair at not willing to be oneself or not willing to be oneself before God." It is necessary to make the leap of faith to pass from this despair. The Three Stages. These are the aesthetical, ethical and religious stages. The individual must enter the last by making the leap of faith out of his despair; and this leap means the costly commitment of the self to the Christ. "Purify your hearts." In this book, Kierkegaard analyses man's double-mindedness. He comes to two conclusions. "If anybody would will the Good truly, then he must with knowledge of himself be ready to renounce all double-mindedness. If anybody would will the Good truly, then he must be ready to do all for the Good, and suffer for for the Good." His teaching on the cost of discipleship could be summed up thus : "The negating of one's finite self, or the negating of one's finitude means for him nothing less than the conscious sacrifice of all that is finite." Paul Tillich. Tillich deals with the ultimate problem of being and non-being, and in the "Courage to be" he develops the reactions of the individual when he is faced with the possibility of his non-being. The individual can either lose himself in his world by the courage to be as a part, or lose his world in himself by the courage to be as himself. These two forms of courage are transcended by the courage to accept acceptance, which is the ultimate courage to be, in which the individual accepts the fact that though he is sinful, yet God accepts him. This courage is the outcome of faith, which is found in an encounter with the New Being, in which the self is lost in the Christ, being found also in the Christ. The disciple surrenders himself that he may be made more truly himself. CHAPTER FIVE In this chapter an attempt is made to analyse the reward of righteousness. This reward is firstly seen to be the outcome of the life of discipleship and not its motive. Basically it is found in the new quality of life which is called eternal life. It is a reward both in the future and in the present. In the future it is the fullness of life in communion, peace and joy in the presence of God. In the present it is a foretaste of that life which is to come, a present possession in the midst of finitude of communion, peace and joy with God. Ultimately this means participation in the resurrection of the Christ. CHAPTER SIX We can conclude from this thesis, then, that Jesus the Christ is the prototype of the Christian. Discipleship is costly because it means participation in His utter self-offering of Himself; and the righteous man, who is the one who by faith commits himself to and in the Christ, is rewarded with the new quality of eternal life. The death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ are the criteria of the cost of discipleship and the reward of the righteous man.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Samson, Robert McNeil
- Date: 1960
- Subjects: Jesus Christ -- Teachings , Christian life -- Biblical teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1272 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013158
- Description: CHAPTER ONE. In the Old Testament we meet with the problem of suffering and reward, and the attempts made to resolve it. It becomes the one great problem after the time of the Exile. Most commentators are agreed that it grew to hold that place in relation to the increase of importance of the individual in Hebrew thinking. While certain aspects of the problem are presented in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Psalm 73, the most important contributions are made by the Deuteronomist and the poet who wrote the Book of Job. The Deuteronomist theory presents the belief that there is a rigid correspondence between the sins of the individual and his suffering. The reply in Job makes it clear that this is not so. Job himself passes through the desperate situation of feeling deserted by God to a certain faith that whatever happens to him, God is faithful. CHAPTER TWO. Jesus' teaching on "discipleship". Basically Jesus's teaching centres around Mark 8 : 34, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me". The cost of discipleship from this point of view means, then, that even as Jesus Himself bears the cross for the salvation of the world, so the disciple is called upon to bear that cross in association with his Lord. Jesus offers the reward of both a present foretaste and a future consummation of eternal life, as the disciple shares in His resurrection. St. Paul's teaching of "Life in Christ". The central teaching of Paul is found in Romans 6 : 11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." The cost of discipleship is death, the death of self- will. It means being crucified with Christ. The reward of the righteous man is both a present and future participation in the risen life of Christ. CHAPTER THREE The need of man. Because man is a sinner, being estranged from God in whose image he was created, he stands in need of being reconciled to God. This he cannot do himself because, to his sin, he is not able to make the full sacrifice of his self-will. "Man requires to be put right with God because as a matter of fact he is not right." The Christ. Only in the person of the God-man is God able to effect man's resolution. Jesus, the Christ, who alone of all men did not participate in the sinfulness of man, is this God-man, realising in Himself the fact that salvation can only be wrought by one who is both God and man. The necessity of the Cross. The death of the Christ is seen to be necessary both from the side of man and from that of God. It was essential that the Christ should give His life for man; everything for His purpose of salvation turns on the will to die. He must give himself to reconcile man to God. The sacrifice of the Cross. Seen in the context of the Old Testament sacrificial system, what is important about the sacrifice of the Christ is that on the cross He offered up His life for man. The sacrifice of the Christ is both in the category of divine revelation and that of human response. It is the love of God in its utter self-offering making a way whereby the sinner might be reconciled to Him. The use of the Ransom Theory of the atonement is regarded as inadequate for expressing this cost. Basically it is a costly sacrifice because it is the self-offering of the Son of God upon the cross. CHAPTER FOUR The New Testament picture. A closer analysis is made of the New Testament teaching of discipleship, where it is seen that it is required of men that he should make, like the Christ, the costly sacrifice of himself. Soren Kierkegaard. This existential thinker felt the need of awakening men to a full recognition of the costliness of life. Despair. Man, due to his state of sinfulness is in despair, for "sin can be defined as despair at not willing to be oneself or not willing to be oneself before God." It is necessary to make the leap of faith to pass from this despair. The Three Stages. These are the aesthetical, ethical and religious stages. The individual must enter the last by making the leap of faith out of his despair; and this leap means the costly commitment of the self to the Christ. "Purify your hearts." In this book, Kierkegaard analyses man's double-mindedness. He comes to two conclusions. "If anybody would will the Good truly, then he must with knowledge of himself be ready to renounce all double-mindedness. If anybody would will the Good truly, then he must be ready to do all for the Good, and suffer for for the Good." His teaching on the cost of discipleship could be summed up thus : "The negating of one's finite self, or the negating of one's finitude means for him nothing less than the conscious sacrifice of all that is finite." Paul Tillich. Tillich deals with the ultimate problem of being and non-being, and in the "Courage to be" he develops the reactions of the individual when he is faced with the possibility of his non-being. The individual can either lose himself in his world by the courage to be as a part, or lose his world in himself by the courage to be as himself. These two forms of courage are transcended by the courage to accept acceptance, which is the ultimate courage to be, in which the individual accepts the fact that though he is sinful, yet God accepts him. This courage is the outcome of faith, which is found in an encounter with the New Being, in which the self is lost in the Christ, being found also in the Christ. The disciple surrenders himself that he may be made more truly himself. CHAPTER FIVE In this chapter an attempt is made to analyse the reward of righteousness. This reward is firstly seen to be the outcome of the life of discipleship and not its motive. Basically it is found in the new quality of life which is called eternal life. It is a reward both in the future and in the present. In the future it is the fullness of life in communion, peace and joy in the presence of God. In the present it is a foretaste of that life which is to come, a present possession in the midst of finitude of communion, peace and joy with God. Ultimately this means participation in the resurrection of the Christ. CHAPTER SIX We can conclude from this thesis, then, that Jesus the Christ is the prototype of the Christian. Discipleship is costly because it means participation in His utter self-offering of Himself; and the righteous man, who is the one who by faith commits himself to and in the Christ, is rewarded with the new quality of eternal life. The death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ are the criteria of the cost of discipleship and the reward of the righteous man.
- Full Text:
The doctrine of the dominical sacraments in St. Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and the early Scottish reformers
- Authors: Moore, Michael
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274 , Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564 , Sacraments
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1263 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012877
- Description: The subject of the sacraments was chosen for this thesis because it was believed that the sacraments should be fully understood and should be placed at the centre of the work and worship of the Church, if the Church is to fulfil its role as the body of Christ in the world today. From studying the work of the reformers it became obvious that the word and the sacraments do not hold the place in the reformed Churches which they were intended to by Calvin and the early Scottish reformers. Pref., p. 1.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Moore, Michael
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274 , Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564 , Sacraments
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1263 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012877
- Description: The subject of the sacraments was chosen for this thesis because it was believed that the sacraments should be fully understood and should be placed at the centre of the work and worship of the Church, if the Church is to fulfil its role as the body of Christ in the world today. From studying the work of the reformers it became obvious that the word and the sacraments do not hold the place in the reformed Churches which they were intended to by Calvin and the early Scottish reformers. Pref., p. 1.
- Full Text:
The positive contribution of the religious life to the life of the church
- Authors: Clucas, Robert Stephen
- Date: 1957
- Subjects: Religion , Christian life , Anglicans
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1291 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014701
- Description: The positive contribution of the religious life to the life of the church as a whole. Chapter one: presuppositions of an Anglican, with particular views of ministry, Bible, church and sacraments. Presupposition as regards friendship acknowledgement of influence of C.S. Lewis. Prejudices from outside. The old prejudices, their causes and historical foundation. New prejudices in the present-day world. Chapter two. Misunderstandings from within. The religious life as a higher way of perfection. False view of detachment. Celibacy of the priesthood. Correctives to those misunderstandings. Chapter three. The temporal and the temporary. Contributions which religious life makes continually in a fallen world. The temporary contributions made at different times. Chapter four. The eternal and the inward. Eternal aspects of the threefold vow and of the worship of community life. Contribution of religious throughout the ages to ascetic and mystical theology, which builds on inner life of the Christian. Chapter five. Conclusions and speculations. Re-examination of definition of the religious life. Side developments of the religious life. Three protestant communities. The religious life and present-day problems.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Clucas, Robert Stephen
- Date: 1957
- Subjects: Religion , Christian life , Anglicans
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1291 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014701
- Description: The positive contribution of the religious life to the life of the church as a whole. Chapter one: presuppositions of an Anglican, with particular views of ministry, Bible, church and sacraments. Presupposition as regards friendship acknowledgement of influence of C.S. Lewis. Prejudices from outside. The old prejudices, their causes and historical foundation. New prejudices in the present-day world. Chapter two. Misunderstandings from within. The religious life as a higher way of perfection. False view of detachment. Celibacy of the priesthood. Correctives to those misunderstandings. Chapter three. The temporal and the temporary. Contributions which religious life makes continually in a fallen world. The temporary contributions made at different times. Chapter four. The eternal and the inward. Eternal aspects of the threefold vow and of the worship of community life. Contribution of religious throughout the ages to ascetic and mystical theology, which builds on inner life of the Christian. Chapter five. Conclusions and speculations. Re-examination of definition of the religious life. Side developments of the religious life. Three protestant communities. The religious life and present-day problems.
- Full Text:
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