Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I would like to thank Rev. Ed Peterman, retired Senior Pastor at Christ the King in Houston, who modeled the
priesthood of all believers by teaching classes on Contemporary Theology Seminar. His notes from these classes
have been invaluable in my class preparation.
Questions or Comments
If you have any questions or comments about this class,
contact myself or the Church Council.
Why are you here?
Name
Occupation
Faith journey
Why study?
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your
heart and with all your being and with all your might.
(Deuteronomy 6:5.)
The author of Deuteronomy commands us to completely dedicate our entire being to the love of God. This
dedication is to be total. There are no limits. No part of our being, no part of the world, no time is excluded from
our love of God.
Theology
Theology is about understanding my relationships to God, to
others, and to myself.
Everyone here is a theologian because theology is not knowledge about something. Instead, theology is about
taking a position. When I step on a “Lego” block, I take a stance toward that event. This is what theology is all
about; it is about being deliberate about how I think about myself in relationship to others.
God
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker
of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
Popular Models for God
Watchmaker
Santa Claus
Grandfather
Watchmaker
God created the world and then
left it alone to run.
Deism rejects most conventional forms of religion, accepting reason as the only guide to truth. It embraces the
concept of God, however, in the limited sense of a creator, or first cause, of the physical and moral laws of the
universe. Deists compare God's act of creation to that of a watchmaker who builds a watch, sets it in motion, and
then refuses to intervene in its actions. (Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) is credited with creating the image
of God as a clock-maker.)
The work of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Francis Bacon (1561-1626) helped to lay the basic framework for
deism since Galileo believed that “the book of nature is written in mathematical language” and Bacon described the
scientific method that phenomena had to be observed in a given order. (These types of arguments are apparent in
the intelligent design argument.) Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was one of the first philosophers to support this
type of God because God's actions in creation were self-contradictory since God cannot both create the laws and
then break them. Spinoza's work was expanded to show that God is in all natural laws and God works through
these laws. In this theory, God's intellect and power were used during creation to accomplish everything that God
desired to do. Since God has planned for every possible outcome, miraculous events are not needed.
Deism became popular during the 1700's and was first developed as a systematic philosophy, by Lord Herbert of
Cherbury (1583-1648). Deist ideas appeared in the writings of such philosophers as Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712-1778) and Voltaire (1694-1778) of France and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831)
of Germany. Kant argued for the existence of God based on practical and moral reason. Hegel also reasoned that
everything in the universe can be understood by the “efforts of intelligence” and all that is needed is to find the
“Absolute Idea.” In America, deist ideas appear in the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the
Constitution. Those ideas reflect the political influence of leading deists of the time: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas
Jefferson, and Thomas Paine.
There are two major problems with deism. First, since God has preordained all actions, every action is God's will.
Thus, God is just as responsible for the birth of Jesus and the systematic murder of the Jews during World War II. A
second problem is that since God has given God's will to the natural laws, God does not need to be involved with
creation. We therefore no longer have a God who interacts on our behalf; we have a God who does not care about
our situation. This God does not speak to us in the Emergency Room when a loved one is about to die.
Santa Claus
He knows who has been
naughty and who has been
nice.
In this model, God is the great scorekeeper. He knows who has been naughty and who has been nice. The wicked
are punished and the good are rewarded. In a very gross simplification, God is seen in the bottom line. If you
have wealth, God loves you and if you do not, God is punishing you.
Luther coined the technical name for this model, which he called the theology of glory. The followers of this model
think that they can God in the actions of others. There are two basic reasons to reject the theology of glory. First,
the theology of glory uses general knowledge of God, which according to Luther is the knowledge that God created
the world. This general knowledge does not tell us what God does, nor does it tell us why God does anything.
Secondly, this theology attempts to see God face to face. God is only revealed in God's hiddenness (Deus
absconditus) and scripture says that no one may see God's face and live (Exodus 33:20.).
The practical problem with this model is that when things go wrong, the only answer is that God is punishing us
for something that we did in the past. God's feelings have been hurt and He will extract His pound of flesh from
us.
Grandfather
He’s easy to get along with.
In this model, God appears to be an indulgent grandfather. This old man is hard to offend; he doesn't really have
any strength anymore so you can do just about anything before he gets mad at you. He might be a bit senile and
he is a little bit old fashioned. He's a great fellow that is concerned if you drink, dance, smoke, or play cards.
Since this God never holds you accountable for your actions, you will never live up to your potential.
What happens when these models
fail us?
When we lose our illusion of God, we will often blame God,
for our blindness.
Biblical Images of God
Hidden
No thing
Not limited by location
No name
Creator not created
Ancient Israel had many of the same problems that we have today with our different images of God. They were
very careful in how they described their encounters with God to ensure that God was no thing, that God was
everywhere but tied to no one place, and that God had no name.
Hidden
Martin Luther is responsible for the development of the theology of the Cross. In this theology, the only knowledge
of God comes from God when and where God decides. Luther argues that the best revelation occurs when we see
God's actions on the Cross.
God is no thing
Not light
Nor anything else
Not the sun, moon, or stars
God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. Genesis 1:3.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the vaults of the heavens to divide the day from the night, and they shall be
signs for the fixed times and for days and years, and they shall be lights in the vaults of the heavens to light up
the earth.” And so it was. And God made the two great lights, the great light for the dominion of the day and the
small light for the dominion of the night, and the stars. And God placed them in the vault of the heavens to divide
the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:14-18.
Not a sun-god or a moon-god
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob tells them to go. Not only does God tell them to go into a land that I will
show you but God also leads them with fire and a cloud.
No place for Jesus
I-Will-Be-Who-I-Will-Be
I-Am-That-I-Am
He-Who-Brings-Things-Into-Being
He-Will-Be
Name-Shame-I-Aint-Giving-You-My-
Name
God does not exist
God created being and existence, but God is not created.
Only the created exists and by definition God is not created. Therefore, God does not exist.
Not created means
An additional problem with the “omni” terms is that they give all the power to God, thus making man powerless
and thus not responsible for any of his actions.
Seeing God in God’s actions is just another variation on the theology of the Cross.
A contemporary model
Mystery
God is the ground of our existence
Mystery
When you see that all in your life is limited and every thing
around you is finite and created you are coming to the great
abyss of nothingness. In this nothingness there is God. This
mystery can kill you. Praise be to God because God does
not let us see this mystery in its fullness because it would kill
us.
Karl Bart
Where is the mystery?
All of us, just like Moses, are afraid of the mystery that has
been presented to us but unlike Moses, who took off his
sandals and stayed in the presence of the mystery, we have
kept our shoes on, we have run away from God's mystery,
and we have created our own riddles to worship.
Ground of our being
In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28a.)
So
Greek
world people
• gods can live, die,
and be resurrected
• Function of ritual is
to revive gods death
• Sacrifice one’s life to
the gods
• Influences slavery
and fertility rites
Ancient Israel
Humanity
• God created the
universe for people
• Nothing is divine in
this world
• God is totally other
• Good News of
freedom that we are
not slaves to gods
House of God (ּבֵֽית־
( )אֵלGenesis
28:11-16.)
This is where God is, out in the
wilderness. He is there even
though we do not know it.
And he (Jacob) came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set, and he took one of
the stones of the place and put it at his head and he lay down in the place, and he dreamed, and, look, a ramp was
set against the ground with its top reaching the heavens, and, look, messengers of God were going up and
coming down it. And, look, the LORD was poised over him and He said, “I am the God of Abraham your father and
the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, to you I will give it and to your seed. And your seed shall be like the
dust of the earth and you shall burst forth to the west and the east and the north and the south, and all the clans
of the earth shall be blessed through your seed. And, look, I am with you and I will guard you wherever you go,
and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken to you.”
And Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said, “Indeed, the LORD is in this place, and I did not know.”
Contemporary House of God
God, riding in on a Harley, not only arrives late to the
worship service but also disturbs it with His loud pipes. As
He rushes into the nave, He unsettles the preacher with His
presence and wakes up the sleepers. When He sits down, He
makes the children laugh and the old folk nervous. During
Communion, He dashes up to be with us and runs out before
He finishes eating since He has work to do. We chase after
Him, following in the Breeze that He left.
It’s difficult to talk about God
When we talk about God it is like trying to describe a sunset,
the smell of your home, the sound of Beethoven’s Ninth
Symphony, the taste of wine, and the touch of a lover. Now
imagine trying to describe these experiences to someone
who is missing one or more senses.
I am assuming that everyone knows the literal interpretation of the creation stories in Genesis. This approach will
look at the meaning and the implication of the stories.
Genesis 1-11.
Zoe in Greek.
חַּוָה
We live in community
It is not good to be alone
What about science and the image
of God?
In 1809 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed the
theory of the survival of the individual
(Lamarckanism). Where is the neighbor in
this theory? The neighbor is gone since the
only individual that matters is the self.
Charles Darwin in 1859 published his theories
on the evolution that promoted the theory of the
survival of the species through natural selection
of the superior attributes (Darwinism). Where is
God if we, through time, can perfect ourselves?
Do we really believe that in our brokenness we
can become gods in the future? What do we say
to the poor, the downtrodden, the handicapped if
we accept this movement to perfection? Do we
not need to care for our neighbor?
Science brings out the worst
Lamarckanism and Darwinism bring out the
negative attributes of the commands to have
dominion over (Genesis 1:26, 1:28.) and to
subdue (Genesis 1:28).
What happens next?
We always think that we will be better off after we eat the fruits of temptation. This is what makes it so tempting.
The serpent really wasn’t needed. We had already started looking at the tree and we wanted to take the fruit.
It was good for food
(Genesis 3:6.)
It is not the longing after the fruit nor the looking at the fruit
that condemns us; it is when we eat from it. Despite
knowing what will happen to us and despite other choices,
we take the fruit, knowing full well of the consequences.
It was good to look at
(Genesis 3:6.)
The fruit also appeals to out sense of beauty and art. We
want to keep the fruit and make it our own.
It was good to be wise
(Genesis 3:6.)
Humans have always wanted to know everything and to
control everything so that we can be in charge of our lives.
Only this tree, out of all of the plants in the garden, has the
ability to make us wise.
Took - Ate - Gave - Ate
(Genesis 3:6.)
Notice that the Adam is never tempted by the Eve. We all
have taken the fruit, eaten of it, and have passed it on to
others. However, when we do this we impact the world
around us in ways that we cannot imagine.
Everything in the cosmos is interrelated. We are are in relationship with others. Thus, our actions will cause both
intended and unintended changes in the cosmos. (Just like a ripple in a pond from a stone’s throw.)
Eyes are opened
(Genesis 3:7.)
We now can see in our relationships a portion of what is
good and bad. So, the Adam and the Eve see their state
differently now. We see that our fragile nature needs to be
protected.
Rocky Johnson.
Where have you seen this?
Life over death
(Matthew 14:22-33.)
One evening after feeding the five thousand, Jesus went to
the mountains and prayed. He had sent the others ahead
using a boat and Jesus decided that it would be quicker to
walk over the chaos of the water rather than to try and find a
boat in the storm.
As He passed the boat, He calmly called out “It is
I” as if everyone walked on water. Peter asks to
join the Lord’s Party and Jesus tells him to come on
in, the water’s fine. No matter how dangerous the
world may seem, He invites all of us to come along
with Him. But Peter is just like all of us since he
focused his attention on the chaos instead of the
Christ. And when he does this he sinks. Jesus asks
us why we doubt when the Lord is at hand.
Where is God telling you to get up and walk? Where is God telling you to move on, even with 38 years of your past
at your side. What laws are we to break for Christ’s sake?
Rebuilding of relationships
Jesus gave us examples of how we are to reconstruct our
broken relationships. He gave us a new way to look at God,
as a Father. He gave us the Law that we must love others.
He gave us forgiveness so that we can stand ourselves.
Healing of society
In His interactions with the social outcasts, Jesus shows us
how we are to live. He talked with the half-breeds
(Samaritans) and told us that they are our neighbor. He
healed those who we wish would be dead (Samaritans) and
they thanked him for it.
He dined with the powerful and with the worst
members of society. His tomb was given to Him by
a Pharisee that should have shunned Jesus since
Jesus stopped the stoning of a prostitute. Even in
His death on the Cross, He associated with the other
criminal.
Healing of the sacred/secular
God sent Jesus to save all of creation. God did not send
Jesus to save just the religious or what we might think of as
holy. Not once in the Bible, does Jesus tell us that this or
that action is religious and we should do it.
God approved of this activity by His Son. Not only
was Christ raised from the dead, but on Good
Friday when Jesus died, God ripped the curtain that
hid from the world the most sacred thing in the
universe, the most holy of the holy, the ark of the
covenant.
God wants to end the artificial segregation of the
world into the sacred and the secular. And to prove
that God did it, the veil was ripped from the top to
the bottom.
God is more concerned about what we do. (Matthew
25:31-46.)
Jesus never tells us how to fast, how to order
worship, what to wear, what to eat or drink, or what
portions of the Bible to quote. Instead, He just asks
us how we have responded to the need that
surrounds us.
Community
Jesus set out to show us how to build community by building
relationship among the 12 and their family members.
He came to tell us that we need to live in God’s Kingdom.
He has granted us forgiveness so that we can.
These notes on the sacraments are from Rev. Ed Peterman’s lectures on the subject at Christ the King Lutheran
Church in Houston, TX.
What is a Sacrament?
Ritual Promise Christ’s Command Element
Penance Yes Repent None
Ordination Yes Peter the rock None
Marriage Yes Affirmed it None
Anointment of the Did it but not
sick Yes normative Oil
Taught it but not
Confirmation Yes normative None
Baptism Yes Go and Baptize Water
Communion Yes Remember me Bread & Wine
Lutheran definition of Sacrament
A ritual that contains God’s Promise, Christ’s Command,
and an earthly element.
The others which do not meet this definition are valued and
cherished rites.
Baptism
Baptism is ordinarily necessary for salvation. Baptism is for
our sake and not for God. God can send the Holy Spirit to
anyone God wishes and God can save whomever God
wishes.
As Christians (and especially Lutherans), we should think of Baptism every time we see water.
Dying and Rising
When the Israelites when through the Red Sea, they were
slaves who were doomed to die. When they came out on the
other side, they were free and alive. This dying and rising is
normal and proper. God keeps the waters of chaos away
from us and thus keeps us from drowning. Christ’s light in
you will never be put out.
The Baptism and the early church in Rhodes was in a trench that was dug in the shape of a cross. We die and we
live.
Adoption into God’s family
When a person is Baptized into the Church, the biological
family gives control of the individual over to the Church.
The individual’s primary relationship is no longer with their
family but with the Church. At the altar, the Church assigns
the congregation its mission: the role of the parent.
Baptism as adoption
The whole community needs to be present during the
Baptism. This is seen when an emergency lay Baptism is
dedicated later in the midst of the congregation.
Holy Communion
Comes from several different traditions: Passover, the
feeding of the 5000, and informal meal eaten with a teacher
and students.
Seder
Celebrates the freedom from slavery in Egypt. Passover is
celebrated every year in the Jewish year (April 23-24,
2005.). The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke
indicate that the Last Supper was held during this festival.
The italic text describes a Chaburah meal. The teacher is present, the students are present, a meal happens, and
then the wine is finished off.
Changes to the Chaburah
This is my body.
In the Greek, it says “soma,” which indicates a person, that
is somebody. The Greek does not say “sarx,” which means
flesh or carcass. So Jesus is telling us that He is really
present in the meal.
If this statement was in Aramaic, it would be rendered as “This me.” since the language has not form of the verb
to be.
Supper
Traditionally, Chaburah started around 10:00 am and
continued to sundown.
This cup --- new covenant in my blood (if Jesus was speaking Aramaic)
otherwise: This cup, which is the cup of blessing, is the new covenant in my blood.
Development
The changes in Holy Communion are seen in the New
Testament.
Changes
26 While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after
blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take,
eat; this is my body." 27 Then he took a cup, and after giving
thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; 28
for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for
many for the forgiveness of sins.
Communion is not for the forgiveness of sin. Christ’s blood is shed for the forgiveness of sin.
Luke 22:17-20
Communion is not for the forgiveness of sin. Christ’s blood is shed for the forgiveness of sin.
John 6:51-59
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this
bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world
is my flesh." 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can
this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53 So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell
you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have
no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal
life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and
my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide
in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because
of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread
that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they
died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." 59 He said these
things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
Themes of Holy Communion
Commonality: The elements are common. The meal is
shared in a community.
Themes of Holy Communion
Past is the Present: Jesus is our contemporary.
Celebration and Thanksgiving: We look to the future and
toast the Kingdom of God since this is a foretaste of the feast
that will come.
Communion is not for the forgiveness of sin. Christ’s blood is shed for the forgiveness of sin.
Benefits of the Meal
You do not have to know how the bread is made nor do you
need to know about its composition to get nourishment. In
other words, you do not need the recipe to receive God’s
gifts.
Not waiting until you feel worthy is like only going to the doctor after your broken arm has healed.
Infant Communion
No one understands Holy Communion. I do not need the
recipe of a hamburger to eat it. I eat for the benefits that the
hamburger brings.