EPQ Research diary
Sources of wisdom and authority
The bible
Catholics- inspired word of God- the true word of God however over time with human mistakes and
translation errors it now has some error. Therefore, the Catholics rely on the pope and all the bishops
(magisterium) to interpret the bible.
Evangelical protestants believe it is the direct word of God therefore it is inerrant, infallible anyone
can interpret the bible because everything in it is true.
Neo Orthodox: Karl Barth suggests that it is a vehicle through which we can experience God. The
bible contains the word of God but is not the word of God in its entirety.
Liberalism:
-Social Gospel movement: human book that contain error but its all about action to becoming closer
to God and helping the oppressed rather than bother arguing over the meaning of the bible
-Process theologians: it is just uplifting stories and has little to no authority
The Church
Catholics: very high authority pope is the head apostolic succession: peter the first bishop ongoing
authority passed from pope to pope they inherit completely inerrant authority and is the
authority of God on earth. Apostolic tradition- Jesus gives the authority to the first pope
peter and he said you are the rock on which I build my church.
Protestantism- priesthood of all believers – gods connection /knowledge is open to all, and everyone
is part of it and can infer the bible for themselves and don’t need to rely on the bible. Bible is
highest form of authority, and the church is subject to the bible – reinforced by Peter 2:9
Jesus’ authority
Son of God – Jesus is God incarnate and therefore has very high authority as he is God and therefore
his words are direct word of God and he has no original sin.
Son of man – slightly less authority as he lacks divine power and he is human and his authority is
given by god rather than being God. Adaptationists – believe at Jesus baptism God revealed
himself stating this is his son authority began from there. Cathars – believe that all physical
matter is sinful and therefore Jesus as a human is still sinful despite his authority. Arianism –
Jesus is a normal man selected by god to deliver a message (prophet). Unitarians – Jesus was
a wise man but had no divine authority
, XIAN Responses to Jesus teaching- ‘if someone slaps you on your right cheek turn to them your left’
Literally do it if believe in son of god?
Not literally if believe in son of man but the moral is important
Role models- Jesus is a great role model and holds moral authority for all whether Christian or not as
he offers universal values such as love, pacifism leads to WWJD
GOD
Monotheism –
belief in one God
despite ancient Judaism having polytheistic history and progressed to monotheism.
Exodus 20 :3 ‘ you shall have no other gods before me’
Omnipotence – unlimited power
Most believe that God is omnipotent and evidence of this is through creation ex nihilo
Aquinas believes god can create anything logically possible but not the logically impossible
Process theologians believe God didn’t do creation ex nihilo from nothing as there is a
mistranslation of genesis and in fact God is entirely bound by logic and although not
omnipotent, he is extremely powerful
Most Christians say logic is bound by god but god chooses to obey logic for the universe to
make sense.
For example, the problem of if god is omnipotent then he should be able to make a stone so
heavy he can’t lift it but through the statement above this problem is solved because
this statement is logically impossible even if God is omnipotent
Controller- an all powerful creator controls all things
Gods omnipotence and omniscience challenge our free will. This is the idea of Theological
pre determinism and the idea that God knows what we will do in the future.
Sources of wisdom and authority
The bible
Catholics- inspired word of God- the true word of God however over time with human mistakes and
translation errors it now has some error. Therefore, the Catholics rely on the pope and all the bishops
(magisterium) to interpret the bible.
Evangelical protestants believe it is the direct word of God therefore it is inerrant, infallible anyone
can interpret the bible because everything in it is true.
Neo Orthodox: Karl Barth suggests that it is a vehicle through which we can experience God. The
bible contains the word of God but is not the word of God in its entirety.
Liberalism:
-Social Gospel movement: human book that contain error but its all about action to becoming closer
to God and helping the oppressed rather than bother arguing over the meaning of the bible
-Process theologians: it is just uplifting stories and has little to no authority
The Church
Catholics: very high authority pope is the head apostolic succession: peter the first bishop ongoing
authority passed from pope to pope they inherit completely inerrant authority and is the
authority of God on earth. Apostolic tradition- Jesus gives the authority to the first pope
peter and he said you are the rock on which I build my church.
Protestantism- priesthood of all believers – gods connection /knowledge is open to all, and everyone
is part of it and can infer the bible for themselves and don’t need to rely on the bible. Bible is
highest form of authority, and the church is subject to the bible – reinforced by Peter 2:9
Jesus’ authority
Son of God – Jesus is God incarnate and therefore has very high authority as he is God and therefore
his words are direct word of God and he has no original sin.
Son of man – slightly less authority as he lacks divine power and he is human and his authority is
given by god rather than being God. Adaptationists – believe at Jesus baptism God revealed
himself stating this is his son authority began from there. Cathars – believe that all physical
matter is sinful and therefore Jesus as a human is still sinful despite his authority. Arianism –
Jesus is a normal man selected by god to deliver a message (prophet). Unitarians – Jesus was
a wise man but had no divine authority
, XIAN Responses to Jesus teaching- ‘if someone slaps you on your right cheek turn to them your left’
Literally do it if believe in son of god?
Not literally if believe in son of man but the moral is important
Role models- Jesus is a great role model and holds moral authority for all whether Christian or not as
he offers universal values such as love, pacifism leads to WWJD
GOD
Monotheism –
belief in one God
despite ancient Judaism having polytheistic history and progressed to monotheism.
Exodus 20 :3 ‘ you shall have no other gods before me’
Omnipotence – unlimited power
Most believe that God is omnipotent and evidence of this is through creation ex nihilo
Aquinas believes god can create anything logically possible but not the logically impossible
Process theologians believe God didn’t do creation ex nihilo from nothing as there is a
mistranslation of genesis and in fact God is entirely bound by logic and although not
omnipotent, he is extremely powerful
Most Christians say logic is bound by god but god chooses to obey logic for the universe to
make sense.
For example, the problem of if god is omnipotent then he should be able to make a stone so
heavy he can’t lift it but through the statement above this problem is solved because
this statement is logically impossible even if God is omnipotent
Controller- an all powerful creator controls all things
Gods omnipotence and omniscience challenge our free will. This is the idea of Theological
pre determinism and the idea that God knows what we will do in the future.
