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CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

Soteriology

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Full-Text Articles in Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Human Freedom And The Invisible Church From The Viewpoint Of Bavinck's Pneumatology, Dong-Yaul Tae Jan 2019

Human Freedom And The Invisible Church From The Viewpoint Of Bavinck's Pneumatology, Dong-Yaul Tae

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

Although Reformed pneumatology is generally recognized by scholars of Calvin and Reformed confessions to be relatively well developed compared to the various pneumatologies of the Western theological tradition, it faces two important challenges. First, Reformed pneumatology is directly linked to the critique that Reformed soteriology’s accentuation of predestination and effectual grace leads to inevitable fatalism that ignores human freedom. This is because the ministry of the Holy Spirit is crucial in the Reformed understanding of the order of salvation beginning with regeneration and ending with glorification. Second, because the ministry of the Holy Spirit is a key to understanding Reformed …


Salvation By Faith: Faith, Covenant, And The Order Of Salvation In Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680)., Hyo-Nam Kim Jan 2016

Salvation By Faith: Faith, Covenant, And The Order Of Salvation In Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680)., Hyo-Nam Kim

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

The doctrines of covenant, faith, and the order of salvation are crucial components of early modern Reformed soteriology. In seventeenth-century England, these three major doctrines of Reformed theology, which had been taken over undeveloped from the Reformers, took a mature shape, but aroused controversies among diverse Protestant groups. Modern historical scholarship on Reformed orthodoxy has produced little significant research that deals with these doctrines synthetically. The object of this dissertation is to explore the broader role of faith in relation to these two significant doctrines for salvation in the early modern Reformed theology, with specific reference to the thought of …


Driven By God: Active Justification And Definitive Sanctification In The Soteriology Of Bavinck, Comrie, Witsius, And Kuyper., Jae-Eun Park Jan 2016

Driven By God: Active Justification And Definitive Sanctification In The Soteriology Of Bavinck, Comrie, Witsius, And Kuyper., Jae-Eun Park

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

For more than two millennia believers have struggled with the antinomy of God’s absolute sovereignty over and man’s ultimate responsibility in justification and sanctification. For at least the past several hundred years theologians have used some version of the terms “active justification” and “definitive sanctification” in an attempt to illuminate this mystery. However, in the past decade scho lars have begun to criticize these concepts, saying that they are unsupported in Scripture, lead to theological confusion, and are of no practical benefit to believers. Through the work of theologians from the broader Dutch Reformed tradition, especially Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), Alexander …


Analysis And Critique Of "Christ The Transformer Of Culture" In The Thought Of H. Richard Niebuhr, Michael Eugene Wittmer Jan 2000

Analysis And Critique Of "Christ The Transformer Of Culture" In The Thought Of H. Richard Niebuhr, Michael Eugene Wittmer

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the world view slogan, "Christ the transformer of culture," in the thought of its creator, H. Richard Niebuhr. Although the phrase is popular in Neo-Calvinist circles, this study finds that its meaning in Niebuhr's theology deviates from Reformed orthodoxy. In order to understand what Niebuhr intends by Christ transforming culture, we begin by outlining his understanding of the biblical narrative of creation, fall, and redemption. Niebuhr describes the triadic community that exists between God, individuals, and the rest of creation. Unfortunately, humanity has always broken this community by distrusting God and being disloyal to his cause. Such …