Theology beacon dictionary of theology
For Further Reading: Hostetler, ed
Download 6.66 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- For Further Reading: Anderson, ed., The Theology of the Christian Mission. RICHARD S. TAYLOR PAIN. See
- .Pangn theism differs from Pradit j ff n a ]
- For Further Reading: Gragg, Charles Hartshorne. R ichard S. T aylor PANTHEISM.
- PANENTHEISM, THEISM, TRANSCENDENCE, CREATION.
- CATHOLICISM (ROMAN), PROTESTANTISM.
- HERMENEUTICS, ALLEGORY. For Further Reading: Hunter, Interpreting the Parables; Buttrick, The Parables of Jesus; Armstrong
- The Holy Spirit is thus called [Parakletos = Advocate or Helper] because He transacts the cause of God and Christ with us, explains
- 126-43, 324-31; CC 1:623; Kittel, 5:800-814; Agnew, Transformed Christians, 42-52; Wes- ley, Notes, 364-73.
- For Further Reading: Danielou, The Theology ofjewish Christianity; Wiley, CT, 3:224-40, 375-86.
- For Further Reading: Gilkey, Maker of Heaven and Earth; Hepburn, Christianity and Paradox
- For Further Reading: Dobson, Dare to Discipline, 222 ff; GMS, 553 ff; Wiley, CT, 3:92-95; Taylor, "Growth by Design," Nielson, ed.
For Further Reading: Hostetler, ed., Perfect Love and War, Bainton, Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace: Myra, Should a Christian Go to War? Yoder, Nevertheless. Martin H. Schrag PAGANISM. This is any life-style, value system, and complex of beliefs not based on and shaped by Christ and the Bible. As a term it is equivalent to heathenism. It was into a thoroughly pagan Roman Empire that the fledgling Church was thrust on the Day of Pentecost. But Christians so outthought, outlived, and out-died the pagans, that paganism was subdued, though of course never eradicated. Today paganism is again on the rise, in the avowed humanism, scientism, ethical relativism, materialism, and raw hedonism which threatens to engulf and suffocate the Church. Western nations are once again more pagan than Christian. The expression post-Christian has its validity in the fact that cultures which once openly claimed ties with the Judeo-Christian ethic have now openly severed all such ties. The Church that does not challenge the surrounding paganism will succumb to it. And paganism will either purify the Church or permeate it. See christianity, evangelism, mission (missions, missiology). For Further Reading: Anderson, ed., The Theology of the Christian Mission. RICHARD S. TAYLOR PAIN. See suffer, suffering. PANENTHEISM. Whereas pantheism means "all is God," panentheism means "all in God." It is a term peculiar to process theology, especially to the thought of Charles Hartshorne. Surrelativism and dipolar theism are terms used interchangeably by Hartshorne for panentheism. .Pangn stressing the dependencstJind interrelatedness of God upon the world as a conditionToF His own being. Alan Gragg explains: "Panentheism entails that there never could have been God without a world" (Charles Hartshorne, 95 ff). In theism God relates himself voluntarily to the world, through providence and omnipresence, but in His essential being is transcendent, which means separate and independent. But in panentheism the world is in God and God in the world, in what Hartshorne prefers to explain as a mind-body relationship. Panentheism differs from pantheism by denying the flat equivalency of God and the world, and predicating a degree of independent thought and action to both. The freedom of the cosmic side of this dipolar reality is sufficient to make evil possible; the union is sufficient to impinge on God's consciousness and make the suffering His own. The theology and cosmology of panentheism, with their endless evolution of both God and man, is far from biblical Christianity. See theism, pantheism, attributes (divine), trinity (the holy).
As Charles Hartshorne points out (ER), pantheism leaves many questions unanswered. Is this pantheistic god a person? Is it conscious? Is it immutable or in flux? What is the relation of the parts to the whole? In what sense are the parts free—if at all? The statement that "God is everything" can mean (1) that everything (i.e., all actual being) is
Pantheism as a religious concept was present in Greek and Roman thought, and is basic to all of the Hindu religions, and from time to time has appeared in Western thought (e.g., Christian Science). It is not possible to reconcile pantheism with Christianity, for the Bible teaches that God is personal, transcendent as well as immanent, eternal in contrast to the world's temporality, and is both the universe's Creator and its Ruler. See PANENTHEISM, THEISM, TRANSCENDENCE, CREATION. For Further Reading: ERE, 9:609-17; ER, 557; Lu- theran Cyclopedia, 599. FOREST T. BENNER PAPACY. See Catholicism, roman. PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. The doctrine of papal infallibility is the claim that the pope of the Roman Catholic church can and does speak without error and with divine authority when he speaks according to certain stipulations. These stipulations are three: (1) The pope must be addressing the entire Christian church. Papal decisions concerning the problems of a particular parish, for example, could not be considered infallible on the basis of the dogma. (2) The pope speaks infallibly only when he addresses the issues of faith and morals. Although the pope may direct his considerable influence to the solution of international tensions, the dogma of infallibility will not buttress papal enunciations concerning purely secular issues. (3) The enunciation must be made ex cathedra; i.e., it must be a formal and official pronouncement in harmony with (1) and (2), and by virtue of his office. The dogma was established on July 18, 1870, by a vote of a Vatican Council called by Pope Pius IX. The pope had flexed his muscles earlier by raising to the status of dogma the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary without the consent of a council. Liberal Catholics, who at first believed that the council called by Pius IX would provide them with an opportunity to assert the authority of council decisions, soon discovered that, in fact, the intent was just the opposite. A quasi-official publication of the Holy See anticipated the council with the words, "All genuine Catholics believe that the Council will be quite short. ... They will receive with joy the proclamation of the dogmatic infallibility of the sovereign pontiff." In spite of a few abstainers and only two negative votes, the dogma was promulgated. Authority passed clearly from council to pope. Since the establishment of the dogma only one decree has borne the character of infallibility (the doctrine of the bodily assumption of Mary into heaven). However, the elasticity of the stipulations governing infallibility makes it difficult to discern exactly when the pope is speaking infallibly. See CATHOLICISM (ROMAN), PROTESTANTISM.
The word "parable" comes from the Hebrew mashal and the Greek parabole, meaning "a comparison." A parable is similar to an allegory with an important exception. While the parable is meant to convey but one truth, all parts of the allegory are meaningful. A fable also emphasizes but one truth; but it differs from the parable and the allegory in that it puts words in the mouths of fanciful characters (animals, trees, etc.). Jesus never used fables, but some of His stories blended elements of allegory and parable. Various people spoke parables in the OT (2 Sam. 12:1-7; 14:5-11; 2 Kings 14:9; Isa. 5:1-7), but only Jesus used them in the NT. Because scholars do not agree on a standard definition for parables, the number of them spoken by Jesus has been variously estimated from 33 to 79. Most authorities agree on about 50. Jesus began to use parables after the leaders of the Jews blasphemously charged Him with deriving His power from Satan. When His disciples enquired why He spoke in parables, His reply seems to imply that His purpose was to conceal spiritual truth from those who obstinately rejected it (Mark 4:10-12). A careful exegesis on the parable passage in Matt. 13:10-15 indicates the opposite intention. Jesus speaks ironically, implying that while the parables are intended to illuminate the truth, they unfortunately have the opposite effect due to the hardness of the hearts of the hearers. The result was much like that which Isaiah experienced centuries earlier. But, Jesus said, parables are vehicles of truth to recep-
Jesus drew His parables from nature and from the domestic, social, and political life of the times—things with which the people were familiar. See HERMENEUTICS, ALLEGORY.
W. Ralph Thompson PARACLETE. This is a transliteration of the Greek parakletos, variously translated as "Comforter" (Kjv), "Strengthener," "Instructor," or "Encour-ager" (Wesley), "Counselor" (rsv), "Helper" (Moffatt), "Spokesman" (Danish), "another to befriend you" (Knox), "Someone else to stand by you" (Phillips), and "Advocate" (neb; Weymouth). Literally the word means "One called alongside to help." Paraclete appears only four times in John's Gospel (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7), and once in 1 John 2:1 in reference to Christ himself. Elsewhere Christ consistently uses the Greek word pneuma (breath, wind, or spirit) for the Holy Spirit. Outside the NT usage Paraclete conveyed the sense of "one who speaks in favor of another (an intercessor, or helper) in an active sense—corresponding to Manahem, the name given the Messiah" (Souter, A Pocket Lexicon of the New Testament, 190; so Arndt and Gingrich, 623). Advocate has a strong forensic significance— one who pleads in favor of, defends, vindicates, or espouses the cause of another. Thus Christ delegates to another (Gr. allon; not different, het-eron), the Holy Spirit, His own authority as Re-vealer, Teacher, Guide, and as Prosecutor of sin and Satan (John 16:7-11). Christ himself is the believer's Advocate before the Father (1 John 2:1-2). The idea of advocacy had strong OT roots (esp. Job 1:6-12; 2:1-10; 5:1; 9:33; 16:19-22; 19:25; cf. Zech. 3:1-10). Thus, following Christ's ascension, the Paraclete was God's permanent Gift to all believers (John 7:38-39), from whom all other divine gifts issue. This included (1) representing the Father to the believer (Rom. 8:11-16), as Christ represents their cause before the Father in heaven (1 John 2:1-2); (2) instructing the believer concerning the person, work, and teachings of Christ (John 14:25-26; cf. 1 John 2:20-27); (3) witnessing to Christ in the lives of believers, and through them to the unconverted world 0ohn 15:26-27); (4) acting in the world as the divine Witness against sin, to the righteousness of Christ, and of God's final judgment upon Satan (John 16:7-11). To the Christian the Paraclete is One "who has, reveals, testifies, and defends the truth as it is in Jesus" (Wesley, Notes). Adam Clarke admirably sums up Christ's teaching concerning the function of the Paraclete as follows: The Holy Spirit is thus called [Parakletos = Advocate or Helper] because He transacts the cause of God and Christ with us, explains to us the nature and importance of the great atonement, shows the necessity of it, counsels us to receive it, instructs us how to lay hold on it, vindicates our claim to it, and makes intercessions in us with unutterable groanings. As Christ acted with His disciples while He sojourned with them, so the Holy Ghost acts with those who believe in His name (1:623). See COMFORTER (THE), HOLY SPIRIT, ADVOCATE. For Further Reading: Carter, The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit, 126-43, 324-31; CC 1:623; Kittel, 5:800-814; Agnew, Transformed Christians, 42-52; Wes- ley, Notes, 364-73. Charles W. Carter PARADISE. The word "paradise" has its roots in the Persian word pardes, meaning a garden or wooded park. It describes the pleasure gardens of Persian kings and nobles. In the OT the word means an orchard, a garden, and a forest (Eccles. 2:5; Neh. 2:8; Song of Sol. 4:13). The original paradise was the Garden of Eden at the beginning of human history. Here, God walked with the first humans in their innocence; here the tree of life and the tree of knowledge stood in the midst of the garden, and the animals were friendly and harmless (Genesis 2—3; cf. Danielou, The Theology of Jewish Christianity, 297-98). As a consequence of their disobedience and sin, the first pair were driven out of the garden and forbidden to return. In the NT paradise refers to the "intermediate state." It is the abode of the righteous dead, in the presence of Christ and awaiting their resurrection, judgment, and final reward and future life (Luke 23:43; 16:22-31). Paul speaks of paradise as the "third heaven" (2 Cor. 12:1-4). Finally, paradise describes the final abode of the righteous after their resurrection. It is a new creation restoring the original beauty and blessedness. The righteous live in the presence of God; they partake of the tree of life and participate in the blessedness of paradise (Rev. 2:7; 21—22). The unjust and the unrighteous are without and shall not share in the blessings (22:11, 15). PARADOX—PARENTS AND CHILDREN 383
Originally, paradise was a creation of God and a gift to man in his innocence. It was lost to him because of disobedience. It is restored to the righteous through the life, death, and resurrection of the Second Adam, the Lamb of God (Matt. 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13; Rom. 5:12-21). Those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb are made holy and righteous and have the right to participate in the tree of life that is in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7; 21:1-7; 22:14). See sheol, intermediate state, heaven. For Further Reading: Danielou, The Theology ofjewish Christianity; Wiley, CT, 3:224-40, 375-86. Isaac Baldeo PARADOX. Literally, paradox meant what was "contrary to expectations." It is commonly used in contemporary theology to refer to the phenomenon of making two apparently contradictory statements about a single subject. But the contradiction is only apparent in a true paradox, since both statements are necessary to explain the nature of the subject, which reconciles the paradox within its own nature. The more complex the subject is, the more needful it is to employ paradoxical language. As long as it is possible to completely comprehend the essence of the subject, the two truths may be explained. For example, when Jesus declares that "whosoever will save his life shall lose it" (Matt. 16:25 and parallels), we understand that the "saving" and "losing" are referred to the subject "life" in different ways, and that "life" is such a complex subject that it can be rationally referred to as being "saved" and "lost" without involving a contradiction. However, in the case of God it is different, because God cannot be known in His essence. He is known only to himself (Wiley, CT, 1:218). Consequently we may experience the manifestation of God in such a way as to require us to both assert and deny the same quality to Him; and this must forever remain a mystery. Augustine expresses this irreducible mystery in his classic passage: "What, then, art Thou, O my God ... stable, yet contained of none; unchangeable, yet changing all things; never new, never old. . . . Always working, yet ever at rest; gathering, yet needing nothing; ... seeking, and yet possessing all things" (Confessions, bk. 1, chap. 4). The supreme paradox of the Christian faith is the Incarnation in which we affirm Jesus to be both fully God and fully man. See truth, reason, rationalism, neoorthodoxy, existentialism.
H. Ray Dunning PARDON. See forgiveness. PARENTS AND CHILDREN. Parenthood is both privilege and responsibility. Children are a gift from God, but they still belong to Him. Parenthood is one form of Christian stewardship, and the Bible clearly indicates the duties of parents. Parents are to be loving and accepting. Human fatherhood is derived from the fatherhood of God (Eph. 3:15). Parents must treat their children as God treats His sons and daughters. From the child's perceptions of his parent's esteem, he develops his self-concept. In a warm and loving home environment, he is more likely to be able to develop love for God and others. Parents are the primary agents of moral and religious education. In His covenant with Israel, God clearly commanded parents to teach their children His laws, first by obeying and making them part of their own lives, and then orally, visually, and continually, impressing them on their children that they may fear the Lord (Deut. 6:1-9). Parents are to give guidance and discipline, meted out with understanding and encouragement. The writer to the Hebrews asserts that love and discipline are inseparable and a proof of sonship even when the discipline brings pain (Heb. 12:5-11). But Paul warns against the kind of harsh treatment that frustrates and discourages the child (Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21). Fathers are not "to excite the bad passions of their children by severity, injustice, partiality, or unreasonable exercise of authority" (Charles Hodge, Epistle to the Ephesians, 359). Children also have duties. The Christian ethic is one of mutual obligation (Barclay, The Daily Study Bible, 10:193). As parents are responsible for training and discipline, children are responsible to respect and obey their parents (Eph. 6:1-2; Col. 3:20). Among the theological implications of the parent-child relationship are these. Because of Adam's sin, the child begins life with a tendency toward sin, an inherent selfishness. Moral behavior is not natural but learned. Learning will not take place without resistance. On the positive side, the prevenient grace of God is at work in the child's total personality, awakening to need and gently drawing his soul toward God. The
384 PAROUSIA—PASCHAL CONTROVERSY Holy Spirit will give discernment and wisdom to parents who seek His aid. Although the influence of parents is the most determinative factor in developing a child's character, parental power is not absolute (Family Love in All Dimensions, 119-20). The child is a free moral agent. Through grace and his own personal faith, he can experience true repentance, genuine conversion, and a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. So although parental influence is an important element in what a child will become, the final product is the result of the child's own choices in the midst of positive and negative forces. See family, fathers, child (children), obedience, christian education.
Modern theologians have sought to interpret the above scriptures to mean that only Christ's spiritual presence is intended, but evangelical Christians have always insisted that the passages can only mean that there will be a personal, visible return of our Lord. The idea of Christ's return appears many times throughout the NT, and other terms are used along with parousia in regard to Christ's coming. From apokalupsis we get our word apocalypse, which means an "uncovering," "disclosure," or "revelation." When used with parousia, it indicates that Christ's coming will be an "unveiling" or "disclosure." In the light of His presence many things will become clear. Epiphaneia (from which we get our word epiphany) carries the meaning of a visible manifestation of some important personage or deity. Its use in 2 Thess. 2:8; 1 Tim. 6:14; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13, strongly supports the idea of a personal, visible appearance of our Lord. Christ indicated that His coming would be sudden and unexpected (Matt. 24:42-44; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10). Only the Father knows the time of His coming (Matt. 24:36; Acts 1:7); therefore, believers should be ready and watching (Matt. 24:44; Luke 12:40; Phil. 3:18-21; Jas. 5:9). However, men need not be caught unawares (Matt. 24:14; 2 Thess. 2:1-2; 1 Tim. 4:1-3). Why will He come? From Christ's own words we can discern a threefold answer. (1) He comes to judge men. There is so much in this world that is unfair, unjust, and wrong that He will come to set things right. The righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished (Matt. 25:31-34, 41-46; 13:41-43, 49-50). (2) He will bring about a final consummation of this present world order (Rev. 10:5-6). And (3) He will usher in the reign of God (Rev. 11:15; 19:6). The parousia holds such an important place in the NT that it is viewed as the climax of the earth's history. See second coming of christ, rapture.
Directory: sites -> default -> files -> publications publications -> Table of Content forward introduction publications -> Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies Georgia Institute of Technology publications -> Housing Counseling Research in Chicago publications -> Communicating with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Audiences publications -> New Brunswick Info Sheet on First Nations Child Welfare publications -> Paap’s Electronic Newsletter 14 November 2008 Volume 11 Number 22 towards ‘smart’ subsidies in agriculture: lessons from recent experience in malawi publications -> Information support of pedagogical process for the children experiencing difficulties with acquisition of preschool educational programs publications -> Asus’ ZenFone ar has Google’s augmentted and virtual reality baked in — but not combined publications -> School Readiness and Early Grade Success Consultation Memo Atlanta, ga Download 6.66 Mb. Share with your friends:
|