Tread carefully - 24 February 2010 |
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These are the questions for week 15 of the Guided Reading Course.
Please tread carefully this week. Listen to Calvin: “We must so cherish moderation that we do not try to make God render account to us, but so reverence his secret judgments as to consider his will the truly just cause of all things” (Institutes, I.xvii.1).
Berkhof, Systematic Theology, pp. 165-178
1. How does Berkhof define providence? What are the three elements of it? How do they relate? (pp. 166-167)
2. Why might it be useful to distinguish between these three elements of divine providence? Can you give any examples to illustrate the relationship between them?
3. How (apart from by direct appeal to explicit biblical texts) would you argue against the thhree misconceptions Berkhof describe, namely (i) prescience / prescience plus foreordination; (ii) the deistic view; (iii) the pantheistic view? (pp. 167-168)
4. How is the doctrine of preservation related to the doctrines of God and creation? (p. 170)
5. How is concurrence distinct from preservation? (p. 171-172)
6. What is wrong with illustrating the concurrence of divine and secondary causes as “a team of horses pulling together” (p. 172)?
7. How does Berkhof reply to the claim that his view of divine concurrence “makes God the responsible author of sin” (p. 174)? Is his defence adequate?
8. What perspective upon providence does divine government emphasise? (p. 175)
Calvin, Institutes, I.xvi-xviii
9. Why, according to Calvin, do some adopt a “distinction … between doing and permitting”? What does Calvin think of this distinction? What biblical data does he adduce to support his view? (I.xviii.1)
10. How does Calvin believe God’s will is related to human actions? (I.xviii.2)
11. “But even though [God’s] will is one and simple in him, it appears manifold to us” (I.xviii.3). Why does Calvin feel it necessary to make this clarification? What does he mean by it?
12. What point does Augustine make in the lengthy quote with which Calvin believes “all godly and modest folk agree” (I.xviii.3)?
13. What point is proved by the example of “the choice of king Jeroboam”? (I.xviii.4)
14. How, if at all, do you think Calvin would advise preachers and teachers to approach the subject of divine providence? (I.xviii.4) Do you agree?
Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Guided Reading Course, Minister's Blog