The Faith Once for All: Bible Doctrine for Today

623 Pages·2002·19.355 MB·English

by  Jack Cottrell

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Copyright © 2002
College Press Publishing Company
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COLLEGE
Printed and Bound in the •••• P R E S S •
United States of America
All Rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are taken from the
NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright 1960, 1962,
1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by
The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
www.Lockman.org
Cover design by Mark A. Cole
International Standard Book Number 978-0-89900-905-6
Previously catalogued by the Library of Congress as follows:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cottrell, Jack.
The faith once for all: Bible doctrine for today/by Jack Cottrell
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-89900-905-0
1. Theology, Doctrinal. 2. Bible—Theology. 3. Restoration movement
(Christianity). I. Title.
BT75.3.C68 2002
230'.66—dc21
2002035090
ABBREVIATIONS
AG Arndt, William F., and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek English Lexicon
of the New Testament
ANF Roberts, Alexander, and James Donaldson, eds. Ante-Nicene Fathers
ASV American Standard Version of the Bible
CD Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics
EDNT Balz, Horst, and Gerhard Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the
New Testament
ESV English Standard Version of the Bible
GC Cottrell, Jack. What the Bible Says about God the Creator
GRe Cottrell, Jack. What the Bible Says about God the Redeemer
GRu Cottrell, Jack. What the Bible Says about God the Ruler
KJV King James Version of the Bible
LXX The Septuagint (Greek) version of the Old Testament
NASB New American Standard Bible
NEB New English Bible translation
NIDNTT Brown, Colin, ed. The New International Dictionary of New
Testament Theology
NIDOTTE VanGemeren, Willem A., ed. New International Dictionary of Old
Testament Theology and Exegesis
NKJV New King James Version of the Bible
NRSV New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
NT New Testament
OT Old Testament
RSV Revised Standard Version of the Bible
TDNT Kittel, Gerhard, and Gerhard Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary
of the New Testament
(For fuller titles and publishing information on books, see the bibliography.)
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TABLE OF
CONTENTS
An Introduction to Theology 9
1 The Existence of God 37
2 Our Knowledge of God 44
3 The Nature of the Creator-God 67
4 The Works of the Creator-God 100
5 The Invisible Creation: Angels 127
6 The Visible Creation: The Nature of Man 134
7 The Nature of Sin 159
8 Angelic Sin: Satan and His Demons 170
9 Original Sin—Or Original Grace? 179
10 Personal Sin 191
11 Human Death 202
12 The Cosmic Curse 215
13 The Person of Christ 224
14 The Work of Christ 259
15 The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit 284
16 Salvation: By Law or by Grace? 306
17 Justification 318
18 Regeneration and Sanctification 332
The Faith Once for All Jack Cottrell
19 Conditions of Salvation 346
20 Baptism 360
21 Assurance of Salvation 375
22 Predestination 388
23 The Church: Its Nature 400
24 The Church: Its Purpose 410
25 The Church: Its Organization 418
26 The Church: Its Assemblies 443
27 Interpreting Biblical Prophecy 459
28 The Millennium 477
29 The Intermediate State 504
3 0 The Second Coming of Jesus 525
31 The Final Judgment 552
32 Heaven 561
33 Hell 573
Bibliography 588
Subject Index 603
Scripture Index 609
AN INTRODUCTION
TO THEOLOGY
ZA t one time theology was called “the queen of the sciences,” and any
-K good scientist will seek to clarify and justify his task and his method of
inquiry before beginning his actual work. A comprehensive study of theology
thus usually begins with an introductory section (sometimes called “prolegome­
na”) that discusses the nature and purpose of theology as such. That is the bur­
den of this chapter, which discusses the concept, possibility, sources, method, and
importance of theology.
I. THE CONCEPT OF THEOLOGY
The term “theology” does not appear in the Bible, but it is a perfectly good
word for something most Christians do quite frequently and should do even more
often. The English word comes from two Greek words: theos, meaning “God,” and
logos, meaning “word, statement, speech, discourse.” Literally, then, theology is
God-talk, i.e., the act (or product) of studying, discoursing, or writing about God.
In general the term refers to any deliberate effort to learn and/or to teach about
God and his relation to his creation. We offer the following as specific definitions:
(1) As an act, theology is the study of God, and of everything else in its relation to
God, for the purpose of formulating a body of truth thereof. (2) As to its content,
theology is the body of truth about God and about all creation in its relation to God.
A. Connotations of the Term
The term “theology” is used in a number of ways in the religious world, espe­
cially in the academic setting. The following are four common connotations, pro­
ceeding from the broadest to the narrowest in meaning.
First and most generally, the whole scope of religious studies can be called the­
ology. Many seminaries include the word “theology” or “theological” in their
name, e.g., Princeton Theological Seminary. A seminary curriculum usually in­
cludes courses in a number of related fields and areas, such as biblical languages,
biblical exegesis, church history, archaeology, Bible doctrine, apologetics, Chris­
tian education, preaching, and missions. These courses are usually grouped under
four major divisions: the biblical field, the historical field, the theological field, and
the practical field. In the broadest sense all are appropriately called “theology.”
The Faith Once for All Jack Cottrell
Second, the term “theology” is used in a narrower sense to refer just to the
theological field itself as distinguished from the other three. This field may be
subdivided into areas such as systematic theology, history of theology, apologetics
or philosophy of religion, and ethics.
Third and most commonly, the word “theology” is used to refer to the specif­
ic area of doctrinal or systematic theology, which is usually a study of the Bible
section by section or subject by subject (as distinct from book by book or verse
by verse). It may involve a systematic study of a specific topic, e.g., the doctrine
of sin (“what the Bible teaches about sin”). Or it may be an attempt to set forth
the Bible’s teaching about every major subject in a systematic and orderly way.
The latter describes the nature of this book; thus it is a “systematic theology.”
Finally the term “theology” is used to refer to the study of the doctrine of
God specifically, as distinguished from topics such as anthropology (the study of
the doctrine of man) and soteriology (the study of the doctrine of salvation).
Sometimes when this precise meaning is intended, the expression “theology prop­
er” is used to avoid confusion.
In this book the term will be used most often in the third sense above.
B. Theology and Doctrine
A biblical term closely akin to theology is the word “doctrine.” This English
word comes from the Latin doctrina, “teaching,” which comes from docere, “to
teach, to show.” (In Latin a doctor is simply a teacher.) In the Greek NT the
nouns most equivalent to “doctrine” are diciache and didaskalia (derived from di-
dasko, “to teach”), both of which mean “doctrine, teaching.” They can mean ei­
ther the act of teaching (e.g., Mark 4:2; Rom 15:4; 1 Tim 4:13; 2 Tim 4:2) or
the content of teaching, i.e., that which is taught (e.g., Rom 16:17; 1 Tim 1:10;
Titus 2:10; 2 John 9,10).
Whereas the KJV almost always translates the Greek words as “doctrine,”
most modern translations use the word “teaching” instead. Doctrine and teaching
are essentially the same thing. Thus we should not hesitate to use the word “doc­
trine,” nor should we cringe when others use it. It simply means “the teaching”
in the sense of “what is taught, the content of the teaching.”
How are doctrine and theology related! Sometimes these words are used in­
terchangeably, but more specifically we may distinguish them as follows. “Doc­
trine” refers to the whole scope of Christian teaching (cf. Acts 2:42; 2 Tim 3:16),
which may be divided into the categories of theology and ethics. Theology is that
part of Christian doctrine or teaching that sets forth what is true (e.g., Acts 5:28;
13:12; 2 Tim 4:3; Titus 2:1; Heb 6:2; 2 John 9,10), while ethics is that part of
Christian doctrine that sets forth what is right (e.g., 1 Tim 1:10; 4:1,6,16; Titus
2:1). The former deals with true ideas or concepts, and the latter deals with right
actions and attitudes. Thus theology is one branch of Christian doctrine, and
ethics is another.
10 • • • An Introduction to Theology
Jack Cottrell The Faith Once for All
This shows that it is appropriate to use the term “doctrine” in the context of
theology; indeed, it is inevitable. This is true especially when we are referring to a
specific teaching, e.g., the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of sin. All theol­
ogy is doctrine, even though not all doctrine is theology (i.e., some of it is ethics).
n. THE POSSIBILITY OF THEOLOGY
The ultimate subject of theology, by definition, is God himself, in the sense
that he is the reality about whom or in reference to whom all theological state­
ments are made. But now the issue is this: is it really possible for us to have access
to divine reality, in order that we may have true knowledge of him? How is it pos­
sible for us to make true statements about God, and about any part of creation in
its relation to God?
Here we come face to face with the whole problem of truth, since the possi­
bility of theology presupposes the possibility of truth itself. Theology is nothing
less than sound doctrine, i.e., true teaching about the works and nature of God
and about the whole of creation in its relation to him. Is such truth possible! We
will now seek to answer this question under three headings: the definition of
truth, the denial of truth, and the defense of truth.
A. The Definition of Truth
Pilate is famous for asking the question, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). This
was probably not a request for a list of true statements, but a query concerning
the very nature of truth. What do we mean when we use this word? What deter­
mines whether a statement is true or not?
A common false answer to this question is associated with the philosophy
called pragmatism. It says that a statement is true if it works, i.e., if it accomplish­
es its purpose, if it brings about the desired effects. For example, to motivate his
soldiers for a coming battle, a lieutenant may tell them of an act of astounding
bravery on the part of one of their fallen comrades. Though the officer knows it
never really happened, it is considered to be truth because it does indeed inspire
the soldiers to win the victory.
The only really valid answer to Pilate’s question, however, is known as the cor-
respondents concept of truth. That is, a statement is true if and only if it corre­
sponds to reality. A proposition can be called true if it describes what actually ex­
ists in reality. This is the common-sense approach to truth and the one assumed
by most people even if they have not thought about it formally.
Richard Bowman (9-11), a conservative Disciples of Christ minister and co­
founder of Disciple Renewal, shows why it is crucial that we be aware of this dis­
tinction. He tells how his liberal seminary professors denied the actual reality of
such things as the virgin birth, revelation, and heaven; but they taught that minis­
ters should continue to affirm that such doctrines are true—not in the sense that
An Introduction to Theology • • 11
The Faith Once for All Jack Cottrell
they correspond to reality, but in the sense that they serve such purposes as giving
people hope and keeping them committed to the church. (Of course, ministers
need not disclose the fact that they are using a definition of truth totally different
from that of most church members, who would probably be a bit upset if they
knew it!) Thus ministers may confidently affirm that the doctrines of the virgin
birth and the resurrection, for example, are true, while denying in their hearts
that they actually happened!
This is in complete contrast with the Bible, which throughout assumes the
correspondence concept of truth. For example, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is
affirmed as an objective historical event, with the risen Savior appearing to hun­
dreds of people in his recognizable bodily nature (1 Cor 15:5-7). Paul declares
that preaching the resurrection, if it did not really happen, is empty and vain and
makes one a false witness. He says that believing the resurrection really happened,
if it did not, is a vain and worthless faith that leaves one still in his sins (1 Cor
15:14-17). In other words, claims to truth work (pragmatically) only when they
correspond to reality.
B. The Denial of Truth
Probably the most pervasive and far-reaching feature of 20th/21 st-century
western thinking is the denial of absolute truth. This is a characteristic of our cul­
ture in general and is called by many names, e.g., situationalism, multiculturalism,
pluralism, diversity, indusivism, and postmodernism. The generic name for such a
denial is relativism, which simply means that the so-called “truth” of any given
statement is relative to the circumstances in which it is made. A particular state­
ment may be true for you, now; but it may not be true for someone else now, or
even for you later.
Most major philosophies developed in the twentieth century are philosophies
of relativism, including analytical philosophy, process philosophy, existentialism,
pragmatism, and postmodernism. Pragmatism, for example, says an idea is true
only if it works. William James, one of the founders of this philosophy, said,
“‘The true’. . . is only the expedient in the way of our thinking, just as ‘the right’
is only the expedient in the way of our behaving.” For example, “On pragmatistic
principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the
word, it is true” (145, 192).
The most recent relativist fad is postmodernism. It says that any and every
viewpoint on any subject is allowable and must be tolerated (i.e., allowed to be
valid) except one: the view that there is such a thing as absolute, objective truth.
For example, one defense of postmodernism bears the title, “There’s No Such
Thing as Objective Truth, and It’s a Good Thing, Too” (Kenneson, 155-170).
In surveys taken during the mid-1990s, George Barna found that about three-
fourths of the U.S. population did not believe in absolute truth. The same was
true of almost two-thirds of those who called themselves Evangelical Christians.
12 • • • An Introduction to Theology