Human Nature Human nature is a bundle of characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting, which humans are said to have naturally. The term is often regarded as capturing what it is to be human, or the essence of humanity. The term is controversial because it is disputed whether or not...
Augustine And The Wisdom Of The West This article covers St. Augustine And The Wisdom Of The West. As we experience a rebirth of the wisdom tradition of Christianity, it is natural to want to know the story of that tradition and of its strange fate (virtual extinction) in the...
Sophia (wisdom) Sophia (σοφία sophía “wisdom“) is a central idea in Hellenistic philosophy and religion, Platonism, Gnosticism, and Christian theology. Originally carrying a meaning of “cleverness, skill”, the later meaning of the term, close to the meaning of Phronesis (“wisdom, intelligence”), was significantly shaped by the term philosophy (“love of wisdom”) as used by Plato. In...
Neoplatonism and Christianity This article covers relationship between Neoplatonism And Christianity. Neoplatonism was a major influence on Christian theology throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages in the West. This was due to St. Augustine of Hippo, who was influenced by the early Neoplatonists Plotinus and Porphyry, as well as the works of the Christian writer Pseudo-Dionysius...
Ethical Dualism Ethical dualism (ethos,”character”, “custom”, and Latin duo, “two”) refers to the practice of imputing evil entirely and exclusively to a specific group of people, while disregarding or denying one’s own capacity to commit evil. The consequence of such stance is the creation of an “Us” versus “Them”, thereby polarizing social configurations into extremes...
Theological Virtues Theological virtues are virtues associated in Christian theology and philosophy with salvation resulting from the grace of God. Virtues are traits or qualities which dispose one to conduct oneself in a morally good manner. Traditionally they have been named Faith, Hope, and Love, and can trace their importance in Christian theology to Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 13, who...
Christian Ethics Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system: it is a virtue ethic which focuses on building moral character, and a deontological ethic which emphasizes duty. It also incorporates natural law ethics, which is built on the belief that it is the very nature of humans – created in the...
Afterlife In Christianity This article covers Afterlife in Christianity. Mainstream Christianity professes belief in the Nicene Creed, and English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use include the phrase: “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come”. Christian eschatology is concerned...
Eternal Life In Christianity This article covers Eternal Life in Christianity. Eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, as outlined in Christian eschatology. The Apostles’ Creed testifies: “I believe… the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.” In this view, eternal life commences after the second coming of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead, although...
Regeneration In Theology Regeneration, while sometimes perceived to be a step in the Ordo salutis (‘order of salvation’), is generally understood in Christian theology to be the objective work of God in a believer’s life. Spiritually, it means that God brings Christians to new life or “born again” from a previous state of separation...
Apostles In Christianity In Christian theology and ecclesiology, apostles (‘one who is sent away’), particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus. During the life and ministry of Jesus in the 1st century AD, the apostles were his closest followers and became the...
Incarnation In Christianity The Incarnation in Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, also known as God the Son or the Logos (Koine Greek for “Word”), “was made flesh” by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos...
Logos in Christianity The Logos in Christianity is a name or title of Jesus Christ, derived from the prologue to the Gospel of John (c 100) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”, as well as in the Book of Revelation (c 85), “And he was...
Theology Theology is the critical study of the nature of the divine. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. Theology is basically the study of deities or their scriptures in order to discover what they have revealed about themselves. While theology has turned into a secular...
What Is Binitarianism? Binitarianism is a Christian theology of two persons, personas, or aspects in one substance/Divinity (or God). Classically, binitarianism is understood as a form of monotheism—that is, that God is absolutely one being—and yet with binitarianism there is a “twoness” in God, which means one God family. The other common forms of monotheism...
Open Theism Open theism, also known as openness theology and free will theism, is a theological movement that has developed within evangelical and post-evangelical Protestant Christianity as a response to ideas related to the synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christian theology. It is typically advanced as a biblically motivated and philosophically consistent theology of human and divine freedom (in the libertarian sense), with an...
Son Of God In Christianity The terms “son of God” and “son of the LORD” are found in several passages of the Old Testament. The title Son of God in Christianity refers to the status of Jesus as the divine son of God the Father. It derives from several uses in the New Testament and early...
Trinity The Trinity in Christianity is a theological doctrine developed to explain the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit described in the Bible. The particular question the doctrine addresses is: If the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, then how can we say that there is...
God The Son God the Son is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus as the incarnation of God, united in essence (consubstantial) but distinct in person with regard to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit (the first and third...
Love Of Christ The love of Christ is a central element of Christian belief and theology. It refers to the love of Jesus Christ for humanity, the love of Christians for Christ, and the love of Christians for others. These aspects are distinct in Christian teachings—the love for Christ is a reflection of his love for his followers. The theme...