Norms of Christian Theology

1. The sources and norms of saviourian Theology I render discussion, impost, apprehension and date as the sources and norms of Christian devotion. Revealing the fellowship of paragon, guides us to contain intercourse perfection, and inform our action and get along as debaters, they ar the sources as knockoutes that details to the friendship of graven image. At that same time, they are norms by which we can judge our makeing of graven image and correct our behaviors as children of divinity 2. pinch of the source and norms Scripture is the witness of Gods manifestation by saviour Christ.This is crucial source non save to form academic study inwardly Christianity, just to procedure in frequent worship, meditate the countersign of God, and transform Christians career story and the world. There is clean testament and older Testament. For a long time, putting the touch on as the acme of delivery boy Christ, church usance considered that Old Testam ent point forward and New Testament point back to messiah Christ. However, we need to understand that both of them are not yet the account to testify of God redeeming(a) action by means ofout history, further similarly the expectation of Christians hope confirmed by God.In terms of the Old Testament, it is important, first of all, because it reveals the inbred characters of God who reveals in Christ through the story of Israel, we can see God who is faithful, promised to his people, delivered them from bondage, and keep promising hope. Secondly, Old Testament also anticipates the same future with which New Testament anticipates. That is hope confirmed by God. The New Testament is important in that it tells Christ in several(predicate) ways. It is not solo story looking back, still that looking forward in which Christ will come again and Gods unfulfilled promise will be fulfilled. impost is the proclamation of the word of God in which believers in communities of faith unde rstood, taught, preached, meditated, and overlap the world of God at different ages with various ways. There are ternary thinks of relevance of tradition. The first is magisterial ascertain in which tradition as triplex SOURCE has the same license with scripture. In this find, scripture is the written form of apostolic witness of Jesus Christ, personal revelation and tradition is the oral form which is communicated slip away out by apostles and witnesses generation to generation.The practice session is devotion to Mary, the central share of Bishop or Room. With Magisterial authority it has been very prosperous at maintaining the visible unity in church. However, it was challenged by Protestants to give the authority to only scripture. The imprimatur is diaconal (service) view in which tradition as ONE SOURCE stamp down to and cadenced by scripture. In this view, comparable Nicaea creed and Apostle Creed, does not communicate with the current of scripture, only if he ar in scripture and summarize it with new and fresh language.On balance, diaconal view seems to be best able to award the past and the evangelical impulse to measure everything against Scripture. However, it still gives us question where the tradition communicate in which the scripture quiet down? In this vein, Martin Luther who denies dual source view also did not agree with individual(a) source view. It is because that traditions treated with respect and determine where the scripture silence and did not infringe scripture. The 3rd view is diabolical in which tradition is dangerous and misleading.Insisting that only authority encountering revelation is through the word of God, dispatch Church and Baptist part of radical renewal have non creedal tradition. As a distinguish character of human beings, former is a tool of thought that we use to understand. It question Christians if Christian faith is self- represent and it consist with new(prenominal) things we believe. There are terzetto approaches to understand the relationship of condition to the knowledge of God. The first is that earth is no role to understand the knowledge of God.It is not essential to be Christian faith self-consist. As a human instrument, there is no value at all in fountain dealing with divine. Without crusade, we simply believe. The flake is that reason completely adequate to understand the world and God. According to this view, reason tells us everything reliable, and the fact that we can know somewhat God is the fruit of reason. En uncontaminatingenment, Deism, Thomas Jefferson approached reason into a magisterial level. In this view, reason helps us to have consistency with the others we believe when they are reasonable.However, if there is conflict betwixt reason and faith because faith is something beyond reason, this view couldnt provide consistency. The third view is that reason is wonderful exhibit from God, relevant to things of the world, things of God. How ever, it is not sufficient for ground things of the world and God. In this view, faith and reason is not a relationship of contradictory, but two wings of a bird, where reason provides first, faith provides second. Faith is root and reason is stem. Reason by itself is fully inadequate, but helps deepen our understanding of Scripture, tradition and ourselves.Experience is to feature God in personal life. It is not usually listed the source and norm of theology with other three (ex, Episcopal Church), but it is very typical in Methodist. Because it compete very roles in different theology, it is elicit source and norm. McGrath suggests two models of cognise. The first is that visualize provides a foundational resource of Christian theology. It nub that 1st hand encounter is the surest from of knowledge and self-explanatory other things become to a extensiveer extent intelligible because of that experience.Second, theology is a poser to interpret human experience. In this vie w, experience is not capable of interpreting by itself, but interpreted by theology. For example, Wesley accent experiential dimension of Christian life and experiential faith. He thought his great experience reversed as fix up as a backbone of joy and assurance in which the religious doctrine became true for him. Lots of liberation theologiser also interpreted their experience as hardship, injustice and oppression in light of Gods salvation through Jesus Christ.However, here is question, if experience becomes a identify mark and determined whether or not disciple, what happens feel more, less, or modify up? In addition, ones experience can be revise and transformed. In that sense, Karl Barth said that experience is relevant, so not equally easy to satisfy the gospel. 3. Difficulty to understand scripture, tradition, reason and experience as norms and sources of theology As I mentioned in the beginning, scripture, tradition, reason and experience are the sources and norms of t heology.As sources, they sustain Christians life so that their understanding and knowledge become nourish to know God. At the same time, by exploitation them as norms, we can measure other testimonies. One of difficulty is that we easily indispensableness to make them norms we are not accept them as sources. We need to receive them as sources which inform our action and practice in Christ. 4. Relation with the personal word of God, Jesus Christ. In Barth three folds of the word of God, the pump is the personal word of God, Jesus Christ. The second circle is apostolic witnesses about Jesus Christ.Then the third is proclamation in which real word of God proclaims today through various ways and activities. Reflecting these four sources on the three folds of the word of God, scripture is witness of the personal word of God, Jesus Christ. Tradition is in between scripture and proclamation. It is because that tradition is witnesses of the personal word of God as well as proclamation o f the word of God today. Finally, reason and experience have dimension of all three dimensions scripture, tradition, and proclamations.