Christian Mind Final Study

“The epistemological corollary to the Creator/creature distinction” (Horton). “Archetypal knowledge is “God’s knowledge of Himself and His works,” whereas ectypal knowledge is creaturely knowledge of God and His works” (VanAsselt). Ectypal knowledge is further divided between the pilgrim’s knowledge (the church on earth) and the glorified saint’s knowledge, the church in heaven.

Refers to the effects of sin on the human mind whereby fallen man suppresses the truth of God in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18).

Refers to the nature of being. To study ontology is to study the existence and being of a particular thing.

“Noumenal” refers to what things are in themselves, that is, in their essence; “phenomenal” refers to the representations of things. For Kant, the noumenal cannot be known, whereas the phenomenal is, by our sense perception.

Is an over-realized eschatology that embraces the idea that one can see or comprehend God as he is, in his essence. It is contrasted to a theology of the cross that seeks to find God where he has revealed himself, in the cross of Christ.

A belief that grounds other beliefs and therefore is not dependent on other beliefs. Reformed Epistemologists consider belief in God as a properly basic belief.

“The view that holds sense perception (or experience) to be the sole source of human knowledge. It rejects both innate knowledge (innate ideas) and, in its radical form, revelation.”

“Contrasted with empiricism, a view that magnifies the role played by unaided reason in the acquisition and justification of knowledge. A preference for reason over sense perception, and an insistence upon deduction and logical consistency.”

“Contrasted with realism, any view which holds reality to be fundamentally mental or mind-dependent (or ‘spiritual’).”

What one does, or intends to do, in the act of speaking or communicating. For example, the act of promising when speaking the words, “I promise.”

Says that every fact, to be a fact, must have the existence of the Triune God of Scripture as its precondition.

The belief that in order for something to be proved, sufficient evidences must be marshaled and reasonably evaluated. It is associated with an apologetic school that seeks to defend and make a case for Christianity through the use of evidences that must be reasonably evaluated.

An argument for the existence of God that says: “man has the idea of an absolutely perfect being; existence is an attribute of perfection; therefore an absolutely perfect being must exist,” and is God (Berkhof).

Inductive thought moves from lesser to greater generality, from observed particulars to broader generalizations. Deductive thought moves from premises of greater generality to conclusions of greater specificity.

The doctrine that says Scripture, by its very nature, is clear enough to lead someone who is seeking salvation, under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, through reading, studying, or hearing the Bible, to a necessary knowledge of salvation.

The argument from design. Berkhof says it in this form: “the world everywhere reveals intelligence, order, harmony, and purpose, and thus implies the existence of an intelligent and purposeful being, adequate to the production of such world.”

The argument from the uncaused cause. Berkhof forms it as: “every existing thing in the world must have an adequate cause; and if this is so, the universe must also have an adequate cause, a cause which is infinitely great,” which cause is God.

A thing is necessary if it is self-sustaining and cannot not exist. A thing is contingent if it relies on other things for its existence and in fact can not exist.

The Hypostatic Word is Jesus Christ himself. The Sacramental Word is the preached word that creates the world of which it speaks. The Canonical word is the portion of the sacramental word that God saw fit to preserve for all time.

The sense that all mankind have of the divine, naturally implanted into them by God. Due to the fall it is suppressed and/or used in the making of idols (Rom 1:19ff).