RSTD 232

Study Questions
Final Exam
Stephen Strehle, Instructor
1) Compare and contrast the views of Luther and Zwingli on baptism and the eucharist.
(296-306,331)
-Luther believed in a spiritual component, Christ being present and spiritual nourishment.
Zwingli thought it was symbolic. Baptism worked for infants because of their parents.
Abrahams circumcision
2) Compare and contrast Erasmus and Luthers concept depravity, free will, grace, and
predestination. (273-84)
a. Luther believed in totally depravity of the will and sovereignty of God
b. Erasmus believed in free will, synergism
i. Respond to Gods work
3) Compare and Contrast Luther with the Lutherans (Melanchthon and Osiander) on
justification and the Reformed (Calvin and Beza) on assurance. (284-88, 320, 321, 325,
351, 352, 386-88)
a. Justification
i. Luther: Christ in us, palpable
ii. Melanchthon: Gods declaration of forgiveness
iii. Osiander: He believed that justification for a Christian believer resulted by
Christ dwelling in a person. Contrary to Luther's belief that justification
was imputed by God's grace, Osiander believed that the righteousness of
a believer was accomplished by the indwelling of God; thus, God finds
one righteous because Christ is in that person
b. Assurance
i. Luther & Calvin: doubt is fine, but the soul is never in danger of losing
salvation. Irresistible grace
ii. Calvin: witness of the Holy Spirit. Blessings of Christ, not ourselves

iii. Beza: less on Christ, more on Gods plan. Faith

4) Explain Bezas doctrine of supralapsarianism and compare it to Arminius order of
decrees. (375-78, 368-88)
a. Beza: God permission is synonymous with will. God must have ordained the fall,
pointing to Christs redeeming work to make union permanent. Creates the means
to the end. Creates for damnation or election. Christ died for the elect

b. Arminius: free will and foreknowledge. God chooses those who choose him.
Christ dies for everyone. Those who hear the gospel receive sufficient grace but
nor irresistible
i. God sent Jesus for all, unlimited atonement
ii. You need to believe in it.
iii. Sufficient grace from hearing gospel
iv. God elects those who believe and persevere
5) List and explain the five points of Calvinism. (408, cf. 393-96)
a. Total depravity
b. Unconditional election not performance based
c. Limited atonement
d. Irresistible grace
e. Perseverance
6) What do Anabaptists believe? (458-61)
a. Pacifists
b. Believers baptism
c. Separatists
d. Preeminence of New Testament
e.
7) Characterize Puritanism. (462-64)
a. Separatists
b. Reform movement
c. Personal Bible study
d. Man exists for God glory. Labor for later rewards
e. Usher in postmillenialists
f. Peter Ramus, Not Aristotle
g. No modern day miracles
h. Providential signs
i. Jeremiads, get low and right with God
j. Capitalism
k. Modern science
l. Modern concept of government
8) What is the basis of religion in Schleiermacher? ( 465, 466)
a. Feeling
b. God works in the soul, not the world
c. All about the heart
9) Explain the liberal view of Jesus in Strauss and Harnack. (490-94, 517-19)
a. Strauss: supernatural = myth, no prophecies
b. Karnack: free the kernel from the husk. The truth of his sayings is the important
bit, not the supernatural

i. God works in the hearts

ii. Thrust of the message is the spiritual present kingdom in the hearts of
people
iii. Anti-semitism
iv. Jesus was a human with a special relationship with God
v. Jesus preaches love, higher than justice or ritual
10) What is Fundamentalism? (531-37)
a. Literal creation
b. Miracles
c. Inerrancy of scripture
d. Literal interpretation
e. Counter-culture
f. Save souls, not society
g. Transitioned into evangelicals
11) Barth says the Word of God is the basis of the churchs speaking. Explain. (541-65)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Jesus is the word of God

Bible is the witness to it
Father reveals, Son revealed, Spirit confirms and baptizes
God is not available in nature
God is transcendant
God is offensive to humans

12) What does Niehbuhr mean by the phrase Christian Realism? (603-11a)
a. Niebuhr argued that the Kingdom of God cannot be realized on earth because of
the innately corrupt tendencies of society. Due to the injustices that arise on
earth, a person is therefore forced to compromise the ideal of the kingdom of
heaven on earth. Niebuhr argued that human perfectibility was an illusion,
highlighting the sinfulness of humanity at a time when the world was confronted
by the horrors of experiences such World War ll, the reigns of both Adolf
Hitler and Joseph Stalin, and the Holocaust.

13) Relate Moltmanns concept of the cross and the resurrection. (624-28)
a. Resurrection: God can change anything
b. Cross: God that suffers with
14) Explain the following Tillichian phrases: method of correlation, ground of being,
and courage to be. (612-16)
a. A: theology answers philosophys questions
b. B: God is the answer to non-being
c. C: choose life rather than nihilism, forgiveness over guilt. Life is choice