Check Your Theologian IQ…
Theologians, Theologians…
Check Your Theologian IQ…
Without resorting to reference books or the internet (honor system) answer the fifteen questions by matching the most appropriate descriptions below with the names of theologians (and philosophers) above. Answer by placing a letter in the blank next to the name.
This is a tough one… good luck!
Answers will be posted in the comments section at 9:00 pm (PST).
1.Jacques Maritain _____
2. Aristotle _____
3. Plato _____
4. Socinus _____
5. Kant _____
6. Martin Luther _____
7. Albertus Magnus _____
8. John Henry Newman _____
9. William P. DuBose _____
10. Erasmus _____
11. Samuel T. Coleridge _____
12. Irenaeus _____
13. Tertullian _____
14. S. Kierkegaard _____
15. Paul Tillich _____
a. Taught that all occupations are holy
b. Was noted for his “Doctrine of Development”
c. Wrote the Soteriology of the New Testament
d. Turned down a Cardinal’s hat twice; his works later placed on the prohibited Index
e. A 20th century theologian associated with Thomism or neo-Thomism
f. Greek philosopher of paramount importance in the theology of Thomas Aquinas
g. Greek philosopher of paramount importance in the theology of St. Augustine
h. A 16th century theologian who taught a form of Adoptionism
i. An 18th century philosopher who attacked the the ontological argument for the existence of God
j. Was the teacher of Thomas Aquinas
k. Was a victim of defenestration
l. Was a seminal influence on J.H. Newman, Horace Bushnell and F.D. Maurice
m. Noted for his “doctrine of recapitulation”
n. Asked “What has Jerusalem to do with Athens”
o. Ontologist who is known especially for his method of correlation
p. Critic of G.F.W. Hegel and regarded as the father of existentialism
Grading Scale
15 Right – “You’re the president of which seminary?”
14 Right – “You’re the chairman of the theology department, where?”
13 Right – “Where did you earn your PhD?”
12 Right – First in your class at seminary…
11 Right – Practicing final exams at seminary…
10 Right – Second year of seminary… and working hard!
9 Right – First year of seminary… with potential!
8 Right – Lay Theologian!
7 Right – You obviously love books…
6 Right – The interest is there… keep reading!
5 Right – You are on the borderline…
4 Right – Start with a book on the History of Christian Thought
3 Right – There’s a world of theology out there…
2 Right – Process of elimination didn’t work.
1 Right – You need more than R.C. Sproul…
0 Right – “Virginia, Chuck Smith tapes are not enough…”
Now, before I receive “hate mail” for not including more current theologians such as NT Wright, or Packer, or Ramsey, or Evans, or Brown, it is for a reason. All contemporary theological scholarship stands on the shoulders of many of those named in the quiz. In other words, if you want to know why a current theologian thinks in the way that he does, it is because theology is not practiced in a vacuum… to know modern theology, you need to know historical theology.
Those scores get generous by 7 – but this one is hard. Elimination has definitely been utilized.
No Barth? Pitchforks, I say! Pitchforks and Torches!
I still have book “c.” Pretty pivotal.
Where did annihilationism come from? Serious question from a rank 0. Packer said his piece, not really familiar with the concept beyond that, speaking of the greats he stood on.
Annihilationism in recent years was popularized by J R W Stott’s debate in Evangelical Essentials, 1989. Until that time I had not heard the doctrine used by a Bible scholar who was a conservative evangelical.
It basically stands on 3 ideas,
1- The goodness of God and the horror of eternal conscious torment
2- Exegesis that finds destruction rather than endless suffering as more true to the texts
3- A challenge to the idea that the scriptures teach intrinsic immortality of fallen humans.
As far as Christian history one finds a bit of evidence as far back as Irenaeus and Justin Martyr but not full blown teachings.
Of course the church fathers probably have a stronger line of universal redemption among their ranks.
I pretty much ascribe annihilationism as what can be vindicated by exegesis.
You probably know all that.
I suspected Stott, but never minded where it actually came from. Stott was not very high up on my reading list pretty much ever. It was Packer’s willful desire to bring it up that kinda blew my mind.
Thanks Dread!
“Where did annihilationism come from? ”
The deepest pit of Hell.
Joking 🙂
Theologians – Answers
1. e
2. f
3. g
4. h
5. i
6. a
7. j
8. b
9. c
10. d
11. l
12. m
13. n
14. q
15. o
Annihilationism comes from some Patristic sources (for instance Origen), but was probably brought into the modern (or popular) era by CS Lewis… although he did not explicitly state it as a doctrine. +Michael Ramsey hinted at the possibility as well. It has to do, in my mind, with an eternal reality (hell) which is separate from God. The sources, however, in my mind are Platonic rather than Biblical.
BTW, really happy about the “buy in” on this one… it was tough!
If Kierkegaard is actually P and not Q then I am very happy with this one. It would mean I missed only 3.
Only 4 for me. I guessed that a sounded like Luther, I knew Plato & Aristotle were Greek philosophers and I knew about Kant.
BD
It is “P” – typo not caught. Well done! “First in your class!”
I feel pretty good about this quiz – answered 9, all correctly. It is probably better to know the limits of my knowledge than to know as much as I did. Now as to the accuracy of the descriptions, the description for 7 is closest to accurate, 8 is arguable, and I’ve never been to seminary.
My score fell below my education but I would probably have lived out life and not been able to parse DuBose, Coleridge and JH Newman other than knowing Coleridge was literary, that might have tipped me off but no.
Keep them hard. It is good for us to be humbled continuously.
Was it intentional that there were 15 names and 16 descriptors?
I notice no k exists. Is that something that has was intentional?
I was interested in the answer to : k. Was a victim of defenestration
BD
The “extra” is to limit the process of elimination! Defenestration is always used in regard to the start of the 30 years war in Prague… essentially a “non-answer” answer.
I’m really pleased at how well people have done on this one. John Henry Newman is worth reading, even if you don’t agree with him. I knew him originally from his “Development of Doctrine”, but his work on the Arians of the fourth century is also superb… and just yesterday the RCs announced that he is to be canonized…
As a pew sitter i confess that i do speculate on some things, but how, in light of the term “forever,” can one argue for annihilationism? I am convinced that God is the ultimate fair and just Being and would like to see such a mercy, but is there a hint of such in Scripture?
Presumptously posted among the erudites’ discussion here. ?
Em
This is a difficult question. There are those who feel that a realm of eternal damnation apart from God sets up two realities – God and Hell – existing through eternity. They point to Scriptures such as “When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.” Others see damnation as an “act” but question it’s eternal nature. For example, CS Lewis in The Problem of Pain: “But I notice that Our Lord, while stressing the terror of hell with unsparing severity usually emphasises the idea not of duration but of finality. Consignment to the destroying fire is usually treated as the end of the story—not as the beginning of a new story. That the lost soul is eternally fixed in its diabolical attitude we cannot doubt: but whether this eternal fixity implies endless duration—or duration at all—we cannot say.”
For myself, I don’t spend a great deal of time trying to figure out the furniture of heaven or the temperature of hell…
Thank you, Dr. Duane…. i think i agree that there is enough laid out crystal clear to spend a lifetime coming to terms with…
Maybe speculation on the duration of time spent in eternal fire is work avoidance? ?
Duane @ 1:52 Thanks for the response, I really enjoy that little weekly challenge and humiliation. I see more and more the fellowship that Michael built with you and why.
Em,
Duane got it about right with this addition the word usually employed for ‘forever’ has variant meaning in english and greek.
Further, annihilation is still a punishment with no endpoint. It just is not conscious torment and torture and that is a moral chasm worth crossing.
thank you, Pastor Dread … suspected the word “forever” might not be a clear translation, but will have to wait and see … like the song we used to sing, “I am not skilled to understand what God hath willed, what God hath planned. I only know at His right hand is One who died to be my Savior….”
Well, 6 right. I couldn’t be more impressed with myself 😉 need a good book
Lol, it is only things which stood out from my undergrad
Jerod
Those things from undergrad years stick with you the longest!
I disagree
Rodgers and Hammerstein sticks the longest.
Do re mi, oh my