Beacon dictionary of theology

For Further Reading: Arminius, The Writings of fames
Arminius, trans. Nichols and Bagnall; Bangs, Arminius: A
Study of the Dutch Reformation; McCulloh, ed„ Man's
Faith and Freedom. J. KENNETH GRIDER

ASCENSION, THE. The English term Ascension as used in Christian theology renders a variety of Greek words meaning "to go up" or "take up," and refers to the departure of Jesus for the heavenly sphere at the close of His historical ministry. The idea, though not frequent in the NT, has wide bearings for Christian theology.

The Ascension as an Event. As to the fact of the Ascension this is described only in Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9-11; though it is presupposed more often (John 20:17; Acts 1:2; Eph. 4:8-10; 1 Tim. 3:16). The clue to the meaning of the Ascension-event lies in what it evidently signified to those who had known Jesus both during His historical ministry and in the period following His resurrection. What was needed by the disciples to whom the resurrected Jesus manifested himself was an indicatipn that such appearances were not to continue indefinitely but rather were terminated. This indication the Ascension conveyed. Such an understanding explains both the relatedness and the distinctness of the Resurrection and the Ascension.

Theological Implications. Jesus' departure into the eternal world, of which the Ascension is the symbol, is linked with at least five aspects of His work for men.

1. His ascension to the Father is the sign of the completion of His redemptive mission on earth. As such it is directly related to His session at God's right hand, in which He takes the role of the enthroned, victorious King (Heb. 1:3; 10:12-14), whose final triumph over all His foes is thereby assured (Eph. 1:20; Phil. 2:9-11; 1 Pet. 3:22).

2. 
   Christ is enthroned not merely as King but as Priest-King (Heb. 10:11), in virtue of which office He exercises a continuous ministry of intercession on behalf of men: not as pleading for boons which He may be refused but rather those to which He has already received title by His victorious death (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2).
   
3. 
   The Ascension is likewise connected with Christ's work as Forerunner (John 14:3; Heb. 6:20). His entry into heaven is the guarantee of our own, demonstrating that transformed manhood in the form of the spiritualized body can inhabit the eternal sphere (Eph. 2:6).
   
4. 
   The Ascension is also the precondition of the giving of the Spirit, whose task is to continue on earth the work formerly effected by the historical Jesus (John 14:16-18; 15:26-27; 16:13-14; Acts 2:32-33).
   
5. 
   Finally the Ascension is the occasion for the angelic assurance of Christ's second coming, in the words "this Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11, nasb). That the apostolic community did not interpret this as a prediction of Pentecost, or suppose that the outpouring of the Spirit was the second coming of Christ, is clear from Acts 2:33; 3:19-21; 7:55; et al.
   

We may say therefore that the entire mission and work of the Church in proclamation and accomplishment alike are dependent on the ascended Christ.

See estates of christ, second coming of christ.

For Further Reading: Bernard, "Assumption and Ascension," ERE, 2:151 ff; Ramsey, "Ascension," Richardson, ed., A Theological Word Book of the Bible, 22 ff; Wright, "Ascension," NBD, 14; Lewis, Miracles, chap. 16.

Alex R. G. Deasley

ASCETICISM. This is an expression of religion characterized by a disregard of the physical or natural side of existence and a preoccupation with the development of one's own spiritual condition. It is a rigorous commitment to a life apart from the "evils" of normal living. Individuals from many religious orientations have turned to asceticism in their attempt to obtain salvation.


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The intent is to become disengaged from sin and united with the ultimate spirit so as to live a holy life. Methods of doing so include fasting, prayer, poverty, celibacy, withdrawal from society, contemplation, and self-mortification.

In the early days of the Christian Church the belief that Christ's return was imminent and that the world was soon to come to an end fostered asceticism. Thus, concern with the temporal world was not expedient. Because persecutions grew intense in the second and third centuries, believers were consoled by the idea that Christ would especially crown the sufferers of this world. Thus, it was a natural step to believe that voluntary suffering would lead to God's special favor.

Probably the greatest factor in the rise of asceticism in the Early Church was the confusion of Gnostic dualism with biblical teachings. The Gnostics emphasized that the body is evil while the spirit is good. Thus, the body was to be flagellated in order to cultivate the spirit. This emphasis soon led to the monastic movement with its attempt to withdraw from the world in order to concentrate on holy practices.

Sacrifice, self-denial, and separation from the world should be the legitimate concerns of biblical Christians. To avoid extremes, the Scriptures will have to be studied carefully in order to discover the healthy balance between the body and the spirit, the spiritual and the secular, and separation from the world and penetration into the world.

See discipline, body, gnosticism, celibacy, temperance.

For Further Reading: Turner, The Vision Which Transforms, 90, 166-67, 275; Flew, The Idea of Perfection in Christian Theology, 340; Kirk, The Vision of God.

Robert A. Mattke

ASSUMPTION OF MARY. See mother of god

ASSURANCE. See witness of the spirit.

ASTROLOGY. Astrology is the study of the supposed influence of stars upon human fortunes— the belief that heavenly bodies foretell or reflect the destinies of individuals and nations. Widely practiced in the ancient world, and eventually suppressed by the impact of Christianity, astrology experienced revival in the West in the 13 th century, becoming powerful again in the 16th century. With the growth of the scientific temper in the 18th century it again went into the shadows. The religious indifference and skepticism of our times has produced a renewal of interest in astrology.

The word horoscope (Greek, libra, time; scopein, to look) refers to the study of the position of the stars at the time of one's birth in order to foretell one's destiny. Horoscopy is the major aim of astrology. The few passages in the OT that mention astrologers refer to Babylonian practice. Isaiah in his lamentation over Babylon scornfully repudiates it: "Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee" (Isa. 47:13). Jeremiah warns the house of Israel: "Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them" (Jer. 10:2).

See cults.

For Further Reading: 7DB, 1:304; ODCC, 100.

James D. Robertson

ATHANASIAN CREED. This, along with the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, is one of the three most important of the ancient formulas of the Christian faith. No one knows who wrote it, or just when it was composed. Its wording shows that it would have had to be written some time after the Council of Chalcedon in a.d. 451. The first mention of it is at a synod held some time between 659 and 670. It could not have been written by Athanasius, who died in 373. Indeed, it was no doubt written in the West, in Latin. It was only named for the great fourth-century defender of orthodoxy, Athanasius. In content it defines the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity— guarding against tritheism—and also the orthodox doctrine of Christ.

See creed (creeds), trinity (holy), christology apostles' creed, nicene creed.

For Further Reading: Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, 2:66-71; Heick, A History of Christian Thought, 1:154-69.

J. Kenneth Grider

ATHEISM. The term derives from the Greek negative particle a, which means "no" or "not," and theos, meaning "god." Thus, dogmatically considered, atheism means "God is not," or "There is no God"—a total denial of the existence of God. In this sense atheism must be distinguished from agnosticism, infidelity, and skepticism. Atheism is a self-contradiction in that its attempted denial of God's existence rests upon the prior assumption of His existence.

The Bible takes little note of atheism per se. The Hebrews never argued the existence of God; they simply testified to His activities.

Paul's nearest approach to acknowledging


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ATONEMENT

atheism is his statement that before conversion the Gentiles were "godless in the world" (atheoi en to kosmo: Eph. 2:12), and that confirmed pagans "did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer" (Rom. 1:28, nasb). However, in neither case is God's existence actually denied. In the first they were simply ignorant of the true God, whereas in the second they had put out of mind the God they knew to exist (vv. 19-21). The Psalmist declared, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God'" (Ps. 53:1, nasb). Jean-Paul Sartre seemed to recognize this folly when he said, "If there is no God, then I am God," obviously a yet greater folly.

An atheist would be a person or universe without invisible or metaphysical support. Without a personal, intelligent God there is no way to account for the ultimate origin, existence, or destiny of man or the universe.

In the 1960s a modern form of atheism came to full flower in the "God Is Dead" movement, coupled with a thoroughgoing ethical relativism, sponsored by such thinkers as Thomas Altizer and William Hamilton. However, this movement hardly outlasted the decade.

Practical atheism is a mode of life quite unrelated to belief in God. It divorces belief from action and lives as though God did not exist. Of practical atheism there is much in the world, sometimes even among Christians. Whatever form atheism may take, and there are many, it destroys faith in the very basis of all human relations and removes any foundation from religious and social ethics, and thus reduces human life and the universe to utter meaninglessness.

See theism, agnosticism, skepticism, unbelief, secularism, apologetics, theistic proofs.

For Further Reading: ISBE, 1:318-19; Baker's DT, 70-71; K. Hamilton, What's New in Religion?

Charles W. Carter

ATONEMENT. This word does not appear in the Greek NT, but it does appear in the Hebrew OT. There, its literal meaning is "to cover." The word refers to our sins being "covered" or "covered over."

Calvinists tend to interpret the word to mean that our sins are still there, but are hidden from view by the blood of Christ—so that the holy God excuses us of them when Christ's righteousness is imputed to us.

Arminians, who believe in actual, imparted righteousness, understand that the believer's sins are covered in the way that a wound is covered when new flesh heals it (see Ps. 32:1-2).

Christians in general understand that it is

Christ's death on the Cross (and His resurrection) which provides an atonement for our disobedience. Yet the precise way in which Christ's crucifixion is efficacious is conceived differently by various groups of Christians.

Some Calvinists teach the limited Atonement theory. That is, that the saving benefit of Christ's atonement is limited to the ones God the Father had previously elected to salvation (and heaven). Arminians teach the unlimited Atonement theory—that the benefit it provides for extends to the entire human race. Naturally, the Arminians understand that the salvation the Atonement provides is conditional—it awaits our repentance and faith before the salvation it provides is realized. Many Calvinists teach that its benefit is unconditional—that is, that the eleet, for whom it was accomplished, cannot finally resist saving grace, but will indeed be saved eternally.

All the groupings of Christians more or less believe in the ransom theory of the Atonement, since the NT (in Mark 10:45; 1 Tim. 2:6) states that Christ died to ransom us. Yet there is much difference among Christians as to Atonement theories per se.

The moral influence theory, pretty much originating with Peter Abelard (1079-1142), suits modernism in theology. It overstresses God's love and denies man's utter sinfulness. Christ's death does not need to satisfy anything in God's nature to make it possible for Him to forgive man. Christ's death helps us to see that God loves us. Thus we call it a subjective theory of the Atonement—nothing objective for man being accomplished by it, but only something within man.

Anselm (1033-1109) taught the satisfaction theory of the Atonement, which view peculiarly suits Roman Catholicism. This is an objective theory, for something is accomplished in God's nature—objective of man—by Christ's death. Specifically the Atonement made it possible for God to forgive man and still maintain His own honor—so important in those feudal times. According to Anselm's Why the God-Man, man, a sort of serf, got into debt to God by sinning; and Christ, who, as sinless, did not need to suffer physical death, nonetheless died, and therefore did a most meritorious act. He paid man's debt by dying, since He was man; and since He was divine, He paid an infinite debt. God received the payment, forgives us, and maintains His honor. This theory suits the vast merit system of Roman Catholic theology. It precludes actual forgiveness, however, as Arminians view the mat-


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ter; for, if a payment of a debt is received, how can the debt then be forgiven?

The penal (punishment) satisfaction theory of the Calvinists says that the claims of God against the elect were satisfied by Christ's death being a vicarious punishment. The emphasis here is not on debt (Anselm) but justice. Sin must be punished. In Christ's death the sins of the elect were punished in full, and justice can make no further clairfTagainst the elect. Although the KJV does not use the specific word that Christ was "punished" for us, the view suits the unconditional and the limited Atonement understandings taught by Calvinism. Besides its not being scriptural, the view, like the satisfaction theory, precludes forgiveness—for, surely, God cannot accept Christ's punishment as what satisfies His justice, and still really forgive man. If the sin has already been fully punished, it cannot now be forgiven.

The governmental theory is the one which peculiarly suits Arminianism. According to this theory, Christ suffered, as Scripture so often says, in man's behalf, more precisely, as a provisional substitute for penalty. And He suffered for all men, not for a limited number. Because of Christ's suffering, God can forgive those who repent and believe—and still maintain His governmental control.

However, not all Arminians are willing to rest their doctrine of Atonement entirely on the governmental theory. This would be true of Watson, Pope, Summers, Tigert, and Wiley—to name but a few. According to H. Orton Wiley, the Atonement is not only grounded in governmental necessity but in the divine holiness and in the appeal of divine love. Thus the propitiatory idea and the moral influence idea also represent facets of truth which are indispensable to a full-orbed doctrine of the Atonement. In fact, Wiley says that the "idea of propitiation is the dominant note in the Wesleyan type of Arminian theology" (CT, 2:284).

Furthermore, Wiley stresses what he calls the "vital principle" of the Atonement. The Atonement, he says, is "God's method of becoming immanent in a sinful race" (CT, 2:276). Among other things this includes that restoration of the Spirit as indwelling Sanctifier which the death and resurrection of Christ made possible. The Logos who became Man, and who represented the race on the Cross in atonement, is now available to the believer in a personal, vital, inner relationship.

See cross, estates of Christ, ransom, forgiveness, expiation, propitiation, governmental the-

ory, penal satisfaction theory moral influence theory, mystical theory.

For Further Reading: Galloway, The Cosmic Christ; Hodgson, The Doctrine of the Atonement; Miley, The Atonement in Christ; Wiley, CT, 2:270-95.

J. Kenneth Grider

ATTRIBUTES, DIVINE. The divine attributes may be defined as the perfections of God which are revealed in Scripture, exercised in God's redemptive relationship to man, and demonstrated in His various works. The divine perfections, called attributes, provide essential descriptions of what God is and how God acts. These divine perfections are not traits, qualities, or characteristics in the sense that God has them. They are essential expressions of what God is. Nor are the attributes specific qualities which man assigns to God in order to understand Him. The attributes are objective and real. The names designating the attributes are ways of describing God as He is, according to revelation.

God thus does not possess the quality of love. God is love. When God loves, He is not manifesting a particular quality of His nature. When God loves, He expresses His essential Being. Again, when God is said to be holy, this reference is to His essential Being, not to a characteristic of His nature.

Current Approaches. Many theologians of the mid or late 20th century tend to reject the use of the word attribute. One reason given is that the traditional use of the word at times seemed to reduce God to the sum total of all His qualities, or attributes. Another reason directed against the traditional use of attributes was that such terms as omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence do not appear in biblical terminology. The claim is made that, instead of abstract terms expressing Greek thought, the Scriptures use descriptive terms of God in action.

It is true that the Bible uses action words to describe God. But the Scriptures also employ imperative words to describe God's nature and His sovereign relationship to man, such as Lev. 19:2: "Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." And on occasion the Scriptures do use abstract terms in reference to God. For instance, Moses requests that he be allowed to see God's glory (Exod. 33:18). Also, the Psalmist writes that "the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods" (Ps. 95:3). Isaiah's lofty vision of God included the joyful exclamation of the seraphim: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isa. 6:3).

For all practical purposes, then, it appears


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ATTRIBUTES, DIVINE (cont.)

sound to use any terms available in referring to God, as long as the terms convey accurately the revelation of God in Scripture. For example, one may use the phrase "God is everywhere," or he may say that God is omnipresent. Both the phrase "God is everywhere" and the word omnipresence mean that there are no limits to His presence—that God is free from the restraints of space.

Revelation the Source of Knowledge. The mystery of God eliminates all knowledge of God except when He makes himself known by revelation. As Emil Brunner points out, God is not an object which man can manipulate by his own reasoning (The Christian Doctrine of God, 14). Except when He chooses to reveal himself, God is a mystery dwelling in the depths of inaccessible light. And even when He reveals himself, "the believer will not even be able fully to understand all that God has revealed concerning His attributes" (Fred H. Klooster in Basic Christian Doctrines, 22). Finite man can never fully understand the infinite God.

But man must state some sweeping and final affirmations about God's essential being, or the whole idea of God becomes merely formal, theoretical, and sterile. The modern mind, with its bent toward secularism, seems unable or unwilling to present or to accept any ultimates about God. This confusion about the nature of God has minimized the influence of the redemptive message. As Carl Henry writes: "The modern inability to speak literally of God's essential being, the contentment with merely relational reflection, ... augur but further religious decline for the Western world" (Christian Faith and Modern Theology, 92).

Taking our directives from Scripture, the discussion below deals with specific attributes of God.

Classification of the Attributes. The divine attributes may be arranged under two headings: (1) the absolute or incommunicable attributes; (2) the moral or communicable attributes.

1. The absolute or incommunicable attributes. The term absolute is derived from the Latin abso-lutus, a compound of ab (from) and solvere (to loosen). Absolute means free as to condition, or free from limitation or restraint. The absolute attributes are reserved for God alone. Neither God's general creation, the universe, nor God's special creation, man, shares these divine perfections. The absolute attributes are infinity, self-existence, eternality, immutability, immensity (omnipresence), perfect knowledge (omniscience), perfect power (omnipotence), and spirituality.

The term infinite refers to that perfection of God by which He is free from all limitations. God is in no way limited by the created world, by time-space relationships. God's perfection is His infiniteness. The only limitations of God are self-imposed or inherent in His nature. God cannot lie, sin, change, or deny himself (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 6:18; Jas. 1:13,17).

By self-existence (or self-sufficiency, independence, or aseity of God) is meant that God has no origin, that He is uncreated, that He depends on nothing. This self-existence of God finds expression in the name Jehovah. God is the great I AM (Exod. 3:14). John states that God is self-caused: "For as the Father hath life in himself ..." (John 5:26). The fact that God is independent of all things and that all things exist only through Him is found in Ps. 94:8 ff, in Isa. 40:18 ff, and Acts 17:25. See also Rom. 11:33-34; Eph. 1:5; Rev. 4:11.

The eternality of God is His timelessness. He exists outside the categories of time or space. Moses paid his tribute by singing: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Ps. 90:2; cf. Gen. 21:33; Isa. 57:15; 1 Tim. 1:17).

Immutability refers to the unchanging nature of God. A perfect being cannot increase or decrease in any respect. God does not change in regard to His being, in relation to His decrees, or in respect to His works. The prophet Malachi states it precisely: "For I am the Lord, I change not" (Mai. 3:6). See also Exod. 3:14; Ps. 102:26-28; Isa. 41:4; Heb. 1:11-12; 6:17; Jas. 1:17. In God, as absolute perfection, neither improvement nor deterioration are possible.

When God is stated to be superior to space, or transcendent over space, or unlimited by space, this perfection is called immensity. When God is said to be present everywhere in creation, this perfection is named omnipresence. Though God remains distinct from creation and may not be identified with the world, yet He is present in every part of His creation. The omnipresence of God is a basic teaching of the Bible. Heaven and earth cannot contain Him (1 Kings 8:27; Isa. 66:1; Acts 7:48-49); yet He occupies both at the same time and is a God who is always present (Ps. 139:7-10; Jer. 23:23-24; Acts 17:27-28).

God's perfect knowledge is called omniscience. God knows all that is knowable. His knowledge is inclusive and comprehensive. He knows himself and all that comes from Him. He knows all


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things as they actually come to pass, past, present, and future. He knows all relations and relationships. He knows what is actual and what is possible. The omniscience of God is a distinct revelation in Scripture. God's knowledge is perfect (Job 37:16); He knows the inner heart of man (1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chron. 28:9; Ps. 139:14; Jer. 17:10). God sees the ways of men (Deut. 2:7; Job 23:10; 24:23; Ps. 1:6; Ps. 37:18). God also knows about contingent events (1 Sam. 23:10-12; 2 Kings 13:19; Ps. 81:14-15; Isa. 42:9; Ezek. 3:6; Matt. 11:21).

Omnipotence, or God's perfect power, means that by the exercise of His will He can realize whatever is present in His will. The idea of God's omnipotence finds expression in the name El-Shaddai. The Bible is emphatic in speaking of the Lord God Almighty (Job 9:12; Ps. 115:3; Jer. 32:17; Matt. 19:26; Luke 1:37; Rom. 1:20; Eph. 1:19); God reveals His power in creation (Isa. 44:24; Rom. 4:17); in works of providence (Heb. 1:3), and in the redemption of sinners (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:24). God's absolute power, however, may never be divorced from His perfections.

The Bible does not contain a definition of God. The nearest approach to anything like a definition is found in the word of Christ to the Samaritan woman, "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24). "By teaching the spirituality of God theology stresses the fact that God has a substantial Being all His own and distinct from the world, and that this substantial Being is immaterial, invisible, and without composition or extension" (Erickson, ed., The Living God, 347f). By accepting the spirituality of God it is affirmed that He has none of the properties belonging to matter, and that He cannot be discerned by the bodily senses. Paul speaks of Him as "the King eternal, immortal, invisible" (1 Tim. 1:17).

2. The moral or communicable attributes. Among the divine perfections which God may impart, to a degree, are holiness, truth, righteousness, justice, love, grace, goodness, and faithfulness. We can briefly discuss only some.

In the OT the word "holiness" carried three meanings—brilliance (glory), separation, and purity (Exod. 29:43; Lev. 10:3; Isa. 6:3; 10:17; 1 Kings 8:10-11; Exod. 13:2; 28:41; Isa. 40:25; Ezek. 43:7-9). While holiness is in one sense the unique and exclusive perfection of God, it is capable, under divinely appointed conditions, of being imparted to persons, places, and things. Wiley writes that "the love of God is in fact the desire to impart holiness and this desire is satisfied only when the beings whom it seeks are rendered holy" (Wiley and Culbertson, Introduction to Christian Theology, 107). In essence, God's love is His unceasing and benevolent desire to share all of His perfections, to the extent possible, with man.

Truth as an attribute of God means that God can never be capricious, whimsical, indulgent, or misleading. Any act or any word of revelation by God must be an expression of holy love. Truth as a perfection of God indicates that God's analysis of man is based on His perfect knowledge of what man is and what man can be.

God is true and faithful, in that He always acts in harmony with His nature. His purposes never waver, and His promises are never annulled. Paul wrote to the wavering Corinthians that "God is faithful" (1 Cor. 10:13).

Righteousness is the conformity of God to the moral and spiritual law which He has revealed. To put it another way, righteousness is the consistent and unvarying expression of God's nature in complete harmony with His holiness. To Brunner the righteousness of God means "the constancy of God's will in view of His Purpose and Plan for Israel" (The Christian Doctrine of God, 275). Thus righteousness "is simply the Holiness of God as it is expressed when confronted with the created world" (ibid., 278). To Barth the righteousness of God means that in founding and maintaining fellowship with His creation God "wills and expresses and establishes what corresponds to His own worth" (Church Dogmatics, 2:377).

The Psalmist sang of the righteousness of God (Ps. 19:9). Isaiah longed for a time when God's righteousness would be supreme (Isa. 11:5). Paul wrote that righteousness was the glory of the gospel (Rom. 1:17). At the end of the Bible angels testify to God's righteousness: "Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be" (Rev. 16:5).

See god, infinite, immutability omnipotence, spirit, holiness, love, righteousness, justice, grace, good (the good, goodness), faithful (faithfulness), contingent.