Beacon dictionary of theology

For Further Reading: Lum, Responding to Suicidal Crisis: For Church and Community; Farbet Theory of Suicide; Farberow and Shneidman, The Cry for Help.

Isaac Baldeo

SUNDAY. Since the days of the primitive Church, Sunday has been the specifically Christian day for worship. The word comes from dies soil's (he-iios day), second of the seven-day planetary week. The day corresponds with the Jewish first day.

Evidence indicates that Sunday as the specific day of worship began in the primitive Gentile church. But Eusebius says that the early Jewish Christians "celebrated rites like ours [the Jewish] in commemoration of the Savior's resurrection" —probably on Sunday and in addition to their Jewish Sabbath.

Until the end of the first century, the Eucharist was celebrated weekly on Sunday evening. But at the beginning of the second century, probably due to an imperial ban against night assembly, the Sunday evening service was terminated; and celebration of the Lord's Supper was incorporated into an already existing predawn service that consisted of prayers and hymns. The predawn hour made it possible for the Christians to get to their places of employment on time for what was a common day of labor in the Roman Empire. Two specifically Christian names were given to the day by Christians: "The Lord's Day" (cf. Rev. 1:10), and "the eighth day" (the latter was probably associated with the day on which baptisms occurred).

Not until after Constantine designated Sunday as a day of rest throughout the empire (in a.d. 321) did the Christian day of worship also become a day of rest.

See lord's day, sabbatarianism, puritan (puritanism).

For Further Reading: Rordorf, Sunday; Cowan, The Sabbath in Scripture and History.

Albert L. Truesdale, Jr.

SUPEREROGATION. This is a concept of Roman Catholic theology describing virtuous acts surpassing that required by duty or obligation. The doctrine first appeared toward the close of the 12th century and was modified and enlarged by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. It is based on the doctrine of salvation by grace and works rather than by grace alone. It also depends on a distinction made between the precepts and the counsels of the church. Precepts refer to works commanded; and counsels, to works only advised (Matt. 19:21)—especially the monastic counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

The total merits of Christ exceeded what was necessary for man's salvation. In addition, the saints did and suffered more than was required for their own salvation. These superabundant merits go into a treasury of merit and are at the disposal of the Roman Catholic church. At the discretion of the pope, these merits may be dispensed to those who lack sufficient merit for salvation. This led to the system of indulgences so pointedly rejected by Luther.

The treasury of merit is also based on a concept of the community of grace. Protestantism rejected any form of salvation by works, holding salvation to be by grace alone. It also rejected the community of grace, contending that grace is individually bestowed and not transferable, and rejected the concept of works of supererogation (New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 11:165-66).

See merit, work (works), justification, catholicism (roman), indulgences.

For Further Reading: New Catholic Encyclopedia, 13:810; Heick, A History of Christian Thought, 1:289.

M. estes haney

SUPERNATURAL, SUPERNATURALISM. Christian theology has always emphasized that there are many experiences, events, and manifestations that cannot be ascribed to natural causes. To describe these phenomena, Christians have used the word supernatural. These events or experiences must be explained by reference to something beyond the natural realm or sense experience. The word supernatural is not specifically used in Scripture, but it has an important function in defining scriptural emphases. When God speaks to men and women, when Jesus Christ descends to human level in the Incarnation, when Jesus is raised from the dead, these may properly be designated supernatural events, since they are totally inexplicable by human sources of understanding. Such events express God's immediate and special action within the sphere of nature, but not according to nature's usual order.

Religious naturalism rejects the idea of transcendence, or the God who is above and beyond us. "God" is whatever saves a person from evil, but "God" cannot be defined as a supernatural person. To the naturalist, to talk about God in heaven doesn't make sense, since this God cannot be weighed or subjected to empirical methods. Thus "God" is reduced to something

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temporal, present in the world, never external to the natural order. "God" becomes the projection of human wishes and hopes. In an extreme naturalism "God" is an aspect of the total reality called nature. Supernaturalism, on the other hand, insists that God is above man and free to act upon and within nature however He pleases.

It is of course necessary to protest a supernaturalism which pushes God and man so far apart that no means of communication exist. Jesus did come from heaven to reconcile God and man. Supernaturalism does not contradict this reconciliation, but in fact presents a God who is great enough to bring the supernatural and the natural into interaction.

One expression of 20th-century theology has spoken of God as so remote that no point of contact between God and man could be expected. Another theological school in its radical forms stresses that God is so near as to be virtually identified with nature. Both views are extreme and are out of touch with biblical faith. Christian faith insists upon the realm existing above nature, but places equal insistence upon the ways in which God is present through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in the realm where humanity dwells.

See miracle, providence, divine sovereignty, attributes (divine), immanence, theism, rationalism.

For Further Reading: Cauthen, The Impact of Ameri-
can Religious Liberalism; Carnell, The Case for Orthodox
Theology. Leon O. hynson

SUPERSTITION. Superstition is an unwarranted and irrational regard for rituals, signs, and omens. Primitive folklore is full of beliefs in the portent of certain events, such as a black cat crossing one's path, or in the power of a good-luck charm. Superstition may also take the form of blind trust in the performance of certain rituals apart from sound biblical authority or compliance with ethical conditions. When the Israelites pinned their faith in their Temple worship and sacrificial system as a sure security against misfortune, their religion had become a superstition. Divinely prescribed rituals are not designed as forms of magic, by which the supernatural can be manipulated for our protection or our advantage.

Even the Christian sacraments can become superstitions when participants rest in the efficacy of the ceremony without regard to its doctrinal meaning or its inherent ethical demands. The Bible itself can be used as a talisman and certain verses as charms. Soldiers have sometimes believed they would be protected from harm by having a Testament in their pocket. In such forms of superstition the symbol has been accepted as a substitute for reality, scientific cause-and-effect principles have been disregarded, and credulity has been mistaken for faith. The antidote to superstition is a growing relationship with Christ himself, a life of holiness and obedience, and an intelligent approach to biblical and theological principles.

See faith, presumption. Richard S. Taylor

SUPPLICATION. This is prayer as petition, as entreaty, as earnest request, on behalf of oneself or on behalf of others. See Acts 1:14; Eph. 6:18; Phil. 4:6; Heb. 5:7.

See prayer, intercession, praise.

J. Kenneth Grider

SUPPRESSION. The theory of suppression teaches that the believer's sin nature is never cleansed away. Constant warfare with the carnal self ("old man") is normal. The Spirit's power enables suppression of carnality but no deliverence.

Many NT words express suppression: krateo — to be master of (Matt. 18:28); pnigo—to choke (v. 28); deo— to bind (Mark 3:27); katapaud—to restrain (Acts 14:18); katecho—to hold down (Rom. 1:18); hypopiazd—to hit beneath the eyes (1 Cor. 9:27); doulagogeo—to enslave (v. 27); sunecho— to constrain (2 Cor. 5:14); and sugkleid—to shut up (Gal. 3:22). However, none of these are used in reference to carnality. Rather, the Spirit used katarged—to destroy (Rom. 6:6); sustauroo—to crucify with (v. 6); eleutheroo—to free (8:2); ekkathaird—to cleanse thoroughly (1 Cor. 5:7; 2 Tim. 2:21); apotithemi—to put off (Eph. 4:22); katharizo—to cleanse (5:26); and apekdusis—the putting off (Col. 2:11).

Scripture teaches cleansing from all sin (Ezek. 36:25-27; Eph. 5:25-27), crucifixion of "the old man" (Gal. 2:20), and the sanctifying infilling of the Spirit in a crisis moment of total consecration and faith (John 17:17-20; Acts 2:38-39; 19:2; Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Thess. 5:23-24). The Greek aorist tense of the verbs teaches this (John 17:17; Acts 15:9; Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 1:21-22; Gal. 5:24; Eph. 1:13; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 13:12; 1 John 1:9), as do Bible commands and promises for purity in this life (Luke 1:73-75).

The believer aided by the Spirit should discipline body, mind, emotions, and will to (1) obey God's Word, (2) overcome temptation, (3) maintain self-control, and (4) control and sanctify legitimate bodily appetites, aspirations, imaginations, passions, instincts, drives, temperament, strengths, and weaknesses. This is the

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role for biblical self-control or suppression (Gal. 5:23; Acts 24:25; 1 Cor. 7:9; 9:25-27; 2 Tim. 1:7; Titus 1:8; 2:5; 1 Pet. 1:13; 4:7; 5:8; 2 Pet. 1:6).

See cleansing, eradication, discipline, temperance.

For Further Reading: Taylor, Holiness the Finished Foundation, 65-81; Carter, The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit, 168-72; Grider, Entire Sanctification, 20-24.

Wesley L. Duewel
SUPRALAPSARIANISM. See infralapsarianism.

SURRENDER. When used in a militaristic connotation of forced subjection, "surrender" is an unacceptable idea for expressing Christian experience. Yet the Scriptures abound in words like commitment, yielding, submission, obedience, and servanthood, which do not imply the loss of free moral agency, but precisely its exercise. If surrender is used in the sense of a free self-conscious decision, then it agrees with the essence of these biblical expressions. It thus becomes a synonym of consecration, as in the song "I Surrender All."

As a spiritual act of self-giving, surrender can nevertheless be ambiguous. Surrender may be distorted because of self-interest, as in the instance of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-6). It may be a manipulative device whereby the weak gains an advantage over the strong, as in the case of passive resistance. Surrender to a morally questionable person or cause may not only be useless, but destructive as well. The Scriptures recognize the possibility of surrender to sin, Satan, and the flesh (cf. Rom. 6:12ff).

God as He has revealed himself in Christ Jesus is not only the only unambiguous object of self-surrender, but the ultimate Example as well. "For God so loved the world that he gave [up] his only Son" (John 3:16, rsv; cf. Phil. 2:5-11; Rom. 5:8). Self-surrender to God does not cancel human freedom but exercises it in its ultimate expression; it does not destroy the self but releases it from bondage to inordinate self-love and sin.

See consecrate (consecration), obedience, death to self.

For Further Reading: Wiley, CT, 2:471-87; Ellul, The Ethics of Freedom, 112-32, 236-69. C. S. cowles

SWEDENBORGIANISM. This cult is also called New Church or Church of the New Jerusalem. The first society was begun (1783) in London by Robert Hindmarsh, a Methodist, after reading the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). Swedenborg, the son of the Lutheran bishop of Skara, Sweden, and a brilliant scientist, wrote extensively on scientific, philosophic, and theological subjects. His theological writings are based on reputed mental travels in the spirit world. These began with "a violent fever in 1743" (Wesley, Works, 13:62, 426). To Sweden-borgians, he is God's seer through whom God is ushering in His New Church, and whose writings are either inspired interpretations of the Word or The Word.

God, the spiritual world (heaven and hell), and the physical world all have correspondence. The Word (most of the OT and only the part of the NT not including the Epistles and Acts) has an exact correspondence with the spiritual world and God. Perfect understanding of this correspondence is gained through symbolic interpretation, revealed by Swedenborg from his mental travels. He differs from orthodoxy in the following: God is the Grand Man, and thus all existence, as well as man, is in God's image. Angels and demons were formerly men. The Trinity exists only as manifestation. Jesus is the same as God the Father and is to be worshipped as such. Heaven and hell are extensions of this physical life including social structure, and are chosen according to one's desires: either concern for others, or self-satisfaction including sexual. The separation in the afterlife occurs as each increases in the direction of his dominant desire. Salvation is by good works. "Faith alone" is strongly opposed.

See cults, orthodoxy, wesleyanism.

For Further Reading: Block, The New Church in the New World; DeBeaumont, "Swedenborg," ERE, 11:129-32; Van Dusen, The Presence of Other Worlds; Wesley, Works, 13:62, 425-48. DAVID L. CuBIE

SYMBOLIC ESCHATOLOGY. See eschatology

SYMBOLICS. See creed, creeds.

SYMBOLISM. The concepts sign and symbol have an extremely wide range of application even within a purely religious context. Consider the following very incomplete list: A red face is a sign of anger; immorality is a sign of the times; the road is not clearly sign-posted; this fire is a sign that someone has camped here; the Cross is a symbol of Christianity; the house was a symbol of prison in your dream; the hero symbolizes goodness. Common to most uses of the concept is the idea of a symbol as something which by convention stands in place of or suggests something else. Some writers have, however, suggested that one can draw a distinction between conventional and intrinsic symbols. The con-


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ventional symbol has no connection with what it symbolizes other than the fact that by arbitrary convention it has been agreed to allow it to represent a particular symbolizandum. On the other hand, the intrinsic symbol has an inherent relationship to what it symbolizes: in Paul Tillich's language it participates in that which it symbolizes.

The English word symbol derives originally from the Greek symbolon, which meant a sign or token which authenticated one's identity, as in a soldier's symbolon. This term was appropriated by Christian theology to mean creed or summary of faith, something which established one's allegiance. Thus Christian theology is often divided into philosophical theology, which deals with the philosophical presuppositions of the faith; symbolic theology, which treats the key assertions and doctrines of Christianity in a systematic fashion; and applied theology, which addresses itself to the practical implications of symbolic theology for the ecclesiastical community.

The problem of the use of symbols in theology is today most often connected with the problem of religious language, that is, the question of how the predicates (love, goodness, wisdom, power, etc.) used in connection with God function in theological assertions such as "God is love" or "God is infinitely wise." Traditionally, Christian theologians have argued that such predicates are cognitive in the sense of conveying meanings about God which are either true or false. Several contemporary theologians have argued, however, that religious predicates are in fact non-cognitive, in that they are not to be construed as true or false. Instead, religious language is symbolic.

The leading exponent of this theory is Paul Tillich, who distinguishes between a sign and a symbol. Both point to something beyond themselves, but a sign does so because of a convention while a symbol "participates in that to which it points" (Dynamics of Faith, 42). A flag, to use Tillich's example, which, it should be noted, is certainly not without its problems, is a symbol because it is not conventionally instituted and participates in that which it symbolizes. Tillich's conception of religious symbols is not clear, but he seems to suggest that: (1) religious symbols have a twofold purpose in that (a) they "open up levels of reality which otherwise are closed to us," and (b) "unlock dimensions and elements of our soul" (ibid.); and (2) religious faith is a state of being ultimately concerned and thus can only express itself symbolically. There is only one nonsymbolic statement that can be made about God, that He is Being itself.

While Tillich's doctrine of religious symbols is perhaps the best-known modern attempt to understand the role of symbols in Christian theism, it is certainly not a carefully elaborated idea which is free from difficulties. Many Christian thinkers, for instance, would feel extremely uneasy about construing all religious language as noncognitive, particularly as this seems to suggest that theological propositions are ultimately nonmeaningful.

See TRUTH, REVELATION (SPECIAL), CREED (CREEDS), PROPOSITIONAL THEOLOGY, HISTORICAL THEOLOGY RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE.

For Further Reading: Bevan, Symbolism and Belief, Ramsey, Models and Mystery; Tillich, Dynamics of Faith.

John C. Luik

SYNCRETISM. Syncretism refers to the reconciliation or union of conflicting religious beliefs. The syncretist believes that every religion offers a legitimate way to God, so he attempts to harmonize Christianity with non-Christian religions. Syncretists attack the "parochialism" of Christianity, its claim of exclusive redemption. They say the way should be left open for other religions to develop their own formulae for redemption.

Of course, interaction with members of other religions can be helpful and stimulating. We can learn from those who disagree with us, but we cannot agree that they have their own way of salvation apart from the death and resurrection of Christ.

Syncretism has been attempted since ancient times. Even though Moses pointed out that there was none other beside God, at times Baal was worshipped in the Temple in Jerusalem even to the extent of sacred prostitution (Deut. 4:35-40; 2 Kings 23:4-14). The apostle Peter made it clear that Jesus is the only Way to salvation (Acts 4:12), and the apostle Paul pointed out that Jesus Christ was the only Foundation (1 Cor. 3:11). While respect for the views of others is expected of Christians, it should not be permitted to lead to an undermining of the truth that Jesus Christ is the only Way to God (John 14:6).

See HEATHEN (FATE OF), SALVATION, NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS, CHRISTIANITY.

For Further Reading: Anderson, Christianity and Comparative Religion; Newbigin, The Finality of Christ; Visser't Hooft, No Other Name; Anderson, ed., The Theology of the Christian Mission, 179-228.

Ronald L. Koteskey


SYNERGISM. This term is a compound of the two Greek words: syn, meaning "together" or "with," and ergein, meaning "to work." Theologically it has reference to the cooperation of the divine and human for the salvation and character building of man. It sets forth the doctrine of the cooperation of the human will with divine grace, and views faith as a personal response to a prior act of divine solicitation to salvation by God—the invitation being extended to whoever will respond. Such passages as Rev. 22:17; Rom. 10:13; Isa. 1:18; 55:3; Matt. 11:28; Rev. 3:20; Joel 2:32 (cf. Acts 2:21); Isa. 55:6-7; Ezek. 33:11; 2 Pet. 3:9; John 1:12; Mark 1:15; 1 John 1:9; etc., presuppose the ability of man to respond to and cooperate with God's grace working in him both to will and to do God's pleasure (Phil. 2:12-13).

Salvation, as a divine-human covenant, presupposes a mutual cooperation between man and his God. Hence it is both of divine grace and of human choice. The act of believing unto salvation is always man's own. But man is not saved by his own efforts apart from the grace of God working in him. Yet synergists do contend that the human will is a causa concurrens to one's personal salvation.

The term synergism became definitely fixed as a theological concept in the 16th century. It was applied to the more mature views of Philip Mel-anchthon and his followers, who contended that the human will can cooperate with the grace of God for man's regeneration. They referred to the human will when aided by divine grace as a vera cause regenerationis, though not as a primary cause.

The Lutheran position was stated as follows: "There are three concurrent causes of good actions, the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, and human will assenting to and not resisting the Word of God." And the Augsburg Confession declares: "Although God does not justify men through their merits, nevertheless the merciful God does not act on man as a block but draws him so that his will co-operates, provided he has come to years of discretion" (Art. 20).

In this position Melanchthon seemed to recall some of Augustine's strong statements in the treatise entitled The Spirit and the Letter. One of them reads: "To yield our consent, indeed, to God's summons, or to withhold it, is (as I have said) the function of our own will. And this not only does not invalidate what is said, 'For what hast thou that thou didst not receive?' (1 Cor. 4:7) but it really confirms it. For the soul cannot receive and possess these gifts, which are here referred to, except by yielding its consent. And thus whatever it possesses, and whatever it receives, is from God; and yet the act of receiving and having belongs, of course, to the receiver and possessor."

In the 17th century James Arminius stated the operations of grace to be upon the whole man, not merely his will, when he declared: "It is an infusion both into the human understanding and into the will and affections" (Works, 1:253, Declaration of Sentiments). Moreover he called it "preventing [preceding] and exciting, following and cooperating grace." Nor does he look upon God's grace as "a certain irresistible force," for he says, "I believe, according to the Scriptures, that many persons resist the Holy Spirit and reject the grace that is offered." In his refutation of William Perkins he insists: that "the free will of man is the subject of grace. Hence it is necessary that the free will should concur with the grace, which is bestowed, to its preservation, yet assisted by subsequent grace, and it always remains in the power of the free will to reject the grace bestowed, and to refuse subsequent grace; because grace is not the omnipotent action of God, which can not be resisted by the free will of man" (Works, 3:509).

In the 18th century, Wesleyans talked and wrote about the prevenient grace of God operating upon all men to move them, if they will cooperate with it, unto saving faith and personal salvation. Their contention being that:

It is the continuous cooperation of the human will with the originating grace of the Holy Spirit that merges prevenient grace directly into saving grace. Arminians hold that through the prevenient (preparatory) grace of the Spirit, unconditionally bestowed upon all men, the power and responsibility of free agency exists from the first dawn of the moral life. This unconditional benefit of Christ's atonement came unto all men as a "free gift" (see Rom. 5:18; and more fully vv. 15-19). Furthermore, they hold that man, by cooperating through faith with prevenient grace, fulfills the conditions for saving grace (cf. John 1:12-13). This, of course, is contrary to true Calvinism, which insists that "common grace" never merges into "saving grace," nor is the universal call or summons to salvation to be identified with "effectual calling," wherein "irresistible grace" regenerates the elect to actual personal salvation.

We may affirm, then, that conviction of sin and the divine summons to salvation are involuntary but not therefore compulsory. For, as Brightman declares: "All the rest of the Universe
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cannot compel a free act" (Person and Reality, 185).

Synergism arose as an ethical protest against religious fatalism which threatened to submerge the conscience of man and disarm the Church in her fight against moral corruption, license, and anarchy. That attitude which sings: "The Lord our God in His own good time shall lead to the light at last, all who are predestined and unconditionally elected to eternal life" serves to create the philosophy of irresponsible, unrepentant, and unregenerate living. The practical result of monergistic determinism is to paralyze the quest for morality and righteous living. It also makes God the author of sin.

Synergists do contend that the help of the Holy Spirit is necessary to enable man to accept and act upon the gospel. Thus human cooperation becomes a causa subordinata in regeneration. No man can truthfully say that he is compelled to sin by fate, or what is worse, by divine decree. The unconverted man still has the power because of prevenient grace, of either obeying or resisting God's call to salvation through the Holy Bible illuminated by the Holy Spirit and impressed upon him by the faithful and anointed preaching thereof. But to reject God's grace is an act of the human will and not a withholding of saving grace by an arbitrary divine decree or omission.

See monergism, prevenient grace.