Beacon dictionary of theology

CORBAN. This Hebrew word meaning "gift" occurs only once in the NT (Mark 7:11), where a son is pictured as saying to his father or mother: "Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban," and then the NIV has in parentheses: "that is, a gift devoted to God." Jesus condemned this misuse of sacred vows. In God's sight human need gets highest priority. "The reprehensible practice arose of children's giving no aid to parents needing their support, on the pretense that the money or service which would otherwise have been available for the parents had been dedicated to God and that it would be sacrilege to divert it from this sacred purpose" (Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, 115).

See Pharisaism, legalism. Ralph Earle

CORNERSTONE. In Eph. 2:20 and 1 Pet. 2:6 Christ is described as the "chief corner stone." This is all one word in Greek, akrogdniaios. It is compounded of akros, "top" or "extremity," and gonia, "an angle." Abbott-Smith defines it as the "corner foundation stone" (Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 18).

But Joachim Jeremias says that it means "the 'final stone' in a building, probably set over the gate." He goes on to say: "Christ is the cornerstone who binds the whole building together and completes it" (Kittel, 1:792).

But why not both? Christ is both the Cornerstone and the Capstone of His Church.

See christ, foundation.

For Further Reading: Selwyn, First Epistle of Peter, 163; Ellis, Paul's Use of the Old Testament, 87-92.

Ralph Earle
CORRUPTION. See original sin.
COSMOLOGY. Cosmology is that branch of metaphysics which treats the character of the universe as an orderly system or cosmos—as distinguished from ontology, which deals with the ultimate nature of the real. As a division of theology it considers the world (everything extrinsic to God, i.e., the universe) as having been created by God. Cosmogony is a particular explanation or system, as the Mosaic Cosmogony, found in the Bible.

The act of creation is beyond the experience of man and therefore must be learned by revelation or else discerned from projecting backward the present processes of nature. The latter option presupposes what is called uniformitarianism. However, uniformitarianism is modified by cataclysms which interrupt the process, such as the Flood. There is widespread evidence of the Flood, a catastrophe which could have altered developmental processes and laid down sediments of rock and sand which recorded life at an earlier age. Working on a uniformitarian hypothesis, however, man must elect between projecting present processes backward or accepting revelation by which he learns of heaven and

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hell, of the divine nature, and of the creation of physical nature.

One must believe in God or endow nature and matter with the properties which he affirms of God. A theist believes that God created the universe. The naturalist believes that matter accounts for the universe. The Bible is theistic. It begins with God as Creator, Sustainer, and Judge.

The Hebrew belief is that by fiat creation the universe came into being, without the need of antecedent material (Heb. 11:3). This took six days (Exod. 20:11). These days are variously interpreted as ages, or periods, or 24-hour days. Certainly, the method of the development was used in describing the creation: first, the earth before the light, the light before the firmament, and the firmament before the dry land. Also, there was the order of beings: plants, fish and birds, cattle and man. Each event was described as a period. A succession of events involves a succession of periods. The period assigned to each individual act is a day. The idea of time elapsing between the completion of one act and the undertaking of another act is present.

Scripture uses the terminology known to man in referring to the natural creation. No other terminology could have been understood; yet it does not teach that the world was flat, that the heavens stood on pillars, or that the sun rose and set. These figures of speech are still used.

See creation, creationism, days of creation,

matter (materialism), catastrophism, evolution, flood.

For Further Reading: Wiley, CT, 1:441-68; Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 126-40.

Harold J. Ockenga COUNCILS. See church councils.

COUNSELING. See pastoral counseling, rogerian counseling.

COUNTERACTION. This refers to an explanation of the victorious Christian life preferred by those of a Keswickian persuasion. Based on the belief that inbred sin is a force for evil inherent in human nature, it describes victory in terms of the Holy Spirit's counteractive power in the life of the person abiding in Christ, rendering sin at best inoperative, not extinguished.

The view is an alternative to the other view commonly held by some with a Calvinistic orientation that the motions of inbred sin can only be "suppressed" in the Christian. As descriptions of the victorious life, both positions deny the posi-bility of a radical or actual death, destruction, cleansing, or freeing from inbred sin in this life.

Scriptures most frequently used to teach this aspect of the victorious Christian life are: Rom. 8:2; 5:17; Phil. 4:13; Gal. 5:16ff. The "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" makes free from "the law of sin and death." To make free is interpreted to mean "overcomes." "The law of sin is seen to be relentlessly working in our members and is counteracted by the law of the Spirit which persistently operates to abrogate its power over the will" (Barabas). The victory is by walking in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit—by taking sides with the Spirit.

Wesleyan theology recognizes counteraction as the mode of victorious living for the Christian prior to entire sanctification. The counteraction of the impulses of the inborn sinful tendency and other desires of human nature is by the indwelling Holy Spirit as the believer relies upon Him. Following the point of entire sanctification (1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Cor. 7:1) in one's spiritual pilgrimage, the counteracting action of the Holy Spirit is understood to be directed toward those continuing impulses which derive from human nature rather than the carnal nature.

Wesleyan theology can accept counteraction as a lifelong phenomenon of Christian experience as it applies to the impulses of the human nature, but affirms the teaching of Scripture that the pollution of inbred sin may be entirely cleansed (1 John 1:7), thus freeing from the contaminating influence of this sinful disposition. The consequence is a state affected and maintained by the fullness of the Holy Spirit, not so much by counteraction as by a purging displacement.

See eradication, cleansing, heart purity, holiness.

For Further Reading: Barabas, So Great Salvation,
71 ff, 80 ff, 94 ff; Purkiser, Conflicting Concepts of Holi-
ness. James M. Ridgway

COURAGE. See seven cardinal virtues.

COVENANT. See new covenant.

COVENANT THEOLOGY. Covenant theology, also referred to as "federal theology," is based on the concept that God has entered into a pact with man in which certain forms of belief and behavior are incorrect, even damnable. God has made specific promises to man; but they are conditioned upon man's obedience to His laws, which can be discerned in Scripture.

Basically there are two covenants: (1) a covenant of works between God and Adam as the representative of God and mankind in which God promised eternal life on condition of obe

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dience; and (2) a subsequent covenant of grace between God and His elect, whereby Christ redeems them.

The concept of the covenant developed originally in Zwingli (that is, he is the first during the Reformation) and those who succeeded him. As early as 1527 the idea of the covenant was used in biblical theology in Zurich by Oecolampadius (1482-1531), the German Protestant Reformer.

The modern context of covenant theology can be traced to the Civil War period in Great Britain, 1640-50. The Scottish church had succeeded in breaking away from the Roman Catholic church in 1560 and moved in the direction of a Presbyterian form of church government. The movement toward Presbyterianism separated Scotland ecclesiastically from England, for under King James I and his successor, Charles, the Church of England remained staunchly Episcopal in form of government.

When an effort was made by the Anglicans to bring Scotland into conformity by preparing a prayer book for Scotland, a book even more Roman Catholic in some ways than the English Prayer Book, Scottish nationalism and Presbyterianism were permanently welded into a united front, reflected in the Covenant of 1638. Practically all of Scotland signed the Covenant. The Scottish General Assembly voted for the abolition of episcopacy as well as the Prayer Book, and in 1639 war between England and Scotland' broke out. The war between the two countries developed into a Civil War by 1642—the king and Anglicanism on one side, and Parliament and Puritanism (both Presbyterians and Independents) on the other.

To strengthen its position, Parliament tried to enlist the support of the Scots by having the Westminster Assembly draw up the Solemn League and Covenant in 1643. This declares that they have entered into a "mutual and solemn league and covenant" for the extirpation of popery, prelacy [that is, church government by archbishops, bishops, their chancellors and commissaries, deans, archdeacons, and all other ecclesiastical officers depending on that hierarchy], superstition, heresy, schism, profaneness, and whatsoever shall be found to be contrary to sound doctrine and the power of godliness."

Since many of the clergy who signed the document were Puritans, covenant theology has since been most often associated with Puritan-Reformed theology. Its fullest expression was the theology of Johannes Cocceius (1603-1669), German Calvinist professor of theology at Franeker and Leiden, the Netherlands, who held that God and man entered into a covenant of works before the fall of Adam, followed by a covenant of grace which Christ fulfilled. The specific theological emphases are reflective of Puritanism, the description of sin as man's own act and responsibility, and a strict observance of the Sabbath.

See new covenant, covenanters, federal theology.

For Further Reading: Latourette, A History of Chris-
tianity, 814; Moorman, A History of the Church in En-
gland, 221-42; Walker, A History of the Christian Church,
402-14. John A. Knight

COVENANTERS. Covenanters were Scottish Presbyterians who risked their lives and fortunes upon the subscription of a National Covenant in Greyfriars churchyard, Edinburgh, in February, 1638. At issue was the attempt of Charles I of England, inspired by Archbishop William Laud, to impose uniformity of worship and church government upon the Scots. Laud was already suspect in Calvinistic Scotland for his Arminian sympathies. The prescription of a prayer book and liturgy, essentially that of the Church of England, added the further suspicion of "prelacy."

In the National Covenant the Scots avowed their loyalty to the king. But they also pledged themselves to resist any religious innovation not first approved by the free assemblies of the Scottish church. A period of government persecution ensued in which many Covenanters were taken prisoner and even executed. The zeal of the Covenanters, however, triumphed in the Bishop's Wars of 1639 and 1640 and doubtless contributed to the English Civil War. See new covenant, covenant theology For Further Reading: Douglas, Light in the North: The Story of the Scottish Covenanters. daniel N. berg

COVETOUSNESS. This is inordinate desire for what we do not have. It may be a wicked desire for that which already belongs to another, in which case the 10th commandment of the Decalogue is violated. Or it may simply be a feverish desire to possess not necessarily that which is the neighbor's but that which is like it. Covetousness in this case is sister to envy. Paul calls it idolatry (Col. 3:5), because by putting things ahead of God it puts them in the place of God.

The 10th commandment word used in Deut. 5:21 is avah, "to desire for oneself," while in Exod. 20:17 it is chamad, "to desire." Paul uses epithumed, "to fix the mind on," as the Greek equivalent for the tenth commandment, "Thou shalt not covet." This sin he sees as being so deeply rooted in fallen human nature that it be-

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comes the cause of his spiritual death when he reaches the age of accountability (Rom. 7:5-11). Proneness to covet can compete with proneness to pride and self-willfulness as the epitome of original sin.

The most frequent word for covetousness is pleonexia, "the wish to have more." The covetous spirit is never satisfied. Even more graphic is Paul in 1 Tim. 6:10 when, describing those who covet riches, he aptly uses the word oregomai, "to extend the arms." Here is the grasping and reaching (often overreaching) of greed.

Covetousness is always listed in the Bible among the more heinous sins (Mark 7:22; Rom. 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:11; 6:10; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5). This sin becomes avarice and miserliness when it becomes fixated on money. It then may prompt not only hoarding but stealing, as in the case of Achan (Josh. 7:21). Or it may prompt murder, as in the case of Ahab and Naboth (1 Kings 21).

Covetousness is no respecter of classes; it infects the poor as well as the rich. And it takes many forms: It may be lust for position and power as well as for possessions. It is a deceitful sin, as it may masquerade as prudence, and hide in the heart, destroying the soul, behind a facade of respectability, even religion.

Yet not all desire to possess is covetousness. Certain basic, natural desires belong to our common humanity. These desires become inordinate —and soon sinful—when they are centered in self, when they are imperious and feverish, and when they tend to push aside the obstacles of divine law and the rights of others.

Only entire sanctification is the adequate cure for the disease of covetousness. In the complete consecration to God which this experience requires, and in its cleansing of the heart and enthronement of love, all desires become chastened, disciplined, and subject to the will of God. Sanctified Christians will remain so only as long as they keep their desires "on the altar" and continually submitted to the Holy Spirit for His evaluation and direction. No matter what the nature of a desire is, when it is allowed to become feverish and get out of hand until we suppose we can no longer be happy without its satisfaction, we have become reinfected with the sin of covetousness. No wonder Jesus said, "Take heed, and beware of covetousness" (Luke 12:15). No peril is more subtle or more treacherous for the Christian.

See SEVEN DEADLY SINS, CARNALITY, SIN, CONTENTMENT.

For Further Reading: GMS, 270 ff, 293-95; Vine, ED, 1:252 ff; Denny, Tables of Stone for Modern Living,

107-20. Richard S. Taylor
CREATION. Among the great affirmations of the Christian faith is the declaration that "God the Father Almighty" is "maker of heaven and earth."

Creation deals with origins—the origin of matter, energy, stars, planets, plants, animals, man, and all things that existed or exist. Creation may be defined as the free act of God by which He brought into existence the universe and all that it contains, without the use of preexistent materials—creatio ex nihilo.

The Ground of Creation. Creation was, and is, the free act of God. The world, including man, was not created to meet a need or a deficiency in God, for divine nature has no inherent needs. Thus the question of theodicy, or why did God create, must remain forever in the ultimate mystery of God. Creation was the result of a voluntary decision of God's sovereign will, and it stands as a demonstration of God's power and an expression of His glory.

As created, the world has a distinct and separate existence. The world should not be regarded as part of God or as God himself (pantheism). Yet the world is absolutely dependent on God and must be upheld from moment to moment by His almighty power.

The Agent of Creation. The Triune God was, and is, involved in creation. The first chapter of Genesis (v. 2) states that the Spirit of God moved upon the' waters beneath the primeval mass. The Book of Job declares that man was made by the Spirit of God (33:4; cf. Ps. 33:6; Isa. 40:12).

In Ephesians Paul explicitly declares that God "created all things" (3:9). He also refers to general creation when he writes: "For it is the God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness'" (2 Cor. 4:6, rsv). Other Pauline declarations which affirm a God-centered view of creation are Rom. 4:17; 11:36; and 1 Cor. 11:12.

Christ, as the Word, assumes the leadership in creation in the NT. John's Gospel presents the essence of NT teachings: "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (1:3). Paul joins John with this grand affirmation: "For in him all things were created . . . all things were created through him and for him" (Col. 1:16, rsv). Paul also states that Christ's role in creation includes sustaining it as well as creating it, for "in him all things hold together" (v. 17, rsv). Christ is Lord and Creator (cf. Heb. 1:1-3).

The Time of Creation. In speaking of the time of


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creation the Bible employs a very simple statement: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Here is the beginning of all temporal things, and even of time itself. "The world was created with time rather than in time. Back of the beginning mentioned in Gen. 1:1 lies a beginningless eternity" (L. Berkhof, Manual, 96).

The Manner of Creation. First it must be stressed that creation was by the simple command or word (fiat) of God. God said, "Let there be . . . and there was" (Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, et al.).

The Hebrew word "create" (bara) is used only a limited number of times (55) in Scripture. The overwhelming meaning attached to the word is to create. The word always refers to God as Subject. This is particularly true of the specific form used in Gen. 1:1, 21, 27, and 5:1-2.

The first use is where God created out of nothing (Gen. 1:1); the second use is the point at which God created conscious life (v. 21); and the third point is the climax of God creating man (v. 27).

The Scriptures do not attempt to describe in detail the "how" of creation. Multiple mysteries surround the history of the earth and the human race. But, as Harold Kuhn observes: "At the core of the doctrine of creation stands the mighty assertion that the universe is the product of the release of creative energies of an infinitely free and completely holy God, utterly self-sufficient in His being and infinite in His ability to perform that which His heart of love dictates" (in The Living God, ed. Erickson, 484). And finally, all creation moves to a redemptive climax in Jesus Christ.

See creationism, evolution, naturalism, theistic evolution, cosmology, days of creation.

For Further Reading: Berkhof, Manual of Christian Doctrine, 96; Wiley, CT, 1:441-72; Erickson, ed., The Living God: Readings in Christian Theology, 484.

Donald S. Metz

CREATIONISM. Creationism carries two meanings in current thought. One use of the term refers to scientific creationism—the assumption of an initial special creation out of nothing. The second use of creationism relates to the origin of the human soul—theological creationism.

Scientific creationism represents the belief in an eternal Creator who created all things ex nihilo. This belief also involves catastrophic intervention in the normal processes of nature on at least one occasion in history subsequent to the primeval creation. Opposed to scientific creationism stands scientific evolution, the idea of the uniform operation of all natural laws and processes from the beginning. This theory, called evolutionary uniformitarianism, assumes the natural development of all things due to the innate processes and qualities of eternal matter.

Theological creationism maintains that God directly creates each human soul, while the body is propagated by the parents. Wiley states that "Creationism as a theory seems to be closely connected with the attempts to emphasize the importance of the individual as over against an emphasis upon racial continuity and solidarity" (CT, 2:27). According to creationism, the soul is created pure and free from sin. The soul, however, becomes sinful by its essential relationship to the complex of sin which burdens every member of the human race.

Those who support creationism base their biblical support on Eccles. 12:7; Isa. 42:5; Zech. 12:1; Heb. 12:9; and Num. 16:22. The claim is also made that creationism makes the sinlessness of Christ more natural and logical. In the history of the church the theory of theological creationism has been adopted or favored by the schoolmen of the Middle Ages, by the Roman Catholic church, and by the Reformed church. Individuals who supported this position are Jerome, Pela-gius, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret, Ambrose, Hilarius, and Hieronymus.

Opposed to creationism is the doctrine of tra-ducianism, which holds that the soul of each individual is propagated along with the body by natural generation.

See creation, days of creation, soul, traduc-ianism.

For Further Reading: Morris, Creation: Acts, Facts, Impacts; Harris, Man—God's Eternal Creation, 25-71; Smith, Man's Origin, Man's Destiny; Wiley, CT, 2:9-28.

Donald S. Metz

CREDENTIALS OF SCRIPTURE. The Bible claims to be: (1) a divinely inspired record of God's self-disclosure to and through men in history; (2) an accurate and trustworthy disclosure of God's nature, God's ways, and God's redemptive plan culminating and centering in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, and (3) infallible truth and divine authority which men are called to hear and heed. Credentials by definition derive from evidence which shows a right to authority.

Literary Credentials. The term Bible, from the Greek ta biblia, means "the books." The Bible comprises 66 books, composed over 15 or more centuries, by 40 or more writers, and in three languages. In spite of differences in time, culture, education, language, and human authors, there


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is a remarkable unity in the Bible's totality. As an orchestra where multiple diversity of musicians and instruments blend together in harmonious symphony, so the Bible's coherence testifies to a divinely directed symphony of redemptive truth.

Also, there is the Bible's universal and contemporary appeal. Although a book of antiquity, it is never antiquated. It surpasses in interest and value "all the ancient and modern classics combined" (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 1:572). This phenomenon confirms in its own way the Bible's unique character.

Historical Credentials. First, the matter of preservation is significant. Although the original copies of Scripture are not extant (undoubtedly providentially), over 5,000 ancient handwritten manuscripts of whole or parts of the NT alone have been recovered, some as old as a.d. second century. The miracle of preservation is seen in that 10 or 15 manuscripts are a good number for an ancient classic. We are assured a high degree of certainty about the original text from these manuscripts, with the Bible's message preserved 100 percent intact.

Second, the Bible's phenomenal record of translation into other languages is unparalleled. The Bible's first translation was the Septuagint, two centuries or more before Christ. Since that time, the Bible has been translated into virtually every written language of modern times (1,685 translations as of 1980), as well as pioneering efforts to reduce many unwritten languages to writing.

Third, the Bible's historical influence justifies its claim to divine origin. No other book has attracted so much attention, been so minutely studied, had so much written about it, been so keenly assailed, inspired so many noble thoughts and deeds, or transformed so many lives. The magnitude of the Bible's influence is incalculable. "To tell all the Bible has been or done for the world would be to rewrite in large part the history of modern civilization" (ISBE, 1:468).

Finally, archaeology continues to unearth ancient artifacts which confirm or support the Bible's historical credibility. The 1975 discovery of the Ebla Tablets in Syria is a recent example.

Supernatural Credentials. Since supernatural-ism transcends the natural order, it cannot be tested by the scientific method. Many scholars, therefore, view the suggestion of supernatural credentials as circular reasoning. If divine revelation is necessarily supernatural, however, it follows that the occasions of God's intervention in history are supernatural in character. Miracles, prophecy, and the incarnation of Christ are three examples. The biblical concept of miracle is an intervention by God in the established course of nature as part of His outworking of redemption. The incarnation of Christ is the supreme miracle. Prophecy is the intervention of God in the realm of knowledge. Miracles, prophecy, and the incarnation of Christ are all demonstrative and supernatural manifestations of God in history which convey truth and certitude. Even the capstone of the Incarnation miracle, Jesus' resurrection, was accompanied "by many convincing proofs" (Acts 1:3, nasb). God's supernatural acts are one with the written Word and attest its true character.

The Witness of the Spirit. To the self-attestation of the Bible and the weight of combined evidence, we must add the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit. Wiley states: "The strongest evidence for the authority of the Scriptures is to be found in the fact that the Spirit of Inspiration, to whom we are indebted for the authorship of the Bible, is Himself the Divine Witness to its genuineness and authenticity" (Wiley, CT, 1:206). Ultimately, only the faculty of faith through the witness of the Spirit can fully discern God's Word for what it is—infallible truth and divine authority (see 1 Cor. 2:14, nasb).

See miracles, bible.