Understanding of the Existence and Doctrine of God - Essay Example

Critically Assess Your Placements View of the Doctrine of God to Demonstrate How It Helps or Hinders the Missional Engagement of Your Church within Its Local Context Table of Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 4 Understanding of the existence and Doctrine of God 4 Understanding the Interaction of Churches with the State Community 5 Evaluation of the four elements of the Missional Theology Model 8 Comparison of the Gifts Provided by the Holy Spirit in Pentecostal View and Its Influence on the Church’s Engagement Process 13 Reformed View on the Gifts Bestowed By the Holy Spirit 17 Conclusion 18 References 20 22 22 Introduction Over time, religious organizations, such as Churches, have provided considerable evidences through which, the existence of God in human form could be proved. In this context, the Doctrine of God appears to be a highly credential aspect towards the development of an understanding concerning the existence of a supreme power along with the guiding patterns provided by him to his followers1. The Doctrine of God finds further credential within the Christian community, where it is a mandate that every individual belonging to this community must know the necessary facts about Him. The support and the quality interactions provided to be the Churches in the local communities has therefore, always been considered beneficiary in the Christian society. However, the type of interaction and teaching being imparted by different Churches depend on their understanding of the Doctrine of God and the concept of Trinity according to which, God exists in three forms, namely father, son and the Holy Spirit2. Taking all these aspects into consideration the discussion in this study will remain focused towards understanding the concepts of Doctrine of God. In addition, the discussion will also elaborate on the question that whether the Doctrine concept hinders or helps interaction of the Churches with the local communities. Accordingly, the discussion will also comprise of the evaluation of ‘four part missional theology analysis method’ with the intention to develop a succinct understanding regarding the non-existence of Churches in the absence of the Holy Spirit. Discussion Understanding of the existence and Doctrine of God Before understanding the impact of ‘Doctrine of God’ on the interaction of Churches with the local communities, a brief understanding needs to be attained regarding the theological concept. Contextually, it can be stated that different cultures have varied patterns of projecting their belief in God. For instance, in Christianity, the divineness of God has been elaborated in two specific forms. The first form of God has been projected to be ‘transcendent’, whereas the second form of God is projected as ‘immanent’. In the transcendent form, God has been elaborated as the divine power free from any dependence on this world3. Likewise, in the immanent form, God has been described as an active participator within all the happenings in the world. Correspondingly, the necessity of understanding this fact resulted in the emergence of the Doctrine of God concepts wherein the statements and attributes made by God were evaluated4. For instance, attributes, such as ‘holiness’, ‘gracefulness’, ‘eternality’, ‘righteousness’, ‘merciful’ and ‘immutability’ were projected by God during his presence in the world as a human. In subsequence, the Doctrine of Trinity concept also emerged according to which, the existence of God was described in three forms, i.e. ‘Father, Son and the Holy Spirit’. Multiple other sections of the Christian society rejected this fact and elaborated God as the sole divine power that exists in all these three forms5. Such differences in the beliefs related with the Doctrine of God and His existence has been a debated topic since decades in the history of human civilization. The polarized views obtainable in relation to the concept can be better understood with reference to specific terminologies, namely ‘Unitarianism’ and ‘Trinitarianism’. Understanding the Interaction of Churches with the State Community Orthodox and Catholic Churches represent the foundation blocks of Christian society. They act as the mediators between the divine power and the human beings, enchanting and communicating facts that according to God is beneficial for the overall development of human race. However, one necessary fact worth mentioning in this context is that different Churches exhibit different meanings of the doctrine. Thus, for this context, majority of the focus will be provided on the Orthodox Churches6. From the historical perspective, it can be stated that Orthodox Churches have been significantly bound to the Doctrine of God. In context to having a long history, Orthodox Churches have proved to be supportive to the western culture by projecting their active involvement in the societal development practices7. However, with time, differences in the understanding of the doctrine meaning have led to a widening gap between the Catholic Christians and the Orthodox Christians, causing a difference between these two groups. Thus, from a generalized perspective, it can be stated that over time, the Doctrine of God has completely dissected the patterns of interactions of the two types of Churches within the society. It is in this context that in accordance to the doctrine sources, the Orthodox Church follows the Doctrine of Trinity and perceives both the Father and the Son as a tangible bodied human. On the contrary, the Catholic Church considers God as a sole divine entity with no physical8. The teachings imparted by the Orthodox Church herewith include facts regarding God being the founder of Churches and are thus, associated with inner meaning of holiness and spirituality. Much emphasis is provided on the conversion practices where Catholic Christians are convinced regarding the aspects of Catholic Churches and how their doctrines are superior to them9. Regardless of all these facts, the Orthodox Church always remains surrounded by multiple controversial questions that impart a negative reflection of its interaction with the Christian community. If seen from a wider aspect, such occurrence can be considered as justified, wherein a technical perspective shall be helpful to reveal that considering Jesus as the leader of Orthodox Churches, all the decisions regarding formation of new doctrines are taken by the central council as depicted to be in alignment with His predicaments. A contradictory view can be obtained when studying the beliefs of Catholic Churches where decisions regarding introduction of new doctrines is taken directly by the leader, i.e. the Pope, who is also perceived to be under the direct leadership of God. Correspondingly, the structuring of the doctrines by the Orthodox Church committee is done in such a manner that it finds alignment with their traditions and customs10. Thus, it can be argued in this context that abidance of the Doctrine of God helps in structuring and facilitating the interaction between the Orthodox Church and the Christian community. However, the designing and the implementation of religiously and culturally favored doctrines often result in loss of religious faith within followers. Hence, this particular finding also gives a feeling that while on one hand the Orthodox Church boasts the scope for abiding and preaching the wordings of Christ regarding righteousness, but on the other, they often practice doctrines that turns out to be favorable to their interests and often contradictory to the interests of the society. All these can be perceived as a major deteriorating factor when concerning the historical significance and existence evidence of God, as per the doctrine11. Apart from all these, multiple other forms of skepticism facts also came up against the eastern orthodox Churches on the grounds of their non-abidance to the words as mentioned by Christ. This in turn has brought about many hindrances to the interactions between the orthodox Churches and the local communities. Arguing based on the engagement techniques attained by the orthodox Churches for spreading the news of Christ within his followers, it becomes visible that over time, a degree of tetchiness has been developed by these Churches to attract a larger pool of followers. An illustration can be described in this context by taking reference of the Pancake Church in downtown Europe12. The specificity of this Church can be determined studying the way it offers pancakes and sentimental statements to its visitors, to influence their commitment to the doctrine followed by this particular Church. In addition, the variedness factor also exists within the orthodox Churches that attempts to undertake different techniques for inviting God loving people on religious grounds. A critical observed to these techniques further reveals that all of these aspects depend on one crucial factor, i.e. the quality of service imparted by the Churches to its members. The factor also is highlighted on one aspect regarding the purity of the Church’s thought process in context to the Doctrine of God and His Trinity13. Unfamiliar to the Catholic Churches, the Orthodox Churches also implement the ‘doctrine of apostolic succession’ to prove their superiority over the other Churches and attract a larger number of followers. However, this doctrine does not find any alignment with that of the actual God wordings as mentioned in the Doctrine of God. This in turn might hurt the emotional sentiments of the followers on Christ. Eventually, it will deteriorate the engagement of the orthodox Churches with their local14. Evaluation of the four elements of the Missional Theology Model Although complicated, the Missional theology holds high significance in projecting a better understanding about Christianity and likewise, giving a better understanding about the Doctrine of God. It has been a common trend within the missional Churches to elaborate its followers about the mission of their life and how it does find alignment with the mission for which, Christ came to this world in a human form (Rheenen, 2005). Within Christianity, missional theology model has always been considered as a vital factor with which, one can easily change their behavior in alignment with their mission. Missional theology comprises of four elements depending on which, justification can be provided regarding the necessity of Holy Spirit, for the existence of the Churches. These four elements include the ‘Trinity’, ‘Incarnation’, ‘Priesthood of all believers’ and the ‘Jesus creed’. However, before continuing with a deeper elaboration, one needs to understand the actual meaning and role of the Holy Spirit15. From the theological perspective, Holy Spirit can be considered as the third entity of the Trinity, which does not have a physical existence but exists in the form of a divine force. Its presence has always been witnessed within every aspect of the activities carried out by Christ during his lifetime. Moreover, multiple facts also projected the support provided to Christ by the Holy Spirit during the foundation of the early Churches. This fact confirms the necessity of integrating the Holy Spirit with the existence of the Church16. Besides, the Holy Spirit has also been entitled for providing spiritual aid to all the individuals who believed in Christ depending on their purpose of existence within this world. Numerous quantifiable data attained from the ancient scripture also projects about all the gifts and supports provided by the Holy Spirit during the establishment of Churches and ancient ministries within it. In addition, Churches have always taken up the role of great societal leaders to guide mankind towards a better developmental path. Contextually, the Holy Spirit has always been accounted for propagating effective advices and guidelines to the Churches. This also appears to be an appreciable fact reinforcing the involvement of the Holy Spirit towards the existence of Churches17. In alignment with the Orthodox Church, the scriptures also describe regarding then efforts made by Jesus Christ along with the Holy Spirit by establishing a holy community for God. In addition to this, the scriptures have also been found to be depicting principles regarding consideration of Jesus as the prime authority of such holy foundations. In an interesting manner, multiple other scriptures also appeared with time, describing the Holy Spirit as an advocate of God, to guide Jesus during God’s absence in the form of a divine energy18. Accordingly, the second element of the missional theology model, i.e. incarnation, further reinforces the existence of Jesus Christ as a heavenly figure among human beings. This element also proves the validation of the Doctrine of Trinity where Jesus Christ has been accounted as the Son of God. However, his existence in the human form is what that continued the debate between the catholic and the Orthodox Churches since multiple decades19. Over decades, the reason for Christ’s arrival in human form has been a major communicative statement for the Orthodox Church to all the followers. The belief that Christ took the form of a human to project God’s love for the humans and to convey the importance of being part of the Trinity is also apparent among the followers of these Churches. Thus, the entire arguments come down to the point that the involvement of Christ in establishing the origin of holy foundations within this world will be eventually looked after and guided by the divine Holy Spirit. Regardless of all these aspects, certain scriptures relate the concept of salvation with that of God’s incarnation. In accordance to those scriptures, the Holy Spirit was the root to Christ’s birth. Justification regarding this statement was projected in a manner that the Holy Spirit concealed Jesus and placed him in the womb of a virgin woman, Mother Mary (also acknowledged as Virgin Mary). Thus, from an overall perspective, the Holy Spirit was appointed with the responsibility of incarnating the Son of God and administering him throughout his existence in this world. This scriptural evidence elaborates about the role played by the Holy Spirit in establishing the Churches during that period20. Scriptural evidences also elaborated the fact that despite of being incarnated, Jesus Christ still contained the divine power within himself throughout his life and during his departure, following which he submitted that divinity to his father. In an associated manner, this divinity was appointed with an additional role of being part of human existence and guiding them towards faith and development21. The fourth element, i.e. Jesus’ creed, also forms a crucial aspect regarding the existence of both the catholic and the Orthodox Churches. Although being crucial, this aspect projects a completely different happening during the death of Jesus Christ. In accordance to some ancient statements, some believed that the divine soul that housed within Jesus escaped and went to paradise, whereas his body went to a tomb. However, multiple other contradictory facts also came up regarding Jesus going to hell after his death. Justification regarding the second perception was also stated within multiple scriptures22. In accordance to those, Jesus scarified his soul and went to hell to exempt the humans from their sins causing his death. However, it was owing to his good deeds and being the Son of God, he received the boon of life again, which is also called his resurrection23. In the primal state, God wanted to help humankind realize His love to them. In association, He wanted a tool that could convey His messages and teachings to the humans. Thus, He sent His son to this world in an incarnated form with the mission to lead humans towards a spiritual life. Virgin Mary gave birth to God’s child, which was encapsulated within her by the Holt Spirit. This power was a part of the trinity that was the only evidence of God’s very own existence. Throughout the life existence of Jesus, he taught mankind about the necessities of keeping faith upon God and worshipping Him24. He, along with the divine power concealed within him, helped establishing the Churches as a place where God’s followers will gather and pray for Him. Eventually, during the death of Jesus, the concealed Holy Spirit was allotted with a specific responsibility of gilding all the positive happenings within this world. Since then, multiple Churches have projected themselves as a propagator of the holiness and the guidance as provided by the Holy Spirit. Thus through effective evaluation of all the four elements of the missional theology, it can be justifiably stated that without the existence of Holy Spirit, there would not have been any existence of Churches25. Comparison of the Gifts Provided by the Holy Spirit in Pentecostal View and Its Influence on the Church’s Engagement Process Orthodox Churches project seven gifts, which were provided to them by the Holy Spirit. These seven gifts comprises of ‘wisdom’, ‘counsel’, ‘knowledge’, ‘understanding’, ‘faith’, ‘piety’ and ‘fear of the Lord’. All these gifts were provided as a support to Christ to attain the purposes that God wanted from humans. Critically emphasizing, the Holy Spirit bestowed three main gifts upon the members of the Church. These three gifts included ‘speaking in tongues’, ‘on-going revelation’ and ‘faith healing’. Eventually, these three gifts were considered as one of the vital aspects of the Pentecostal religion, based on which the Catholic Churches were formed in the later period. As per the Pentecostal beliefs, all these three gifts possessed a sort of integration within their thoughts along with worshipping patterns. A detailed elaboration regarding these three gifts from the Pentecostal view will help in projecting a better meaning of the overall concept26. Speaking in Tongues This has been considered as one of the prominent gifts among all the three. It provided crucial evidences regarding the existence of Holy Spirit within Churches. It has thus been mentioned in the Acts 2:1-4: that a supernatural event occurred on the day, when all the Church members belonging to the Pentecostal religion gathered at a common place. This also appeared as a major factor for the Pentecostal believers when projecting their superiority over the Jerusalem Churches, as being the possessor of the spiritual gift. The supernatural event was accompanied by the sudden flow of strong winds within the room where all the members had gathered. In an eventual manner, a fire came out of sudden and resided on the heads of each one of the members. Associatively those specific members started uttering the wordings of the Holy Spirit in a peculiar voice. This chain of events was eventually categorized as the power of utterances bestowed upon the members of the Church by the Holy Spirit. God’s followers during those periods were associatively amazed by the occurrences of such supernatural event and felt the necessity of being a part of the Pentecostal Churches. In a manner, it helped these Churches in providing significant evidences regarding their connection with God and thus, enhancing their engagement procedures with the local community. It also attracted multiple other followers from far locations who projected themselves as true followers of Christ27. Multiple other evidences were also found regarding the occurrence of similar kind of incidences and have been described with reference to various Acts, some of which have been illustrated as under. Acts 8:14-17: In accordance to this act, once the apostles of Jerusalem came to know about receiving the ‘word of God’ by the Samarians, they wanted to attain it as well and as a result, they sent ‘Peter and John’ so as to receive the Holy Ghost28. Acts 9:17: This was the second incident that once again marked the existence of the Holy Spirit in Pentecostal Churches, which helped them to strengthen their influence on the local community. In this incident, a Jerusalem apostle named Paul witnessed the pouring of the Holy Spirit upon him when he started uttering God’s messages in multiple different languages29. Acts 10 &11: The third incident associated with the pouring of the Holy Spirit was addressed when a similar event took place with Paul, who was sent by Jerusalem for acquiring the Holy Ghost. In an associated manner, Paul also started uttering strange facts in multiple foreign languages30. Act 19:1-7: In a similar manner, to the above evidences, the same happened with John as well. In this incident, a group of twelve Ephesia individuals witnessed the baptization of John and in an associate manner, following which, they were also baptized. This particular incident apparently exhibits the relationship persistent amid the Pentecostal Churches and the local community31. Faith Healing Faith healing was the second gift bestowed by the Holy Spirit upon Churches. In accordance to this gift, Jesus was held accountable for providing miraculous healing capabilities to certain members of the Samaria religion, who is often categorized as one of Christ’s greatest followers. This specific factor has turned out to be one of the most crucial opportunities, through which, the Churches could project their capabilities of serving the communities. For instance, soul and house purification by the local padres had become a common profession for the Churches through which, they could enhance their engagement with the local communities. Apart from all these, hosting of specific events within the Churches and elaborating the history of Christ also proved helpful as a specific technique through which, they attempted to influence the local communities, to adhere the principles of God. With reference to the ancient knowledge of the ministry healers, Churches also helped multiple families to be free from demonic possessions and illnesses. All these, eventually helped the Churches in attaining appreciable amount of reputation within the local communities, thus dandifying their engagement procedures. Specific evidences regarding these gifts and their benefits have been mentioned in the Act 3:1-11 and Act 5: 15 (Acts 8:5-7). Even today, Churches often take reference of these scriptures during their enchantment within the local communities. From a generalized perspective, it can also be stated that the Orthodox Churches boasts on their quantifiable evidences associated with Christ in a manner that attracts the attention of multiple followers. Hence, their possibility of attaining a better engagement opportunity with the local community also increases substantially32. The On-Going Revelation Gift The On-Going Revelation was the third gift provided by the Holy Spirit to the Church, upon the departure of Jesus. In this case, God appeared to have mentioned regarding the showering of Spiritual energy upon beings on this planet. This particular belief was also boasted by the Orthodox Churches during their engagement with the local community, wherein these Churches also take reference of the fact that certain chosen followers were bestowed with the capability of prophesying future happenings. Majority of the orthodox Churches boast their connection with such individuals who still has such possession of bestowed powers. Thus from an overall context, it can be stated that the comparison between the seven gifts and the specific three gifts bestowed upon the Pentecostal religion by the Holy Spirit has proved to be an effective engagement through which, the Orthodox Churches have expanded their community over multiple decades33. Reformed View on the Gifts Bestowed By the Holy Spirit Regardless of the facts mentioned within the Pentecostal view section, the reformed view of the Christians on the bestowed gifts of the Holy Spirit projects a completely different aspect. In accordance to the views of the reformed Christians, God (Jesus) have specifically chosen certain individuals and provided them with the power of performing miracles. ‘Christian reformed Churches’ take reference of this understanding in their engagement procedures with the local communities and followers. Moreover, they also attempt to influence followers stating that Christ, along with the Holy Spirit, has bestowed every individual with the specific quality, power and skills to accomplish the mission for which, they are sent to this world. All these aspects find specific alignment with multiple facts mentioned in the Bible. Moreover, a reformed view regarding the provision of special powers to certain selected followers also is utilized as a mediating fact through which, the Reformed Churches attempt to attract their followers and diversify them from the teachings imparted by the other Churches34. Furthermore, a specific point was also perceived by the reformed views regarding the fact that all those gifts were provided to the humans with the prime intention of remembering all the events associated with Christ. This particular aspect also is utilized by the Churches through which, they project their leadership and superiority aspects against the Orthodox Churches. However, the entire concept sounds appropriate for attracting followers who has deep faith and interest in knowing more about the life of Jesus along with the existence of humans. Moreover, these Churches also preach the fact that the Holy Spirit will continue supporting those followers who will be adhering the basic teachings of God regarding love faith and truth. These community engagement strategies and follower attraction procedures of the reformed Churches using these techniques have been in effect since multiple decades. However, it can also be stated that despite of being traditional methods, these mechanisms prove to be highly effective towards those followers who still have faith in Christ and desire to be a part of the reformed Churches35. Conclusion The overall discussion has delivered substantial information concerning the impartment of appropriate knowledge about God and his interactions with the humans during the ancient age through Churches. As a chain-effect, Churches could build their unique relationship within the local communities. For instance, the findings revealed how the appropriate understanding of the Doctrine of God by the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches affects their engagement with the local communities. Likewise, analysis of the historic events and the scriptures associated with the Holy Spirit also supports and reinforces the thinking procedures of the Orthodox Churches along with the evidential existence of God. Within the entire discussion, the Doctrine of Trinity also played a major role in elaborating the motives of God in terms of guiding mankind towards the establishment of a better world. Regardless of these aspects, effective understanding of the Reformed views and Pentecostal views towards the gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit also provided crucial evidences regarding the ways through which God made mankind remember all the events and teachings provided by His Son (Jesus Christ) to the humans. Thus, considering all the above-discussed facts, it can be stated that the arrival of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in this world was marked by their motive of leading humankind towards the path of faith and love. References Bible.org, 2013. Theology: The Doctrine of God (Session 50). Objectives. [Online] Available at: https://bible.org/seriespage/theology-doctrine-God-session-50 [Accessed October 17, 2014]. Bruinsma, W., 2001. A Biblical Analysis of the Gifts of the Spirit in Pentecostalism. 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New Apostolic Church International (NAC), 2010. 3.5.1.2 The Holy Spirit and the incarnation of the Son of God. News. [Online] Available at: http://www.nak.org/catechism/3-the-triune-God/35-God-the-holy-spirit/351-the-holy-spirit-as-a-divine-person/3512-the-holy-spirit-and-the-incarnation-of-the-son-of-God/ [Accessed October 17, 2014]. Poythress, V. S., 1969. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit--What Does It Mean? Introduction, pp. 1-20. Rheenen, G. V., 2005. Monthly Missiological Reflection #34 Contrasting Missional and Church Growth Perspectives. Orientation/ Perspective, pp. 1-6. Roxburgh, A. J., 2005. The Missional Church. Theology Matters, pp. 1-16. Saucy, R. L., & et. al., 1998. Eastern Orthodox Teaching In Comparison With the Doctrinal Position of Biola University. Task Force Report, pp. 1-82. The Kripke Center, 2001. Robert Banks. Reenvisioning Theological Education: Exploring a Missional Alternative to Current Models. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999. Pp. xii + 268. $20.00 (Paper). Journal of Religion & Society, Vol. 3, pp. 1-3. Slick, M., No Date. A Comparison between Christian Doctrine and Mormon Doctrine. Home. [Online] Available at: http://carm.org/comparison-between-Christian-doctrine-and-mormon-doctrine [Accessed October 17, 2014]. Trinity Baptist Church, 2004. The Doctrine of God the Father. Trinity Baptist Church Discipleship Training, pp. 1-14. Read More