This paper has been written by me in the course of my theological studies at European Nazarene College (www.eunc.edu). You may use this text as a part of your work provided that you give credits to its author – Petar Neychev. If you have questions – please, leave a comment or contact me through the Contact Us page.
Probably one of the most controversial and often discussed aspects of the doctrine of God is this of evil. Whether as a result of a deep theological discussion or a simple everyday experience-based conversation, the presence of evil in the created order is strongly agreed upon. ((As it will be presented further in this work, there are some who argue that evil is not present in the world by simply ignoring it. These people, however, represent a small minority and overall, their view is perceived as lacking sound theological basis and experiential proof.)) Thus, the issue at stake becomes “How do we deal with it?” It should not be surprising that there are various paths leading towards understanding the question and alluding to the answer. In the following lines the major of these will be briefly presented, accompanied with their strongest arguments. As a separate section the Wesleyan approach will be outlined in greater detail, in order to offer a perception which is more balanced. Following this the author will present a concluding section on applying the Wesleyan approach in everyday life and ministry in today’s world. This is how the author will present and defend the stand that the problem of evil, although unresolvable is yet surmountable, and it is not in contradiction with the remaining characteristics of God which are clearly stated in the Bible. read more
This paper has been written by me in the course of my theological studies at European Nazarene College (www.eunc.edu). You may use this text as a part of your work provided that you give credits to its author – Petar Neychev. If you have questions – please, leave a comment or contact me through the Contact Us page.
Being careful enough not to underestimate the remaining aspects of the doctrine of God one could confidently say that the doctrine of God as a Creator is of immeasurable importance – a firm foundation for the Christian (and also Jewish) faith. Due to the fact that this doctrine is what the Scripture addresses at its very beginning, and the role it plays as a foundation for the following doctrines on the person of God, a discussion on the topic will always involve certain references to issues such as: the problem of evil, the purpose of creation, Christianity (or faith) and science.
The brief overview of this doctrine from a Wesleyan perspective, which the current work aims to present to the reader, will undoubtedly touch these topics, but will not engage with them in details due to their complicity and vast majority of differing views. In the following lines you will be introduced to the doctrine of God as Creator. Although throughout the paper one may mainly read theological presuppositions and/or claims, the conclusion at the end will attempt to place the discussion in the practical context of life today. read more
This paper has been written by me in the course of my theological studies at European Nazarene College (www.eunc.edu). You may use this text as a part of your work provided that you give credits to its author – Petar Neychev. If you have questions – please, leave a comment or contact me through the Contact Us page.
Probably one of the most discussed topics about the nature of the God of the Christian religion (further referred to as God) is this of his personality. Where does the question “Is God personal?” lead us? On the surface it might even seem easy to defend the doctrine of a personal God using his incarnation in the body of Jesus Christ. This however, leads to the complication of explaining how God the Father and God the Holy Spirit fit under the characteristic “personal”, since the idea of God also incorporates the trinity. If one agrees to accept God as personal, how would they deal with the implications from that? On the other hand, if we say God is not personal, then how do we explain the clear explanation of the Bible about God’s active and results-producing relationship with creation? read more