Our world has become “Secular vs sacred.” The Christian faith has become compartmentalized. Being “religious” is just another sector or part of life. It is personal, private and separate from all other things in life. The individual Christian is left to his own feelings about the faith. They are alone, by themselves and basing faith on “how they feel.” To make matters worse, the are not engaging their faith with their minds.
It is strange too. Think the secular world encourages a man to us his reason and mind when buying a house, when choosing a vocation, or learning to use a computer. Man engages his mind in accomplishing secular task, it is not necessarily how he feels that matters.
But in the “sacred world” man is basing faith on feelings. This has many downfalls. Sermons and Sunday schools are addressing the heart but not the cultivating the mind. Anti-intellectualism in the church is a major problem.
If we are not engaging our minds in our faith then we are not fully understanding God completely. We are going deep in study. We are not getting deep in our knowledge of God.
This is sad.
Also when the Christian faith is privatized, Christians more often chose not to go to church. This is a major problem because fellowship is an essential purpose of our faith. We need to be meeting together on a regular basis in order to encourage each other and help each other grow in our faiths!
reason
Where does reason come from?
Reason relies on faith. Reason requires faith. “Reason Alone!” A defense of reason by reason is circular argument and worthless.
When it comes down to it reason came from one of two places:
A. Preexisting intelligence by faith
B. mindless matter by faith
Why by faith?
Materialism as we have seen cannot contradicts all scientific observation. You cannot give what you haven’t got. Yet Darwinists believe that dead, unintelligent matter has produced intelligent life.
It makes much more sense to believe that human minds were created by The Great Mind- God. Materialism is not sufficient. Cannot explain reason. Materialism is not reasonable.
Darwinism on trial , the heart of the problem…
the worldview philosophy behind Darwinism is materialism or naturalism. Science is dominated by philosophy. For example think about the word, ‘chance.’ It is just a word. It is not a cause. It is actually nothing. It has no power in itself/ on its own. You see, science is a slave to philosophy.
Good science is based on good philosophy.
Science cannot be done without philosophy. There is no way around it. Philosophical assumptions are utilized in the search for causes. They cannot prove the tools of science by running scientific tests. These assumptions are are not the results of the testing. They are already assumed to be true in order to run the tests in the first place!
These philosophical assumptions can drastically change the conclusions of experiments. This one is easy to understand. Every true scientists knows that when you come into an experiment assuming something/desiring to see something than you are biased. You are not open minded enough to even consider evidence that might not be what you are looking for and this is a bad thing. Assumptions can lead to bad science. Be open minded to both intelligent and natural causes and go to where the evidence leads.
Finally science does not speak. It does not say a word, but scientists do. When assumptions are in the way, scientist interpret the evidence in the way that they want to see it. In the way that their worldview and philosophy is leading them. Again, here be open minded and let the evidence lead you.
What is the worldview of a Darwinist (materialism and naturalism)?
Naturalism implies that “nature is all there is and all basic truths are truths of nature.” (1)
The philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is matter, and is considered a form of physicalism. Fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions; therefore, matter is the only substance. (2)
Where does Naturalism go wrong?
Think about these five things that cannot be proven by science alone and matter alone:
1. mathematics and logic
2. metaphysical truths
3. ethical judgments
4. ascetic judgments
5. science itself.
Where does Materialism go wrong?
1. specified complexity cannot be explained materially.
2. human thoughts and theories are more than just materials. Chemicals are involved in the human thought process, but they cannot explain all human thoughts.
The theory of materialism isn’t made of molecules.
3. If life were nothing more than materials, then we would be able to take all the materials of life and make a living being. We would have all the resources available to make life. Both a living body and a dead body are made up of the same chemicals, what is the difference? What accounts for consciousness?
4. If materialism was true, then everyone in all of human history who has ever had a a spiritual experience has been completely mistaken. Some of the world’s most rational, scientific, logical, and critical mind who have ever lived have been greatly mistaken or crazy. This seems highly unlikely. Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Kepler, Newton, Pascal, and Jesus Christ ( to name a few!)
5. If materialism is true then reason itself is impossible. For if mental processes are nothing but chemical reactions in the brain, then there is no reason to believe anything is true. (Including the theory of materialism.) Chemicals cannot evaluate whether something is true or not. Chemicals do not reason, they react.
The irony is that even when Darwinists get something right, their worldview prevents us and them from believing themselves, because reason itself is impossible in a world ruled by chemicals.
When Darwinists assert that they rely on reason alone there is a problem already, because this statement cannot be justified by their own worldview.
Reason relies on faith. Reason requires faith. “Reason Alone!” A defense of reason by reason is circular argument and worthless.
When Naturalism/Materialism fail, so does Darwinism. More posts to come…
1. “Naturalism”, in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Macmillan, 1996 Supplement, 372-373.
2. Wikipedia the term “Materialism”
Main reference: I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist by Norman Geisler
What is truth?
I have some neat analogies relating to religions, post-modernism, and truth. Some of these ideas are from Living with Questions by Dale Fincher, others are from books by Greg Stier…but some are my own.
Post-modern ideas/ false:
A Shopping bag/or a WalMart -there are a lot of choices and things to buy. You are the consumer and the world/store evolves around you. You could go to Eastern section and purchase some Buddhism or go to the Western Protestant section and pick up some Baptist love….
Starbucks – people like their drinks a specific way, a mix of flavors and long, hard to pronounce names….”I ‘ll take a Grande Triple Buddha Berry Frappacino, and a Venti Jesus please….”
Truth / Christianity:
-A cure for a specific diagnosis that we all have, sin. And the truth is that there is one specific solution that cures our sin cancer. Jesus is the only solution, there is no other. Having other drugs will not help.
-A math equation. 2+3 = 5. It always equals five and that is not going to change. It is never going to be 7.
Truth is absolute and exclusive. It is impossible for everyone to be right because by saying so you are excluding everyone who thinks there is only one way…
Truth defined and discussed:
Truth is an idea or belief that is a fact or in other words, ideas that reflect reality and in another way, propositions that correspond to reality. Without truth we cannot know things…without the ability to to know things, we cannot use things properly…if we cannot use things properly then we cannot take care of things properly.
Perception of “faith v. truth”
In today’s culture the word “faith” has a false connotation to it. May I suggest that it has a false definition to today’s culture. I think that in today’s culture, faith is thought of as a gift. It is treated as mystical and unknown. Unfortunately many people think of it as the opposite of truth and reason. Some go so far to say that faith is ignorance.
These are misguided misconceptions. Faith and Truth go together, hand in hand. They are friends, not opposites. Faith is based on truth. I rely on evidence and trust God, this is faith. Faith is confidence in the character of something that has proven itself reliable. God has proven Himself faithful and reliable and evident in my life, therefore I have faith in Him. I trust in His Truth.
It is a faith based on Truth. Truth or ideas as they are in reality.
Truth is a proposition that corresponds to reality. It is when an idea or belief shows up in reality.
Say my car breaks down. I bring it to the repair show and then walk down the street to Walmart. As I am in the check-out line of Walmart I get a phone call from the repairman saying that my car is fixed. I now have an idea/proposition in my head that my car is fixed. I have not seen r driven my car so I walk back to the repair shop. I pay the bill, hop in the car and start driving. Everything is working . I know for sure now that my car actually really is fixed. I experienced truth. The repairman had actually fixed my car and was not false. I know for sure because i can feel/ see my car working properly. The idea that my car was fixed lines up with reality, my car is fixed.
Faith and Reason: Love and Evangelism
You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
—Matthew 5:43-47
That last part of the verse really gets at me: “Do not even the pagans do that?”
This is a great question, and I have heard skeptics and lost friends ask the same question…”they say they are a Christian…but I have seen the way (so and so) live….do not even the pagans do that?”
[Okay, so they probably say some thing like, “doesn’t that evil, sinning, non-religious, liar -who lives down the street, the one that claims to be an angry militant atheist- (nothing against ‘angry militant atheists’, I was just making an illustration…) – live a better life than those ‘Christians?’ ]
My point is that fellowship alone is not enough to share the Gospel. It is not enough to hang out with and love your best Christian friends and to put little to no effort in loving your non-believing neighbors. The Scripture is pointing us towards loving our neighbors and enemies more than ourselves. It is pointing us towards sharing the Gospel and true love to everyone and not just our best friends.
This really stuck out to me and I really needed to share that. Because do not even the pagans have great fellowship within their own circle of friends?
Faith and Reason: Faith, Worldviews, and Truth
This is the first of several posts on the topic of Faith And Reason. A lot of people in this culture have the wrong idea of what faith actually is. I have heard too many people say that faith is a leap in the dark. And that faith is not based on anything.
These Faith and Reason posts will be a mini “apologetics 101″series. I hope to explain some misconceptions and give a little bit of apologetics training through my rants and thoughts.
Apologetics 101 training
World views – A world view is a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world.”
A world view is a way of seeing the world. It is based on what we know about the world. Everyone has a world view, whether they want to admit it or not. World views are In the context of religion there are 5 main over arching world views. Each of these break down into several of thousand of specific world views, but speaking broadly here are the general and main 5.
Pantheist – believe that God is in all things. God is everywhere in nature, in humans, and everywhere else.
Atheist – does not believe that there is a “god.” Know there is no “god.”
Agnostic – unsure if God exists.
Theist – believe in a personal God. (Mono or Poly) ‘Personal God’ means that God has a personality, may or may not be able to be know.
Deist- believe in an impersonal God. (Mono or Poly)
The Christian Faith
Faith is based on facts, probability, reason, and knowledge. Faith should not be a leap in the dark, but it should be synonymous with confidence, trust, and assurance. Our faith is based on reason! It is not a guess or an emotion, but it is based on facts. Even, Wikipedia has the right idea: “Faith is a profound belief or trust in a particular truth, or in a doctrine that expresses such a truth.” Trust in truth.
I personally chose faith in God over there not being a God because probability. It is more probable that God does exist than he does not.
My rant:
Truth is naturally exclusive. Some one might argue that there is a neutral world view or an inclusive world view (all roads lead to God)….Even inclusivist excludes exclusivist, people who doe not agree with them. There is not a true inclusive world view, because truth is exclusive by nature.
Think about it this way. 1+1 is always 2. There is always one exclusive truth answer. There are an infinite number of wrong answers.
I need to make reference to Apologetics.com radio show: Apologetics 101, and I don’t have enough faith to be an Atheist by Norman Geisler
Thoughts on Persuasion
I have been thinking a lot recently about Persuasion in our Faith.
I have to reference a podcast I listened to from Apologetics.com on this topic
But I have been thinking a lot on the topic from reading Speaking to Teenagers, oddly enough.
The same ideas about persuasion are followed in both instances, going back to the Greek philosopher Aristotle’s ideas of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. I have been trained on this a lot recently in my Communications and Philosophy classes that I took this quarter at Ohio University.
A very brief overview of these three things is explained well here:
Ethos (Credibility), or ethical appeal, means convincing by the character of the author.
Pathos (Emotional) means persuading by appealing to the reader’s emotions.
Logos (Logical) means persuading by the use of reasoning.
One thing that is difficult for intellectual Christians, like myself, is finding the balance between showing love and doing real evangelism verses studying theology and talking about it. We can get so caught up in learning and studying theology, for a number of reasons: Ranging from us wanting to know the Lord better to wanting to be able to make a strong argument for our faith, or desiring the knowledge in hopes of receiving a Doctorate degree. Let’s focus on using this knowledge to help us make a strong case for our faith.
Studying theology to win intellectual arguments can be a great thing, but it can also be dangerous and a waste of time. Knowing knock-out winning arguments is not true evangelism. God can and will use these on His own time but in our own prideful ways these arguments can be in vain.
1 Cor. 13: 13
So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
My rant :
Showing Christ’s Genuine Love in your life, is the best way to persuade other’s for Christ. Yes, having knowledge about theology can help and I am not saying that you are completely wasting your time by studying theology and “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope” (1 peter 3 :15) . There is a balance.
Studying theology and knowing these knock-out arguments becomes dangerous when we put them above love and above Christ working through us. It is a problem when we put more trust in ourselves, our arguments in this theology rather than truly loving our friends (and enemies) – or anyone we are explaining this theology to- and depending on Christ and his love.
I am still thinking about this idea of persuasion in our faith. Love and reason.
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