Absolute Personality and False Worldviews
Absolute personality and false worldviews
As we have seen from 1 Peter 3;15 all Christian are called to defend and give a reason for their hope in Christ. But how is the average Christian supposed to refute every false Philosophy and Religion. Do we have to master the whole history of thought? Or study every religion? One can and it would be very helpful, but if every Christian could understand the basic formula of the worldview of "absolute personality" there is no need to be masters of so much material. This formula has the power to disarm all false worldviews to utter irrationalism.
Let’s get our brains thinking!
Reality exists, so there must be an eternal foundation for its existence. As reality can not come into existence from nothing. Nothing has no power and from nothing, nothing comes.
If nothing can produce "nothing", then there has to be an eternal foundation, which has no cause for its existence. It is self-existent. To explain it simple, there has to be a starting place.
This foundation is either rational or impersonal, God or the universe. If it is God and science is correct, the universe had a beginning so God is the eternal foundation for all finite reality. If it is not God then the universe is impersonal (irrational) with no meaning to it or behind it. Also this universe would have to of had existed forever, as being eternal.
Because God is eternal and has existed from all eternity as the absolute fixed foundation of ultimate reality. He is the creator and source of all other existence.
He is the sole interpreter of all events and facts in this universe. He is the sovereign creator of all things. Also all finite things are governed, guided, preserved, sustained, and accomplished according to the counsel of his will and purpose for his Glory (Eph 1; 11). Every event runs according to a rational purpose, there is a plan behind the running of the universe.
If you got lost with the above, then this is the basic conclusion! There must be an eternal source for the existence of reality. Either a rational personal mind (God) or the impersonal universe.
The major Worldviews and Religions
Materialism –All that exists is the material world of matter (Atheism, Buddhism, No souls or spirits)
Pantheism- Pan meaning "All" and theism meaning "God". The worldview that the universe is God and so are YOU (all is God, Hinduism, Taoism). This God is impersonal…Has no mind!
Finite Godism - that there is a finite god. He came into existence.
Polytheism- that there are many finite Gods beyond this world (animism, some forms of Hinduism, Greek, Rome, Egypt religions, Mormonism)
Deism- a personal eternal God who is beyond the universe and does not care for it.
Theism- There is an eternal God who is the creator of the finite world (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).
How to refute them,
As we have seen for the world to be rational there must be an absolute personality behind it to infuse meaning to the universe. This is Theism (God). Any worldview that does not start of with an eternal personal God is proclaiming an irrational world. If the world is not intelligent then one can not defend it rationally. Any one who tries to make you believe that their beliefs are caused from an irrational world has destroyed any hope in trying to defend their worldview. Their worldview does not have a foundation for it.
This refutes Materialism and Pantheism as they both believe the world is impersonal. There is no ultimate mind behind the universe.
Finite Godism holds that God is not eternal, so then we must ask where this god came from? If this God is not the cause of all things, then this God needs a cause for its own existence. Finite Godism would say that the universe or evolution has produced this God. If it is the universe, then the cause is impersonal and the universe is irrational. As we saw in our studies non-intelligence can not be the source for intelligence or even intelligent finite Gods! Again this worldview does not have a foundation to defend it rationally.
Polytheism is very much the same as above. For one you can not have two all-powerful Gods. One would have to be more powerful than the others to make the statement meaningful. So these many Gods must be finite. So again we see its source for a ultimate foundation for intelligence is the impersonal world of matter.
Deism may be an eternal God but he does not care for the world or inter the world, so he cannot be known. A God that cannot be known cannot be defended, as no one knows anything about him. He has to reveal himself for us to know facts about him.
Theism
When it comes to theism we have three worldviews left. In fact we only really have two as Judaism and Christianity has the same God. Many Christian believe that Allah the God of Islam is the same the God, But this is clearly false if one does there homework. The God of Islam is not a trinity. Islam rejects the doctrine of the trinity. Yes both Christianity and Islam believe in an eternal God, but this does not mean that Islam can give us a rational world. The trinity is very important in proclaiming a rational world.
Absolute personality and the Trinity
The Doctrine of the Trinity teaches that God is one being with three persons. This may seem strange but in fact is very true. If God were just one blank unity this would be impersonal. Consider Love, as an attribute of God. If God is a mere unity without Trinity then what is the object of Gods eternal love? Himself? But love in the fullest biblical sense by its very nature reaches out to another, not merely to the self. For Islam God s to be love means he is dependent on the world to be love; it needs the world to be love. If this was true then God before he had created anything was not a God of love, as he had no one to love. Only when he had created could he be bound to love, by being dependent on the world. This is what Islam’s God is like because he is a single being. As for the Trinity God is personal and has been in a eternal relationship which reach member of the Godhead. As for Islam there is no eternal personal community.
So Islam is impersonal and irrational
We have seen that all worldview fall to bits when one pushes for a eternal foundation for intelligence and rational world. Only Christianity as the eternal personal trinity can give a an answer to how our belief in God can be rational. Our Faith is what establishes the foundation for using reason. Because there is a rational mind behind all reality giving it meaning and purpose we can defend our faith against all the philosophies of this world..
As we have seen from 1 Peter 3;15 all Christian are called to defend and give a reason for their hope in Christ. But how is the average Christian supposed to refute every false Philosophy and Religion. Do we have to master the whole history of thought? Or study every religion? One can and it would be very helpful, but if every Christian could understand the basic formula of the worldview of "absolute personality" there is no need to be masters of so much material. This formula has the power to disarm all false worldviews to utter irrationalism.
Let’s get our brains thinking!
Reality exists, so there must be an eternal foundation for its existence. As reality can not come into existence from nothing. Nothing has no power and from nothing, nothing comes.
If nothing can produce "nothing", then there has to be an eternal foundation, which has no cause for its existence. It is self-existent. To explain it simple, there has to be a starting place.
This foundation is either rational or impersonal, God or the universe. If it is God and science is correct, the universe had a beginning so God is the eternal foundation for all finite reality. If it is not God then the universe is impersonal (irrational) with no meaning to it or behind it. Also this universe would have to of had existed forever, as being eternal.
Because God is eternal and has existed from all eternity as the absolute fixed foundation of ultimate reality. He is the creator and source of all other existence.
He is the sole interpreter of all events and facts in this universe. He is the sovereign creator of all things. Also all finite things are governed, guided, preserved, sustained, and accomplished according to the counsel of his will and purpose for his Glory (Eph 1; 11). Every event runs according to a rational purpose, there is a plan behind the running of the universe.
If you got lost with the above, then this is the basic conclusion! There must be an eternal source for the existence of reality. Either a rational personal mind (God) or the impersonal universe.
The major Worldviews and Religions
Materialism –All that exists is the material world of matter (Atheism, Buddhism, No souls or spirits)
Pantheism- Pan meaning "All" and theism meaning "God". The worldview that the universe is God and so are YOU (all is God, Hinduism, Taoism). This God is impersonal…Has no mind!
Finite Godism - that there is a finite god. He came into existence.
Polytheism- that there are many finite Gods beyond this world (animism, some forms of Hinduism, Greek, Rome, Egypt religions, Mormonism)
Deism- a personal eternal God who is beyond the universe and does not care for it.
Theism- There is an eternal God who is the creator of the finite world (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).
How to refute them,
As we have seen for the world to be rational there must be an absolute personality behind it to infuse meaning to the universe. This is Theism (God). Any worldview that does not start of with an eternal personal God is proclaiming an irrational world. If the world is not intelligent then one can not defend it rationally. Any one who tries to make you believe that their beliefs are caused from an irrational world has destroyed any hope in trying to defend their worldview. Their worldview does not have a foundation for it.
This refutes Materialism and Pantheism as they both believe the world is impersonal. There is no ultimate mind behind the universe.
Finite Godism holds that God is not eternal, so then we must ask where this god came from? If this God is not the cause of all things, then this God needs a cause for its own existence. Finite Godism would say that the universe or evolution has produced this God. If it is the universe, then the cause is impersonal and the universe is irrational. As we saw in our studies non-intelligence can not be the source for intelligence or even intelligent finite Gods! Again this worldview does not have a foundation to defend it rationally.
Polytheism is very much the same as above. For one you can not have two all-powerful Gods. One would have to be more powerful than the others to make the statement meaningful. So these many Gods must be finite. So again we see its source for a ultimate foundation for intelligence is the impersonal world of matter.
Deism may be an eternal God but he does not care for the world or inter the world, so he cannot be known. A God that cannot be known cannot be defended, as no one knows anything about him. He has to reveal himself for us to know facts about him.
Theism
When it comes to theism we have three worldviews left. In fact we only really have two as Judaism and Christianity has the same God. Many Christian believe that Allah the God of Islam is the same the God, But this is clearly false if one does there homework. The God of Islam is not a trinity. Islam rejects the doctrine of the trinity. Yes both Christianity and Islam believe in an eternal God, but this does not mean that Islam can give us a rational world. The trinity is very important in proclaiming a rational world.
Absolute personality and the Trinity
The Doctrine of the Trinity teaches that God is one being with three persons. This may seem strange but in fact is very true. If God were just one blank unity this would be impersonal. Consider Love, as an attribute of God. If God is a mere unity without Trinity then what is the object of Gods eternal love? Himself? But love in the fullest biblical sense by its very nature reaches out to another, not merely to the self. For Islam God s to be love means he is dependent on the world to be love; it needs the world to be love. If this was true then God before he had created anything was not a God of love, as he had no one to love. Only when he had created could he be bound to love, by being dependent on the world. This is what Islam’s God is like because he is a single being. As for the Trinity God is personal and has been in a eternal relationship which reach member of the Godhead. As for Islam there is no eternal personal community.
So Islam is impersonal and irrational
We have seen that all worldview fall to bits when one pushes for a eternal foundation for intelligence and rational world. Only Christianity as the eternal personal trinity can give a an answer to how our belief in God can be rational. Our Faith is what establishes the foundation for using reason. Because there is a rational mind behind all reality giving it meaning and purpose we can defend our faith against all the philosophies of this world..
posted by Rich7 at 11:52 PM
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