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Text of the page (random words):
nd despised in the world even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of god the apostle paul romans 1 18 32 esv for the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth 19 for what can be known about god is plain to them because god has shown it to them 20 for his invisible attributes namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made so they are without excuse 21 for although they knew god they did not honor him as god or give thanks to him but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened 22 claiming to be wise they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal god for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things 24 therefore god gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves 25 because they exchanged the truth about god for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever amen 26 for this reason god gave them up to dishonorable passions for their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error 28 and since they did not see fit to acknowledge god god gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done 29 they were filled with all manner of unrighteousness evil covetousness malice they are full of envy murder strife deceit maliciousness they are gossips 30 slanderers haters of god insolent haughty boastful inventors of evil disobedient to parents 31 foolish faithless heartless ruthless 32 though they know god s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them june 6 2008 philosophy it s benefits for the christian and how it is communicated posted by josh under academics art christianity culture god philosophy 1 comment many christians are unsure of what to think of philosophy some believe that it is a volatile mixture of mysticism humanist psychology and pagan religion while yet others believe it to be a discipline that is exclusively practiced by the intellectually elite none of these ideas are true however and the people who hold them would be surprised to know that they practice philosophy in some sense every day for example when two men are talking about the moral implications of our nation going to war they are in fact philosophizing when woman dialogues with another concerning the issue of abortion and seeks to demonstrate that an unborn child has the same right to life as any other individual then philosophy is being utilized in fact many of the topics that we ponder and discuss every day fall into the realm of philosophy what is philosophy giving a clear concise definition of philosophy is difficult this is not because that there have been no attempts to define it but because there have been so many different definitions so where do we go to find a definition the meaning of the word itself may give us a clue the word philosophy is derived from the combination of two greek words the word philos means love and the word sophia means wisdom when you combine the two you have the phrase the love of wisdom which is the meaning of the word philosophy so philosophy at least in the ancient sense is the love and pursuit of wisdom based upon the etymology of the word and the practice of philosophy at least from a classical or christian perspective we can come to this formal definition philosophy is the pursuit of truth and understanding through sound reason this is admittedly a somewhat biased definition but all definitions of philosophy are ultimately biased in some form or another the value of philosophy you may still be wondering what value the study of philosophy holds for the christian allow me to point out a few benefits that the study of philosophy grants 1 it cultivates good judgment individuals who are familiar with philosophical argument are less likely to be deceived by rhetoric or propaganda they will look beyond ad hominem attacks and empty emotional appeals and be able to see to the crux of the argument this is crucial for the modern day christian in that it allows us to reason with individuals instead of falling for every rhetorical smokescreen that is set before us 2 it aids in our understanding of culture and society philosophical principles help us to understand the intellectual forces that are driving our culture rather than seeing the fruit of fads and trends we will see the root of a worldview that is giving credence to the culture the study of philosophy will teach us that ideas do indeed have far reaching consequences 3 it aids in the systemization of knowledge another benefit of philosophy is that it allows us to organize and systematize our beliefs philosophical analysis gives us the tools necessary to formulate rational arguments for what we believe also it is impossible to do a systematic theology without employing philosophy without any doubt philosophy can be an extremely useful tool for the christian and is necessary for apologetics it is important to remember that all truth is god s truth he is the author of truth and truth is an essential property of his being since philosophy is the pursuit of truth the christian philosopher is in the best position to philosophize for he knows the one who claimed himself as the way the truth and the life the three levels of philosophy philosophy can be practiced and communicated on three levels 1 theoretical level 2 existential level 3 prescriptive level level one analytic level this level of philosophy deals with rigorous logical analysis and is concerned with constructing analytic arguments that follow from strict logical inference the classical proofs of god s existence are set forth in this level of philosophy as well as such issues as the nature of truth and morality the key word to remember in in regards to this level is logic that is beliefs and opinions are examined in light of the rules of reason if an idea breaks down on this fundamental level and proves itself to be illogical or incoherent then there is no more need for discussion on the matter the idea is erroneous the benefits of philosophy on this level come from the fact in that it deals with solid and objective rules of thinking it appeals to fact and not emotion or opinion every theory belief or idea should be able to stand on this first level of philosophy however there are negative aspects to this level when it is employed exclusively a debate on the theoretical level often becomes a contest of intellect pitting one mind against another sometimes the facts are blurred because of the ability of some brilliant intellect or charismatic communicator to manipulate the debate in his own favor to put it frankly there have been intellectual giants who were and are christians and there have been intellectual giants who were and are non christians if an idea or belief is only treated on level one then everything boils down to a battle of the brains and a satisfactory conclusion may never be reached level two existential level the second level of philosophy is not communicated by theorems and proofs but is carried out in the avenue of the arts novels poetry painting music and many other methods of artistic expression can communicate ideas in an incredibly powerful manner this level is concerned with illustrating philosophical ideas in the artistic expression of the existential struggles and questions that all men must deal with the scottish politician andrew fletcher once said let me write the songs of a nation i do not care who writes its laws this statement by fletcher shows enormous insight the most influential philosophers of our day are not just the distinguished professors of great universities but the individuals who maintain the print television and music industry although these individuals may not be giving lectures on hard philosophical facts they are carrying their philosophies through the medium of the arts the worldview of an individual will always be communicated in the art which they produce whether it is fiction drama music or any other creative work c s lewis realized the implications of this fact when he said we can make people often attend to the christian point of view for half an hour or so but the moment they have gone away from our lecture or laid down our article they are plunged back into a world where the opposite is taken for granted we must attack the enemy s line of communication what we want is not more little books about christianity but more little books by christians on other subjects with their christianity latent i an evaluation of the existential level demonstrates that is a highly effective means of communicating ideas whereas many individuals will never pick up a work by augustine thomas aquinas or alvin plantinga nearly everyone reads novels goes to the movies or listens to some type of music on the other hand if one uses the existential level alone he is bound to fall into error the danger of isolating the existential level from the other levels of philosophy is that it leads to subjectivism the idea that truth is whatever you believe it to be the existential level must be grounded upon the analytical level to prevent this slide into subjectivism level three prescriptive level the third and final level of philosophy that we will deal with is the prescriptive level of philosophy this level deals with the applicative nature of a certain philosophical system this is the level that says how does this affect my life this level deals with how we should live it takes the information of the previous two levels and translates into reality it is demonstrated in the parent instructing the child on what he should or should not do or in the minister who sets forth moral standards for his congregation we are constantly engaged in the prescriptive level day in conversations on the sidewalk or in our own living rooms concerning the far reaching moral and ethical issues that we encounter each and every day this level of philosophy is important because any idea is meaningless if it can t be applied to reality it is on this level that the seemingly abstract arguments of the first level and the personal expression of the second level touch reality again there are dangers in using this level alone as well if the child comes to her father and says dad we were taught in school today that there are no moral absolutes what do you think about that if the father is not careful he will simply jump straight to the prescriptive level and began spouting scriptural proof texts against the error the problem however is that the teacher does not believe the bible and the classroom milieu does not regard it as authoritative in essence the child is not asking her father what he believes about the issue but why he believes what he does about the issue if you forego the first two levels then you are only left with application which is very subjective and weak without a foundation it is important that we learn to operate on every level if we really want to communicate our worldview christian apologist ravi zacharias has wonderfully set forth the meaning and function of these levels of philosophy in this portion of his article living an apologetic life level one concerns logic level two is based on feeling and level three is where all is applied to reality to put it another way level one states why we believe what we believe level two indicates why we live the way we live and level three states why we legislate for others the way we do for every life that is lived at a reasonable level these three questions must be answered first can i defend what i believe in keeping with the laws of logic that is is it tenable second if everyone gave himself or herself the prerogatives of my philosophy could there be harmony in existence that is is it livable third do i have a right to make moral judgments in the matters of daily living that is is it transferable ii an important principle to keep in mind concerning these three levels is that we argue on level one analytical we illustrate on level two existential and we apply on level three prescriptive i lewis c s god in the dock grand rapids william b eerdmans publishing company 1970 taken from chapter 10 christian apologetics pg 93 ii zacharias ravi living an apologetic life just thinking fall 2003 p 8 june 3 2008 top ten posts for may 2008 posted by josh under art christianity culture humor literature philosophy theology leave a comment very little was posted this month the team has been busy but here are the top ten most visited posts for the month of may the battle for the mind german and british propaganda in the first world war a post examing the beginnings of modern war propaganda and how it is used to direct the populace doormat christianity how much personal offense should a christian put up with the nature of truth a two part essay that examines the meaning of truth and its underlying principles part 1 part 2 what is christian art is there such a thing as christian art and how does one recognize it eschatology poll update and fun with christian kitsch a post that examines the results of our eschatology poll while having some fun with kitschy christian art faith and reason a two part essay dealing with a proper definition of faith as well as its relationship to reason part 1 part 2 much ado about nothing nihilism and modernist literature a four part essay that examines nihilistic themes in the works of three modernist authors part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 is fantasy escapism is fantasy literature lotr narnia etc an attempt to escape reality or does it communicate reality better than any other genre monty python s parody of knighthood part 1 how monty python and the holy grail humorously skewers the ideals of arthurian chivalry the ethical quagmire of designer babies a post that investigates the murky waters of bioethics may 6 2008 welcome to the village number 6 aka the big brother pizza shop posted by persifler under america culture identity materialism modernism money news people pop culture thought life tags 1984 brave new world databases dream police orwellian shadow government the prisoner the village leave a comment this is almost humerous but it rings true what with all the databases out there that have your information the grocery store has those little vip store cards that if you use will allow you to save a percentage on you bill at the cost of your purchase being added to their database about your buying habits not 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