Understanding Reality
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Tracing Cultural Origins and Mastering Logical Thinking
When I came to college
When I came to college
“If it’s true for you, it’s true for you.”
“Truth is relative.”
“This is my truth.”
“This is my reality”
“We choose our own truth.”
“There is no absolute truth.”
At first:
This sounded really sophistical.
Philosophical
After a while, I realized this was often a cop-out.
At best: Not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings. Desire to be tolerant.
Not need to think critically about something.
Wanting to justify something that was morally wrong.
Pickup up in the 60’s and 70’s
Do anything or anyone they wanted.
These ideas came from somewhere.
These ideas came from somewhere.
A brief history of Western culture
A brief history of Western culture
The beginning of Modern Science
The beginning of Modern Science
The foundation for studying science was based on several beliefs:
A rational God created a rational universe.
Therefore we can study and understand it by...
Study
Examination
This laid the foundation for the success of Western Science.
Examples:
Copernicus: Believed that the world was rational and beautiful, because the God who created it was rational and beautiful. Therefore he studied it.
Galileo “God created two books, nature and Scripture.”
Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwin wanted to come up with a theory that could explain the universe apart from a Creator.
“On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.” -1872
God could now be taken out of the picture.
The Philosophy of Materialism
The Philosophy of Materialism
Dictionary Definition:
the doctrine that nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications.
the doctrine that consciousness and will are wholly due to material agency.
The Shift to Relativism
The Shift to Relativism
Nihilism
Nihilism
Definition: the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.
Fredrick Nitze
Moral relativism
Existentialism
Existentialism
Jean-Paul Sartre
Core Beliefs:
Existence precedes essence.
We are free to determine who we are
“First recognize that there is no meaning in the world, then determine for yourself what is meaningful knowing that our ‘meaning’ is a sham, but following through with it anyway.“ -Glenn Sunshine
Lead alot of them to anxiety or insanity.
“Interestingly enough, on his death bed, Jean-Paul Sartre confessed that his life did have purpose. That there had to be some reason in the world. His lover was shocked.” -Glenn Sunshine
Moral Relativism
New Age Spirituality
New Age Spirituality
It rejects materialism which led to Nihilism and Existentialism, but kept the relativism.
Influenced by a worldview called “Eastern Pantheistic Monism.”
Maintains moral relativism.
Also adheres to relativism in the physical world:
Belief that matter and energy of the physicists are not the primary reality.
What we perceive is merely an illusion in our mind.
We create reality in our minds
For this reason, science was not pursued in cultures who held to this worldview.
It is full of contradictions
“Since, the tradition has grown organically over several thousand years and incorporated into itself diverse ideas, beliefs and practices you cannot miss to notice the complexity and the inherent contradictions that characterize it.” -0Hinduwebsite.com.
Common terms:
Manifestation
Meditation
Crystals
Energy
Vibrations
Conciousness: “God-Conciousness” “Christ Conciousness” “Collective Consciousness”
Oneness: “All is one” “All is God”
Three Problems with Relativism
Three Problems with Relativism
1. It is self-refuting
1. It is self-refuting
Relativist: “There is no such thing as absolute truth.”
You: “Are you absolutely sure that is true?”
The claim contradicts itself, making it logically inconsistant
2. We all experience reality, whether we believe it or not.
2. We all experience reality, whether we believe it or not.
Example: Tiger
You: “Hey there’s a tiger sneaking up behind you. You’d better get out of there!”
Relativist: “That’s not my reality.”
You: “Ok, well you are about to experience the tiger’s reality.”
Reality does not bend to what I think about it.
3. It is dangerous to our society
3. It is dangerous to our society
Set’s us up for a collapse in morality.
Set’s us up for a collapse in morality.
Think about it:
“There’s no such thing absolute morality.”
“Do what feels right to you.”
“You can choose what is right or wrong.”
“Those who speak in this way prepare the jails of the twenty-first century.” - Michael Novak
Just imagine what will happen to a culture that continues to claim there is no such thing as absolute truth or morality.
Getting Back to Reality
Getting Back to Reality
1. A rational God created a rational and orderly world.
1. A rational God created a rational and orderly world.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Unlike the Darwinists and Materialists that believe the universe came from nothing, the Bible teaches us that God was the Creator.
Unlike the New Age movement that claims that the world is just an illusion in our own consciousness, the world is really there.
The world can be study and observed.
It follows laws of physics and science.
Experiments can be done to learn more about the world God created.
2. God created mankind with meaning and intentionality.
2. God created mankind with meaning and intentionality.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
This means we are really here in reality!
Unlike the Darwinists and Materialists which the universe came from nothing and we evolved by chance, God created the universe and each of you with intentionality.
Unlike the Nihilists or existentialists that claimed there was no inherent meaning to life, God has given us meaning in life.
3. We can discover what is real and true.
3. We can discover what is real and true.
Unlike Eastern Pantheistic Monism and New Age Spirituality which claims that reality is subjective and a projection of our own minds, God created the world which existed long before we were ever born.
Reality existed and would continue to exist whether or not you were ever born.
If a tree fell in the forest and there was noone there to hear it or see it, did it really fall?
Yes, because reality is not simply what we perceive or think, it is.
God has given us the ability to seek and uncover what is real and true.
Utilize God’s 2 Books
Science: We discover what is true by...
Observation
Testing
The Bible: We discover what is true by revelation.
2 Tim. 3:16
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”