The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."
Psalm 14:1
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Since all
knowledge is grounded in God, thinking becomes futile when God is
denied.
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Unbelievers
suppress what they know to be true and are therefore cursed with
futile thinking and believe lies. Romans 1:18-22.
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Unbelieving
thought swings between rationalism and irrationalism, each
constantly borrowing from the other.
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Unbelieving
thought must borrow from Christian truth in order to criticize it.
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Unbelieving
science cannot rationally justify its principles.
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How
can one rationally demonstrate that the past tells us anything
about the future without begging the question?
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How
can one relate one's sense perceptions to the world out there?
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Unbelieving
logic cannot be justified on its own terms.
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Why
are logical laws universal and unchanging?
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Why
are logical laws normative; that is, why are we obligated to
believe the results of logical inferences?
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Unbelieving
ethical systems don't work.
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Non-Christian
ethics has no adequate grounds for authority.
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Non-Christian
ethics does not have available adequate knowledge to utilize its
principles.
-
The
non-Christian cannot live or even think on the basis of such a
shaky foundation. Therefore, the non-Christian's ethics are often
based on "borrowed capital" as a result.
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Post-modernism
(PM) is the predominant mode of non-Christian thinking in our culture.
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According
to PM:
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The
world is without objective meaning or absolute truth.
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"I
feel; therefore, I am."
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Language
refers only to itself, not to any objective world out there.
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Religious
convictions are nothing more than personal opinions. "If
it works for you, then I'm happy for you."
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Talk
of an objective world is really an attempt to gain or maintain
power by manipulation.
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PM
manifests futile thinking.
-
PM
fails the test of everyday life. No one can survive while
consistently denying the connection between the subjective and
the objective.
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PM
contradicts itself.
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The
transcendental argument for God's existence:
Major
premise: Only the existence of the Christian God makes genuine
knowledge possible.
Minor premise: Genuine knowledge is possible.
Conclusion: The Christian God exists.
References
Every Thought Captive: A Study Manual for the Defense of Christian
Truth by Richard Pratt, P&R, 1979, 142 pp. A very readable
introduction to the transcendental argument for the existence of God and
for Christian apologetics from a presuppositional perspective.
Availability: Amazon.com
"Is Non-Christian Thought Justifiable?", a debate between
Christian philosopher Douglas Jones and atheist philosophers Keith Parsons
and Michael Martin, WWW, ~15 pp. Jones argues that non-Christian thought
is futile. Very interesting reading but somewhat philosophical in
vocabulary and style.
Availability: http://www.reformed.org/apologetics/martin-jones/jones_martin1.html
"Futility in Non-Christian Ethics" by Sam Waldron, WWW, ~15
pp. Demonstrates that non-Christian ethical systems simply cannot justify
their principles and by contrast that Christianity gives us a viable
ethical system. He also discusses and critiques various options within
Christian ethics.
Availability: http://solo4.abac.com/echoes/museum/ethics.htm
"Non-Christian Hypocrisy" by Douglas Jones, Credenda/Agenda,
vol. 6, no. 3, p.15. "I just can't stand it. Non-Christians are such
hypocrites. They should learn to practice what they preach. How could
anyone become a non-Christian? They don't even live what they claim to
believe!" This is how Douglas Jones begins his provocative essay on
the truth that non-Christians cannot consistently live out the
implications of their system of truth.
Availability: http://www.credenda.org/old/issues/vol6/none6-3.htm
"Interpretation as Violence" by Douglas Jones,
Credenda/Agenda, vol. 10, no. 1, p.22. Discusses the latest literary
theory spawned by postmodernism -- that the interpretation of a text is an
assault on that text.
Availability: http://www.credenda.org/issues/10-1nonest.php |