Exam review

1. We must restore harmony to earth.

A. New Age

1. Logic is rejected and personal experience is the only way to knowing

A. New age

Instead of right and wrong, we care about illumination and ignorance

A. New age

1. Our ultimate goal is cosmic consciousness

A. New age.

1. Reality is based on stories from our cultural influences.

A. Postmodernism.

1. The world was created "ex nihilo"

A. Theistic Existentialism

1. We experience God through a blind act of faith.

A. Theistic Existentialism

Deism Guidebook) 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

1. Transcendent God (Prime cause) God is the ultimate reality, as in Theism. However, unlike the Theistic God, He is not imminent (involved in His creation), but purely transcendent (distant), not fully personal (indifferent), not sovereign over human affairs, and not providential. 2.A closed, deterministic(결정적인) universe God created a universe of uniformity (균일성) of cause and effect in a closed system. a. The universe is closed to God's ordering and intervention; therefore, no miracles can occur. b. The universe is also closed to man's ordering because men are caught in a chain of cause and effect. 3. Human beings are personal but still part of the machine. Human beings do have intelligence, moral sense, a capacity for interpersonal relationships, and creativity. Men should live using the reason given them by the Creator. Man is rational, personal, and partially free. He has what is needed for happiness in this world. 4. Deists differ widely on the importance or relevance( 적절, 타당성) of morals(도덕). All Deists agree that there is one God beyond the world who created it. All Deists agree that God does not intervene in the world through supernatural acts. However, not all Deists agree on God's concern for the world and the existence of an afterlife for man. Ethics are known only by general revelation. Ethics are grounded in nature. Man must discover what is right by investigating creation. Some Deists see a desire for happiness as the only innate principle in man. Reason must govern how he goes about satisfying this desire. Some Deists fail to recognize the logical necessity that if the universe is "normal" and not "fallen," morals are ultimately eliminated because "whatever is" is right. 5. Truth is found only within the universe. Truth has its ultimate source in God; however, God is not known directly. He does not provide any special revelation. All the knowledge needed by mankind is built into the creation and may be discovered by reason. If the universe is like a great complex clock, it is possible to know the designer by studying the design and operation of the various mechanisms of the clock. 6. History is linear and purposeful. God does not intervene in history. Therefore, events unfold(펼치다 밝혀지다) as the programming of creation runs its course. History has importance as a source of knowledge about the way nature operates and the tendencies apparent in mankind. 7. Deists differ on their beliefs regarding the immortality of the soul. a. One form of Deism believes that God created the world and set it in motion, but has no regard for what has happened or will happen. b. Another form believes God is concerned with the natural happenings of the world but not with the moral actions of humans. c. A third form believes that God governs the world and does care about the moral activities of man; however, man has no future after death. d. The fourth type of Deism contends that God regulates the world and expects man to obey the moral law grounded in nature. This type holds to a life after death for man, with rewards for the good and punishment for the wicked. Jefferson's Universalist Church was founded on a form of Deism which holds that because man is not fully free, he is not fallen. All must go to heaven; there can be no punishment for beings without genuine choices

How Worldviews Are Shaped

1. Worldviews are matters of faith. 2. Worldviews are shaped by religious beliefs, and religious beliefs are shaped by worldviews. 3. Worldviews are also shaped by experience. 4.Worldviews are influenced by our emotional lives. 5.Societal dislocations can influence worldview formation. 6.Worldviews can encounter crisis. 7. Worldviews go through process. 8. People are reluctant to critically evaluate their worldviews.

Guidebook) 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

1. All is one and all is god. All reality is god and is found within the self. 2. The universe is united in the self but manifested in visible and invisible dimensions. The visible dimension normally operates according to natural law and can be observed through the five senses. 3. Humanity is god. Men are ignorant of their divinity 신성. Humanity is god in disguise 변장. The individual must recognize that he or she is god. This "deity" of the individual is the foundation for another frequently heard element of the New Age gospel: Each individual creates his own reality. 4. Personal enlightenment is all-important. There are no absolute moral laws in the New Age. Relativism and pluralism are necessary manifestations of a system that makes each individual God. 5. Truth is found in experience. New Age beliefs are true if they work for the individual. Truth (with a capital "T") is beyond human knowledge and language. Personal experience becomes the one path of knowing Experience is private. None of us has anyone else's experience. If a person reports a strange experience, he or she may be lying, misremembering, or embellishing, but we will never be able to critique the account. 6. History is cyclical. History operates according to karma and the ever-turning, impersonal wheel of existence (see notes on Eastern Pantheistic Monism). In promoting this New Age followers cite the attachment of Greek philosophy to a cyclical view of history Cosmic Evolutionary Optimism While most see history as cyclical, or even ultimately unreal, some in the New Age inject linear elements. 7. Reincarnation Death and the many lives lived in reincarnation are vital subjects in the New Age movement. Consciousness transcends the physical body and cannot be destroyed by physical death.

Postmodernism Guidebook) 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

1. Because there is no supreme Mind to define reality, reality is whatever humans decide it is. We cannot know what actually is real, so what is more important is our perception of what is ultimate. 2. There is no objective reality because there is no God to define it 3. There is no objective set of "facts" about humans and their natures Humans have no natural essence. Whether human nature is good, evil, feminine, masculine, homosexual, or heterosexual is not determined by nature, genetics, or hormones, but rather the acculturation of our society and people's smaller social circles. 4. Right and wrong do not exist objectively. Like all other reality, there is no one with more authority than humans to define rightness and wrongness, so they do not exist apart from us 5. There is no objective knowledge. This is the basis of all Postmodern thought. First, there is no objectively defined reality to be known. Second, we are trapped in minds and bodies that continually interpret data for us, never allowing us to perceive real, raw, uninterpreted reality Our minds continuously filter the data we encounter through a grid of what we have been culturally taught to believe and expect, so human reason is not trustworthy Postmodernists hold that all knowledge is only perception, useful fiction, stories created by the linguistic habits of our culture 6. There is no objective purpose for humans. Because God does not exist to plan or define humans, there is no objective purpose for humans. 7. Probably nowhere We cannot know about what happens at death, so the question is moot; however, most Postmodernists choose the story which says that life ends at death because life is made exclusively of matter.

Atheistic Existentialism

1. Existentialism is a term used to describe a family of philosophies with themes that include a feeling of angst or dread, freedom of choice, and an emphasis on individual existence. 2.Sire distinguishes between two forms of existentialism: atheistic and theistic. The first has its roots in Naturalism, and the latter draws from Christian Theism.

Theistic Existentialism Guidebook) 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

1.God is the ultimate reality. Belief in God is a radical act of blind faith, without content or objective basis. 2. The universe is not absurd(불합리하다). It was created ex nihilo, by God, and operates according to natural law 3. Human beings are personal beings who, upon becoming fully conscious, find themselves in an alien universe. When a person becomes self-aware, he recognizes that the universe lacks what he needs to satisfy his desires and answer many of his questions. Natural laws do not explain human behavior. Mankind's problem in Theistic Existentialism is sin, as in Theism. The concepts of sin and redemption in orthodox Christianity are, however, limited to their subjective components. Sin is not breaking a rule; it is the betrayal of relationship. The penalty of sin is alienation from God and the community of mankind, not a punitive act of God. Restoration comes through repentance, which becomes sorrow over our betrayal of God rather than an admission of guilt. Forgiveness is experienced in renewal of our relationship, not in the cancellation of a penalty. Faith is a personal commitment to a God who is known in encounter rather than through prepositional truths. For many Existentialist Christians these new definitions are essential if Christianity is to be more than adherence to dogma and conformity to regulations. In reality, a biblical, doctrinally correct Christianity emphasizes both prepositional truth and an intimate, dynamic relationship with God. 4. The personal is valuable. An object in the material world has no value or significance until it has particular significance to an authentic person. Most Christian Existentialists would embrace traditional Christian views of morality, but their view of Scripture and their emphasis on the subjective nature of truth undermine the universality of biblical absolutes. Theistic Existentialists also regard choice as the supreme value, but in this case the choice must be God, and this choice must be made blindly, without objective evidence. 5. The personal relationship overshadows and makes insignificant the prepositional objective elements of Scripture. Stories in the Bible become sources of spiritual values conveyed in symbolism, not to be understood as literal or historically true. Knowledge is subjective 6.For the Existentialist, the Bible contains "religious truth," and its accuracy in matters of science and history is insignificant. The result of this approach is the removal of God as the primary actor in history. In Theism God acts in space and time for His own purposes, for His own glory, and this includes His work of salvation. In Theistic Existentialism the human being is the significant actor, seeking meaning on his own terms and defining God according to his own understanding. 7. For most Theistic Existentialists, death is seen in orthodox Christian terms. After death comes either eternal fellowship with God or eternal separation or alienation.

Christian Theism Guidebook) 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

1. God is the ultimate, unchanging reality 2. The Universe is a distinct creation of God. 3. The image of God 4. Christian values are absolute and transcendent because they are revealed by a perfect God and represent His unchanging nature. 5. Truth exists and is derived from God who is the Truth The possibility of knowing the truth comes from at least three facts: a. Creation reflects an infinite, personal God. b. Man, as made in God's image, can reflect upon Creation. c. God has revealed Himself, not only in Creation, but also in Scripture (prepositional truth) and in Christ (personal truth). 6. History is linear and has eternal consequences. History is centered upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. All of mankind will eventually recognize His position. Man's sinfulness does not have to be his final state. A person's life can become an example of God's redemptive work. Human beings can be completely transformed, no matter how badly they have failed in the past. 7. Christian hope is based upon redemption.

1. Theistic Existentialism 2. Christian Existentialism 3. Difference between atheistic and theistic existentialism

1. It moves the focus of faith from being God-centered to man-centered. The Thou-I relationship becomes I-Thou, with an emphasis on being rightly related to those around us rather than obedience to a Holy God. 2) It is less concerned about the Scripture being historically true than it is about principles to be gleaned from the Scriptures. It is not important whether bible stories such as Jonah being swallowed by a fish and some of the miracles of Jesus are literally true; the important things to learn involve what these stories are intended to teach. 3) Theistic existentialism is an approach to existentialism that relies on the existence of God. 2. Christian Existentialism looks at Christianity not just as a movement of Faith. It sees Christianity as a movement of Following. 3. a theistic existentialist believes in a divine reality. An atheistic existentialist. does not. They both stress the importance of choice in determining one's life and the responsibility that places upon us.

Naturalism

1. Naturalism has its roots in early Greek thought, with philosophers such as the pre-socratics Thales, Heraclitus, and Anaximander, who tried to describe the make-up of the universe in purely physical terms. 2. Naturalism is characterized by its denial of any sort of God or spiritual element in life and seeks to provide explanations for everything in question in entirely rational terms.

Eastern Pantheistic Monism Guidebook) 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

1. Nothing exists that is not god. God in Hinduism, the grandmother of all Eastern religions, is called Brahman, the One, infinite, ultimate reality, identified with the Cosmos. This god is ultimately impersonal (비인격적인). Personality, self-consciousness, and intellectual activity are found only among lower-level manifestations of god. But these attributes should not be associated with god. 2. God is the world. All types of Eastern Pantheistic Monism identify god with the world, but differ in their conceptions of this identity. In other words, they all hold that god and the world are one, but differ in how they are to be identified. Eastern Pantheistic Monists who recognize some kind of reality for the world would see it as created ex Deo (out of God), rather than ex nihilo (out of nothing) 3. Atman is Brahman. Atman is the soul of each human being, and the fact that atman is brahman means that the human soul is the divine soul—that human beings are god Man is not free. Human life in the world is completely determined by karma. The events in this life are predetermined by decisions in all previous lives 4. Moral conduct is relevant only at lower planes of existence. Most Eastern Pantheistic Monists work at living morally good lives and encourage the same in others. Selfless love and honesty are encouraged. To realize one's oneness with the cosmos is to pass beyond good and evil. Brahman is one, beyond distinction, precluding any ultimate distinction between good and evil. Karma is the cause/effect principle. Bad karma results in bad reincarnation in the next life. Nevertheless, this is not a basis for true morality. Results of karma: 5. Oneness requires moving beyond knowledge. Knowledge can only be achieved experientially, in the mystical state of oneness with brahman experienced during meditation. Oneness requires moving beyond language. language cannot convey the truth about reality. There is no possibility of propositional truth. Eastern Pantheistic Monism is, therefore, nondoctrinal. Oneness requires moving beyond logic. Logic is based on the law of non-contradiction, which states that a thing cannot be both itself and its opposite at the same time and in the same way 6. To realize oneness with the cosmos is to pass beyond time. Sequential events are not real. b. History is cyclical. c. History is valuable only as myth, which takes us out of the particular to the essence. There is no final event of history 7. Man's destiny is union with god. In some forms of Eastern Pantheistic Monism, man as an individual being has no reality and must overcome the illusion of his apparent reality to realize he is god Intermediate states There is a wide variety of opinions on what happens upon the death of an individual. The ultimate goal of union with the One remains.

Naturalism Guidebook) 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

1. The Cosmos Matter (the Cosmos) exists. The Cosmos is all there is, all there was, and all there ever will be. This is a form of Monism in which diversity is only one of form, not essence. 2. The Universe a. It is uniform, operating by laws of cause and effect at all times in all locations. b. It is closed. There is no god, no force beyond, to act upon the universe. c. It is very complex with evidence of design An explanation of the complexity of processes, especially life, was needed. The resulting answer was evolution. Evolution provided the mechanics of Naturalism. Evolution has been called the "religion of the past" because evolutionary theories developed from the philosophy of Naturalism by means of extrapolation. 3. Man is entirely material. a. His nature: a complex machine. Personality is an interrelation(상호관계) of chemical and physical properties we do not yet fully understand. b. His distinctiveness from the rest of nature: none. c. His origin: part of the cosmos. d. His defect(결함): he is finite(한정되다) and limited. There is no essential qualitative difference separating a human being from other animals. e. His destiny: extinction at death. 4. Ethics are autonomous(자주적인) (man-derived), situational (experience dependent, not absolute), and utilitarian(실용, 공리주의) (focused on accomplishing an objective). Moral ideas and social institutions such as marriage are only "hypotheses(가설)," not absolutes. Secular(세속적인) Humanism Secular humanism is an attempt to find purpose and meaning within a Naturalistic universe. It is essentially a secular religion, a belief system that is no more subject to ultimate proof or disproof by the scientific method than is any spiritual religion. 5. Knowledge comes only through man's examination of the universe. a. Authority for truth is the man himself; however, his ideas of truth are not innate. They have evolved socially and biologically. b. Knowledge is acquired inductively from facts gathered from sensory observations, but science teaches that we cannot trust the accuracy of our senses. Physics tells us the table is not actually brown, the chair is not solid, and if a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one there to hear it, it does not make any actual noise. So, how much do our senses really tell us about the world outside of us, and how distorted is the human picture of reality? b. Relevant knowledge is obtained only as the scientific method is used to develop and test hypotheses. This restrictive approach to knowledge is called positivism, but if the positivist is correct, we have no knowledge of history. Historical events cannot be repeated in a laboratory under controlled conditions. Much of what does pass for science also falls short of this standard. Quantum theory, concerned with the subatomic dimension of physics, depends heavily on mathematical models and imagination. Naturalistic science must acknowledge that it has failed to answer the really significant questions. 6. History is linear, evolving. History is linear in that it has a beginning and an end. It is a moving stream of events, linked only by cause-and-effect relationships. There is no ultimate purpose to this evolution Marxist Humanism Marxism finds purpose in the evolution of conflict in history. Man is seen in conflict with class and social factors that must be eradicated (근절하다) through revolution. The great evil in the 100 world is private property. Private property makes possible the exploitation of the many by the few. Utopia will be achieved through a revolution that is the inevitable product of the continuing process of conflict in history. This process is called dialectical materialism. 7. Death brings extinction. Existence in every sense is terminated. There is no need for spiritual salvation because there is no spiritual dimension. There is no judgment in an afterlife of a person's actions during a brief and ultimately meaningless life.

Nihilism

1. The Nihilist seeks to deny and negate everything - knowledge, values, and existence itself. 2. Nihilism: (1) a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless, (2) anarchism, and (3) terrorism

Nihilism Guidebook) 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

1. The material universe 2. The universe is eternal and closed. Therefore, you must view the universe in one of two ways: a. Totally deterministic (결정론적인) b. Totally governed by chance 3. Man is only an element in the cosmic machine. Human beings live at the whim(기분 변덕) of forces (natural laws or chance) beyond their control 4. Nothing is important. 5. Knowledge is not possible. The processes of a mind that has evolved by random evolution cannot be trusted. Thoughts in a mind produced by purely physical processes are predetermined reactions to activities beyond any control. 6. History and mankind have no meaning a. All events are determined if man arose purely from natural causes. b. All events are random if man arose from chance. c. If no distinction can be made between illusion and reality, there is no hope for meaning. d. If it cannot be demonstrated why one act is preferable over another, there is no hope for meaning. 7. There is no afterlife, no hope, and life is therefore absurd

Atheistic Existentialism Guidebook) 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

1. This worldview accepts its basic tenets(교리) from Naturalism. Ultimate reality is matter; there is no god. 2. Conscious beings came to be, and with them another reality entered the world. The universe is solely matter, but within this universe conscious beings have evolved. To selfconscious beings reality appears in two forms: objective and subjective. a. The objective world is the world of inflexible law, of cause and effect, of chronological, clock-ticking time, of flux, of mechanism, electrons, whirling galaxies, falling bodies, etc. It is a world (universe) that is running down, decaying towards a "heat death" (entropy). This world is Nihilistic. b. The subjective world is the world of mind, self-consciousness, self-determination, awareness, freedom, and stability. Existentialism emphasizes the subjective world of persons over the objective world of things. Self-conscious, self-determining beings can create meaning and significance for themselves. The objective world, when set against the subjective world, appears cold, chaotic, unsympathetic, and ultimately absurd. Death is the ultimate absurdity from which there is no escape. 3. For human beings alone, existence precedes essence. This means that man comes into being from a Naturalistic cosmos by chance; he defines who he is by making free choices (validating existence). Man is totally free regarding nature and destiny. Man is not fallen, 103 only alienated from nature because he is a reflective, thinking being. It is important to accept the reality of our alienation from the material world and then transcend it. 4.The authentic person must create value. Ethics are created by individual choice and, thus, are related only to human beings. This view of good and evil creates as many authorities for values as there are self-aware persons. This provides no clear definition of what is good. Evil in this system is simply failing to choose. 5. The world surrounding a person can be known through science and logic. Careful observation, hypothesizing, experimentation, and theory building aid in understanding the cosmos. 6. History is a linear series of events that includes the impact of choices made by self-aware beings. History has no ultimate purpose or guiding principle. 7. Subjectivity ends with death. Each person, at death, becomes just another object in the material world. The certainty of death should enhance the love of life.

1. Senses are not reliable; we can only use our senses of reason and the scientific method.

A. Naturalism

Eastern Pantheistic Monism Pantheism

1."An oriental belief that the only true existing substance is God. Everything is God. Everything is one." 2. Pan-the-ism "pan-thÈ-'i-z-m n : a doctrine that equates God with the forces and laws of the universe

1. We are entirely material, with choices influenced by heredity and environment

A. Naturalism

1. We are God in disguises, but we are ignorant of our divinity.

A. New Age

What should we expect of a worldview that is TRUE? Start by asking yourself two basic questions: On what should a worldview be based? On what should a worldview not be based?

A worldview should be based on: a. Logic - It should make sense (be defensible). Sire: It should be internally coherent (p. 246). b. Experience - It should be able to explain the events we experience. Sire: It should comprehend the date of reality (p. 246) A worldview should not be based on: a. What I want to be true. What I want or would like has nothing to do with what is true. b. The behavior (faithfulness or hypocrisy) of the people who say they believe each worldview. There are good and bad people who claim to adhere to every belief system.

The world is experienced both objectively and subjectively

A. Atheistic Existentialism

1. Absolute truth is experienced through both general and special revelation.

A. Christian Theism

1. Ethical values are absolute and based on the character of God.

A. Christian Theism

1. God is both transcendent and imminent.

A. Christian Theism

1. The world is an open system that both God and man can affect.

A. Christian Theism

1. We are in God's image but in a fallen state

A. Christian Theism

1. Often follows the model teachings of religious leaders.

A. Deism

1. There is general revelation but no special revelation

A. Deism

We are part of a machine, living by God-given reasoning.

A. Deism

Whatever is" is right.

A. Deism

1. Operation of the world is either deterministic or cause and effect driven.

A. Deism.

1. All is God and God is all

A. Eastern Pantheistic Monism

1. The sum of atman is brahman

A. Eastern Pantheistic Monism.

1. There is no truth; it is all maya

A. Eastern Pantheistic Monism.

1. Only that which can be observed and measured is real

A. Naturalism

Atheistic Existentialism 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

Atheistic Existentialism 1. There is no God. Science, nature, or matter may be a prime reality. The cosmos is composed solely of matter, but to human beings reality appears in two forms, subjective and objective. 2. Same as naturalists. The world operates by cause and effect in a closed system (no miracles are possible). 3. The existentialist denies that humans are anything special. We are fortunate enough to have evolved higher than any other creature, and we should take advantage of our situation. Each person is totally free as regards his nature and destiny. 4.I will hold to a set of ethics, but they will be my personal set and may not be right for others (or their standards right for me). 5. The basis for knowledge is the same as in naturalism. Knowledge of the physical world is gained through investigation and experimentation, not revelation. 6. Same as naturalists, except I see humanity continuing to evolve to higher plains of living and understanding. It is important that we continue to improve our existence and help with the lives of those who will live in the future by what we do today. 7. I can live on in my influence, descendants, protégés, work, legacy, and in people's memories. I will strive to make an impact on the world that outlives my physical existence.

Christian Theism 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

Christian Theism 1. God is omni ("all"). He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. The most important aspect of Christianity is understanding that JESUS is GOD. He is the Incarnation of God. 2. God created everything. The Doctrine of Creation tells us that God made the world with moral and physical order. Moral laws: tell us how to govern our behavior Laws of Logic: tell us how to think clearly Norms of Justice: tell us how to run a government Aesthetic norms: guide the creation of beauty and the arts 3. God created humans. We have emotions, intelligence, creativity, free will, and the capacity for a relationship with the eternal God. God created man with the capacity to be self-governing, in contrast to being constrained only by external forces. 4.Ethical understanding is given to us through revelation. For the Christian, the Ten Commandments form our foundation for a moral code. The ultimate standard of ethics for the Christian is the character of God Himself. Since God's character is immutable (unchanging), ethical standards based on His character will also be unchanging. 5. General revelation means that certain natural aspects of life point to God and His truth in the world around us. Special revelation, on the other hand, is God's special reaching out to us. It comes through the Bible, a sermon or book, or a still, small, voice inside our heart. 6. Christians believe in linear history. There was a beginning (see Genesis) and there will be an ending (see Revelation). More importantly, there is meaning to our history as human beings and as individuals. Christian theism views history as an account of God's activity in the world. 7. Christianity teaches the literalness of heaven and hell. Heaven will be a wonderful place with the presence of God. Hell will be a horrible place separated from the presence of God. For the Christian theist, the means of attaining heaven is through an acceptance of the sacrificial work of Jesus in dying on the cross on behalf of our sins.

Christian Theism

Christianity is Theistic because it affirms one personal, all-powerful, and perfectly good God. He is immanent (involved vitally with His creation) and transcendent (totally other than this physical universe, with no dependence upon it). God is the necessary or noncontingent reality. The universe, on the other hand, does not have to exist.

Islam- question 3

Conversion/confession--"There is one God, his name is Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet." Say it three times, believing it, and you have converted. Alms--money should be given to the poor (3% is the rule). Pilgrimage--Unless excused due to finances, health, or pregnancy, every Muslim should visit the holy city of Mecca once in their life. Fast--Particularly during the month of Ramadan, the Muslim should abstain from every drink and food between sunrise and sunset. This should be accompanied by spiritual reflection and repentance. Each night there is a wonderful meal and a huge celebration at the end of fasting. Prayer--Facing Mecca, the Muslim should bow and pray at five appointed times.

Deism 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

Deism 1. God is the creator of a perfect universe. God is like a clockmaker. He made the universe, wound it up, and left it to run on its own. God is no longer involved with the world. He is not immanent (near), and He is not a personal God. 2.God created the world and now it MUST run as He set it to run. The world operates in a cause and effect system. Nothing happens apart from His predetermined plan. We live in a "closed" universe where miracles are myths. For God to perform a miracle would be an admission that He did not make a perfect world. 3. The pure Deist would probably say we are nothing more than a cog in the clock. We are nothing special. We live as was predetermined by the clockmaker. 4. We are programmed to recognize good and evil. Scripture points out what we know innately. 5. Rational thinking and reason (the start of exclusive dependence on science and philosophy) are used to prove Deism. 6. Linear history is accepted. God is not viewed as being active in history since He does not get involved with His creation. 7. With regard to what happens when a person dies, the Deist would say, "Who knows? We'll just have to see what happens after we die and trust it to God."

Definition of Deism Guidebook

Deism was a part of a continuing shift of authority from God to man that began in the late Middle Ages. The Christian God was not rejected, but He was gradually moved from center stage to become a backdrop. Autonomous men took the lead in the drama of history. Deism was in part a reaction to the theological and philosophical quarrels of the period that arose from two great movements: the Reformation and the Renaissance.

Eastern Pantheistic Monism

Eastern - As opposed to a Western philosophy, this worldview takes on a different approach to thought. It is unrestrained by rules of reason taken for granted by people in Western cultures. Pantheistic - The word itself can be broken into two parts: "pan" meaning "all" and "theos" meaning "god." It is the belief that "all is God and God is all." Monism - All reality is one.

Eastern Pantheistic Monism 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

Eastern Pantheistic Monism 1. Everything is One. The One thing is god. There is literally nothing that is not god. Your computer, stars, dog, continent, tree, baby, wind--it is all god 2. The many gods and goddesses are actually just representations of different aspects of god. One can worship anything, in any way, and it will not be idolatry. Everything is god. This god is more like a force or energy. 3. Man is not free because he lives in a world determined by karma. Decisions in this life are predetermined by his decisions in all previous lives. Humans are really god, too. We are embodied with atman. 4. To realize one's oneness with the cosmos is to pass beyond good and evil; the cosmos is perfect at every moment. Rights and wrongs are decided on karmas. 5. To realize one's oneness with the cosmos is to pass beyond knowledge. The principle of noncontradiction does not apply where ultimate reality is concerned. 6. Life is cyclical. It gets repeated over and over. It will never end. 7. A human's atman can return to god. This is the closest idea they have to heaven. Returning to god means the drop of water returns to the ocean. All individuality is lost. There is no bliss or continued life. Returning to god means personal extinction. one can never achieve perfect understanding and behavior in one's life. So, you have to repeat your life through a series of reincarnations.

four characteristics that Sire gives of an "adequate worldview"

Internal Coherence: Does the worldview contain logical contradictions? Are its applications consistent with its major tenets? Comprehensiveness: Does it really encompass all reality and deal with all major philosophical questions? Correspondence to Reality: Does what is observable seem to support or validate this worldview and its specific tenets? Is there another worldview that seems to fit reality more closely? Subjective satisfaction: Does my worldview provide a perspective that places my experiences in a meaningful context? purpose for living? peace in facing life and death?

Islam 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

Islam 1. Islam believes in an almighty god (Allah), ruler and creator of everything, but this god is not immanent (near) or personal. 2. Muslims accept the creation story of Genesis. 3. We were created by God, so serve God 4. Rules are spelled out in the Koran. Old Testament concepts like "eye for an eye" still governs many Muslim countries. 5. Heavy emphasis is placed on the role of the Iman, spiritual leader of a mosque. The Koran, read and recited in original Arabic, is the actual words the angel Gabriel recited to Muhammad. 6. Linear history is accepted. An end is to be expected, feared, and welcomed by the faithful. 7 Muslims believe in a hell of torment for infidels (non-believers) and paradise for the faithful. A man's paradise can contain a harem and sensual pleasures. In order to reach paradise, the faithful Muslim must follow the Five Pillars of Faith:

Islam

Islam is one of the three great religions that profess there is one God. All three trace their roots to Abraham. So, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are all forms of Theism. Islam can be translated as "submission," for the true Muslim submits his life to Allah.

definition of worldview

It is a framework or set of fundamental beliefs through which we view the world and our calling and future in it. It is so internalized that it goes largely unquestioned. It provides both a sketch of and a blueprint for reality. It describes what we see and stipulates what we should see.

Why We Need to Develop a Conscious, Systematic Worldview

It provides unity of thought and life. To define the "good life" To make us "lion-tamers of ideas" To determine our actions To understand how we can relate to, communicate with, and better understand others in our very pluralistic society To be able to defend our worldview intelligently To help us guide our children

Naturalism 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

Naturalism 1. There is no God. Something must take the place of prime importance in this system. Sire says the replacement is "matter" or "nature." 2. It all started with the Big Bang that was the accidental result of colliding gases. Everything happened by chance. 3. We are purely accidental beings evolving from a pond, chemicals, chance--the first life. Mutations, evolution, natural selection, and millions and millions of years produced a chain of life that evolved to higher forms. Finally, primates developed into humans. 4. There is no such thing as transcendent ethics. What appears to be right or wrong has evolved through social evolution. The rules are not true in and of themselves. Ethics, therefore, are really personal and subject to one's individual experience. 5. Science is God. We follow the scientific method to a provable conclusion or we should not believe anything. Knowledge is a natural function of the brain. 6. History is linear with a starting point and headed toward an ending, but there is no spiritual purpose to our existence. 7. Death is the extinction of the individual. Whey you die, you become worm food. Our bodies rot and become forms of matter. Since man does not have an eternal soul, there is no judgment for the soul in a hereafter; therefore, you are free to live your life with no restrictions on your actions.

New Age 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

New Age 1. The idea that "I am god" replaced the idea that everything is god. I am the god of my own personal world. I can influence everything around ME through mediation and occult practices. 2. Reality exists out there, but it is beyond my understanding. Levels of consciousness and life exist that I cannot conceive of unless I have the mystical secrets of my group to help me discover these other truths. The cosmos, while unified in the self, is manifested in two more dimensions: the visible universe, accessible through ordinary consciousness, and the invisible universe (or Mind at Large), accessible through altered states of consciousness. 3. I am good. I have unlimited potential. I can literally do anything, for my mind is an untapped, unlimited source of power. 4. I'm my own god; I make up my own set of rules. 5. I get ultimate knowledge from my guru and study of our scriptures. 6. History operates according to karma and the ever-turning impersonal wheel of existence. It is an evolution of the realization of man's deity with the cosmos. 7. After death comes reincarnation. Physical death is not the end of one's self. It is a transition to another life.

New Age

New Age is primarily eastern religion minus the two things Westerners will not tolerate about Eastern religion: 1) denial of self and 2) denial of the physical realm, accessed through altered states of consciousness. New Age is a collection of the most attractive elements of other worldviews: From Theism and Existentialism: Importance of the individual, the self From Eastern Pantheistic Monism: Monism, reincarnation, meditation, passivity, and karma From Naturalism: Denial of a transcendent, personal God; evolutionary optimism about mankind From Animism: Return to the primal or old earth religions (various rituals, cult objects, and symbol systems) An offer of personal transformation: The New Age offers deliverance from the old, unacceptable, empty life, into an exciting new future. It offers a religious or spiritual experience, transcending the cold world of Western technology and namelessness. all adherents strongly reject orthodox Christian beliefs

Nihilism 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

Nihilism 1. Nilhilists do not believe in God. Matter/nature/science might be an acceptable answer to the first question. 2. The universe is just one big accident; there is no reason for its existence. 3. We are an accident; a catastrophic joke. Human beings are complex machines whose personality is a function of highly complex chemical and physical properties not yet understood. 4. Values are human creations with no further basis. Who cares? Do what you want. It will not matter in the end. 5. Genuine knowledge is impossible? we cannot know if what we think we know is illusion or truth. 6. There is no meaning in human history. 7. We die, and then we rot.

Nihilism

Nihilism is not so much a worldview as a feeling of despair. It is a denial of all hope, knowledge, and meaning. "Nihilism is the child of Naturalism." It is Naturalism taken to its logical conclusion.

Types of worldviews

Personal-Practical Worldviews 1."Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom and power. Covey believes that there are a number of very personal/practical "alternative centers" that we either possess or which possess us, even "though we usually don't recognize it as such." "Neither do we," he says, "recognize the all-encompassing effects of that center on every aspect of our lives." Philosophical Worldviews- Christian Theism 2. In other words, there is only a certain number of basic worldviews or interpretations of life from which to choose

Postmodernism 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

Postmodernism 1. Whatever you want the truth to be can be your truth. 2. It is complete libertarian freedom. As a result, truth and beliefs focus on one's experience. Traditional authority is untrustworthy. History is unimportant. Facts can be changed. 3. Human beings make themselves who they are by the languages they construct about themselves. Stories give communities their cohesive character. There is no substantial self. Human beings make themselves who they are by the language they construct about themselves. 4. Ethics, like knowledge, is a linguistic construct. Social good is whatever society takes it to be. 5. The cutting edge of culture is literary theory. 6. History is unimportant. Facts can be changed. it is impossible to write history, much more analyze it 7. Postmodernism is in flux, as is postmodernism's take on the significance of human history, including its own history. This means that the core commitments of many postmodernists are influx as well.

Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a term that is coming to designate a radical change in mood from the optimism and hope of the modern, scientific era to the pessimism and angst of Nihilism. It is the contemporary embracing of Nihilism, of Naturalism taken to its logical limits, retaining most of Nihilism's worldview answers, but emphasizing the subjectivity of knowledge and the role of language in our images of reality. There is no objective truth/reality because there is no God to define absolute truth. In the absence of an ultimate Definer, humans become definers of all truth. What is real is what we say is real, as there is no higher authority to declare us "wrong." Even if there is objective truth/reality, humans cannot know what it is because of the subjectivity and faith involved in all knowing and because even the world our senses perceive is not the world that actually exists independently of our senses. Even if there is objective knowledge, humans cannot communicate it to each other because of the imperfect vehicle of language, which requires constant, subjective interpretation.

New Age

The New Age Movement borrows not only from the East, but also from Naturalism and even Animism. This medley of beliefs revolves around the central idea that human beings are evolving toward a higher state of consciousness.

Definition of Deism

The belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural revelation.

Existentialism

The goal of Existentialism is to transcend (escape from) Nihilism, to create the meaning and significance eliminated by Naturalism and felt in Nihilism. Two forms of Existentialism are: Theistic Existentialism emerged from Christianity and philosophy in the mid-nineteenth century as an escape from cold orthodoxy. It bows to(인정하다) Naturalism in the material world(물질세계), but asserts the importance of the subjective, relational, and spiritual.

Christian Theistic Existentialism 1. What is prime reality? 2. What is the nature of the external reality around us? 3. What is the nature of a human being? 4. What is right and wrong? 5. How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? 6. What is the nature of history? 7. What happens to a person when he dies?

Theistic Existentialism 1. God is infinite and personal (triune), transcendent and immanent, omniscient, sovereign, and good. 2. God created the cosmos ex nihilo to operate with uniformity of cause and effect in an open system. 3. The personal is valuable. Human beings are created in the image of God, can know something of God and the cosmos, and can act significantly. God can and does communicate with us. We were created good but now are fallen and need to be restored by God through Christ. 4. Ethics is transcendent and based on God's character. 5.Knowledge is subjectivity; the whole truth is often paradoxical. 6. History as a record of events is uncertain and unimportant, but history as a model or type or myth to be made present and lived is of supreme importance. 7. For human beings death is either the gate to life with God and his people or life forever separated from God.

Sire's seven questions

What is the ultimate reality? What is the nature of the external reality around us? What is the nature of a human being? What is right and wrong? How do we know anything? What is the source of knowledge? What is the nature of history? What happens to a person when he dies?

Features of worldviews

Worldviews have often been assumed to be the prime movers of the historical process, shaping, rather than being shaped by, its psychosocial context. Ideas precede action; how we think governs how we live. The assumption is that basic differences among people are in the end reducible to differences in ideas and to the commitment of faith articulated in these ideas. It is probably safe to say that one of the most noteworthy philosophical developments of the last decade is the recognition of the importance of "worldviews," which ultimately lie at the base of all enterprises of thought, life, and action—including your own. Consciously or unconsciously, each of us "owns" a paradigm or worldview—that lens through which we see and interpret the world around us Faith can be founded on evidence, so our worldview beliefs should be based on the quantities and qualities of evidence we can find to support the various belief options

Postmodernism

the last move of the modern Postmodernism holds tremendous sway in many intellectual circles and universities.

A meaning of philosophy

the love of wisdom