I was going to write this paper back in September. I started on it and worked on it for about a week and then I kind of hit a roadblock and totally stopped. Well, I have started to work on it again and I'm going to start posting parts of it. Hopefully this will inspire me to complete the work as best as I possibly can as soon as I possibly can. This first installment deals only with the philosophical propositions that hold postmodernism up, namely that of relativism. Also, I should note that, although the thoughts are my own, I am a philosophical second-hander and am basing most of my assumptions in this paper on the work of David Wells and his book "Above All Earthly Pow'rs" and my experience in college as a philosophy minor and hearing my professor describe his own relativism. I also realize that this is only a brief handling of the subject and could us a great deal more depth, so I would appreciate any comments anybody has on the subject. Anyway, without further ado, here is part one:
The Definitional Impossibility of Relativity
As our world moves farther along the road of post-modernism, we must consider whether or not its guiding principles are valid or not. Post-modernism relies very heavily on relativity. Postmodernism is a move away from modernism and the enlightenment and the belief that there is absolute truth. Truth is relative and is defined by the self, now. Whatever is true for you is what truth is. We must be tolerant of everyone else’s beliefs and “truths” because there is no set truth that we must believe in. The only thing that we can be intolerant of is the forcing of our own “truths” onto someone who does not accept those truths, and therefore, is not held to them. That person is only held to the truths that he or she accepts. Therefore, postmodernism can be defined as the rejection of absolute truths (hence the "post" modern) and the belief that truth is now relegated to the individual and cannot be universally applied.
This belief is founded upon the fact that many people have very differing views of what truth is. I believe that such and such is truth, but someone else believes that the opposite is true. How can we determine who is right? What determines absolutes? Instead of wrestling with these questions, the postmodern turns to the answer that there must not be any absolutes because we can’t seem to agree on what truth is and who determines it. Truth is relative. But can this be possible?
In a word, no. Relativity is definitionally impossible. Relativity is founded upon the principle that there are no absolute truths. This is an absolute statement. But we’ve all heard this objection before. It usually goes something like this:
Professor: There is no such thing as absolutes!
Smarty-pants Student: But isn't that an absolute statement?
Why hasn’t this derailed post-modernism? Is this objection a correct one? I believe that it is a correct objection. We’ll deal with why it hasn’t derailed this dominant belief system later. For now, I will deal with the philosophical problems that relativism must face. I believe it is a correct objection because for postmodernism to be true it must be the case that there are no truths that are absolute, otherwise, we could hold all people to the same absolute truths. If there are absolutes, then postmodernism fails because its guiding principle, relativity, crumbles. To put it in a classical argument it would go as follows:
1. If relativism is true, then there must be no absolutes.
2. There are absolutes (as demonstrated by the above statement)
3. Therefore, relativism isn’t true
Relativism is, therefore, definitionally impossible.
But are there ways around this? Postmoderns can’t say that there are no absolutes because that would be an absolute statement. They can’t say that there are absolutes because that denies relativity and is an absolute statement. But can we say that there might be absolutes? This is not an absolute statement, because it doesn’t say that absolutes exist or not, it only allows for the possibility. But it is this very possibility that denies relativity. Relativists cannot allow for the possibility of absolutes because that would mean that truth is not always defined by ourselves, but that there can be (or at least might be) objective truths for all people. So relativity in general is impossible. But can we allow for ethical relativity? This is where postmodernism hangs. After all, a postmodern relativist would still claim that 2 + 2 = 4 in all cases, but they would deny that what is ethically true for me must be ethically true for others. So postmoderns wouldn’t deny absolutes absolutely, but they would deny them in ethical matters and matters of religion.
However, the same problem crops up in this area as well. Definitionally, a relativist cannot claim that there are no ethical absolutes because that is an absolute statement. However, it could be objected that the above absolute statement isn’t an ethical statement and therefore does not fall into the same trap as before. That is to say, you can make absolute statements about ethics because those absolute statements only negate general relativity, not ethical relativity. Therefore, I can say there are no ethical absolutes without denying my original premise. This is an untenable position. In this scenario absolutes are allowed but only in regard to general matters, not in regard to ethical maters and then trying to differentiate between ethical relativity and general relativity. If general relativity doesn’t exist, then how can ethical relativity? We cannot make absolute statements about ethics and still hold on to ethical relativity. I cannot think of any argumentation that would support this without becoming absurd.
There is another problem with ethical relativity. Relativity itself isn’t the only force behind postmodernism. Moral elitism, or rather, the repugnance of it is also a driving force behind postmodernism and the relativity that is its bedrock and cornerstone. Postmodernism rejects the idea that we can impose our ethics and morals on another culture. How dare we claim that we know the only right way to live and act and then expect all other cultures and persons to ascribe to it. This is one of the main criticisms of religion in general and Christianity in particular. It is okay (indeed, even encouraged) to have and hold certain religious beliefs. The problem comes when we attempt to change the worldview and ethics of those who don’t believe the way we do. How can we possibly say that we have the right to try and convert other religions and peoples to our way of thinking. There are so many different religions and faiths, how can we claim to have the best one? Therefore, ethics (and religion, morals, etc.) must be relative. How can we impose our ethics on one another?
But in saying this, they deny their own ethical relativism. They have made supposed moral humility an absolute moral good (not to mention that their moral humility turns into pride when confronting those seeking to impose ethical absolutes). They also commit the same error as general relativity because it declares there can be no moral absolutes. This, obviously, is an absolute statement. Postmoderns cannot cling to moral relativity and then declare tolerance of other religious views an absolute moral good. You cannot attack those who are intolerant of other religions and then say that morals and ethics are relevant. Ethical relativity in the postmodern worldview is impossible.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Really quick
If you haven't visited desiringGod.org recently then you need to know that this coming Wednesday and Thursday all books in their store are only $5, no exceptions. I know I'm going to be getting a whole bunch of them :)
Saturday, June 23, 2007
A much needed update
I just became a man today! I shot a bunch of guns :) I went with my pastor and some friends and we shot a couple of shotguns, a pistol, and a couple muzzle-loader rifles in a ravine near the Salt Lake. It was a lot of fun. We were throwing skeet and trying to shoot them. I was by far the worst, but, in my defense, all the other guys had a lot more experience shoot various things than I did. They all know what they're doing. I'm pretty good at shoot a pistol or rifle at a stationary target, but trying to blow something moving out of the sky is a bit more tricky. It was a lot of fun though. My shoulder will probably hurt for a week now.
Anyway, a lot has happened over the last month or so. A few weeks ago I road-tripped to Las Vegas with a friend of mine in order to visit some friends, Andy and Annie, that were there for a few weeks training at the Air Force base near the city. We had a really good time. The trip was really good and we listened to some good sermons. The first night we were there we ate dinner at In 'n out, which is the best fast food place of all time and I haven't had it for about three or four years or so (we don't have one in northern Utah). We then went to a massive Pro Bass Shop in one of the casinos (my friends are big into hunting and fishing). They had a pretty big aquarium in there with some various rays and some small sharks along with a bunch of cool fish. After we had seen our share of outdoors stuff we went to the Belagio and walked around inside a little bit (very fancy and upscale) and then we watched the fountain show. If you've seen Ocean's Eleven, at the very end of the movie all the characters stand around the fountain and watch the show. That's kind of like what we did, only with a lot more people around us. We watched two shows and my friends' baby, Henry, demanded that we go back to their room. It was a really fun night. The next day we went to Hoover Dam and took the tour. It was amazing. The dam is massive. I'd post some pictures, but I'm too lazy to upload them to my computer. That night we went to the Stratosphere, which is the Space Needle looking thing, and went to the top and checked out the strip at night. We got some really good views, the night was clear, and everything was brilliantly lit up. Before we did that, though, we went to the Saturday night service at the local mega church, Central Christian Church. Surprisingly, it wasn't half bad. They only did three songs (instead of spending all their time on songs) and the sermon attempted to exposit scripture and actually lasted longer than 30 minutes. The sermon could have been better, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. All-in-all, a good night and a really good trip. And much to the chagrin of Vegas (and its nickname) we did it all without partaking of the vast amounts of sin available. That was the beginning of my summer. More to follow...
Anyway, a lot has happened over the last month or so. A few weeks ago I road-tripped to Las Vegas with a friend of mine in order to visit some friends, Andy and Annie, that were there for a few weeks training at the Air Force base near the city. We had a really good time. The trip was really good and we listened to some good sermons. The first night we were there we ate dinner at In 'n out, which is the best fast food place of all time and I haven't had it for about three or four years or so (we don't have one in northern Utah). We then went to a massive Pro Bass Shop in one of the casinos (my friends are big into hunting and fishing). They had a pretty big aquarium in there with some various rays and some small sharks along with a bunch of cool fish. After we had seen our share of outdoors stuff we went to the Belagio and walked around inside a little bit (very fancy and upscale) and then we watched the fountain show. If you've seen Ocean's Eleven, at the very end of the movie all the characters stand around the fountain and watch the show. That's kind of like what we did, only with a lot more people around us. We watched two shows and my friends' baby, Henry, demanded that we go back to their room. It was a really fun night. The next day we went to Hoover Dam and took the tour. It was amazing. The dam is massive. I'd post some pictures, but I'm too lazy to upload them to my computer. That night we went to the Stratosphere, which is the Space Needle looking thing, and went to the top and checked out the strip at night. We got some really good views, the night was clear, and everything was brilliantly lit up. Before we did that, though, we went to the Saturday night service at the local mega church, Central Christian Church. Surprisingly, it wasn't half bad. They only did three songs (instead of spending all their time on songs) and the sermon attempted to exposit scripture and actually lasted longer than 30 minutes. The sermon could have been better, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. All-in-all, a good night and a really good trip. And much to the chagrin of Vegas (and its nickname) we did it all without partaking of the vast amounts of sin available. That was the beginning of my summer. More to follow...
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Interview
I have had a great couple of days. I think I may just have to post about them. Which I guess would be the exception given my current lack of posting. But for now, I will post an interview courtesy of Laur.
1) Have you ever gotten a ticket? Tell us about it.
Twice. The first time I was driving to work and I was going 47 in a 35. However, the other side of the road had a 50 mph speed limit so I thought it was crazy that I got a ticket (but I didn't say that to the cop. It kind of came to me sometime after). To make matters worse, they changed the limit about two weeks later. But I didn't fight it because I had been speeding in the previous section and figured it was my just deserts. I ended up going to traffic school though and the ticket is still not on my record :) The second time I was trying to stay behind my brother-in-law and rolled a stop sign pretty badly even though I knew that there was a cop on that road. That was a pretty stupid ticket :) I think that was about 3 or 4 years ago. Since then - ticket free!
2) When you were small, say 7 years old, what one food would you have wanted to have if you had to pick just one to eat for the rest of your life?
Hands down, pizza - pepperoni only. I thought that was God's gift to mankind. I could eat pizza all the time.
3) Pets as a child? (Not a yes or no question.)
Yes :) ...But seriously, my family had a dog and a cat when I was a kid. Our dog was named Uriah and was about the ugliest mutt you have ever seen, which actually made him rather adorable. He was a great dog. Very devoted and very protective, which was his unfortunate downfall. Because he was so protective he ended up biting a few people that he thought were threats to us kids. So my parents ended up taking him to the pound. As a family we never had a dog after that, although my younger sister now has a basset hound named Phebe. My cat was named Emily (although the name Bathsheba was jokingly kicked around) and we got her when I was 3 or 4. She was a great cat. Very personable and enjoyed being around you, but wasn't too needy. She lived for about 14 years and died of natural causes. Since then my family has gotten two more cats named Shylock and Othello.
4) If you could own a plane or a boat (for personal operation, not just to have a lear jet and a pilot to fly you around), which would you pick? What would you christen it?
Interesting... That's a tough one. I would probably go with a plane. That way I could use it to visit my friends and family, whereas a boat would probably end up being more recreational only. Plus with a boat you then have to get a trailor and a new truck. And although the new truck sounds tempting, I'll have to go with the plane. You could also use the plane for mission trips and, if big enough, perhaps I could even get to Europe with it. As for the name, I only have two options. One is Sola Deo Gloria for obvious reasons. The other would be Diana. The reason for this is that after I read Jane Eyre I really liked the name Diana and for a long time wanted to name my first daughter that. So I think those would be my two options.
5) When were you baptized and why then?
I was baptized when I was about seven. I can still remember sitting in my pastor's office with my dad while he explained what baptism was. He said something like "baptism is a little like taking a bath. When you take a bath you wash all the dirt off of you. Baptism is an outward demonstration of when our sins were washed off of us." Or something like that. I knew that when we are baptized we are proclaiming that we are Christians and I wanted to do that. My dad ended up baptizing me and I remember giving an account of my salvation and who I believed Jesus was and my dad asked me what my favorite Bible verse was. It was Phil. 4:13. I thought that was about the coolest verse in the Bible. Back then I thought that meant that if God wanted me to, I could outrun my dad's truck. My dad tried to dispell that notion and give me a more biblical view, but I still believed that if God really wanted me to, I could :)
If you would like to be interviewed and join in the fun than just follow these directions:
1. Leave me a comment that says "Interview me."
2. I respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you ask them five questions.
1) Have you ever gotten a ticket? Tell us about it.
Twice. The first time I was driving to work and I was going 47 in a 35. However, the other side of the road had a 50 mph speed limit so I thought it was crazy that I got a ticket (but I didn't say that to the cop. It kind of came to me sometime after). To make matters worse, they changed the limit about two weeks later. But I didn't fight it because I had been speeding in the previous section and figured it was my just deserts. I ended up going to traffic school though and the ticket is still not on my record :) The second time I was trying to stay behind my brother-in-law and rolled a stop sign pretty badly even though I knew that there was a cop on that road. That was a pretty stupid ticket :) I think that was about 3 or 4 years ago. Since then - ticket free!
2) When you were small, say 7 years old, what one food would you have wanted to have if you had to pick just one to eat for the rest of your life?
Hands down, pizza - pepperoni only. I thought that was God's gift to mankind. I could eat pizza all the time.
3) Pets as a child? (Not a yes or no question.)
Yes :) ...But seriously, my family had a dog and a cat when I was a kid. Our dog was named Uriah and was about the ugliest mutt you have ever seen, which actually made him rather adorable. He was a great dog. Very devoted and very protective, which was his unfortunate downfall. Because he was so protective he ended up biting a few people that he thought were threats to us kids. So my parents ended up taking him to the pound. As a family we never had a dog after that, although my younger sister now has a basset hound named Phebe. My cat was named Emily (although the name Bathsheba was jokingly kicked around) and we got her when I was 3 or 4. She was a great cat. Very personable and enjoyed being around you, but wasn't too needy. She lived for about 14 years and died of natural causes. Since then my family has gotten two more cats named Shylock and Othello.
4) If you could own a plane or a boat (for personal operation, not just to have a lear jet and a pilot to fly you around), which would you pick? What would you christen it?
Interesting... That's a tough one. I would probably go with a plane. That way I could use it to visit my friends and family, whereas a boat would probably end up being more recreational only. Plus with a boat you then have to get a trailor and a new truck. And although the new truck sounds tempting, I'll have to go with the plane. You could also use the plane for mission trips and, if big enough, perhaps I could even get to Europe with it. As for the name, I only have two options. One is Sola Deo Gloria for obvious reasons. The other would be Diana. The reason for this is that after I read Jane Eyre I really liked the name Diana and for a long time wanted to name my first daughter that. So I think those would be my two options.
5) When were you baptized and why then?
I was baptized when I was about seven. I can still remember sitting in my pastor's office with my dad while he explained what baptism was. He said something like "baptism is a little like taking a bath. When you take a bath you wash all the dirt off of you. Baptism is an outward demonstration of when our sins were washed off of us." Or something like that. I knew that when we are baptized we are proclaiming that we are Christians and I wanted to do that. My dad ended up baptizing me and I remember giving an account of my salvation and who I believed Jesus was and my dad asked me what my favorite Bible verse was. It was Phil. 4:13. I thought that was about the coolest verse in the Bible. Back then I thought that meant that if God wanted me to, I could outrun my dad's truck. My dad tried to dispell that notion and give me a more biblical view, but I still believed that if God really wanted me to, I could :)
If you would like to be interviewed and join in the fun than just follow these directions:
1. Leave me a comment that says "Interview me."
2. I respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you ask them five questions.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Prayer Request
Wow! It's been over a month since I last posted anything. A lot has gone on since then. I've still been working about 50 hours per week. God's teaching me a lot about endurance and work ethic through that. But what I really need prayer for is this Sunday. We are having a missions Sunday and I'm giving one of the messages. The Lord has really been teaching me a lot through the whole process. I'm having to learn all over again how dependent I am on Him and how to stop doing things in my own power. It has been a really humbling experience. And on top of that, it just so happened that our worship leader is going on a camping trip that Sunday and needed me to cover for him, so I'm leading worship this Sunday as well. Pray that God would give me the physical energy and vocal cords to do everything and more importantly pray that God would speak through me and impact the hearts of the hearers and that I would be humble and give the glory to God. I'm looking forward to what God will do through all of this. What a great and glorious God we serve! Grace and peace to you all.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
I'm back again
So I know I haven't posted in a long time, but I have a good excuse. I ended up moving into a room in a friend's house a couple of weeks ago and I didn't get internet access until just now. Plus, I don't know if I would have posted anyway during that time, because I've been working like a mad man. I think I've worked an average of about 55 hours per week over the last three or four weeks. I've had one Saturday off in the last month. The only reason I'm up right now is because I'm waiting for some laundry to get done. And the only reason that can't wait until tomorrow is because I have some dress shirts in the dryer and I have to take them out immediately so I don't have to do any ironing :) I dislike ironing. I think I've only done it once. Perhaps I would enjoy it if I knew how to do it. My work schedule hasn't been all bad though. I'm beginning to learn how you can waste your life working. I used to think of wasting your life only in terms of doing nothing, watching a lot of tv, etc. Now I know you can totally waste your life by working too much. I tell ya, at the end of a hard day I feel emotionally, physically, and spiritually dry. It can get really hard to focus on Christ after days like that. But I'm slowly learning how and I'm really resting on the phrase in Psalm 23 when it says that He restores my soul. I love that God restores our souls. Just yesterday, I got to experience it up close and personal. I worked from six in the morning until noon and had a fairly bad day. But when I got home I started studying for my Sunday school lesson and just dived into the word and a commentary and I felt totally refreshed afterward. It was like the morning never even happened. What an awesome God we serve who continues to keep His amazing promises. Praise Him!
Today has been a really good day too. After church, I played basketball with some guys from my church and another church and there was a guy there shooting around. He ended up playing a couple games with us and me and my pastor got a chance to share the gospel with him afterward. We talked to him for about 15 minutes before my pastor had to leave, but I ended up talking to him for about 30-45 more minutes, after which he asked God for forgiveness and trusted in Christ alone to save him! It was really cool. I had never been used to lead another person to salvation before. I'm constantly amazed that God would use such a frail vessel as me. I love II Cor. 4:4-7. We are the ministers of such an amazing gospel and we carry it in vessels of clay in order that all might know that it was God and not us that did the work. Anyway, I took him to the college group tonight and gave him a Bible. He seemed to connect with some of the people there and there definitely seems like a change has taken place in his life, but we don't know if this is just seed falling on rocks or if it is a genuine conversion until fruit becomes evident. I'm going to take him to my Bible study tomorrow night. I really hope that he has a true relationship with Christ. How amazing His work is! Well, I think I need to take a shower and get my laundry.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Today has been a really good day too. After church, I played basketball with some guys from my church and another church and there was a guy there shooting around. He ended up playing a couple games with us and me and my pastor got a chance to share the gospel with him afterward. We talked to him for about 15 minutes before my pastor had to leave, but I ended up talking to him for about 30-45 more minutes, after which he asked God for forgiveness and trusted in Christ alone to save him! It was really cool. I had never been used to lead another person to salvation before. I'm constantly amazed that God would use such a frail vessel as me. I love II Cor. 4:4-7. We are the ministers of such an amazing gospel and we carry it in vessels of clay in order that all might know that it was God and not us that did the work. Anyway, I took him to the college group tonight and gave him a Bible. He seemed to connect with some of the people there and there definitely seems like a change has taken place in his life, but we don't know if this is just seed falling on rocks or if it is a genuine conversion until fruit becomes evident. I'm going to take him to my Bible study tomorrow night. I really hope that he has a true relationship with Christ. How amazing His work is! Well, I think I need to take a shower and get my laundry.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Hymn rewrite
I was reading about William Cowper on Micah's blog and I really loved the lyrics to "There is a Fountain." I hadn't read them in a long time, and I think I'm finally beginning to understand the beautiful depth of them. However, I'm not a big fan of the tune. It's not a bad tune. It's just not my favorite. So I decided to rewrite it. This is my second tune rewrite. The first was "Be Still My Soul." But I did something different with this one. As I played through my rewrite I decided I needed to add a chorus. Personally, I really like this recent twist on old, awesome hymns. I know, it might be close to blaspheme for some :) but I like it. I think it adds a central thought to fix your attention on and not be lost in the number of deep thoughts that are being sung. Anyway, here is my rewrite:
There Is A Fountain
Verse 1
There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see, That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he, Wash all my sins away. (2x last half)
Chorus
There is a fountain so rich and free,
There grace was bought and applied to me
Glory displayed and peace restored
And but the cross I boast no more
Verse 2
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood, Shall never lose its power
’Til all the ransomed church of God, Be saved to sin no more.
E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream, Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be ’til I die. (2x last half)
(Chorus)
Verse 3
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue, Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save. (2x last half)
(Chorus)
(End on last verse)
©Darwin Jordan Music.
There Is A Fountain
Verse 1
There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see, That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he, Wash all my sins away. (2x last half)
Chorus
There is a fountain so rich and free,
There grace was bought and applied to me
Glory displayed and peace restored
And but the cross I boast no more
Verse 2
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood, Shall never lose its power
’Til all the ransomed church of God, Be saved to sin no more.
E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream, Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be ’til I die. (2x last half)
(Chorus)
Verse 3
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue, Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save. (2x last half)
(Chorus)
(End on last verse)
©Darwin Jordan Music.
You Satisfy
This is a song I started writing a while ago and I finally got around to finish it. I guess I'm still a pretty massive procrastinator :)
You Satisfy
Verse 1
Two sin I commit, they always find me out
I have turned from You, the Living Fount
Then I turn to the broken cup this world sold
And I drink the sand, for no water it holds
Chorus
O Living Water, You satisfy, You satisfy
And pleasure You possess when I behold You on high
You filled my heart with more joy than all other things
To You and You alone will my praise I bring
Verse 2
Now I live for You, my blessed Savior
And I breath You in, for it’s You that I adore
Now I take delight in You, my portion forevermore
Draw near to me, help me love You more
Ending
My Portion, My Savior, You are good, draw near to me
I live You, breathe You, die to me for You
I hunger, I thirst for You, You fill me, I’m satisfied
All others I forsake now, To You alone I turn
You Satisfy
Verse 1
Two sin I commit, they always find me out
I have turned from You, the Living Fount
Then I turn to the broken cup this world sold
And I drink the sand, for no water it holds
Chorus
O Living Water, You satisfy, You satisfy
And pleasure You possess when I behold You on high
You filled my heart with more joy than all other things
To You and You alone will my praise I bring
Verse 2
Now I live for You, my blessed Savior
And I breath You in, for it’s You that I adore
Now I take delight in You, my portion forevermore
Draw near to me, help me love You more
Ending
My Portion, My Savior, You are good, draw near to me
I live You, breathe You, die to me for You
I hunger, I thirst for You, You fill me, I’m satisfied
All others I forsake now, To You alone I turn
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Ockham's Razor and the Problem of Evil
Ockham’s Razor and the Problem of Evil
How can a good and omnipotent God allow sin and evil to exist in His creation? This is the basic question the drives the so-called Problem of Evil (PoE). It has been stated in other formats as well. Such as, how can a loving God allow such bad things to happen. In this phrasing it is assumed that God has the attribute of omnipotence (that is, all powerful) and bad things are evil. The obvious reason why the problem of evil exists is that evil does definitely exist and God could have prevented it. We know evil exists because of things and people like Hitler, the Holocaust, murder, theft, lying, serial killers, etc. And if God is who the Bible claims He is, then He is an omnipotent Being that is capable of keeping evil from ever appearing. He is also a good God and would apparently have cause to keep evil from appearing because of His intrinsic and perfect goodness. It is assumed that God’s intrinsic and perfect goodness conflicts with the existence of evil such that God’s omnipotence would be forced to eradicate it. Therefore, if the God of the Bible exists, then the existence of evil is incongruous with His existence. Therefore, it would appear that if we want to solve this problem, then we will have to change one of the three variables in this equation. However, I’m not going to go into the arguments for and against which variables to do away with or lessen (i.e. lessen the extent of God’s omnipotence). I will say, however, that I don’t think we should or need to eradicate or lesson any of God’s attributes or the extent of the existence and depravity of evil. My goal, however, is to respond to a common objection based on this problem. In a past philosophy class, I was asked by a professor, “Wouldn’t it have been easier to create us without the capacity for evil and sin?” My response at the time was that in order for us to see the fullness of the glory of God displayed in His justice as well as His grace, sin had to exist. He then responded by saying, “Couldn’t God just have shown us a Simpsons episode that described what evil was and then we would have been able to see God’s justice?” I responded by saying that we can’t truly know what grace and justice are (as well as a myriad of other attributes of God) if we don’t experience them. I am not completely satisfied with my answers to these questions. In my first response I think I touched on the truth, but I don’t know about my second response. It may very well be true, but it isn’t the most convincing argument and doesn’t exalt God as highly as He could be. Therefore, it is my purpose to examine this issue further and demonstrate how evil is necessary for God’s glory to be displayed in its fullness.
I believe that the PoE exists in human minds because of Ockham’s razor working in the mind of humanity, which is bent on suppressing the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). Ockham’s razor states that “entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.'' Basically, this means that given two or more scenarios that have the same or similar result, the simplest is usually the right answer. The simplest answer in the minds of humans regarding the PoE is that God should have made us incapable of evil and then sin wouldn’t exist. We know God is capable of this because of His omnipotence and we know that He created heaven which is a place where we will be incapable of sin and still see the glory of God. Incapablility of sin and ability to see God’s glory are not incongruous. In fact, the Bible tells us that because of our glorification and final sanctification we will actually be able to glorify God perfectly. As is the case in many false teachings, the objection to the existence of evil is based partly on truth. So the root question in the minds of men is why did God create us with the capacity to sin? Wouldn’t it have been simpler to create us without an ability to sin and then we wouldn’t have all the problems that we have now? But I think we need to go back even further to a more basic question. Why did God create the world? Being a perfect God, He didn’t lack something that creation provided. The triune God enjoyed perfect unity, perfect love, perfect enjoyment, and perfect satisfaction in Himself. Why even create the world in the first place? And why create a world that God knows will sin and need saving? Why create a world where one member of the Godhead will have to suffer and die on the cross and bear the sins of many? That doesn’t make sense. To our minds, God would have been better off without this world. God has one purpose and end in all that He does: namely, to glorify Himself. If He failed to have this purpose, then God wouldn’t be God. He would be an idolater. God must glorify Himself in all that He does or He would be worshiping something else and thereby making that object a God and removing His deity from Himself and giving it to another. In Isaiah 48:11 God says, “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” Therefore, the only conclusion we can come to about the creation and continued existence of the world is that God intends to glorify Himself through it as its ultimate end. Therefore, in light of this truth, sin is necessary in order to display the fullness of His glory as seen in His manifold attributes. God must glorify Himself by displaying both love and justice, mercy and wrath, as well as many other attributes that are only seen with the existence of sin. God would not create a universe that displays His glory, but does not give a full picture of that glory. So God’s simplest answer to the right question – namely, how can God glorify Himself most fully – is to create a world where sin is possible and then allow it to occur. God cannot defeat His own purpose – His glory – by creating a world that fails to display His glory. This means that His purpose is not only to create beings to see and enjoy His glory, but that creation itself is meant to demonstrate the fullness of His glory as well as a finite creation can display infinite glory. Creation wasn’t just meant to see and enjoy; it is meant to demonstrate and show forth. The only way the universe can show forth the fullness of God’s glory is if sin and evil exist and God can conquer them and show forth mercy and justice, grace, love, wrath, etc.
How can a good and omnipotent God allow sin and evil to exist in His creation? This is the basic question the drives the so-called Problem of Evil (PoE). It has been stated in other formats as well. Such as, how can a loving God allow such bad things to happen. In this phrasing it is assumed that God has the attribute of omnipotence (that is, all powerful) and bad things are evil. The obvious reason why the problem of evil exists is that evil does definitely exist and God could have prevented it. We know evil exists because of things and people like Hitler, the Holocaust, murder, theft, lying, serial killers, etc. And if God is who the Bible claims He is, then He is an omnipotent Being that is capable of keeping evil from ever appearing. He is also a good God and would apparently have cause to keep evil from appearing because of His intrinsic and perfect goodness. It is assumed that God’s intrinsic and perfect goodness conflicts with the existence of evil such that God’s omnipotence would be forced to eradicate it. Therefore, if the God of the Bible exists, then the existence of evil is incongruous with His existence. Therefore, it would appear that if we want to solve this problem, then we will have to change one of the three variables in this equation. However, I’m not going to go into the arguments for and against which variables to do away with or lessen (i.e. lessen the extent of God’s omnipotence). I will say, however, that I don’t think we should or need to eradicate or lesson any of God’s attributes or the extent of the existence and depravity of evil. My goal, however, is to respond to a common objection based on this problem. In a past philosophy class, I was asked by a professor, “Wouldn’t it have been easier to create us without the capacity for evil and sin?” My response at the time was that in order for us to see the fullness of the glory of God displayed in His justice as well as His grace, sin had to exist. He then responded by saying, “Couldn’t God just have shown us a Simpsons episode that described what evil was and then we would have been able to see God’s justice?” I responded by saying that we can’t truly know what grace and justice are (as well as a myriad of other attributes of God) if we don’t experience them. I am not completely satisfied with my answers to these questions. In my first response I think I touched on the truth, but I don’t know about my second response. It may very well be true, but it isn’t the most convincing argument and doesn’t exalt God as highly as He could be. Therefore, it is my purpose to examine this issue further and demonstrate how evil is necessary for God’s glory to be displayed in its fullness.
I believe that the PoE exists in human minds because of Ockham’s razor working in the mind of humanity, which is bent on suppressing the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). Ockham’s razor states that “entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.'' Basically, this means that given two or more scenarios that have the same or similar result, the simplest is usually the right answer. The simplest answer in the minds of humans regarding the PoE is that God should have made us incapable of evil and then sin wouldn’t exist. We know God is capable of this because of His omnipotence and we know that He created heaven which is a place where we will be incapable of sin and still see the glory of God. Incapablility of sin and ability to see God’s glory are not incongruous. In fact, the Bible tells us that because of our glorification and final sanctification we will actually be able to glorify God perfectly. As is the case in many false teachings, the objection to the existence of evil is based partly on truth. So the root question in the minds of men is why did God create us with the capacity to sin? Wouldn’t it have been simpler to create us without an ability to sin and then we wouldn’t have all the problems that we have now? But I think we need to go back even further to a more basic question. Why did God create the world? Being a perfect God, He didn’t lack something that creation provided. The triune God enjoyed perfect unity, perfect love, perfect enjoyment, and perfect satisfaction in Himself. Why even create the world in the first place? And why create a world that God knows will sin and need saving? Why create a world where one member of the Godhead will have to suffer and die on the cross and bear the sins of many? That doesn’t make sense. To our minds, God would have been better off without this world. God has one purpose and end in all that He does: namely, to glorify Himself. If He failed to have this purpose, then God wouldn’t be God. He would be an idolater. God must glorify Himself in all that He does or He would be worshiping something else and thereby making that object a God and removing His deity from Himself and giving it to another. In Isaiah 48:11 God says, “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” Therefore, the only conclusion we can come to about the creation and continued existence of the world is that God intends to glorify Himself through it as its ultimate end. Therefore, in light of this truth, sin is necessary in order to display the fullness of His glory as seen in His manifold attributes. God must glorify Himself by displaying both love and justice, mercy and wrath, as well as many other attributes that are only seen with the existence of sin. God would not create a universe that displays His glory, but does not give a full picture of that glory. So God’s simplest answer to the right question – namely, how can God glorify Himself most fully – is to create a world where sin is possible and then allow it to occur. God cannot defeat His own purpose – His glory – by creating a world that fails to display His glory. This means that His purpose is not only to create beings to see and enjoy His glory, but that creation itself is meant to demonstrate the fullness of His glory as well as a finite creation can display infinite glory. Creation wasn’t just meant to see and enjoy; it is meant to demonstrate and show forth. The only way the universe can show forth the fullness of God’s glory is if sin and evil exist and God can conquer them and show forth mercy and justice, grace, love, wrath, etc.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Prayer Request
If you guys would, I could really use some prayer for my living situation. I have about two-and-a-half weeks to either find a roommate or another place to live. I think God is teaching me how to rely on Him through all of this. I tend to not learn this lesson very well. I find it really easy to rely on myself far too often, which is completely insane considering who God is and who I am. Amazing how a pitiful creature like me tries to say to God, "It's okay, I got this one." So if you would, I would appreciate your prayers for me in this situation. The resolution of my living situation doesn't really concern me as much as seeing Christ in all of this and treasuring that. Wherever I end up living, I just want to trust God more. He is a good and sovereign God, and no matter how hard it gets, He always has my good and His glory in mind. Praise the LORD!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
"Please Come Home"
Okay. I've listened to the new, aforementioned, Dustin Kensrue called "Please Come Home." It is an excellent cd. The only way I can describe it is as Johnny Cash-blues-folk rock. I absolutely love it. And I wish I could write stuff like that. The cd receives a solid A from me. Great music and really good lyrics too. The title track is based on the prodigal son and focuses on the father's love for his son. It's really good. I highly encourage everyone to check it out. But if you have doubts, you can check out a few of his songs at myspace.com/dustinkensrue. Well, I should be getting to bed soon. Don't know if I will, but I should :) May God give you all a blessed night.
Check out this video
This is a really cool song by Dustin Kensrue. Very good. In fact, I've been waiting for his solo cd to come out for a while and I just found out that it's been available for a month and a half so I'm leaving my house right now to go get it.
The weather recently has been absolutely beautiful. I love this time of year. Enjoy!
The weather recently has been absolutely beautiful. I love this time of year. Enjoy!
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
And the #1 Single on the Country-Rock-Half Folk-Kinda Bluesy Chart is...
So I'm sitting in my living room, messing around on my guitar and I start playing this really basic chord progression (literally A, D, A, D, etc.). As I'm playing it I feel the need to sing something to it. But not just anything, it has to be about a girl. (They always have to be about a girl, right?) And not just about a girl, but something vaguely sad, yet oddly uplifting. So I start making up some lyrics and I think I might have just written the first half of the next hit single on the aforementioned Country-Rock-Half Folk-Kinda Bluesy Chart (yeah, I don't know what that means either). So here it is:
She's goin' back home to Georgia (she has to be from the south, right?)
She's goin' back home
She don't know what she's goin' to
But she know's what she's been from
She's going' back home (are you catching a theme?)
To those that know her best
She hates where she's been from
She's tired of being out west
Just for the record, there is no inspiration for this song. Just whatever was going through my head in the two minutes it took to compose this. Anyway, that's the long and short of it.
She's goin' back home to Georgia (she has to be from the south, right?)
She's goin' back home
She don't know what she's goin' to
But she know's what she's been from
She's going' back home (are you catching a theme?)
To those that know her best
She hates where she's been from
She's tired of being out west
Just for the record, there is no inspiration for this song. Just whatever was going through my head in the two minutes it took to compose this. Anyway, that's the long and short of it.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Chapter One
That's the name of one of Shane & Shane's songs. It's based on John 1:18 "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." I was listening to my ipod at work today on shuffle and this song happened to come on. As I listened to the lyrics and thought about what that verse was talking about I just started crying. I realized that lately I've had somewhat of a hard heart toward God and haven't seen Christ as who he truly is and considered him my only source of joy. He is the image of the invisible God and because of him we get the awesome pleasure of seeing God displayed in Christ's face. This is the joy of the world. We see God through Christ, and it is everything to us. Psalm 16:2 "I say to the Lord, 'You are my Lord;I have no good apart from you.'" God has shone into our hearts and has allowed us to not only know him, but delight in him. Praise God that he caused this song to come on and allowed me to truly hear it. I'll leave you with the lyrics. They make an awesome and humble prayer.
Chapter 1
Stir my affections
Stir my affections
Stir my affection for You
for You're my only hope
You Yeshua
explained the way He moves
as just an ordinary man
then again, You're the first, Jesus
and by Your hand we move
You're the image of the invisible God
You are God, You are God
Bring fascination
Bring fascination
Bring fascination of You
for You're my only hope
Chapter 1
Stir my affections
Stir my affections
Stir my affection for You
for You're my only hope
You Yeshua
explained the way He moves
as just an ordinary man
then again, You're the first, Jesus
and by Your hand we move
You're the image of the invisible God
You are God, You are God
Bring fascination
Bring fascination
Bring fascination of You
for You're my only hope
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Crash and Burn
Can you crash and burn at a job fair without even an interview? I think that's what just happened. Some background: I am trying to find a better job right now. Preferably one that requires some thought. I would like to try and use my degree somewhere. I heard that a local company was having a job fair. The company is ATK Thiokol. You might have heard of them, they do a lot with NASA and the space program. They were looking to fill about 300 engineering jobs. I'm a communication major with a bunch of clerical jobs under my belt. You can probably already imagine how this turned out. I knew I was a long shot, but they were hiring for some non-specialized engineering jobs like quality, so I thought what the heck, I'll give it a try. I got there at around 9 a.m. this morning and went to the front desk to sign in. I greeted the woman behind the desk, handed her my resume and proceeded to sign in. When I finished I looked back up at her and could tell she was wondering what on earth I was doing there. She asked what I was looking into and I told her quality or logistics because with my skill set I thought I would be good at them. She told me that they didn't have any of those hiring managers at the job fair and the best way to get my resume into their hands would be to go on their website and apply that way. I'm pretty sure I just got the boot. She told me I could go in and look at their materials and help myself to some refreshments if I wanted to. So I decided to not make the morning a total waste and took some information and a free pen. The pen looks like it might be a decent one, too. Anyway, that's how you can crash and burn without even an interview.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Clothing
I've been listening to Piper's current series on marriage lately. Ipods and podcasts are really cool, by the way. A week or two ago, he talked about being naked and not ashamed. He was referring back to Genesis 2:25 and the end of God's definition of marriage. As he was talking about the clothing Adam and Eve used to cover themselves after the fall I was really struck with the gospel in this passage. Adam and Eve started out as perfect and therefore there was no need to cover themselves. There was no sin. But as soon as they sinned, they knew they needed to cover themselves. And I was struck with the truth that as fallen human beings, we recognize our sinfulness and attempt to cover ourselves with our own handmade clothing. We do good deeds, give money to the poor, try to live a good life, attend some church, etc. We even recognize those individuals who don't attempt to cover their sins as evil (e.g. serial killers). But this doesn't even come close to acheiving God's standard. We are standing before God with garments of fig leaves saying "See God, I clothed myself, aren't you happy?" When what we need to do is fall before Him, and acknowledge our sinfulness and need to be clothed by Him. When we do that, God shows mercy on us and clothes us with new clothes - the blood of Christ, our righteousness. In the Garden of Eden, God removed the man-made clothes of Adam and Eve and killed an animal to give them clothes of skin. Blood was required to cover up their sin. God demanded a greater blood sacrifice to not just cover sin, but eradicate it. As Christians, we no longer walk around in our man-made fig leaf abominations. Rather we walk around in clothes wrought with blood. Praise God for that! Praise God that we can't earn it! Praise God that we don't have to try and make adequate clothing for ourselves, but that He has graciously provided all we will ever need to be holy before Him!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
This week in work
My first post in February of '07. Work has been kicking my butt this past week. As you may remember (I think I've mentioned it here, anyway) I work for IAP in the IRS files division (the IRS contracted it out in December). This means that we have long rows of files on shelves in our buildings so we can reference certain tax returns from within the last year or two. We just got finished shipping a bunch of these out, so we now have to move everything around to make room for the new stuff. You might be able to guess where this is going. Because I'm one of the only guys in the building (the ratio is something like 2 guys to 15 girls) and the biggest at that, I got picked to do the biggest job. We have these boxes that we call shoe boxes because they're about that size (unless their my shoe boxes, in which case they are about half the size). They weigh around ten pounds each and forty of them fit in one column. As of today, I have probably moved around 45-55 columns. This means I take them off the shelving, put them on a cart, attempt to roll the cart on the catwalk grating without tipping it over, and then unload them back onto some other shelves. I counted and I have at least 39 more columns to move. That's right, that equals approx. 1,160 boxes, weighing approx. 11,600 lbs. cumulatively, lifted twice for a grand total of approx. 23,200 total pounds of lifting that I will have to do in the next two days. Wow, I just realized that's over 11 tons. You may think I'm complaining, but I'm not. It's actually nice to do work that requires physical effort. I feel like I've accomplished something at the end of the day (I ususally work the mail desk). Plus, I haven't needed to go to the gym this whole week. All-in-all, it's been pretty good.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tea
I think I'm turning into a tea guy. I never would have thought this would happen. I'm not a hot drink kind of guy. But I must say, I like tea. I'm kind of new to it and I haven't tried too many different flavors, but so far I think my favorite is raspberry herbal. It's pretty good. Plus, it doesn't keep me up at night. I just thought I'd share that with you.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
II Samuel 17:14
And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.
Setting: Absalom conspired against David and has driven him from Jeursalem. Ahithophel went to Absalom and forsook David. Hushai is loyal to David and seeks to confound and override Ahitohphel’s good counsel.
In 15:31 David prays that God would turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
In 17:14 God answers David’s prayer, but not in the way we would expect. Ahithophel still gave good and sound counsel. But God turned this counsel into foolishness in the ears of Absalom and the rest of his advisors. In this verse, we see a glimpse of how God did this. We get a glimpse into the inner workings of Heaven and God. In short, God manipulated man in order to accomplish His purposes
God ordained – This is the decreed will of God. He commanded that Absalom would fail to heed Ahithophel’s counsel. This wasn’t a small matter either. In 16:23 we learn that Ahithophel’s counsel was highly esteemed by both David and Absalom and was like seeking the mind of God. So God’s command required a reversal of thought and attitude that had been built up over time. Absalom and his men went against their own better judgment. God changes our inclinations to effect change in our wills. They followed their strongest inclination (Freedom of the Will, Jonathan Edwards), but God decreed that their strongest inclination be changed. He moves the hearts of men like rivers of water.
God ordained to defeat Ahithophel’s counsel – He defeated it. How? God used human means to bring about His ends. God used Hushai – a faithful follower of David – to bring about Absalom’s death. God did the initial work of changing and hardening their hearts so they would be inclined to listen to Hushai. Then God used Hushai to bring about His ends. How often this is the case in all aspects of life. God uses His creation to help bring about His ends. Even in salvation, God changes the hearts of men, but He uses us to deliver the message. This should give us all the more incentive to be faithful in all aspects of our lives so that God will use us and bless us through that and bring us joy.
God intended to bring harm against Absalom – God is indeed the judge. God metes out punishment. He is not simply a God of love. He is also a God of wrath. We see that He punishes Absalom for his wickedness, and He disciplines David for his sin with Bathsheba (in the death of Absalom). God intended to do this. It pleased God to glorify Himself in bringing harm against a human being by violating his so-called free will to effect His purposes.
God manipulates man and uses us in order to accomplish His purposes.
Setting: Absalom conspired against David and has driven him from Jeursalem. Ahithophel went to Absalom and forsook David. Hushai is loyal to David and seeks to confound and override Ahitohphel’s good counsel.
In 15:31 David prays that God would turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
In 17:14 God answers David’s prayer, but not in the way we would expect. Ahithophel still gave good and sound counsel. But God turned this counsel into foolishness in the ears of Absalom and the rest of his advisors. In this verse, we see a glimpse of how God did this. We get a glimpse into the inner workings of Heaven and God. In short, God manipulated man in order to accomplish His purposes
God ordained – This is the decreed will of God. He commanded that Absalom would fail to heed Ahithophel’s counsel. This wasn’t a small matter either. In 16:23 we learn that Ahithophel’s counsel was highly esteemed by both David and Absalom and was like seeking the mind of God. So God’s command required a reversal of thought and attitude that had been built up over time. Absalom and his men went against their own better judgment. God changes our inclinations to effect change in our wills. They followed their strongest inclination (Freedom of the Will, Jonathan Edwards), but God decreed that their strongest inclination be changed. He moves the hearts of men like rivers of water.
God ordained to defeat Ahithophel’s counsel – He defeated it. How? God used human means to bring about His ends. God used Hushai – a faithful follower of David – to bring about Absalom’s death. God did the initial work of changing and hardening their hearts so they would be inclined to listen to Hushai. Then God used Hushai to bring about His ends. How often this is the case in all aspects of life. God uses His creation to help bring about His ends. Even in salvation, God changes the hearts of men, but He uses us to deliver the message. This should give us all the more incentive to be faithful in all aspects of our lives so that God will use us and bless us through that and bring us joy.
God intended to bring harm against Absalom – God is indeed the judge. God metes out punishment. He is not simply a God of love. He is also a God of wrath. We see that He punishes Absalom for his wickedness, and He disciplines David for his sin with Bathsheba (in the death of Absalom). God intended to do this. It pleased God to glorify Himself in bringing harm against a human being by violating his so-called free will to effect His purposes.
God manipulates man and uses us in order to accomplish His purposes.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Contending for the Truth
That's the name of the 2007 Ligonier National Conference. It features Piper, MacArthur, Mohler, Sproul, and Ravi Zacharias. It's in the middle of March in Orlando. I am definitely going to try to be there. The lineup of speakers and topics alone is enough to make me salivate over it, and then you throw in Orlando at the end of winter (9 straight days of below freezing and counting). It would be totally awesome to be there! We'll see what God has in store.
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