While living in a pluralistic world, the reality of being confronted with differing worldviews is a recurrent phenomenon. Often, these life views, namely atheism and theism, will take on a highly dissonant nature where disunity can occur. When engaging someone with an atheistic worldview, from a position of Christian monotheism, considerations such as our personal atheistic and theistic deductions and understanding of God are all valuable tools to bridge interconnectivity. How we respond and interact to these occasions, will allow for us to share our experiences in a convivial manner, which will ultimately empower us to achieve homeostasis and peradventure amenability.
While on a likely, pre-ordained, symbiotic meeting with an atheist on a
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Phillips, Brown and Stonestreet (2008) noted that “the primary means by which God has revealed Himself is the scriptures” (p. 94). Therefore, discussing the textual reliability of the word of God was acute. One way that I explained this was through the concept of M.A.P.S., which stands for manuscripts, archeology, prophecy and statistics. When it concerns just prophecy, there are 2500 in the Bible, 2000 of which have already come to pass (West-Stellick, 2011, p. 36). Furthermore, the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered in 1947, further proved the validity of the Bible as well as the Tel Dan Stela which affirms King David’s existence. In an empirically-oriented world, this data is significant. Even more, when you consider the statistical probabilities of only eleven prophecies in the Bible coming to pass, the numbers are prodigious. For example, if one probability was embodied in the form of a silver dollar, we could put them all together and as Stoner (2005) explained, “make 1028 solid silver balls the size of the sun” (para. 119). Indeed, Jesus was clear about the definitude of the scriptures. Phillips, Brown and Stonestreet (2008) noted that “inerrancy was stated both explicitly and implicitly by Him” (p.
Conjunctive faith allows one to consider the paradoxes of life and multiple truths of the universe and expand their sense of connection with others (Hutchinson, 2015). Universalizing faith focuses on an awareness of justice, injustices, and love resulting in selfless actions (Hutchinson, 2015). Although many never reach the final stages of faith development, Fowler’s theory of faith development can still be used to critically evaluate how one utilizes faith to cope with life’s challenges as the go through the stages of faith
Nancy Pearcey, American evangelical author, said, “Having a Christian Worldview means being utterly convinced that biblical principles are not only true but also work better in the grit and grime of the real world.” Everyone has a world view whether they are religious or not. A standard Worldview is how people see the world and how humans pertain to it. A Worldview is not only a way people view the world but it can change the world through cultures, countries, and civilizations similarly to how they shape individuals. A Christian Worldview is a view from a religious standpoint and seeing that the world is a sinful place and it is important to try and change that through Gods help. There are children in this world with environments that can damage their belief in Jesus. As having a Christian Worldview, myself I see this and know that there must be something done about it.
Under the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, in what sense is the Bible authoritative? This is a question that has plagued the minds of many as a major element of historic Christian belief about Scripture as well as been a controversial topic of academic discussions. One of the major areas of conflict in the theological arena has been biblical authority as noted in
A worldview is the lens through which one looks at the world. Specifically, worldview is a set of presuppositions, assumptions that can be entirely true, partially true, or not true at all, that govern the way one perceives the world and make moral judgements and decisions. Worldview can be compared to the foundation of a building on which everything else rests including ideas of morality, decision-making, and life questions concerning purpose and origin.
One of the most positive things about being an American is the ability to interact in “the melting pot” of various cultures all around. While most of us obviously identify with our own specific culture, the variety within our society is extremely diverse, allowing intercultural communication and presents a learning experience for those who are able to communicate and with one another. When observing and interacting with cultures other than my own, I am able to identify some similarities, as well as the differences from their culture to mine. Throughout this semester we have learned so many things about different cultures and worldviews, I have begun to learn a lot more about myself and my personal religious views. I have never followed a religious practice on my own choice, but it is encouraging to see how it positively impacts others in my life.
Everyone has a worldview, whether consciously or subconsciously. We all have certain assumptions or presuppositions and beliefs about reality and life that alters the way we perceive the world. Without such presuppositions one can’t give a rational defense of their own belief system. Faith and tolerance are generally considered core American cultural values. However, in a democratic society, those who defend the sacredness of religious principles often find themselves in opposition with those who defend the freedom of individuals wishing to express their viewpoints. A healthy Christian worldview can reduce the negative influences of secular worldviews and entrench the positives by respecting, understanding, and appreciating the rich diversity
Questions about the authenticity of the Holy Bible have been interrogated since the first circulation of the Word. Nonbelievers dispute the entirety of the actuality of the Holy Bible. While skeptical believers along with some nonbelievers question the accuracy of recorded events within the Holy Bible, specifically the Gospels. Individuals debate the issue if the Gospels are historically reliable, claiming there is no tangible evidence and the books contradict themselves. Mark D. Roberts, in his book, Can we Trust the Gospels? was able to provide reliable evidence and reasons on why people can trust the Gospels. His book gives an overview on the subject of the gospel reliability and trustworthiness.
Many scholars claim the New Testament is not reliable for many reasons. Some claim that the Bible is not reliably transmitted because it's like the telephone game. Others say that the Bible has been copied so many times there is no way it's accurate. When examining documents like the Bible, we can find out it's reliability by asking some fundamental questions. Was the document written close to the events it describes? Is the document able to be corroborated by multiple external sources? Has the document been reliably transmitted or copied? If we answer yes to these questions, we determine the document is reliable.
Richard Feldman revealed his religion choice of atheist. Feldman lectures a course called, “Rationality, Relativism, and Religion” and centers his research from findings in this class. He establishes that a good amount of the class are religion majors. Throughout the course, the students displayed two attitudes toward disagreement. These attitudes are intolerance and relativism. He feels we should have an open mind when coming about discussing disagreements. There is no room for religious bigotry simply because it is not useful. Having an open mind when engaging in these discussion allows for full analytical overview.
The Bible is infallible: totally complete without errors or mistakes. Psalm 19:7 says “The Law of the Lord is perfect.” Our God can not sin and is without error, so his word to us is complete without error. Proverbs 30:5 also says, “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” There have been approximately two thousand prophecies foretold in the Bible and every single one of them have come completely true, down to the last jot and tittle.
The author begins his personal story, some might call it testimony, with explaining the process of becoming an atheist in the first place, before rejecting it after all these years. Born as the son of a Methodist minister and preacher, Flew went to a Christian school, and was, as he calls himself, a ‘committed and conscientious, if unenthusiastic, Christian’ (p.10). He did not feel a personal connection to God and was not interested in any kind of worship.
The first proof of Biblical inerrancy is that God and His words are true. Dr. R. Albert Mahler Jr, said “The God who is completely trustworthy has given His people a book that is equally trustworthy” (MacArthur). The Bible repeatedly confirms these truths in the Old and New Testament. Psalm 31:5 and Isaiah 65:16 declare that God is “the God of truth.” John 17:17 states, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth” and Titus 1:2 asserts that God is a “God who cannot lie.”
The Bible is the inerrant word of God, which He ordained through inspiration and the written words of men. It is the final authority by which all things should be tested. Anything that strays from this fact is against the Bible and therefore against God. The only way that the Bible could have been God-breathed is through the Holy Sprit coming upon men because 1 Corinthians 2:11 clearly states that no one can know the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God just as no one knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of man. 2 Peter 1:16-18 confirms this by saying that no prophet’s words were there own, but they came to them through the Holy Spirit. Since God is the true author, the Bible cannot have errors because God cannot lie or speak falsely (Grudem 40). If the Bible contained errors, the character of God would be undermined. God is also outside of time which implies that the Bible is outside of time which means that no new evidence will
In this term paper we know this study is an important topic, as it remains a great controversy to the world for many thousands of years – is the bible reliable, more importantly, is the spiritual author of the bible reliable to the world? We will convince them that indeed the Bible is reliable. This paper plays an important role in convincing many people, including the researchers themselves to the truth.
Within the cultural assignment, I had the opportunity to talk with an atheist regarding the origin of his beliefs. Anthony was the name of the person that I talked to. Within our discussion, I learned that there were vast differences in the story of our personal development. I proclaim to be a Christian and was influenced by my mother to live a Christian lifestyle. While growing up, I was not exposed to a variety of other religions, and was the implication of Christianity as being the right choice in faiths was imprinted on me from an early age. On the other hand, Anthony grew up in a non-religious environment that did not consider religion as being a mandatory part of everyday life.