Moreland 's ' Kingdom Triangle, And The Cultural Crisis Of Our Age Essay

Scholars and ministers alike realize that religion in the late 20th and early 21st centuries has taken on a far different socio-cultural format than ever in the past. The power of technology, modernity, and enhanced communication makes it much easier to reach out to other countries, other faiths, and other cultural paradigms. Technology, even social networks, have brought the religious experience to many that would not normally have had the opportunity to share (e.g. television evangelism, the radio, podcasts, etc.). Nevertheless, despite technology, there remains the core belief of Christianity that of oneness with God and using God's plan to form a productive Christian life. One challenge for many Christians, however, is in the secular and scientific age, how can one reconcile faith to science or the changes in the world over the last several decades?

In the book Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity, David N. Entwistle explores the relationship between theology and psychology. Throughout time, intellectuals have supported or dismissed the idea of integrating both perspectives. In his book, Entwistle states that during the past century, the relationship of faith and science has been a topic of intense debate (Entwistle, 2010, p8). He references to Athens and Jerusalem to help the reader to grasp the theme of the book. Athens represents knowledge through human reason

In L. Russ Bush’s Christian apologetic work, The Advancement: Keeping the Faith in an Evolutionary Age, he details the development and apparent fallacy associated with the modern naturalist worldview. Bush, a professor at Southeast Baptist Theological Seminary, focuses on the idea of inevitable progression within the modern worldview and provides an overview of this view’s promulgation within epistemology. Bush asserts

This transmission and responsible commentary on tradition must be understood in the context of a double judgement made by Kasper around Christianity and the philosophical thought. Kasper suggests that Christianity is in a “transitional state.” In terms of philosophical thought, the author claims that the modern principle of subjective, the process in which “man posits himself as the starting-point and measure for understanding reality as a whole,” is certainly in relation to the history of Christianity. In this way,

When dwelling into the explorations about science and religion, one can find it quite amusing. "If science and religion are to continue to coexist it seems opposed to the conditions of modern thought to admit that this result can be brought about by the so-called

The same cannot be said for today’s culture. Today’s culture has shifted from spiritual and ethical knowledge, to empirical knowledge. Moreland explains that empirical knowledge is knowledge that is acquired through means of the senses, most commonly with observations and experiments. This way of thinking has caused a dominance of secular ideologies, and has invalidated Christian based knowledge, because it is not computable. Moreland challenges this claim by defining what exactly knowledge is. He defines knowledge as the ability to present things as they are, through the means of thought and experiences. God can be presented through thoughts and experiences. Christians are equipped with spiritual and ethical knowledge, because God has left us with centuries of his actions, and millions of Christians have experienced God on an intimate level. Moreland states that through renovation of the soul and returning to authentic spiritual formation you will be able to deepen this

J.P. Moreland’s book, Kingdom Triangle, asserts the irreplaceable role of knowledge in the Church’s duty of guiding the world out of darkness and into what the author calls “life indeed”. Moreland presents the human race as a lost people in search of truth. In life, truth holds the ultimate authority because it remains the end goal. The world constantly looks for a guide in the search of life’s ultimate meaning. Any individual, any idea can quickly become a source of hope for the lost. Religious movements claim to answer life’s greatest question. Each apparent truth works to prove a different meaning to life, a unique way to live and a grander story to captivate any audience willing to listen. Social trends attempt to fill the soul’s emptiness by providing a safety net within the confines of conformity. Scientific studies and technological advances relentlessly push the limits of the definition of possible in order to be enough, whatever that may mean. All missions point back to one ultimate mission, the quest toward an abundant life. But all fall short. Knowledge provides an individual with the right to power and authority and the lack of knowledge eliminates an individual from the same positions. An individual exudes knowledge in the ability to represent a topic with clarity, purpose, expertise and experience. It is about representing well. When the Christian receives the gift of salvation and eternal life, he or she takes on the responsibility of representing knowledge of

L. Russ Bush, professor of Philosophy and Dean of students at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, presents a worldview labelled “the advancement”, a naturalistic evolutionary view that better describes the philosophical era through which we are passing (ix). The author describes the origin and consequences of naturalistic philosophy over a theistic worldview and challenges Christians to defend and protect their religious rights (4). Bush presents how advancement has been detrimental to religion throughout history and points out the flaws of naturalism, classifying it as “internally inconsistent, empirically inadequate, and lacking in satisfactory explanatory power” (94). He presents Christianity as the true worldview, which “has passion

At the same as scholars such as Erasmus, Bacon and Galileo emerged, “scholastic theologians arrogantly sat back and issued condemnations,” which greatly hindered the advancement of intellect (Nauert, 431).[x] Clearly established thus far was the recently renewed desire for new knowledge; in response, many new education establishments received great support and ideas began to circulate. In order for the continuing and pursuit of the ever evolving goals of humanists, there needed to be some change that would allow for this. This is one

Since junior high, I have been always interested in science and realism. I was always amazed at the natural phenomena around the world, and I am a kind of person who does not easily trust unless there is a solid proof. I am like Thomas, one of the twelve disciples who refused to believe that Jesus was alive unless he reach out his hand into Jesus’ side (John 20:24-25). I became numb of Christian thinking because I was too obsessed with the tangible reality. Therefore, reading the book “Christian Mind” by Harry Blamires, opened up my eyes to Christian mind.

New scientific discoveries not only enhanced man’s comfort in life but also his appreciation of human potential and reason. It was becoming increasingly evident that it was to man’s benefit to reason and understand. With this realization came the need to determine the proper place of human reasoning in man’s life. The philosophies of the early post-Reformation period dealt with this issue—how to relate and balance faith and reason. Gone was the blind, unquestioning faith of the medieval period. Men were now free to doubt and deny. Those who believed in Christ and His claims found themselves increasingly shifting to a defensive stance and trying to accommodate human reason.

First of all, I appreciate Barbour’s praiseworthy and toilsome effort to put theology and science in a meaningful and fruitful dialogue, by seriously taking account of both continuities and discontinuities between scientific metaphors and religious metaphors. For Barbour, because both disciplines have continuities and discontinuities they can contribute to our more comprehensive understanding of the reality of our experiences in the world through their metaphorical relationship. While scientific models, theories, and paradigms are focused on the explanation of natural phenomena, the religious counterparts are more focused on the human experience of their natural/social environments and evoking moral and attitudinal responses, while religious affirmations do not exclude truth claims like the scientific claims do. Also, like religion, scientists also hold on to their traditions in their observation and interpretation of natural phenomena; hence, they are not neutral. In that sense, I agree with Barbour that science and religion bear significant similitude, while they can complement each other in our holistic understanding of our world.

The difference between the “is” of academic study and the “ought” of the theological practice is that the conception of “is” within the academic study employs an anthropological viewpoint to determine the ideologies instituted by individuals within societal grounds (McCutcheon, n.d.). In fact, the “is” aspect of the academic study of religion focuses on studying humans and their beliefs as well as behavior regarding religion from a descriptive perception within the social organization (McCutcheon, n.d.). For example, the moral values supported by individuals serve to be their beliefs and why these beliefs are significant in understanding the human thought process as evidently studied within the academic study (McCutcheon, n.d.). While, the

Since the dawn of mankind religion has been one of the most significant elements of a society’s social and cultural beliefs and actions. However, this trend has declined due to the general increase in knowledge regarding our the natural sciences. Where we had previously attributed something that we didn’t understand to the working of a higher power, is now replaced by a simple explanation offered by natural sciences. While advocates of Religion may question Natural Sciences by stating that they are based on assumptions, it is important to note the Natural Sciences are based on theories and principles which can be proven using mathematical equations and formulas. Faith however contrasts from the easily visible feasibility of data

White begins his argument regarding Judeo-Christianity’s effects upon science and technology by speaking about the original rise of these concepts beginning in the Middle Ages. At the time of the Middle Ages, religion had a very large influence upon the views of the relationship between humans and the environment. Stemming from prevalent Christian views of the