(Originally Written September 22, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Appendix A
The theory that there is insufficient evidence for theism contains three logical blunders:
1. The move to atheism by default is not an academically credible switch to make when there are many other choices
2. To state that 'I am an atheist because there isn't enough evidence for theism' implies a logically satisfactory defense of atheism they do not possess. They hold it even though it is logically indefensible while at the same time rejecting theism on the basis that it is logically indefensible.
3. Atheism cannot be defended and that is why it has become a softer version of agnosticism.
Nietzsche may have created an environment for Hitler, but what about the crusades under Christianity?
The difference is that under the philosophy of Nietzsche, Hitler's ideology was permissible. The crusades were a political endeavor that was disguised as an outlet of Christianity. It takes a path starkly different than that of Christ's philosophies.
Appendix B
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
Believed that "I think, therefore, I am"
Defends the existence of God by stating that the human mind cannot come up with the concept of a perfect mind because a man's mind is imperfect. It therefore must have been placed into the imperfect mind by the perfect mind, which is God.
Defends the existence of God by stating just as a triangle by definition must have three sides, so a necessary being must exist. God is necessary and therefore, He exists.
Descartes reduced God to an innate idea.
David Hume (1711-1776)
Believed knowledge could only be derived by experience.
Anything that transcends a man's finite existence on earth is meaningless. God and creation are therefore not worthy to question about.
Believed that man has no soul
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
Attempted a synthesis between empiricism (British philosophy) and rationalism (Continental European philosophy)
Kant's theory of knowledge (summary): Raw material consists of the outside world which is perceived by the senses, but that is inevitably processed by the human brain. It is the mind's perception of the object that we see, not the object in reality.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
The individual's ability to choose is of the supreme importance. Choosing God is a 'leap of faith' that affirms God's existence, but recognizes it as an intellectual absurdity.
Three stages of life:
-Aesthetic
-Ethical
-Religious
From Kierkegaard's journal: "The thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die". Thus, truth is relative to the individual.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Believed everything in life could be reduced to sheer will.
Belief in the superman. Superman was one who realizes the human predicament but who nevertheless creates his own values in the face of anguish or deprivation and can build his life in triumph over it.
Elizabeth (Friedrich's sister) called Hitler the superman
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)
Concerned himself with dilemmas and argued against God by making the debater against him choose one of his either/or postulates.
His presuppositions were however, wrong.
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)
A leading exponent of atheistic existentialism
Shifted from existentialism to a version of Marxist sociology later in life.
Sartre's philosophy led to the bloodshed in Cambodia
Man must choose for himself and author his own values.
Argued against the existence of God by stating that man cannot find God by himself.
Possibly disavowed his life's philosophy on his death bed.
Showing posts with label Zacharias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zacharias. Show all posts
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Can Man Live Without God? Chapters 10-16
(Originally written September 21, 2005 in Book 1).
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 10 - Love's Labor Won
Components of meaning:
-Pursuit of wonder
-Knowledge of truth
-Love
-Security
The consummation of love comes in young adulthood.
Chapter 11 - Crossing the Bar
The search for security comes in maturity.
Chapter 12 - Getting to the truth
Modern times has seen the death of truth because truth is absolute and all absolutes are nowadays discredited. That's an absolute spoken to discredit all other absolutes. Ironic isn't it?
Three tests to see if a system is true:
1) Logical consistency
2) Empirical adequacy
3) Experiential relevance
Chapter 13 - Humanity's dilemma
Man is not intrinsically good and any optimistic philosophy that bases their views on this presupposition is sadly proved wrong by history time and time again.
The heart of man is desperately wicked.
Christianity insists God created man to be equal in dignity and essence, but not all ideas are equal. Some ideas are better than others.
"Greatness in the eyes of God is always preceded by humility before him".
Conviction of sin comes when we compare ourselves to God. Earthly greatness comes when we compare ourselves to other's low standards.
Chapter 14 - The Philosopher's Quest
Out of diversity comes unity.
The Trinity is diverse and unified. It is diverse in their personalities and unified as an all-powerful, all-loving God.
One of the great longings of humanity is to worship. Worship should involve both the spirit and truth.
Worship needs the constraints of truth so it doesn't become superstition or be reduced to mere ceremony. The truth which defines and creates something to worship is God.
Worship is coextensive with life.
Worship provides unity within all of life's diversity. It gives life the necessary tools for the ultimate fulfillment.
The pattern for unity in diversity is the Trinity.
The philosophical quest for truth and the answer of unity is found in Christ.
Chapter 15 - The Historian's Centerpiece
Christ fused the past, the present and the future together to form a Holy lifestyle. It remembers the past and looks to the future, but it acts during the present.
Christ's death provides the key to life.
Chapter 16 - The believer's treasure
"Why are we so unhappy" (as a society)? "We are a troubled civilization because the loss of a moral and spiritual center" (Zacharias, 169).
The difference between manmade utopias and heaven is the cross of Christ. Christ took on all the pain and suffering so that we could go to heaven. In manmade utopian settings suffering and pain is eliminated without being accounted for.
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 10 - Love's Labor Won
Components of meaning:
-Pursuit of wonder
-Knowledge of truth
-Love
-Security
The consummation of love comes in young adulthood.
Chapter 11 - Crossing the Bar
The search for security comes in maturity.
Chapter 12 - Getting to the truth
Modern times has seen the death of truth because truth is absolute and all absolutes are nowadays discredited. That's an absolute spoken to discredit all other absolutes. Ironic isn't it?
Three tests to see if a system is true:
1) Logical consistency
2) Empirical adequacy
3) Experiential relevance
Chapter 13 - Humanity's dilemma
Man is not intrinsically good and any optimistic philosophy that bases their views on this presupposition is sadly proved wrong by history time and time again.
The heart of man is desperately wicked.
Christianity insists God created man to be equal in dignity and essence, but not all ideas are equal. Some ideas are better than others.
"Greatness in the eyes of God is always preceded by humility before him".
Conviction of sin comes when we compare ourselves to God. Earthly greatness comes when we compare ourselves to other's low standards.
Chapter 14 - The Philosopher's Quest
Out of diversity comes unity.
The Trinity is diverse and unified. It is diverse in their personalities and unified as an all-powerful, all-loving God.
One of the great longings of humanity is to worship. Worship should involve both the spirit and truth.
Worship needs the constraints of truth so it doesn't become superstition or be reduced to mere ceremony. The truth which defines and creates something to worship is God.
Worship is coextensive with life.
Worship provides unity within all of life's diversity. It gives life the necessary tools for the ultimate fulfillment.
The pattern for unity in diversity is the Trinity.
The philosophical quest for truth and the answer of unity is found in Christ.
Chapter 15 - The Historian's Centerpiece
Christ fused the past, the present and the future together to form a Holy lifestyle. It remembers the past and looks to the future, but it acts during the present.
Christ's death provides the key to life.
Chapter 16 - The believer's treasure
"Why are we so unhappy" (as a society)? "We are a troubled civilization because the loss of a moral and spiritual center" (Zacharias, 169).
The difference between manmade utopias and heaven is the cross of Christ. Christ took on all the pain and suffering so that we could go to heaven. In manmade utopian settings suffering and pain is eliminated without being accounted for.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Can Man Live Without God? Chapter 9
(Originally written September 20, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 9 - Truth: An Endangered Species
When the fantasy of childhood ends and the search for wonder with it, adolescence brings the search for truth.
The search for truth must first have the intention of seeking truth and then dealing with the content of truth.
Truth and knowledge are not the same thing.
The absence of truth is not usually the reason for misunderstanding it. The suppression of truth is the root of misunderstanding.
Truth is gained through a relationship with Jesus Christ, not an understanding of his teachings.
Truth is absolute and truth is knowable.
By claiming to be the truth, Jesus implies all he says is true and cannot be false.
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 9 - Truth: An Endangered Species
When the fantasy of childhood ends and the search for wonder with it, adolescence brings the search for truth.
The search for truth must first have the intention of seeking truth and then dealing with the content of truth.
Truth and knowledge are not the same thing.
The absence of truth is not usually the reason for misunderstanding it. The suppression of truth is the root of misunderstanding.
Truth is gained through a relationship with Jesus Christ, not an understanding of his teachings.
Truth is absolute and truth is knowable.
By claiming to be the truth, Jesus implies all he says is true and cannot be false.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Can Man Live Without God? Chapter 8
(Originally written September 19, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 8 - The Romance of Enchantment
Childhood search for meaning: the sense of wonder in a child is what fascinates us about children and it is what fascinates a child. It is wonder that draws a child to search for meaning.
A child accepts fairy tales for three reasons:
1) It contains a moral and the enchantment and wonder of the story makes us eager to see the moral behind it.
2) It contains a non-negotiable condition, i.e. 'you must be back by the stroke of 12'.
3) This is an interesting point, because it is never questioned (which is the third part of the fairy tale)
Meaning for a child is produced by his/her recognition of the awe inspiring reality that surrounds his/her life. A child then loses his sense of wonder and enters adolescence.
But gratitude comes from wonder and wonder is cognizant of God himself.
When we lose wonder we lose a lot of things. We lose gratitude; we lose part of meaning and we diminish aspects of life that make it worth living.
The older you get the more it takes to fill your heart with wonder. Only God is big enough to supply an endless stream of wonder.
God meets you where you are and restores the wonder in your heart. Then you can walk with Him in a new sense of awe and passion.
Nietzsche said he went looking for God and didn't find him. Thus, nihilism was born.
The search for wonder does not lead us to the pursuit of knowledge, happiness or of life's vices. It leads us to a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 8 - The Romance of Enchantment
Childhood search for meaning: the sense of wonder in a child is what fascinates us about children and it is what fascinates a child. It is wonder that draws a child to search for meaning.
A child accepts fairy tales for three reasons:
1) It contains a moral and the enchantment and wonder of the story makes us eager to see the moral behind it.
2) It contains a non-negotiable condition, i.e. 'you must be back by the stroke of 12'.
3) This is an interesting point, because it is never questioned (which is the third part of the fairy tale)
Meaning for a child is produced by his/her recognition of the awe inspiring reality that surrounds his/her life. A child then loses his sense of wonder and enters adolescence.
But gratitude comes from wonder and wonder is cognizant of God himself.
When we lose wonder we lose a lot of things. We lose gratitude; we lose part of meaning and we diminish aspects of life that make it worth living.
The older you get the more it takes to fill your heart with wonder. Only God is big enough to supply an endless stream of wonder.
God meets you where you are and restores the wonder in your heart. Then you can walk with Him in a new sense of awe and passion.
Nietzsche said he went looking for God and didn't find him. Thus, nihilism was born.
The search for wonder does not lead us to the pursuit of knowledge, happiness or of life's vices. It leads us to a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Can Man Live Without God - Chapter 7
(Originally written September 18, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter Seven - The science of knowing and the art of living
The what and why of life are bound together. Is the meaning of life the same for all or, "are we condemned to wallow in culturally relative quotients, ever changing the point of reference and relegating meaning to the sense of happiness or to how one feels at a given moment?" (Zacharias, 67). The world has reduced the meaning of life to this quotation.
Michael Polanyi states that science gives us normative knowledge, while poetry, art and religion give us meaning. Polanyi continues to say that society gives meaning to science and if it is reversed, science is in danger of destroying life. (Read Michael Polanyi's book Meaning)
By reducing the world to its atomic level, science has made the search for meaning a meaningless pursuit. The search for meaning however, is not a meaningless pursuit. It is the essence of our very beings. Science may answer the 'hows' of life, but it leaves us empty because it cannot answer the 'whys'.
People look for meaning in their four stages of life, regardless towards their faith in any religion, god or science. They search in childhood, adolescence, young adulthood and maturity alike.
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter Seven - The science of knowing and the art of living
The what and why of life are bound together. Is the meaning of life the same for all or, "are we condemned to wallow in culturally relative quotients, ever changing the point of reference and relegating meaning to the sense of happiness or to how one feels at a given moment?" (Zacharias, 67). The world has reduced the meaning of life to this quotation.
Michael Polanyi states that science gives us normative knowledge, while poetry, art and religion give us meaning. Polanyi continues to say that society gives meaning to science and if it is reversed, science is in danger of destroying life. (Read Michael Polanyi's book Meaning)
By reducing the world to its atomic level, science has made the search for meaning a meaningless pursuit. The search for meaning however, is not a meaningless pursuit. It is the essence of our very beings. Science may answer the 'hows' of life, but it leaves us empty because it cannot answer the 'whys'.
People look for meaning in their four stages of life, regardless towards their faith in any religion, god or science. They search in childhood, adolescence, young adulthood and maturity alike.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Can Man Live Without God - Chapter 6
(Originally Written September 17, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 6 - In search of a lower meaning
God provides great meaning for life. If we kill God we lose our great meaning, leaving us empty and void of purpose. Man must have a purpose to live, so we have to find a lower purpose, if we are to be antitheists.
Isn't the pursuit of happiness a meaning to life? Antitheists choose to find happiness and success as their purpose and meaning.
But, Even when we achieve the pinnacle of success we find ourselves still empty and unfulfilled.
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 6 - In search of a lower meaning
God provides great meaning for life. If we kill God we lose our great meaning, leaving us empty and void of purpose. Man must have a purpose to live, so we have to find a lower purpose, if we are to be antitheists.
Isn't the pursuit of happiness a meaning to life? Antitheists choose to find happiness and success as their purpose and meaning.
But, Even when we achieve the pinnacle of success we find ourselves still empty and unfulfilled.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Can Man Live Without God - Chapter 5
(Originally written September 16, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 5 - Where is Antitheism when it hurts?
Antitheism cannot provide a remedy for pain because an antitheist believes that life has no meaning. If life has no meaning what is the purpose of alleviating pain? Antitheism abolishes the past and the future leaving man to only fend for himself in the present. WHere is the hope in that if you are facing insurmountable odds?
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 5 - Where is Antitheism when it hurts?
Antitheism cannot provide a remedy for pain because an antitheist believes that life has no meaning. If life has no meaning what is the purpose of alleviating pain? Antitheism abolishes the past and the future leaving man to only fend for himself in the present. WHere is the hope in that if you are facing insurmountable odds?
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Can Man Live Without God - Chapter 4
(Originally written September 15, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter Four - The Homeless Mind
Antitheism hopes to create a literal and figurative utopia where goodness is derived apart from God. Unfortunately, these goals are shattered by failure without reverting to sheer pragmatism.
Immanuel Kant tried to establish a moral impetus within man and to postulate a system of right and wrong from reason alone. Kant set the groundwork for intellectual demagogues of both the Democratic West and the totalitarian Soviet Union.
The USA is to become the USSR without God.
Kant had two theories:
1) That goodness was rational and morals were rational. Thus, all rational beings would be drawn to them.
2) Kant believed that the first theory was contained within mankind and had the capacity to perform these moral and good deeds. By our reason we therefore know what is right and by our will we can do what is right.
Kant believed that God is not essential to reveal morality since man can come to morality by reason; but, he does not deny that God has given some commands. Antitheists praise the first part of this and conveniently omit the second.
Kant's efforts to provide a rational basis for ethics and morals apart from God was unsuccesful but paved the way for existentialists like Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard proposed that rational beings don't gravitate towarads morality, but they have the choice to think of terms in ethic or not to think in terms of ethics.
This and other Enlightenment Age philosophies fail to produce coherent postulates because it leaves life meaningless. To establish morals there must first be the basis of human purpose and destiny. This can solely be arrived at through God. Dostoevsky said, "If God is dead, anything is justifiable."
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter Four - The Homeless Mind
Antitheism hopes to create a literal and figurative utopia where goodness is derived apart from God. Unfortunately, these goals are shattered by failure without reverting to sheer pragmatism.
Immanuel Kant tried to establish a moral impetus within man and to postulate a system of right and wrong from reason alone. Kant set the groundwork for intellectual demagogues of both the Democratic West and the totalitarian Soviet Union.
The USA is to become the USSR without God.
Kant had two theories:
1) That goodness was rational and morals were rational. Thus, all rational beings would be drawn to them.
2) Kant believed that the first theory was contained within mankind and had the capacity to perform these moral and good deeds. By our reason we therefore know what is right and by our will we can do what is right.
Kant believed that God is not essential to reveal morality since man can come to morality by reason; but, he does not deny that God has given some commands. Antitheists praise the first part of this and conveniently omit the second.
Kant's efforts to provide a rational basis for ethics and morals apart from God was unsuccesful but paved the way for existentialists like Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard proposed that rational beings don't gravitate towarads morality, but they have the choice to think of terms in ethic or not to think in terms of ethics.
This and other Enlightenment Age philosophies fail to produce coherent postulates because it leaves life meaningless. To establish morals there must first be the basis of human purpose and destiny. This can solely be arrived at through God. Dostoevsky said, "If God is dead, anything is justifiable."
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Can Man live without God - Chapter 3
(Originally written September 14, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 3 - The Mad Man Arrives
Auschwitz survivor Victor Frank: "If we present man with a concept of man which is not true, we may well corrupt him. When we present him as an automation of reflexes, as a mind machine, as a bundle of instincts, as a pawn of drive and reactions, as a mere product of heredity and environment, we feed the nihilism to which modern man is, in any case, prone. I became acquainted, with the the last stage of corruption in my second concentration camp, Auschwitz. The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment - or, as the Nazis liked to say, 'of blood and soil'. I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka and Majdanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers" (Zacharias, 25).
As America removes the 10 Commandments from the constitution, we are setting the tables fore the rise of "sophisticated and elite" ideologies that will pave the way for another Hitler. This is the child of antitheism and materialism.
Aldous Huxley:
"I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently, I assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know. It is our own will that decides how and upon what subjects we shall use our intelligence. Those who detect no meaning in the world generally do so because, for one reason to another, it suits their books that the world should be meaningless".
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 3 - The Mad Man Arrives
Auschwitz survivor Victor Frank: "If we present man with a concept of man which is not true, we may well corrupt him. When we present him as an automation of reflexes, as a mind machine, as a bundle of instincts, as a pawn of drive and reactions, as a mere product of heredity and environment, we feed the nihilism to which modern man is, in any case, prone. I became acquainted, with the the last stage of corruption in my second concentration camp, Auschwitz. The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment - or, as the Nazis liked to say, 'of blood and soil'. I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka and Majdanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers" (Zacharias, 25).
As America removes the 10 Commandments from the constitution, we are setting the tables fore the rise of "sophisticated and elite" ideologies that will pave the way for another Hitler. This is the child of antitheism and materialism.
Aldous Huxley:
"I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently, I assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know. It is our own will that decides how and upon what subjects we shall use our intelligence. Those who detect no meaning in the world generally do so because, for one reason to another, it suits their books that the world should be meaningless".
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Can Man live without God - Chapter 2
(Originally Written September 13, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter Two: Straying through an infinite nothing
Atheism is the deliberate denial of the existence of God. Atheism bows actions on materialism. Materialism states that nothing exists but natural phenomena. There are no supernatural forces.
"Atheism is not merely a passive unbelief in God, but an assertive denial of the major claims of all varieties of theism. Atheism contradicts belief in God with a positive affirmation of matter as the ultimate reality" (Zacharias, 17).
One of Nietzsche's contentions was that Christianity had paralyzed human potential. Hitler claimed, "I freed Germany from the stupid and degrading fallacies of conscience and morality. We will train young people whom the world will tremble at. I want young people capable of violence, imperious, relenting and cruel".
Atheism destroyed morality and conscience and without those two things, man is free to become as evil as he can be. Hitler was begotten of enlightened and freed Germany.
Can Man Live without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter Two: Straying through an infinite nothing
Atheism is the deliberate denial of the existence of God. Atheism bows actions on materialism. Materialism states that nothing exists but natural phenomena. There are no supernatural forces.
"Atheism is not merely a passive unbelief in God, but an assertive denial of the major claims of all varieties of theism. Atheism contradicts belief in God with a positive affirmation of matter as the ultimate reality" (Zacharias, 17).
One of Nietzsche's contentions was that Christianity had paralyzed human potential. Hitler claimed, "I freed Germany from the stupid and degrading fallacies of conscience and morality. We will train young people whom the world will tremble at. I want young people capable of violence, imperious, relenting and cruel".
Atheism destroyed morality and conscience and without those two things, man is free to become as evil as he can be. Hitler was begotten of enlightened and freed Germany.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Can Man Live Without God - Chapter 1
(Originally Written September 12, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
In this book Zacharias deals with antitheism, what gives life meaning, and who Jesus is.
Chapter 1 - Anguish in affluence
Philosophy takes place on three tiers
Level One: Foundational level of theory. Great philosophical debate and dealing with clear epistemological bias. This level involves rigorous application of the laws of logic. THere is no room for feeling, culture or emotion at this level.
Level Two: This level deals with that which is done through the arts.
Level Three: This level deals with that which is had at a kitchen table.
Level three is where most of humanity lives and operates. In order for a philosophical theory to be understood it must be debated and conversed at level three so that all humanity can understand.
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
In this book Zacharias deals with antitheism, what gives life meaning, and who Jesus is.
Chapter 1 - Anguish in affluence
Philosophy takes place on three tiers
Level One: Foundational level of theory. Great philosophical debate and dealing with clear epistemological bias. This level involves rigorous application of the laws of logic. THere is no room for feeling, culture or emotion at this level.
Level Two: This level deals with that which is done through the arts.
Level Three: This level deals with that which is had at a kitchen table.
Level three is where most of humanity lives and operates. In order for a philosophical theory to be understood it must be debated and conversed at level three so that all humanity can understand.
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