World Views

Today's lecture was great. Sort of long, but that was fine, because Nash explained a lot of great stuff. I'm posting the link and my version of an outline (With commentary) just to give you guys an idea of what I got out of it.  Be Warned: this post is kind of long. Feel free to skim, and or skip around. Reading the whole thing is cool too. :) 

Part 3

III. Worldviews in Conflict

A. Definition of a Worldview.  

The way Nash described a world view was this: "The sum total of answers to the most important questions in life." What he means really, is that we all have a base of beliefs which govern how we live. It's a system, or collection of ideas, that comprises this "View". 

1. Everyone has a worldview. 

Sometimes we think of a world view as something people choose to have, but in reality, whether intentional or not, we all have some sort of view or lens through which we view the world. 

2. Few people understand what a worldview is. 

Most people really don't know what a world view is, or that they have one. Even Christians sometimes don't understand what a "World View" Entails. 

B. Five Important Parts of a Worldview (These are basically just questions each world view answers. Again, even if people feel like they don't have specific answers to these questions, they still have some sort of belief. It can be unconcious, but it's there.)

1. God

a. Atheism, God or no God? 

b. Theism, Multiple Gods? 

c. Pantheism, Multiple ways to heaven? (No heaven at all?)

d. Polytheism, Multiple Gods? 

2. Ultimate Reality

a. How old is the universe? Where'd it come from? Who made it? 

b. Materialism? Is everything just Stuff? Or something more? 

c. Mind or Soul? Do we have more than just flesh as a body? 

3. Knowledge

a. Senses or Intellect?

b. Is truth relative?

4. Ethics - What is right and wrong?

5. Human Persons

a. Human consciousness?  

b. Freedom vs. Determinism, Can we really decide our own fate? Our destiny? 

C. Three Functions of a Worldview

1. Eyeglasses- a lens through which to view the world. Alters our view of things. When things don't make sense, its a clue that you might have a "broken" or "skewed" world view. 

2. Map- It acts as a guide when we need to make decisions. As Christians, We need to understand that non-believers are following the Wrong map, and need God's map to help them get on track. 

3. Picture Puzzle- (I LOVED this analogy). Basically, a world view can also act as the Box of a puzzle. When we get information (Things happen, we make decisions, we learn things, etc.), we need to know how to process that information. We need to know where to put it- how to organize it. The box allows us to look at the bigger picture, in order to piece together our own lives to model that. 

D. Two Worldviews 

1. Naturalism

a. Closed box. The box is our universe. They believe that nothing exists outside our box, and that the box is eternal (No one created it, it's just always existed). 

b. Physical, Material World. They don't believe in any sort of Soul or
being outside of our physical bodies. 

c.. Found in Marxism, Humanism, Atheism

d. The "Essence" of Naturalism

2. Christian Theism

a. Open box

i. God exists outside the box.

ii. God created the box.

iii. God acts as a cause inside the box.

b. Miracles of Incarnation and Resurrection- because God exists, his "causes" can be seen. These are miracles. Without miracles, there is no basis for the Christian faith. 

E. Only God's Worldview is True. 

Think about it- if even one tiny bit of a world view contradicts with another, one of them has to be false. Therefore- only one can be true. The only world view that's true: God's. Even our own world views aren't 100% "true" to his version, because we aren't God. So, what next? We try to make ours as close to his as possible. How? Scripture. (This is not to be confused with the fundamental idea of the Christian world view being true. Christianity is the only true world view. The point Nash tries to make here is just that we should always be striving to be closer and more congruent with God, and his "World View"). 

F. Four Tests of a Worldview

1. Reason- Logic. Does it make sense? 

2. Outer Experience- things that happen outside of our own personal experience. 

3. Inner Experience- personal experiences. 

4. Practice- Being able to act out that world view. 

Nash had some great points. I want to take time to comment upon one (in agreement). 

Elaborating on his "Miracle" point: 

Not everyone believes in miracles. Why? (People think it's because they "know" better than we do) In reality, it's because they are enslaved to a world view that doesn't allow them to believe in such things. They are literally following the wrong path, and the path is telling them that miracles cant exist. Nash hits a really key point here: a world view is like a brick wall. It is a fortress of ideals shielding a persons mind from opposing world views. While some are semi-permeable, others are impregnable. Either way, Nash points out, Witnessing isn't always enough. While personal testimony is a wonderful thing, Reasoning and logic are needed to break down most people's brick walls. This is where Apologetic ideas come in. With a strong reasoning force, and personal experience, you're case is fortified tenfold. Again, gave me some encouragement, knowing that this class really is about building evangelism skills (as well as understanding the logic behind faith). 

55 minutes of College lecture and time spent Blogging? Very worth it.




http://www.biblicaltraining.org/worldviews-conflict/christian-apologetics

Concept Paper (The Reason For This Blog)

For those interested in knowing how this blog came to be (and where it's headed)--

I know this is out of order, but I'm posting my concept paper (A proposal I had to write planning basically how this was going to go).  I just want to make sure before I continue on with this whole blog thing, that people understand what this thing is about and where its going. (Just a heads up, don't be confused: when I wrote this, I didn't know whether I was actually gonna go through with the blog).

Alrighty...


Emily Stoll
3^rd Hr

Sprint Class 2012: Christian Apologetics and World Missions

"Sympathy is no substitute for action." — David Livingstone, missionary to Africa. The topic I had initially chosen to study for this class was Christian Apologetics. As I dove deeper into what that really meant I met a road block. What good is penicillin if it stays in a cupboard? A light, if it’s kept hidden? It really isn’t worth anything. I don’t want this semester to be a waste, and so, I have brought practicality into the situation. Pairing Apologetics with the Theology of World Missions gives me a realistic way to use what I learn. As Livingston mentions, I can have all the sympathy in the world, but unless I do something, it means nothing.

The first part of my plan is based upon two online sets of college lectures. Their names are self explanatory: Christian Apologetics by Ronald Nash, and Theology of World Missions by Dr. Peter Kuzmic. There are a total of 49 lectures, each 30 minutes long (give or take). If I were to listen and take notes on one a day, that would leave 15 minutes each of those days for reading my two books (or writing a blog- explained later), and the remainder of the days would serve as project work days. The two books I have picked out are as follows: The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, and Crossing Cultures by Patty Lane. Both have similarities to the lectures, but also dive deeper into the subject material to reinforce what I learn.

My Project has several parts: A practical presentation, (possibly a blog) and a short movie. I plan to pick a country to study in depth, and then apply my apologetics knowledge to that country. This includes some sort of specific mission idea, how to overcome cultural obstacles, and how I plan to share my knowledge through that outlet. Whether it’s a business, a building, a club, etc: The main idea of the plan is this: That it effectively gets the message into that culture. For now, I plan on using either Prezi or PowerPoint to share. The second part of my project is a short ‘film’ or movie (About 5-10 minutes long) showcasing the country of my choice. At the end, I plan on offering several practical ways for people to get involved. This movie would not overlap with the ‘mission planning’ part of the PowerPoint Presentation, but would overlap with some general cultural information. The second part is really a chance to give a ‘call-to-action’ of sorts; to get others involved. The first part of the project would just be presented to my Church Small Group, and the second has endless possibilities. A tentative third part of my project would include a blog, just sort of explaining my journey this semester. It would not be a very big portion of the project, and would possibly take up the 15minutes at the end of each period (I would then read the books on my own time at home).

As a whole, this project is about taking my faith and learning how to not only better my defense of its principles, but also how to share that wealth of knowledge globally- across cultural boundaries. Through two college lectures, two books on the subject, and a three part (or two part) project, I hope to better myself in the area of evangelism.

Cool "Apologetic" Article

Found a GREAT article Today! I was searching "Christian Apologetics" and was sort of discouraged, because articles with people named Christian kept coming up, until, I found this: Does God exist? Christian, Atheist to present different points of view. The article announces a Debate forum for the topic "Does God Exist" at "First West's" worship center. At first I was a bit shocked. I mean, what sort of church invites an Atheist in and says, "Hey, we want you to argue against the existence of God." ??? Except, they gave a very good explanation for it. I loved Mr.Frost's (A Host of the Debate) comment: "To bring someone in who says, 'I don't believe this and here's why,' helps us to grow and mature as believers," Frost said." I completely agree. I had never thought about it before, but people hear Atheistic world views in their everyday lives all the time... So why not invite a Christian and Atheist to come together, so that we can defend against what non-believers are already saying? I think sometimes we shy away from "arguing" when it comes to religion, because we think there's some sort of bad stigma around it. This article shows that as Christians, we can civilly bring issues out in the open in order to defend our position. On a smaller scale, when it comes to our everyday lives, I think this article is extremely applicable as well. If we never bring up our beliefs, or try to talk about it with other people, how do we expect anyone to be converted? (Granted, the civil part is extremely important, and I'm not advocating "pressing" religion upon other people. All I really mean here is that discussion, believe it or not, is a good thing, and can be used to our advantage.) Still looking for a podcast/video of the Debate. If I find a good one I'll post it. Oh, and here's the link to the article: http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20120825/LIFESTYLE/208250305

Because it was a Wednesday it was a short class, but still pretty happy with what I got done. Interesting article!

Day 1...

Alright... Day 1. Just to take a minute to explain: I'm taking a "Sprint" course at IHS (Basically just a tag class where I can pick my own subject of study). My Topic is explianed in the title of this blog: Apologetics and Missions. I want to become a better defender of my faith. As simple as that.

Today, I listened to the two part intro to "Christian Apologetics" (Ronald Nash). It was good. Part of the time he talked about textbooks (which wasn't exactly applicable to me). He also gave a breif overview of the course (and that was definatly applicable). He's funny, and has a smooth way of talking. (That might seem sort of trivial, but since I'm going to be listening to around 30 hours of this, It might as well be easy to listen to). Something that really caught my eye was his "Ending" remark: This course is not only about making us better Apologists of the Christian Faith, but also into better evangelists. Nash promises that we'll cover lots of different World Views- and ways to respond. I'm definatly excited to dive deeper into this course.

Tonight (At home) I plan on reading some of The Case For Christ, and tommorow I get to some meat of Nash's lectures. :)