In the Image of Man Create they God: A Challenge

1981 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-107
Author(s):  
David Basinger ◽  
Randall Basinger
Keyword(s):  
Christian Belief ◽  
States Of Affairs ◽  
Petitionary Prayer ◽  
Christian Beliefs

Christian theists have not normally wished to deny either of the following tenets:T1: God creates human agents such that they are free with respect to certain actions and, therefore, morally responsible for them.T2: God is an omniscient, wholly good being who is omnipotent in the sense that he has (sovereign, providential) control over all existent states of affairs.Why this is so is quite obvious. If T1 is denied, it is difficult to make sense of the standard Christian belief that God can justifiably discipline human agents when they perform actions which violate his commands — i.e., it is difficult to make sense of the basic Christian concepts of sin and punishment. T2 is equally important. If it is denied, it is difficult to make sense of such standard Christian beliefs as (1) God is in control of the significant aspects of our lives, (2) God will bring about his desired goals regardless of the action of human agents, and (3) God is capable of responding in a positive manner to any petitionary prayer that is in keeping with his will.

Should Christians do Natural Theology?

2010 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Moore
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Natural Theology ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Christian Philosophy ◽  
Damaging Effects ◽  
Christian Beliefs

AbstractNatural theology is enjoying something of a resurgence at present but this article seeks to question its place in Christian philosophy and theology. Antecedent natural theology accepts that it is necessary for Christian beliefs to be rationally warranted. Romans 1:18ff. is often cited in favour of natural theology. However, examination of this text shows that Paul argues here on the basis of a prior revelation. Not only does he not endorse natural theology but what he does say implies that arguments for a God's existence are not likely to lead to the God revealed in Jesus Christ. Such arguments are in any case tainted by the noetic effects of sin. It is therefore not clear that these arguments lead to the God of Christian belief who calls us to simple discipleship. Consequent natural theology holds that Christians are under an epistemological obligation to their surrounding culture to show that they are reflectively rational. But the arguments put up for this by Michael Sudduth ignore theological arguments which should bear on Christian epistemology. Apart from God's self-revelation we find ourselves sceptics, and natural theology is unable to overcome this. Historical research has shown the damaging effects that arguing from nature has had on Christian theology. So, for both theological and historical reasons, Christians need not accept the epistemological obligations imposed on them by unbelievers which lead them to do natural theology.

The Sinful Dead

2020 ◽  
pp. 59-84
Author(s):  
Susan Weissman
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Corporeal Nature ◽  
Christian Beliefs

This chapter discusses how the sinful dead are punished in Pietist sources as opposed to talmudic ones. The notion that the dead return to Earth in order to suffer punishment for sin is rooted in pre-Christian beliefs surrounding the return of the dangerous dead. That such notions appear in high medieval sources testifies to the tenacity of pagan ideas regarding the dead; these beliefs survived for centuries under the veneer of Christianization, especially in the Germanic environment which formed the background to Sefer ḥasidim. The pre-Christian belief in the return of the corporeal dead to Earth, as well as an unabashed belief in the corporeal nature of the post-mortem punishments assigned to sinners, were ones that R. Judah the Pious absorbed from his environment and shared with his contemporary Caesarius of Heisterbach, among other Christian writers. The presence of the same beliefs regarding the dead in the writings of the German Cistercian and the German Pietist reveals a commonality between them. Ancient imaginings of the dead here cross religious boundaries and reflect a world-view that was shared by medieval Jew and Christian alike.

FIFTY YEARS ON FROM HONEST TO GOD (1963) AND OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIAN BELIEF (1963)

Think ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (35) ◽  
pp. 83-91
Author(s):  
George A. Wells
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Christian Beliefs

Bishop John A.T. Robinson's Honest to God was exceptionally successful. In the decade following its publication more than a million copies were sold in seventeen different languages. Robinson was aware that numerous awkward questions were being asked about traditional Christian beliefs, which it was no longer possible to ignore. His purpose was not so much to question traditional ideas of God as to suggest alternatives for those who found them unsatisfactory (8). He wanted to convince such persons that an inability to believe what is stated in the Bible or the prayer book does not disqualify them from calling themselves Christians and presenting themselves at church. He speaks of traditional Christian beliefs, as stated in the New Testament, as a ‘language’ (24) and thinks that Christianity should be conveyed to people in a variety of languages. By employing, as he does, the language of such Christian scholars as Bonhoeffer, Tillich and Bultmann, an atheist may find himself able to call himself a Christian. But the old familiar language of the Bible remains more pleasing to most of God's children, particularly to his ‘older children’ (43), so we must not give it up, although he allows that it is becoming increasingly unpopular, so that without ‘the kind of revolution’ he is advocating, ‘Christian faith and practice … will come to be abandoned’ (123).

The Use of Reason in Religious Debates

2007 ◽  
pp. 25-44
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Lasker
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Guide Of The Perplexed ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Logical Impossibility ◽  
Christian Beliefs

This chapter outlines the theoretical basis of the Jewish polemic against Christian doctrines. According to the Jewish philosophical polemicists, one of the main differences between Judaism and Christianity lay in the former's conformity to reason and the latter's irrationality. To support this contention, the polemicists developed methods of distinguishing between their own doctrines, which they claimed to be rational, and Christian beliefs, which, they argued, contradicted the findings of reason. Jewish theologians sought, in the first place, to render an account to themselves of the phenomenon of Christian belief in rationally unacceptable doctrines. They tried to gain some philosophical insight into this kind of belief by pondering the force of training and habit. This insight appears to have been offered first by Judah Halevi in the opening passages of his Kuzari, a philosophical defense of Judaism. The chapter then considers Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed. It also explores the polemical approach of the Jewish Averroists, and identifies the criteria for determining logical impossibility of doctrines.

scholarly journals Spinoza, Sin as Debt, and the Sin of the Prophets

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 552
Author(s):  
Keith Green
Keyword(s):  
Margaret Atwood ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Free Agent ◽  
Shadow Side ◽  
Civil Authority ◽  
Christian Beliefs

In Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, Margaret Atwood examines different forms of debt and their various interrelations. Her work invites, but does not provide, an account or philosophy of debt or its deep implication in Christian beliefs such as sin, satisfaction, and atonement. This paper aims to bring to light insights into the link between debt and some aspects of Christian belief, especially the ideas of sin and satisfaction. It draws upon another unlikely source-the Ethics and political treatises of Spinoza. Spinoza’s view at least implies that the idea that sin (understood as the voluntary actions of a free agent) creates a ‘debt’ that is ‘paid’ by punishment is a potentially dangerous ‘fiction.’ Spinoza intuits that the subsumption of the idea of debt into notions of retribution, vengeance, satisfaction, or atonement, are driven by ‘superstition,’ envy, and hatred, and through imitating others’ hateful ideas of oneself. The idea of ‘debt’ is an artefact of civil authority that can only assume affective, normative purchase through internalizing fear of the implicit threat of punishment inherent in law. I will seek, finally, to suggest an implicit critique in Spinoza of the imaginative subsumption of debt into the space of religio.

Charles Williams’s Arthuriad: Mythic Vision and the Possibilities of Belief

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
J. G. Bradbury
Keyword(s):  
Religious Faith ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Devotional Poetry ◽  
Religious Worldview ◽  
Intellectual Milieu ◽  
Charles Williams ◽  
Narrative Mode ◽  
Intellectual Environment

This essay explores Charles Williams’s use of the Arthurian myth to sustain a religious worldview in the aftermath of sustained attacks on the relevance and veracity of Christian belief in the early twentieth century. The premise to be explored is that key developments in science and philosophy made during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries resulted in a cultural and intellectual milieu in which assertions of religious faith became increasingly difficult. In literary terms this became evident in, amongst other things, the significant reduction in the production of devotional poetry. By the late 1930s the intellectual environment was such that Charles Williams, a man of profound religious belief who might otherwise have been expected to produce devotional work, turned to a much older mode, that of myth, that had taken on new relevance in the modern world. Williams’s use of this mode allowed him the possibility of expressing a singularly Christian vision to a world in which such vision was in danger of becoming anathema. This essay examines the way in which Williams’s lexis, verse structure, and narrative mode builds on his Arthurian source material to allow for an appreciation of religiously-informed ideas in the modern world.

Mengungkap Makna Kematian Soeharto pada Cover Tempo

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-62
Author(s):  
Indiwan Seto Wahju Wibowo
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Major Topic ◽  
Last Supper ◽  
Final Meal ◽  
Magazine Cover

Soeharto’s death becomes a major topic of Tempo Magazine ,issue No.50/XXXVI/04-10 February, 2008 specially in the magazine’s cover. And this cover is so controversial as describes Soeharto as Jesus at the last supper an iconic Christianity symbol. The last supper is the final meal that according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. This research is about to describe what Tempo Magazine play their role as social control and it’s rivalitation towards Soeharto. The purpose of this Research is to find out the meaning behind the Tempo Magazine Cover as describes Soeharto – the former Indonesia President- as Jesus. Kata kunci : makna kematian Soeharto, Semiotika Charles Sander Peirce, Kualitatif

Mengungkap Makna Kematian Soeharto pada Cover Majalah Tempo

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-62
Author(s):  
Indiwan Seto Wahju Wibowo
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Major Topic ◽  
Final Meal ◽  
Magazine Cover

Soeharto’s death become a major topic of Tempo Magazine, issued No.50/XXXVI/04-10 February, 2008 specially in the magazine’s cover. Nad this cover is so controversial as describes Soeharto as Jesus at the last super an iconic. Christianity symbol. The last super is the final meal that according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. This research is about to describe what Tempo Magazine play their role as social control and it’s rivalitation toward Soeharto. The purpose of this research is to find out the meaning behind the Tempo Magazine Cover as describes Soeharto – the former Indonesia – as Jesus. Kata kunci : makna kematian Soeharto, Semiotika Charles Sander Pierce, Kualitatif

Implications of Religious Thinking in Therapeutic Compliance

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 4432-4435
Keyword(s):  
Organic Chemistry ◽  
T Test ◽  
P Value ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Psychological Reactions ◽  
Psychology And Religion ◽  
Psychophysiological Reactivity ◽  
Specific Objective ◽  
Religious Cult ◽  
Religious Thinking

Presenting specialty literature background in: organic chemistry, neurology, theology and clinical psychology, in order to conceptualize and bring to the forefront the interdependency between organic chemistry, neurology, psychology and religion in describing the implications of religious thinking in therapeutic compliance is a first objective of the present paper. As such, we addressed the importance of neurotransmitters in the neurophysiology of spiritual interventions. Another specific objective was defined as measuring psychological reactions, components of the moral and religious structure of human personality, with the help of psychophysiological involved factors, in rapport with therapeutic compliance. According to the descriptive statistic of data, we found that those who do not adhere to any religious cult have greater chances of being diagnosed with a disease that necessitates daily treatment and monitoring (the percentage found was 20%), in comparison with those who are part of a religious cult (6.67 %). The estimated non-linear regression model to confirm the interdependency between the medial psychophysiological reactivity to religious stimulus and the medial score obtained in the compliance questionnaire was validated by the values of R = 0.99 and p-value=0.00≈10-10<0.05). As such, we can accept the hypothesis that “there is a statistically significant association between religious thinking and compliance”. On the other hand, the hypothesis “there is a statistically significant association between religious thinking and compliance” was validated, using the t test, only at 40%, as the results of the t test were only considered on significant components of the applied MARS questionnaire. The results given by approaching the two hypotheses through the mixture of psychophysiological and application of the MARS questionnaire consistently highlighted an image of importance of religious thinking in therapeutic compliance. The current study is useful in motivating adherents of any religion, in our study, the Christian belief, to improve their compliance. Keywords: oxcytocin, vassopressin, MARS scale, therapeutic compliance, religious experience

Are there Non-Propositional Intentional States?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Searle
Keyword(s):  
Intentional State ◽  
States Of Affairs ◽  
Intentional States ◽  
The World ◽  
Essential Idea ◽  
Limited Class ◽  
The Mind

Intentionality is that feature of the mind by which it is directed at or about objects and states of affairs in the world. Intentionality is simply aboutness or directedness. “Proposition” is more difficult, but the essential idea is this: every intentional state has a content. Sometimes it seems that the content just enables a state to refer to an object. So if John loves Sally, then it appears that the content of his love is simply “Sally”. But if John believes that it is raining, then the specification of the content requires an entire “that” clause. “Are there non-propositional intentional states?” amounts to the question, “Are there intentional states whose content does not require specification with a ‘that’ clause?” This chapter explores whether there are any non-propositional states, and suggest that a very limited class, such as boredom, is in fact non-propositional.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document