Faith Bible Church The Logos: John 1:1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγοσ, καὶ ὁ λόγοσ ἦν πρὸσ τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸσ ἦν ὁ λόγοσ, In beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.... And the Logos became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 2 Corinthians 10:5 We are destroying speculations (λογιςμόσ) and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought (νόημα) captive to the obedience of Christ. Questions? These slides will be available at www.fbcweb.org/sermons.html Pastor Don 1
Philosophical/Theological/Doctrinal & Spiritual Foundations Eschatology Thanatology Ecclesiology Israelology Dispensationalism Doxology Hodology Soteriology Hamartiology Natural Law (DE, Gvt, Econ.) Anthropology Angelology Pneumatology Christology Paterology Trinitarianism Theology Proper Bibliology Prolegomena: logic (23) Broad and deep understanding of BD 2 Corinthians 10:5 We are destroying speculations (λογιςμόσ) and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Enough BD to be overcomer; DV 1 John 2:14, you are strong, and the word of God abides in you Lacks BD, DV Eph 4:14, tossed here and there by waves, & carried about by every wind of doctrine. Mature Believer Mind of JC, OWC, PLG Great depth of BD Supergrace life Development of 2 nd, 3 rd order capacities Great Divine Production Absolute Confidence Adolescent Overcomer of KD Committed to BD Committed to Truth Babe Undeveloped 2 nd, 3 rd, order mental capacities in doctrinal conceptualization Still has a lot of philosophical HV baggage. Feelings oriented 9/21/2011 2
Eschatology Thanatology Ecclesiology Israelology Dispensationalism Doxology Hodology Soteriology Hamartiology Natural Law (DE, Gvt) Anthropology Angelology Pneumatology Christology Paterology Trinitarianism Theology Proper Bibliology Prolegomena: logic (23) Consider the effect of prolegomena in media CNN vs. Fox Healthy Growing Mind Truth Seeker: Loves learning Bible doctrine Existential Freakout: Why, why, why do I need this? Growing Spiritual IQ Sensate Practical & functional view of Truth Active Learner Ever-growing Mind Lover of Truth For its own sake No development of conceptual schematic. Undeveloped capacity for abstract thinking about God or Truth. Low spiritual I.Q. Distaste for logic: anti-intellectual, antiacademic, passive, and sensate. 3
Prolegomena and Logic 1. My twofold goal as pastor-teacher: a. #1: Intellectual development in Christianity. To build critical thinking skills and a deep understanding of Christianity as well as the various issues related to Christianity. With the proper critical thinking skills and understanding of the uniqueness of Christianity, each believer will be able to build his own systematic theology from the Word of God as well as explain and defend Christianity. Our current focus is on logic. Without logic the believer can only possess a hodgepodge of passages that are not richly developed or integrated systematically as Christian doctrine. With intellectual development the believer does not depend upon someone else to be the final word on any Christian issue. b. #2: Spiritual development for the supergrace life. To bring to light the dynamics of the spiritual life so the believer will understand how to live in the power of God and advance instead of becoming a victim of kosmos diabolicus. Our current focus is on the problem of pride. 9/21/2011 4
2. The development and honing of your God-given gift of logic is the greatest personal set of intellectual skills that you grow in for the rest of your life in your pursuit of Truth. a. Temporal and spiritual benefits. b. Ability to detect self-refuting errors. c. Ability to develop doctrines and check doctrines. d. Grasp the true nature of truth. e. Establish foundations of your theology. f. Clarify the meaning of your theology. g. Protect the content of your theology. h. Accurately apply Bible doctrine. i. Be able to defend the faith (apologetics). j. Protect you against the postmodern mindset. k. Stop you from doing bad philosophy. l. Free you from hero worship. 9/21/2011 5
3. Curse of anti-intellectualism among Christians in America. a. The Bible institution movement. The fleeing of Christians from the universities as well as from politics (no understanding of natural law, AKA laws of DE). b. Dallas Seminary s early rejection of apologetics and the effects on pastors and churches. c. Rejection of philosophy over time has resulted in erosion and denial of eternal security, the Trinity, and the classical views of God and the Hypostatic Union. d. Christians are no longer simply ignored by the critics. e. The atheists of today are zealous missionaries for atheism and are very aggressive in the universities and in politics. f. The arguments on our side, but we need to be informed and always be ready to give a reason for the faith, 1 Pet. 3:15. g. Because of Christian apologetics there has been an resurgence of Christian philosophers and professors in secular universities. Christianity has returned to major universities. 9/21/2011 6
Logic: the Three Acts of the Mind OUTLINE FOR ALL OF LOGIC 1 st, Simple apprehension: Concepts, terms, words. Mind & Logic 2 nd, Judging: Propositions, declarative sentences. 3 rd, Reasoning: At least two or more declarative sentences connected by a word like therefore which indicates an argument. 9/21/2011 7
Logic: the Three Acts of the Mind OUTLINE FOR ALL OF LOGIC 1 st, Simple apprehension: The issue: clear or unclear. Mind & Logic 2 nd, Judging: The issue: true or false 3 rd, Reasoning: The issue: valid or non-valid. 9/21/2011 8
Logic: the Three Acts of the Mind OUTLINE FOR ALL OF LOGIC Mind & Logic 1 st, Simple apprehension: What are we talking about?. Man Triangle with unequal sides 2 nd, Judging: What are we saying about it? That man is mortal. 3 rd, Reasoning: Why is he mortal? All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal. 9/21/2011 9
4. The concepts. Under the first act of the mind (apprehension) terms are either univocal, equivocal, or analogical. (Technically, it is the way they are used that accounts for the changes in the meanings of words). a. Univocal. A univocal term has one and only one meaning. b. An equivocal term has two or more quite different and unrelated meanings. c. An analogical term has two or more meanings that are 1) partly the same and partly different, and 2) related to each other. 10
5. Examples of univocal, equivocal, and analogical terms. a. The Bible has two testaments. There are two types of people on earth. There are two types of believers. b. A battery occurred on that man as he was changing his battery. c. God forgives, and believers are to forgive. 11
QUIZ Label as univocal, equivocal, or analogical 1. God loves the lost, and the Spirit-filled believer loves the lost. 2. Poetry is art, and painting is also an art. 3. Christians believe God is three persons. Then he must be triplets. Three persons make triplets. 4. I have to change the change I gave you for your dollar; I made a mistake. 5. Buddhists seek Enlightenment. But they never find it. Oh, the Enlightenment we Westerners went through that once, back in the 18th century. 6. We are to forgive as God forgives. 7. The candidate who is running for governor was running after a bus. 8. To murder is evil, and to be murdered is evil. 9. Noah was righteous, and God is righteous. 10. After the baseball game, the pitcher drank a pitcher of beer. 12
7 Categories of Material Informal Fallacies 1. Fallacies of Diversion: ad hominem, ad verecundiam, ad baculum, ad misericordiam, ad ignominiam, ad populum, ad agnorantiam. 2. Fallacies of Oversimplification: dicto simpliciter, special case, composition (from small to large), division (whole to part), black and white fallacy, quoting out of context, stereotyping. 3. Fallacies of Argumentation: non-sequitor, ignoratio elenchi, begging the Question, Complex question, Arguing in a Circle, Contradictory premises, False Assumption. 4. Inductive Fallacies: hasty generalization, post hoc, hypothesis contrary to fact, false analogy, the argument from silence, selective evidence, slanting the question 5. Fallacies of Language: equivocation, amphiboly, accent, slanting, slogans, hyperbole, straw man. 9/21/2011 13
6. Procedural Fallacies #1: Refuting an argument by refuting its conclusion. We do not refute an argument simply by refuting its conclusion. What refutes an argument is an analysis of the argument that finds in it a term used ambiguously or a false premise, or a logical fallacy, thus showing how the argument went wrong and why it does not prove its conclusion. You can t just leave their argument standing and provide a view with a different conclusion. You have to show where their argument is wrong. James teaching of justification by works and faith is not true because Paul teaches that a man is justified by faith apart from works. 9/21/2011 14
6. Procedural Fallacies #2: Assuming that refuting an argument refutes its conclusion. This is the opposite error from the previous one. In the previous fallacy a counterargument was offered without showing the error. This one shows the weakness of the argument and therefore denies the conclusion. There will always be some bad arguments for true conclusions. God does not exist because your argument for God is based on your feelings. 9/21/2011 15
6. Category: Procedural Fallacies #3: Ignoring the argument. More radical than giving only a half a refutation is giving none at all. This happens often due to being poor listeners. One just waits his turn to speak, and then he speaks without responding to what was already said. Karl Marx, in The Communist Manifesto, replies that to the ten commonest charges against communism ( such as abolishes families, it abolishes nationality, it abolishes effort ) not by answering them but simply claiming that capitalism is guilty of all of these charges. 9/21/2011 16
6. Procedural Fallacies #4: Substituting Explanations for Proofs. Freudian explanation of religion as a fear-induced father-figure-fantasy does not prove religion is an illusion. This is just his explanation. When macro evolutionist faces the fact that the fossil record is solid evidence against the evolutionary theory of gradual change over time, he may reply, But this can be explained by punctuated equilibrium, species jumping into another species. When atheistic cosmologists are faced with the undeniable fact that the universe was created out of nothing, they often reply, But equal quantum states, or mathematical laws or multiverses or gravitons explain how this could happen. 9/21/2011 17
6. Procedural Fallacies #5: Answering Another Argument than the one Given. Students on tests often change the question given to them from one that they cannot answer to one that they can, and then answer it. When someone is confronted with the moral evil of slavery, the reply is often, But some people are happier as slaves. Sometimes the relationship to a master is a good one. When a Muslim is queried on why God would allow 600 years to pass before correcting the New Testament, a Muslim might respond, But the Koran is a miracle. It was written by an unlettered man. 9/21/2011 18
6. Procedural Fallacies #6: Shifting the Burden of Proof. In any debate, the person with the burden of proof should be clearly spelled out. In debates the Christian apologist willing accepts the burden of proof in establishing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Instead of just saying something like but you cannot prove that He was not raised from the dead, he will lay out the six historiographical evidences and invite the opponent to challenge them. 9/21/2011 19
6. Procedural Fallacies #7: Winning the argument but losing the arguer or vice versa. a. This is winning the argument but ignoring the personal, psychological factors of the person or the audience. Honey, since I won the argument you need to admit that I am much better than you are. b. On the vice versa side this is using tactics of personal appeal such a friendliness to substitute for good reasons, using the subjective element as a substitute for the objective element in the dialogue. Honey, I know that we cannot afford it, but don t you see how much this means to me? (Bass boat) 9/21/2011 20
Resurrection Special #50: A Walkthrough from the Lord s Supper to the Tomb: The Perniciousness of Pride in Gethsemane Resurrection & the Spiritual Life in the Epistles Matthew 26:30-36 We now are at the Garden of Gethsemane 1. Pride in Gethsemane. A Walkthrough 2. Arrogance of the of 2. Prayer. Resurrection Narratives 3. 3. The love of God (U.A.) A Walkthrough from the Lord s Supper to the Tomb A Walkthrough of Accounts 6 Ways Falsifying of Falsifying Naturalism The Failure Alternate of All Alternate Theories Theories 1. Bedrock Facts Historiography: Resurrection of Jesusistd Bedrock Facts: Death of JC & Multiple Appearances Historiography: Establishing Historical Proof for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Go 9/21/2011 21
From the LS to Gethsemane #1-3 North 4 Judas arrives with an arresting party, consisting of member of the Temple guard and soldiers from the Roman garrison, stationed at the Antonia Fort to the north of the Temple Tomb 5 11 escape to Bethany 8 John takes Peter to his home, where Jesus mother & others await them. 6, 7 Jesus is taken back to the city; Peter and John return. Peter denies Jesus 1 2 * 3 They enter Gethsemane, Jesus prays 2 Jesus, the 11, and Mark leave the house and cross the Kidron valley. Jesus warns them that the Shepherd will be struck down and the sheep scattered. Bethany See Matthew 26:30-36 Zion Gate 9/21/2011 Dung Gate 22
Jerusalem at the time of Jesus was about 230 acres with a population of around 40,000. Modern Silwan 9/21/2011 23
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Southeastern Corner of Temple Mount Kidron Valley 9/21/2011 25
Looking down into the Kidron Valley from the base of the southeast corner of the Temple Mount at 2000 year old tombs cut into the west side of the Mount of Olives. 9/21/2011 26
Looking up from the bottom of the Kidron Valley at 2000 year old tombs cut into the west side of the Mount of Olives. 9/21/2011 27
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Cont. Pride in Gethsemane, Matthew 26:30-35 7. In the apostasy at Gethsemane we have a vivid illustration of the subtlety of pride: how it can blind the believer to the Word of God and the plan of God. Sincerity and good Christian feelings mean nothing apart from accuracy with the Word of God. Negative volition is often covered with the fig leaves of but God loves me. He also loved the disciples, but they still apostatized. 8. Positive volition to the Word of God means acceptance of the Word of God in each of the three acts of the mind. This demands accuracy. 9. Prayer is very important in dealing with pride because in prayer we get our eyes off of ourselves and on God and Truth. In the height of their arrogance, the disciples were commanded by Christ to go to God in prayer. Furthermore, Jesus Christ went to God in prayer. Biblical prayer is powerful whereas human viewpoint prayer just intensifies the problem. 9/21/2011 31
10. By being positive to the Word of God in the three acts of the mind, the believer puts himself under the Word of God and in such state moves into genuine humility. There is no humility apart from the Word of God. 11. Only in genuine humility does the believer receive supergrace. In genuine humility the believer is easily correctable, does not feel he deserves better, and is grateful for the good times as well as the tests of life. James 4:6 But He gives a greater (μέγασ, megas) grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed (ἀντιτάςςω, antitasso) to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 9/21/2011 32
12. It is important to distinguish between common grace, salvation grace, logistical grace, and supergrace. 13. The objective for the believer is supergrace. It is the place of above all you can ask or imagine. Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, Psalm 23:5 Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I was very glad when brethren came and bore witness to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. 9/21/2011 33