In his 1974 Journal article, On Worshiping the Creature Rather Than the Creator, Dr. Greg Bahnsen argues that Romans 1.18-25 (among many other Scriptures) relates how God's direct and intentional creation reveals there is God to heathen, who wish to repress this basic revelation.
To escape this awareness, Men turn to religion of indulgence, of false Gods, of agnosticism, of capitalistic patriotism (as in State worship, which exists in the USA), substitution of other meanings for the word creation. As I read his article, I found convincing evidences in his portrayal of our history to escape, where we may idealize nature itself, and use pagan ideological terms such as Mother Nature, or more recently Hawking's idea that the Universe is its own Creator. Most of the time humans end up making a religion out of Mankind Himself asserting that we are the measure and arbiter of all knowledge.
Dr. Bahnsen concludes: "men can arrive at the perspective of the creationist position only by submitting unconditionally to God's revelation. The truth is clear from nature (leaving all men without excuse) but can be acknowledged only through the work of grace, leading men to trust the Savior and yield to the truth of His word."
Some Christians, by not wanting to look like second-class academics, have turned God's revelation in nature and in the Bible, and in the person of Jesus, into our thoughts about God rather than theology being knowledge of the self-attesting God and through the Son of God Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Accepting the idea that Theology is not the Queen of Sciences, but rather is a department of Religious Studies, Christianity has allowed the truth of God to be subservient to the world's awareness of knowledge and truth. And the world denies ultimate truth, and any idea of revelatory knowledge.
Cornelius Van Til, a presuppositional apologist, wrote: "As orthodox Christians we have to face the fact that we are at this point, as along the whole line of thought, out of accord with modern thought.... The assumption of brute fact is itself the most basic denial of the creation doctrine."
If this is true, which many Christians since the Reformation in fact do agree, then Humanity cannot know truth at all in the way that New Creations in Christ do. What they do is assumption of facts based upon their own personal bias. No human can interpret any fact unless the fact of creation of all, including mankind, is accepted as one of the primary truths we know.
This is because this truth is essential knowledge known and rejected by man, until God intervenes. The primary intervention was the Incarnation, and the Apostles' Teaching.
This is not only based upon the Bible, but on what some term "natural theology" of sorts. Nels Ferre, Emil Brunner and Reinhold Neibuhr are among those who charge that we are "bibliolators", making the Bible the authoritative source of all revelation, including the ends and means of all science and historical fact. They miss the point, and steer folks away from the authority we have for knowledge of God's truth. The Original Sin was seeking the knowledge of good and evil. When the Israelites erred, it was written of them that "everybody did what was right in their own eyes." Shall we continue in this pattern? I dare hope not, but we have.
There is bibliolatry, and it is used as a veil over bias and prejudice, worldliness, manipulation within communities of faith, and against the idea of rational thought. However, Men must believe the inspired, inerrant, infallible truth of Scripture. Orthodox Christianity, where it is upheld, stands against the idea that we can know anything contrary to God's revelation. Our inferences from this stand clear, as long as they are verified as being valid deductions from axiomatic truth, which only has its source in anything revealed by God.
We do not understand things because they are discovered. We understand things because God made them knowable, in their very nature being logical units.
Anything that tends to lead us in a direction of reliance upon the world's definition of truth and reality is anathema. It isn't rational thought that is being discarded, but rather the idea that humans are basically nice people. The Bible says all have fallen short. We are all the products of Sin and degradation of mind, soul and body.
I would welcome challenges to the basics of my posting here. I would ask that you would let me know if you are quoting me when you use any statements of mine so I can identify the context quickly. This is easily done, even if one just quotes me and then types in "Greg said:______________".
I challenge us to shake ourselves from the predisposition to rely on the world to guide our minds and hearts.
Nothing less than intentional activity on our part will allow us to be the citizens of God's Kingdom that we are called to be. This calling is activated right now, so we are either obedient or disobedient. We either are doing God's will and thinking His thoughts after Him, or we are participating in the delinquency of a sinful, evil-stained vacuous world. We should not be fiddling while Rome burns, so to speak.
Jesus came to be the Word become Flesh, who pitched his tent with us. How, if we are being conformed into His image, can we feel justified being anything else than having the word become flesh in us?
IMO, If Jesus is not the Word becoming Flesh in our lives, we have not offered ourselves as living sacrifices. We then are not displaying renewed minds, hence we are without any claim to even knowing the mind of Christ on any matters.
Please, interact with me and begin looking at how we are thinking about God, each other, our neighbor, and our Lord.
Will you join me?
"The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish... They are vanity, a work of delusion" (Jer. 10:11,15)."
To escape this awareness, Men turn to religion of indulgence, of false Gods, of agnosticism, of capitalistic patriotism (as in State worship, which exists in the USA), substitution of other meanings for the word creation. As I read his article, I found convincing evidences in his portrayal of our history to escape, where we may idealize nature itself, and use pagan ideological terms such as Mother Nature, or more recently Hawking's idea that the Universe is its own Creator. Most of the time humans end up making a religion out of Mankind Himself asserting that we are the measure and arbiter of all knowledge.
Dr. Bahnsen concludes: "men can arrive at the perspective of the creationist position only by submitting unconditionally to God's revelation. The truth is clear from nature (leaving all men without excuse) but can be acknowledged only through the work of grace, leading men to trust the Savior and yield to the truth of His word."
Some Christians, by not wanting to look like second-class academics, have turned God's revelation in nature and in the Bible, and in the person of Jesus, into our thoughts about God rather than theology being knowledge of the self-attesting God and through the Son of God Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Accepting the idea that Theology is not the Queen of Sciences, but rather is a department of Religious Studies, Christianity has allowed the truth of God to be subservient to the world's awareness of knowledge and truth. And the world denies ultimate truth, and any idea of revelatory knowledge.
Cornelius Van Til, a presuppositional apologist, wrote: "As orthodox Christians we have to face the fact that we are at this point, as along the whole line of thought, out of accord with modern thought.... The assumption of brute fact is itself the most basic denial of the creation doctrine."
If this is true, which many Christians since the Reformation in fact do agree, then Humanity cannot know truth at all in the way that New Creations in Christ do. What they do is assumption of facts based upon their own personal bias. No human can interpret any fact unless the fact of creation of all, including mankind, is accepted as one of the primary truths we know.
This is because this truth is essential knowledge known and rejected by man, until God intervenes. The primary intervention was the Incarnation, and the Apostles' Teaching.
This is not only based upon the Bible, but on what some term "natural theology" of sorts. Nels Ferre, Emil Brunner and Reinhold Neibuhr are among those who charge that we are "bibliolators", making the Bible the authoritative source of all revelation, including the ends and means of all science and historical fact. They miss the point, and steer folks away from the authority we have for knowledge of God's truth. The Original Sin was seeking the knowledge of good and evil. When the Israelites erred, it was written of them that "everybody did what was right in their own eyes." Shall we continue in this pattern? I dare hope not, but we have.
There is bibliolatry, and it is used as a veil over bias and prejudice, worldliness, manipulation within communities of faith, and against the idea of rational thought. However, Men must believe the inspired, inerrant, infallible truth of Scripture. Orthodox Christianity, where it is upheld, stands against the idea that we can know anything contrary to God's revelation. Our inferences from this stand clear, as long as they are verified as being valid deductions from axiomatic truth, which only has its source in anything revealed by God.
We do not understand things because they are discovered. We understand things because God made them knowable, in their very nature being logical units.
Anything that tends to lead us in a direction of reliance upon the world's definition of truth and reality is anathema. It isn't rational thought that is being discarded, but rather the idea that humans are basically nice people. The Bible says all have fallen short. We are all the products of Sin and degradation of mind, soul and body.
I would welcome challenges to the basics of my posting here. I would ask that you would let me know if you are quoting me when you use any statements of mine so I can identify the context quickly. This is easily done, even if one just quotes me and then types in "Greg said:______________".
I challenge us to shake ourselves from the predisposition to rely on the world to guide our minds and hearts.
Nothing less than intentional activity on our part will allow us to be the citizens of God's Kingdom that we are called to be. This calling is activated right now, so we are either obedient or disobedient. We either are doing God's will and thinking His thoughts after Him, or we are participating in the delinquency of a sinful, evil-stained vacuous world. We should not be fiddling while Rome burns, so to speak.
Jesus came to be the Word become Flesh, who pitched his tent with us. How, if we are being conformed into His image, can we feel justified being anything else than having the word become flesh in us?
IMO, If Jesus is not the Word becoming Flesh in our lives, we have not offered ourselves as living sacrifices. We then are not displaying renewed minds, hence we are without any claim to even knowing the mind of Christ on any matters.
Please, interact with me and begin looking at how we are thinking about God, each other, our neighbor, and our Lord.
Will you join me?
"The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish... They are vanity, a work of delusion" (Jer. 10:11,15)."
I'm checking the comments section for my sister.
ReplyDeleteBrother Greg... I like and respect your thought process. There are several other verses of Scripture that could have been used to support your ideas but on the basic presuppositions you hit the nail right on the head. I will be back here often to see what you have done with the place and I like how you have adorned the walls with prayers and humility.
ReplyDelete-Ur brudder, Jason
Now if only I could learn to have my post in comments not show my belly. At least it does include my alien reminder. We are strangers and aliens in this land.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to have you as a brudder. Thanks for stopping by. Its good to get my pulse taken by someone who cares.
-brudder g
Very good first post Greg and congrats on setting up your first blog. I know you will enjoy blogging especially when it is done for God's glory. I will subscribe to to keep up to date with all posts.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see folks stop by whom I admire for their conviction and witness; ones I know to be seekers of God's face.
ReplyDeleteThis is a blessing to have you come, including those who do not post comment, even if we've not been introduced yet.
John in his Gospel tells us why the Son of God came into the world, and what happened when the Creator visited our planet in human flesh.
Jesus Himself proclaimed why He came into the world. He was specific.
I find the study of that to be of primary importance, because it answers the question Humanity has been asking ever since it was first posed in the Garden of Eden by our Adversary.
What is truth?