test 1 FOF

Question 1

the purpose of apologetics given in class

Answer 1

1. To bolster the faith of Christian Believers.

2. Aid in the task of evangelism

Question 2

the three elements of apologetics

Answer 2

1. PROOF
2. DEFENSE
3. OFFENSE

Question 3

presuppositional apologetics

Answer 3

Does not attempt to prove the existence of God, the inspiration and authority of scripture, or the deity of Christ – each is assumed as the starting place for Christian thought.

Question 4

know two possible positions that seem to be avalible to presuppositional apologiststhat are distructive to their case.

Answer 4

1. One position is accepting a position where in one case proof does not apply (God) and another case where proof does apply (salvation essentials).
2. Or they must accept the utter impossibility of arguing the truth of N.T. Christianity over against any other position (denominational or world view

Question 5

definition of ontology (Metaphysics)

Answer 5

the study of what is ultimately real.

Question 6

definition of epistemology

Answer 6

the study of how we come to know things and the limits of such knowledge.

Question 7

The correct method in apologetics

Answer 7

is reason first, then revelation.

Question 8

Presuppositionalists charge

Answer 8

that we have made reason (something we do) primary whereas revelation (something God does) is improperly relegated to a secondary role.

Question 9

Others suggest that our approach is

Answer 9

is arrogant at worst or misinformed

Question 10

Ontologically, God is

Answer 10

prior to our knowledge of him.

Question 11

God would exist

Answer 11

whether or not I ever come to know it is true

Question 12

God is primary

Answer 12

in the ontological sphere

Question 13

However, when when we ask how we come to know that he has revealed Himself to man

Answer 13

we employ the principles of epistemology.

Question 14

in the realm of reality

Answer 14

ontology is prior to epistemology but in the realm of knowability, epistemology is prior to ontology.

Question 15

In the realm of apologetics

Answer 15

reason (epistemology) is prior to revelation (ontology)

Question 16

Human reason must be employed

Answer 16

in order to determine what is in fact a revelation from God.

Question 17

Many books claim to be from God

Answer 17

Quar’an, book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants, etc.

Question 18

Human reason is the tool

Answer 18

to obtain truth, but once having discovered truth, reason submits to the truth which has been discovered.

Question 19

two categories of belief

Answer 19

1. Rational

2. Irrational

Question 20

Rational beliefs:

Answer 20

reasoned belief based on the evidence

Rational belief is belief subjected to the nature and extent of the evidence available at the time the thinker is invited to pass judgment upon a proposition.

Christianity is the religion of rational belief.

Question 21

Irrational beliefs:

Answer 21

Not produced by a “reason” as such, but by some not-rational cause such as emotion, prejudice, vested interest, authority, habit, and the tendency to merely accept what one is told.

Produced by inadequate or insufficient reasons.

Question 22

why is atheisim making inroads into our culture?

Answer 22

1. Our society as a whole has shifted somewhat toward the “left”.
2. Christendom is hopelessly divided.
3. A naturalistic psychological value system brings about ethical subjectivism (no authority above man) and we are free to meet our needs anyway we choose since we are evolved animals with basically physical needs as opposed to spiritual needs. (read Huxley’s statement on P. 29)
4. Many hope there is no God, because if there is, they are certainly accountable to him.
5. Strong reluctance to leave any room for supernaturalism – “…we are forced…to create …a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a divine foot in the door.” (Richard Lewontin, biologist)

Question 23

reductionism

Answer 23

we are “nothing but” material beings – no different from a rock.

Question 24

inconsistencies of militant athieism

Answer 24

1. The denial of God means the denial of any absolute standard.
2. The denial of an absolute standard requires the acceptance of relativism.
3. If everything is relative, several areas of life are greatly affected. (ethics, history,science, logic)

Question 25

reasons for militant christianity

Answer 25

1. Our Lord was militant. 2. The first century disciples were militant. 3. We are commanded to be militant.

Question 26

what do new Athieists think of both the old and new testements

Answer 26

they are evil and the new testement is even more evil than the first

Question 27

problems with naturalism

Answer 27

1. It is indefensible 2. Naturalism is incoherent 3. We cannot get behind ethics

Question 28

definition of naturalism

Answer 28

This worldview is “Monistic” – the universe is considered to be made of one sort of “stuff”, matter and energy in motion. Matter, energy, rocks, plants, dirt, animals, man, God, all that exists are “one” and have a purely naturalistic explanation for their existence. Complex living forms simply evolved from simple, single cell life forms, which, in turn, finally arose from non-living matter. All religion, ethics, including Christianity are man-made inventions.

Question 29

definition of world view (paradigm)

Answer 29

a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitute a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline”.

Question 30

show how differnt world views are in conflict

Answer 30

1. What is the “correct” world view and how would one verify or falsify a world view to know which one to accept. 2. Christians, Jews, and Muslims all hold to a supernatural world view but hold different points of view within their world view. 3. There are also other world views that need to be considered

Question 31

definition of spiritualism (panthism)

Answer 31

This viewpoint is also monistic – however, the one ultimate reality is spiritual substance, there is no material substance at all. There are ultimately no distinctions between truth and error, right and wrong, knowledge and ignorance – all reality is one “stuff” “We have forgotten that we are God and what we really need is to find our way back to merging with the oneness of the universe, which is God. Nothing like right-wrong, truth-error, etc. exists, we only think it does.

Question 32

problems with spiritualism

Answer 32

1. It is unteachable. 2. It is unlivable. 3. Implications of this philosophy are unavoidable.

Question 33

reasons for non militant spirit in christendom

Answer 33

1. There is the dislike of dogmatism. 2. A Common tendency to avoid controversy under the guise of being positive. 3. “A spirit of ecumenism” – open fellowship with all who claim to be Christian. 4. The modern philosophy of postmodernism – no one story has any more credibility than any other because they are all equally valid because they give meaning to the people who share the story.

Question 34

why can materialists not live what they believe?

Answer 34

1. They cannot avoid using “mind” terminology when they speak or write. 2. They value people and form relationships. 3. They do not treat their children or mates as nonrational masses fof atoms. 4. They fall in love, marry, have children. 5. We do not think of a grain of sand as worth living for. 6. It makes no sense for a random mass of chemical material

Question 35

Apologia

Answer 35

a noun – used eight times. 1.To answer for one’s self 2. A Clearing of one’s self 3. Answer 4. Defense

Question 36

Apologeomai

Answer 36

a verb – used ten times. 1.Speak for one’s self 2. Answer for one’s self 3. Answer 4. Excuse one’s self 5. Excuse 6. Make Defense

Question 37

Two foundational terms in N.T.

Answer 37

1. Apologia | 2. Apologeomai

Question 38

PROOF

Answer 38

presenting a rational basis for faith that confronts unbelief In both believer and unbeliever.

Question 39

DEFENSE

Answer 39

Answering the objections and overcoming barriers of unbelief.

Question 40

OFFENSE

Answer 40

demonstrating or revealing the foolishness of unbelieving thought and worldviews in conflict with Christian thought.

Question 41

two world views

Answer 41

1. A teleological or end-goal directed view | 2. A Mechanistic worldview

Question 42

teleological or end-goal directed view

Answer 42

sees purpose or goal-directedness as just as much an inherent feature of the material world as is matter and energy. Given this world view, the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the traditional natural-law conception of morality is rationally unavoidable.

Question 43

Mechanistic worldview

Answer 43

defines the universe as nothing more than purposeless, meaningless, particles in motion. Atheists must adopt this point of view because to admit purpose and order is to at the very least, admit the possibility of a God.

Question 44

"the self" or the "I"

Answer 44

who performs all conscious activity (willing, feeling, thinking, remembering, etc.)

Question 45

the three major points we will study in class

Answer 45

That one can be absolutely certain (intellectually) of such matters as: 1. The existence of God. 2. The deity of the Christ. 3. The inspiration and authority of the scriptures

Question 46

what is ment by the new militant atheism

Answer 46

A summary of their approach: It is very improbable that God exists, and science can explain people’s religious impulses. Religions are bad because they cause people to do bad things, and most religious figures throught history have been bad people. If the God of Jewish and Christian Scriptures existed, he would be a very bad person. Science is everywhere and at all times opposed to religious beliefs. Atheism (almost) never causes people to do bad things. Most of America’s founding fathers were deist, agnostic, or secular, and it is their enlightenment understanding of society that forms the foundation of America’s enduring freedom. There is a dire civilizational need for atheism to prevail.

Question 47

causes of belief

Answer 47

1. Arguments have been, could be offered. 2. Something encountered and nothing said against it. 3. Factors working in its behalf – i.e. a common belief in one’s cultural environment and accepted by a sort of “osmosis”. 4. Fits well with our prior beliefs. 5. Penalties for believing – i.e. social ostracism, disappointing parents, torture. 6. Positive rewards for accepting beliefs. 7. The belief may gratify us or answer a psychological need.

Question 48

ethical subjectivism

Answer 48

(no authority above man) and we are free to meet our needs anyway we choose since we are evolved animals with basically physical needs as opposed to spiritual needs

Question 49

why spiritualism It is unteachable.

Answer 49

How does one go about teaching that matter does not exist? We do not exist as separate human beings – who is there to convince. Truth and error do not exist, how do we teach that nothing but God exists and those who do not believe it are in error? There is no such thing as logical argumentation to convince the rest of us that there is no logical argumentation.

Question 50

why spiritualism is unlivable

Answer 50

There are no distinctions such as pain, disease, death, and the like, why would anything matter? If a spiritualist’s car stalls on a train track with a train coming, they would get out if they could. One would not choose to have hot, scalding water poured on their head if they could avoid it. It is impossible to live consistently with such a belief as spiritualism.

Question 51

why the Implications of spiritualism is unavoidable

Answer 51

The only way to convince people to give up western categories of thought is to use western categories of thought. Spiritualists are seeking peace when it does not exist as a separate entity. Many write books to convince us that the books aren’t real, the money made from them is not real, interviews that they do for writing are not real, etc. Their case is inconsistent at best and at worst, hopelessly self-contradictory.

Question 52

why Naturalism is incoherent

Answer 52

life from rocks and dirt, consciousness from that which had on consciousness, intelligence from that which had no intelligence, human beings from that which was not human

Question 53

We cannot get behind ethics in Naturalism

Answer 53

nature has no concern for good or bad.

Question 54

why Naturalism is indefensible

Answer 54

it affirms a universal negative – “I know that God does not exist.” – This assumes that one knows the totality of all circumstances surrounding this affirmation.