Understanding Reality

Tracing Cultural Origins and Mastering Logical Thinking

When I came to college

“If it’s true for you, it’s true for you.”

“Truth is relative.”

“This is my truth.”

“This is my reality”

“We choose our own truth.”

“There is no absolute truth.”

At first:

This sounded really sophistical.

Philosophical

After a while, I realized this was often a cop-out.

At best: Not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings. Desire to be tolerant.

Not need to think critically about something.

Wanting to justify something that was morally wrong.

Pickup up in the 60’s and 70’s

Do anything or anyone they wanted.

These ideas came from somewhere.

A brief history of Western culture

The beginning of Modern Science

The foundation for studying science was based on several beliefs:

A rational God created a rational universe.

Therefore we can study and understand it by...

Study

Examination

This laid the foundation for the success of Western Science.

Examples:

Copernicus: Believed that the world was rational and beautiful, because the God who created it was rational and beautiful. Therefore he studied it.

Galileo “God created two books, nature and Scripture.”

Darwinism

Darwin wanted to come up with a theory that could explain the universe apart from a Creator.

“On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.” -1872

God could now be taken out of the picture.

The Philosophy of Materialism

Dictionary Definition:

the doctrine that nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications.

the doctrine that consciousness and will are wholly due to material agency.

The Shift to Relativism

Nihilism

Definition: the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.

Fredrick Nitze

Moral relativism

Existentialism

Jean-Paul Sartre

Core Beliefs:

Existence precedes essence.

We are free to determine who we are

“First recognize that there is no meaning in the world, then determine for yourself what is meaningful knowing that our ‘meaning’ is a sham, but following through with it anyway.“ -Glenn Sunshine

Lead alot of them to anxiety or insanity.

“Interestingly enough, on his death bed, Jean-Paul Sartre confessed that his life did have purpose. That there had to be some reason in the world. His lover was shocked.” -Glenn Sunshine

Moral Relativism

New Age Spirituality

It rejects materialism which led to Nihilism and Existentialism, but kept the relativism.

Influenced by a worldview called “Eastern Pantheistic Monism.”

Maintains moral relativism.

Also adheres to relativism in the physical world:

Belief that matter and energy of the physicists are not the primary reality.

What we perceive is merely an illusion in our mind.

We create reality in our minds

For this reason, science was not pursued in cultures who held to this worldview.

It is full of contradictions

“Since, the tradition has grown organically over several thousand years and incorporated into itself diverse ideas, beliefs and practices you cannot miss to notice the complexity and the inherent contradictions that characterize it.” -0Hinduwebsite.com.

Common terms:

Manifestation

Meditation

Crystals

Energy

Vibrations

Conciousness: “God-Conciousness” “Christ Conciousness” “Collective Consciousness”

Oneness: “All is one” “All is God”

Three Problems with Relativism

1. It is self-refuting

Relativist: “There is no such thing as absolute truth.”

You: “Are you absolutely sure that is true?”

The claim contradicts itself, making it logically inconsistant

2. We all experience reality, whether we believe it or not.

Example: Tiger

You: “Hey there’s a tiger sneaking up behind you. You’d better get out of there!”

Relativist: “That’s not my reality.”

You: “Ok, well you are about to experience the tiger’s reality.”

Reality does not bend to what I think about it.

3. It is dangerous to our society

Set’s us up for a collapse in morality.

Think about it:

“There’s no such thing absolute morality.”

“Do what feels right to you.”

“You can choose what is right or wrong.”

“Those who speak in this way prepare the jails of the twenty-first century.” - Michael Novak

Just imagine what will happen to a culture that continues to claim there is no such thing as absolute truth or morality.

Getting Back to Reality

1. A rational God created a rational and orderly world.

Genesis 1:1 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Unlike the Darwinists and Materialists that believe the universe came from nothing, the Bible teaches us that God was the Creator.

Unlike the New Age movement that claims that the world is just an illusion in our own consciousness, the world is really there.

The world can be study and observed.

It follows laws of physics and science.

Experiments can be done to learn more about the world God created.

2. God created mankind with meaning and intentionality.

Genesis 1:27 ESV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

This means we are really here in reality!

Unlike the Darwinists and Materialists which the universe came from nothing and we evolved by chance, God created the universe and each of you with intentionality.

Unlike the Nihilists or existentialists that claimed there was no inherent meaning to life, God has given us meaning in life.

3. We can discover what is real and true.

Unlike Eastern Pantheistic Monism and New Age Spirituality which claims that reality is subjective and a projection of our own minds, God created the world which existed long before we were ever born.

Reality existed and would continue to exist whether or not you were ever born.

If a tree fell in the forest and there was noone there to hear it or see it, did it really fall?

Yes, because reality is not simply what we perceive or think, it is.

God has given us the ability to seek and uncover what is real and true.

Utilize God’s 2 Books

Science: We discover what is true by...

Observation

Testing

The Bible: We discover what is true by revelation.

2 Tim. 3:16

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

John 17:17 ESV

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

John 8:32 ESV

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”