Tag Archives: philosophy

What Separates Christianity From the Rest?

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The view of Biblical Christianity is under attack. What is it that draws such fire from our culture? It is not intolerance. It is not hypocrisy. It is not social action or inaction.

The primary reason Biblical Christianity is under attack in our day is its unrelenting focus on Jesus Christ. The bible refuses to allow us to smooth over or overlook the God-Man,  Jesus Christ. The bible points clearly to the fact that all of us are marred by sin and there is one hope: the substitutionally death of Jesus on our behalf.

Alvin Plantinga is a world renowned christian philosopher. He is the John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, where he taught for 28 years, and is the inaugural holder of the Jellema Chair in Philosophy at Calvin College, where he recently retired from in 2010.  He is a philosophical beast, to say the least.  Plantinga explains the classical components of christian belief and the uniqueness therein.

Classical Christian belief includes, in the first place, the belief that there is such a person as God. God is That person, that is, a being with intellect and will. A person has (or can have) knowledge and belief, but also affections, loves, and hates; a person, furthermore, also has or can have intentions, and can act so as to fulfill them. God has all of these qualities and has some (knowledge, power, and love, for example) to the maximal degree. God is thus all-knowing and all-powerful; he is also perfectly good and wholly loving. Still further, he has created the universe and constantly upholds and providentially guides it. This is the theistic component of Christian belief. But there is also the uniquely Christian component: that we human beings are somehow mired in rebellion and sin, that we consequently require deliverance and salvation, and that God has arranged for that deliverance through the sacrificial suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was both a man and also the second member of the Trinity, the uniquely divine son of God.   – Alvin Plantinga

Stay focused on Christ, friends.

alvin

Worldview Summery Chart

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Click on this informative chart to get a clear(er) understanding of the differing worldviews. Many times we hear these terms thrown around incorrectly. So here is a chance to see them side by side with their definitions.

(click the graphic for a zoomable view.)

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Do You Know Which Worldview You Really Hold?

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biblebelt

The southern region of the United States is known as the bible-belt. It is common for most people here (as I write in TN) to associate with some type of christian label. But does everyone who claims to be a christian really hold a christian worldview?

The short answer is no. But worldviews are complex.

What is a worldview you ask? A worldview is the filter through which you interpret the data of life. This filter is made up of your presuppositions, values, and answers to life’s most basic questions. We all have a worldview, the question is whether we intentionally established it, or allowed to haphazardly develop through time.

I believe many people call themselves “christian” because it is a culturally acceptable term (common, but not limited to the bible-belt), but if their belief system was truly examined another label may actually describe them better. This worldview flow chart is helpful to identify some of your own core beliefs to better understand which worldview you hold.

Track through this flow chart for a while and discover which worldview you operate under, as well as see how others may answer some of life’s most important questions. Click the chart to see a larger version. I hope this is helpful and informative. Let me know in the comments.   – Adam

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