March 10, 2008

• THINKING ABOUT: TRUTH & FAITH

  
  Yes, I am running VERY behind in posting my notes… Sorry!  Anyway, here are my notes from a couple of weeks ago.  Its the first ina  two part series on critical thinking where we discuss the nature of truth and faith and how our current culture interprets these words and concepts.
  
  Also, please note that this talk comes almost entirely from a message given by Greg Koukl at the apologetics ministry “STand to Reason (www.str.org).  Anything in these notes that looks particularly clever should be attributed to Mr. Koukl, conversely anything that looks out of place or dumb should be credited to me!

  Truth Is Not Ice Cream; Faith Is Not Wishing

  INTRO
  o  TRUTH is not like ice-cream
  o  FAITH is not like “wishing”
  o  lets begin with a statement… “Butter Pecan ice cream is delicious”… is that statement TRUE or FALSE?…

  1. TRUTH IS NOT ICE-CREAM

    o  are you troubled in any way that other people in the room disagree with you and think that your truth claim about ice cream flavors is wrong?

    o  two kinds of claims…
          >  you’re not really talking about ice cream… your talking about yourself, YOUR opinions and  YOUR preferences.  Its “SUBJECTIVE”
          >  Butter Pecan ice cream is a medicine that cures diabetes… now this claim is different.  Its not about me and my preferences, this is an “OBJECTIVE” claim that is either truth or false.

    o  two ways for things to be true…
          >  in an ice cream way:  true for you, not for me, there is no right and wrong answer, its SUBJECTIVE
          >  in an insulin way:  it is OBJECTIVELY true, facts and reason are involved.  There is an ACTUAL right and wrong

    o  there is much confusion on this issue… our culture wants to treat religious and moral claims in an “ice cream way” instead of in an “insulin way”.

    o Our culture no longer argues that Christianity is not true… they treat it as true, FOR YOU… but NOT for them

    o Pluralism = all religions are true
          >  this would mean that we know for sure, and that God is content with ANY sincere effort
          >  no religions lead to God, because religion is just a game we play to make us feel better… its merely a religious “placebo”
          >  If religion is just a “placebo” then its true, we shouldn’t try and convince someone that our flavor of ice cream is best.

    o  Ice cream or Insulin?
          >  If Christianity is like insulin, then whats most important is that we share whats true, not just what you or I may like.  If someone doesn’t like that Jesus is “the only way”, I’m not free to change that truth… I’m not free to make my own rules… Jesus has made the claim, the universe is His, and He decides who goes to heaven NOT me!
          >  If Christianity is true in an insulin way, it means that there are many other views that are simply FALSE

    o  How should I choose a “belief system”?
          >  find something you like
          >  find something that makes you feel good
          >  only ONE reason to choose a “belief system”… because its TRUE!

    o What is truth?
          >  “There is no truth”… is that true?
          >  its not just my opinion or belief
          >  we believe its true, its factual, its actual, it applies to all people or all times and of all places

    o Our claim: Christianity is TRUE!… not in an ice-cream (or subjective) way, but in an insulin (or objective or actual) way
          >  Jesus is NOT ice-cream… don’t treat Him like He is your “flavor” (“try Jesus, you’ll like Him”)
          >  He IS insulin… He is the only medicine that can save your life!
          >  People hear us claim Jesus is the only way, and what THEY HEAR is that “if you don’t like my flavor of ice-cream your going to hell” and that sounds ridiculous!
          >  we need to help people understand that we are making an “insulin kind of claim”…
          >  In church history Christians have been willing to die for what they believed to be ACTUALLY true.

  2. FAITH IS NOT WISHING

    o “Faith” is deeply misunderstood.  When people hear “faith”, what they think is “religious wishful thinking”… “leap of faith”… “blind faith”… unsubstantiated.  People think “faith” is what you have when you don’t have the facts.

    o Biblical faith… evidence, leading to knowledge, leading to active TRUST
          >  Heb 11:1  “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen”
          >  scratch off lottery ticket illustration… hope & assurance

    o The biblical sequence.
          >  evidence… knowledge… active TRUST
          >  I see evidence that flying on a plane is safe, that leads to my knowledge about plane safety, that leads to me putting my active trust in the flight by getting on the plane

    o Biblical examples… (evidence, knowledge, active trust)
          >  #1 MOSES “…that you may know…”  (Exodus 4-14)
          >  #2 ELIJAH “…that this people may know…”  (1 Kings 18:20-40)
          >  #3 JESUS “…in order that you may know…”  (Mark 2:1-12)
          >  #4 PETER “…know for certain…”  (Acts 2:36)

    o With the Holy Spirit you can win someone to Christ with an intellectual argument. It happens all the time.

  3. CONSLUSION
    o  Knowledge, Confidence, and Courage (2 Timothy 1:7,8,14)

    o  2 Tim 1:7, 8, 14
      7 For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment
      8 So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me His prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God,
      14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that good thing entrusted to you

  • 3:54 pm
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