Beth Ellen Nagle
Puritan Board Senior
#49 >>Yes, give me one of those basics in which the Word of God infallibly comes. <<
Basic beliefs flow from our most basic concepts. We can know these from reason and argument (laws of thought as test for meaning and coherence). Our most basic concept is that of existence. Whatever we say about anything we speak of it as being, "it is". The sky is blue. The ground is hard. All such expressions assume "it is". This is true for anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Logically we can say two things about existence, "it is" now, and always past/future (eternal) or "it is" now and not always past/future (temporal). The eternal is prior to the temporal both logically and ontologically. So, we can know something exist and that something is at least eternal or temporal or both. We can at least know that if something is temporal then something is at least eternal. Saying nothing is eternal is reduced to absurdity, i.e. being cannot come from non-being. This is clarity at the basic level of thought concerning our most basic concepts from which our most basic beliefs will flow.
All world views flow from these basic concepts/beliefs. We don't stop here though. It can be shown whether such beliefs, through the critical use of reason, can stand and whether one has integrity in holding such beliefs, i.e. material monism, spiritual monism, dualism, certain forms of Theism.
We all tend to use reason constructively. For instance, we draw out good and necessary consequences from Scripture but we over look the critical use of reason at the basic level to see what is clear about God and resort of fideistic approaches in the defense of Christianity against other world views.
As to your question above. What I am trying to show here is clarity at the basic level of thought and this is the logos in us as light. The logos in us as reason interacting with the logos in Creation is clear. Creation is Revelation. The willingness to think and understand is not there. The irony is that if we but think clearly we could see, but we don't and resort to giving up reason. This ends in silence or absurdity and contradictory beliefs that cannot be held with spiritual integrity. That is the spiritual death in us. We shut our eyes to the light. We need redemption. We need regeneration.
I am sure you will have questions or thoughts.
Basic beliefs flow from our most basic concepts. We can know these from reason and argument (laws of thought as test for meaning and coherence). Our most basic concept is that of existence. Whatever we say about anything we speak of it as being, "it is". The sky is blue. The ground is hard. All such expressions assume "it is". This is true for anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Logically we can say two things about existence, "it is" now, and always past/future (eternal) or "it is" now and not always past/future (temporal). The eternal is prior to the temporal both logically and ontologically. So, we can know something exist and that something is at least eternal or temporal or both. We can at least know that if something is temporal then something is at least eternal. Saying nothing is eternal is reduced to absurdity, i.e. being cannot come from non-being. This is clarity at the basic level of thought concerning our most basic concepts from which our most basic beliefs will flow.
All world views flow from these basic concepts/beliefs. We don't stop here though. It can be shown whether such beliefs, through the critical use of reason, can stand and whether one has integrity in holding such beliefs, i.e. material monism, spiritual monism, dualism, certain forms of Theism.
We all tend to use reason constructively. For instance, we draw out good and necessary consequences from Scripture but we over look the critical use of reason at the basic level to see what is clear about God and resort of fideistic approaches in the defense of Christianity against other world views.
As to your question above. What I am trying to show here is clarity at the basic level of thought and this is the logos in us as light. The logos in us as reason interacting with the logos in Creation is clear. Creation is Revelation. The willingness to think and understand is not there. The irony is that if we but think clearly we could see, but we don't and resort to giving up reason. This ends in silence or absurdity and contradictory beliefs that cannot be held with spiritual integrity. That is the spiritual death in us. We shut our eyes to the light. We need redemption. We need regeneration.
I am sure you will have questions or thoughts.