How Now Shall We Live? By Chuck Colson WORLDVIEW How Now Shall We Live? By Chuck Colson

Truth… What is Truth? Clip from the Matrix The story of Pilate and Jesus Clip from the Passion of the Christ

What is a Worldview? The sum total of our beliefs about the world, the “big picture” that directs our daily decisions and actions. Our major task in life is to discover what is true and live in step with that truth Every worldview can be measured by the way it answers three fundamental questions…

The Questions… Where did we come? Who are we? Why are we here?

What is Truth? “Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be…” Truth is Reality Insanity is losing touch with reality Believing the lie is real

Truth: Objective vs. Subjective Truths that never change inspite of one’s feelings. From a Source outside of one’s self Subjective One constructs their own opinion of what is right or wrong Subjectivists are those who deny objective truths See handout

What is Philosophy? “A search for the underlying causes and principles of reality.” The discovery of reality. Many different competing philosophies out there. One example is naturalistic philosophy

Naturalistic Philosophy No gods or purposive forces No ultimate foundation for ethics No free will. No life after death No ultimate meaning in life There are many other competing philosophies today. We will look at those in the next days. Assign pg. 31-33, questions on bottom of p. 33.

Contemporary Philosophies Secular humanism Materialism Atheism Individualism Capitalism Communism/socialism Hedonism Nihilism Existentialism Moral relativism Religious indifferentism Agnosticism Utilitarianism

Secular Humanism Man is the ultimate universal authority of all. +man is great, man is important - ignores source of original authority of God, ignores something greater

Materialism Happiness is based on money & possessions (acquisition our primary purpose) + we need things to survive - things can’t love us back

Atheism Denial of God’s existence + we are responsible for our own actions and choose our own fate - no meaning to our existence

Individualism We should be the primary concern of our own lives/self-sufficient + builds self reliance and confidence - self-centred, ignore others

Capitalism Focuses on pursuit of wealth/profit + promotes individual success - could deteriorate into greed

Communism/socialism Aims to have the group meet the needs of all + cooperation and communal concern - suppresses the dignity of the indv., could suppress initiative and motivation

Hedonism Constant pursuit of physical pleasure + good to have fun - gluttony, avoid unpleasant responsibilities

Nihilism Nothing is important/life ends at death, questions the worth of our actions +motive more valuable than action - can lead to apathy and despair “What we do in life, echoes in eternity” -Maximus on Gladiator

Existentialism We are isolated from others in our experiences. + we are unique - if true, then how do we relate to others?

Moral relativism We create our own right and wrong +we decide the “right” to follow - no moral standards ** Christians believe we discover right and wrong through revelation, we do not invent it.

Religious indifferentism All faiths are the same so no need to settle on one. + similar truths in all belief systems - if we do not choose, we will never approach complete truth and beauty in our own religion **To discover the greatness of something we have to get into it (ex. Sport, relationship, religion)

Agnosticism Doubt the existence of God + we must ask questions and find God for ourselves - unwilling to take leap of faith Leap is needed because belief in God can’t be based on facts alone, it requires relationship. Ex. Marriage, Flying

Identify Five Examples of Overlap **Christianity incorporates many of the positives of each of these philosophies in Christian humanism

One More Philosophy: Utilitarianism judges the usefulness of every and any human activity 1. Useful is what ever is worthwhile, gives pleasure/comfort and excludes pain/discomfort. 2. The danger of it all is when the principle of usefulness is applied to people. Some people can be termed useless, burdens, or discomforts and then discarded. 3. If a person is “used” in a negative sense ex. Exploited worker, prostitute, one night stand does this not attack the dignity of the person. 4. Christianity and the natural law are opposed to the negative use of the person because it subjects one to being abused, violated, and possibly killed. Ex. Elderly, handicapped, unborn.

My friend Mike

Plato’s Parable of the Cave

The Natural Law that rule of right and wrong which our reason can perceive. Love is within us from God

Humanism having an interest in the “good” of humanity 1. Christian humanism – includes God in thought and action 2. Secular humanism – excludes God from thought and action **“We believe in life before death” – Cause Canada mission statement

Case Study: Philosopher Fred Nietzsche 1. German Philosopher in the 1800’s 2. Famous for saying “God is dead” 3. he said this because of watching the lives of Christians who he thought only lived for heaven, neglecting earthly responsibilities. 4. The Christian God, with his arbitrary commands and prohibitions, would no longer stand in the way, so human beings might stop turning their eyes toward a supernatural realm and begin to acknowledge the value of this world. Related to Practical Atheism – belief, but no actions

Christian Goal in Life 1. Ultimate – to prepare for heaven (meeting God and our true selves) 2. Proximate (immediate) – to use this time on earth to love God, neighbour, and self. All are important, even to love ourselves. Ex. The two goals are very connected, remember Maximus quote.

The Christian Concept of the Human Person

Six Points of Being Human We are material-spiritual beings Belong to material universe created by God We have both a body and a soul We belong to each other We are unique but we need each other to have purpose We are made in God’s image we are fundamentally good. We sin but God forgives us We inherited original sin and are weak We have an inner moral compass Our conscience Our vocation is to love Loving others gives us purpose in our lives

Theism and Naturalism Moral relativism Multiculturalism Notes Multiculturalism dissect the word Pragmatism/Utilitarianism story of suicide workshop Utopianism Can we ever achieve heaven on earth This-world perspective What’s wrong with this? Quote from the Pope Postmodernism What did you find out? The “Cultural Creatives” Pros and Cons

Choices: Laws of the universe All the illicit stuff that Hollywood often portrays has real hard life consequences which the movies rarely portray. We end up with such heartache (my mom’s story), but there is forgiveness My ND friends story about abortion choice