Download or read book Rethinking Philosophy in Light of the Bible written by Brayton Polka and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2014-10-15 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rethinking Philosophy in Light of the Bible analyzes the ideas that are central to the philosophy of Kant, Hegel, and Kierkegaard in order to show that they are biblical in origin, both ontologically and historically. Brayton Polka argues that Schopenhauer has an altogether false conception of the fundamental ideas of the Bible—creation, the Fall of Adam and Eve, and covenantal love—and of Christianity, which leaves his philosophy irredeemably contradictory, as he himself acknowledges. The aim, then, is to show that our modern values, the values that constitute modernity, are biblical in origin. It is only when we come to understand that modernity is biblical from the beginning and that the Bible is modern unto the end that we are able to overcome the opposition, so evident today, between philosophy and theology, between reason and faith, and between the secular and the religious. Polka makes central the distinction that Kierkegaard draws between Christianity and Christendom: Christianity represents the coming into historical existence of the single individual; Christendom represents Christian values that are rationalized in pagan terms. As Kierkegaard shows us, if God has always existed eternally, then he has never existed eternally, then he has never come into historical existence for the single individual. The distinction between Christianity and Christendom is the distinction not between faith and reason, but between truth and idolatry. While theology and philosophy each represent the truth of Christianity, Schopenhauer’s idolatrous concepts of faith, no less than of reason, represent Christendom.

Download or read book Rethinking Hell written by Christopher M. Date and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2014-04-15 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most evangelical Christians believe that those people who are not saved before they die will be punished in hell forever. But is this what the Bible truly teaches? Do Christians need to rethink their understanding of hell? In the late twentieth century, a growing number of evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers began to reject the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell in favor of a minority theological perspective called conditional immortality. This view contends that the unsaved are resurrected to face divine judgment, just as Christians have always believed, but due to the fact that immortality is only given to those who are in Christ, the unsaved do not exist forever in hell. Instead, they face the punishment of the "second death"--an end to their conscious existence. This volume brings together excerpts from a variety of well-respected evangelical thinkers, including John Stott, John Wenham, and E. Earl Ellis, as they articulate the biblical, theological, and philosophical arguments for conditionalism. These readings will give thoughtful Christians strong evidence that there are indeed compelling reasons for rethinking hell.

Download or read book Modernity between Wagner and Nietzsche written by Brayton Polka and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2015-01-06 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modernity between Wagner and Nietzsche analyzes the operas and writings of Wagner in order to prove that the ideas on which they are based contradict and falsify the values that are fundamental to modernity. This book also analyzes the ideas that are central to the philosophy of Nietzsche, demonstrating that the values on the basis of which he breaks with Wagner and repudiates their common mentor, Schopenhauer, are those fundamental to modernity. Brayton Polka makes use of the critical distinction that Kierkegaard draws between Christianity and Christendom. Christianity represents what Nietzsche calls the faith that is presupposed in unconditionally willing the truth in saying yes to life. Christendom, in contrast, represents the bad faith of nihilism in saying no to life. Polka then shows that Wagner, in following Schopenhauer, represents Christendom with the demonstration in his operas that life is nothing but death and death is nothing but life. In other words, the purpose of the will for Wagner is to annihilate the will, since it is only in and through death that human beings are liberated from life as willfully sinful. Nietzsche, in contrast, is consistent with the biblical concept that existence is created from nothing, from nothing that is not made in the image of God, that any claim that the will can will not to will is contradictory and hence false. For not to will is, in truth, still to will nothing. There is then, Nietzsche shows, no escape from the will. Either human beings will the truth in saying yes to life as created from nothing, or in truly willing nothing, they say no to life in worshiping the God of Christendom who is dead.

Download or read book Rethinking Worldview written by J. Mark Bertrand and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2007-10-05 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everyone has a worldview. How did we get it? How is it formed? Is it possible by persuasion and logic to change one's worldview? In Rethinking Worldview, writer and worldview teacher J. Mark Bertrand has a threefold aim. First, he seeks to capture a more complex, nuanced appreciation of what worldviews really are. Then he situates worldviews in the larger context of a lived faith. Finally, he explores the organic connections between worldview and wisdom and how they are expressed in witness. Bertrand's work reads like a conversation, peppered with anecdotes and thought-provoking questions that push readers to continue thinking and talking long after they have put the book down. Thoughtful readers interested in theology, philosophy, and culture will be motivated to rethink their own perspectives on the nature of reality, as well as to rethink the concept of worldviews itself.

Download or read book Play Among Books written by Miro Roman and published by Birkhäuser. This book was released on 2021-12-06 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does coding change the way we think about architecture? This question opens up an important research perspective. In this book, Miro Roman and his AI Alice_ch3n81 develop a playful scenario in which they propose coding as the new literacy of information. They convey knowledge in the form of a project model that links the fields of architecture and information through two interwoven narrative strands in an “infinite flow” of real books. Focusing on the intersection of information technology and architectural formulation, the authors create an evolving intellectual reflection on digital architecture and computer science.

Download or read book Thinking about the Prophets written by Kenneth Seeskin and published by Jewish Publication Society. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rethinking the great literary prophets whose ministry ran from the eighth to the sixth centuries BCE—Amos, Hosea, First Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Second Isaiah, and Job—Thinking about the Prophets examines their often-shocking teachings in light of their times, their influence on later Western and Jewish thinkers, and their enduring lessons for all of us. As a noted scholar of Jewish philosophy, Kenneth Seeskin teases out philosophical, ethical, and theological questions in the writings, such as the nature of moral reasoning, the divine persona, divine providence, the suffering of the innocent, the power of repentance, and what it means to believe in a monotheistic conception of God. Seeskin demonstrates that great ideas are not limited by time or place, but rather once put forth, take on a life of their own. Thus he interweaves the medieval and modern philosophers Maimonides, Kant, Cohen, Buber, Levinas, Heschel, and Soloveitchik, all of whom read the prophets and had important things to say as a result. We come to see the prophets perhaps in equal measure as divinely authorized whistle-blowers and profound thinkers of the human condition. Readers of all levels will find this volume an accessible and provoking introduction to the enduring significance of biblical prophecy.

Download or read book Rethinking Philosophy and Theology with Deleuze written by Brent Adkins and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-04-11 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate between faith and reason has been a dominant feature of Western thought for more than two millennia. This book takes up the problem of the relation between philosophy and theology and proposes that this relation can be reconceived if both philosophy and theology are seen as different ways of organising affects. Brent Adkins and Paul R. Hinlicky break new ground in this timely debate in two ways. Firstly, they lay bare the contemporary dependence on Kant and propose that our Kantian inheritance leaves us with an insuperable dualism. Secondly, the authors argue that the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze provides a way of resolving the debate between faith and reason that does justice to philosophy and theology by reconceiving of both as assemblages. Deleuze's philosophy differentiates domains of thought in terms of what they create. This seems like a particularly fruitful way to pursue the problem of the relations among philosophy and theology because it allows their distinction without at the same time placing them in opposition to one another.

Download or read book Making Sense of God written by Timothy Keller and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.

Download or read book Surprised by Hope written by N. T. Wright and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2008-02-05 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For years Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Award-winning author N. T. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright, who is one of today's premier Bible scholars, asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. He provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus and shows how this became the cornerstone for the Christian community's hope in the bodily resurrection of all people at the end of the age. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth," revealing what happens to the dead until then and what will happen with the "second coming" of Jesus. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise. Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation—and if this has already begun in Jesus's resurrection—the church cannot stop at "saving souls" but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God's kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life. Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life, not only after death but before it.

Download or read book Hebrews written by N. T. Wright and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2010-07-07 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a scholar's mind and a pastor's heart, N. T. Wright guides us through the New Testament book of Hebrews, moving us from the world in which it was lived into the world in which we must live it again. Includes twenty sessions for group or personal study.

Download or read book God Reforms Hearts written by Thaddeus Williams and published by Lexham Press. This book was released on 2021-08-11 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Must we be free to truly love? Evil is a problem for all Christians. When responding to objections that both evil and God can exist, many resort to a "free will defense," where God is not the creator of evil but of human freedom, by which evil is possible. This response is so pervasive that it is just as often assumed as it is defended. But is this answer biblically and philosophically defensible? In God Reforms Hearts, Thaddeus J. Williams offers a friendly challenge to the central claim of the free will defense--that love is possible only with true (or libertarian) free will. Williams argues that much thinking on free will fails to carve out the necessary distinction between an autonomous will and an unforced will. Scripture presents a God who desires relationship and places moral requirements on his often--rebellious creatures, but does absolute free will follow? Moreover, God's work of transforming the human heart is more thorough than libertarian freedom allows. With clarity, precision, and charity, Williams judges the merits and shortcomings of the relational free will defense while offering a philosophically and biblically robust alternative that draws from theologians of the past to point a way forward.

Download or read book Rethinking Human Nature written by Malcolm Jeeves and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2011-02-23 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do the many exciting recent scientific discoveries in neuroscience, psychology, evolutionary biology, genetics and paleoanthropology challenge and complicate but also enrich and illuminate the traditional Christian portrait of human nature? In Rethinking Human Nature an international team of scientists, historians, philosophers, and theologians presents both the wisdom of the past and the cutting edge of present and developing scientific research to explore answers to this vital question. Their discussions examining our brains, our genes, our ancestors, our societies, and more will help us develop a more nuanced and complete understanding of what it really means to be human. Contributors: Evandro Agazzi, R. J. Berry, Alison S. Brooks, Franco Chiereghin, Felipe Fernandez, Graeme Finlay, Joel Green, Malcolm Jeeves, Jrgen Mittelstrass, David G. Myers, Janet Martin Soskice, Fernando Vidal

Download or read book Rethinking Peter Singer written by Gordon R. Preece and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who is Peter Singer?What does he say about issues like abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and animal rights? What does he say about Christianity? What exactly is his philosophy?"Peter Singer is probably the world's most famous or infamous contemporary philosopher," says Gordon Preece. Recently appointed as professor of bioethics at Princeton University's Center for Human Values, Singer is best known for his book on animal rights, Animal Liberation, and for his philosophical text Practical Ethics. But underneath his seemingly benign agenda lies perhaps the most radical challenge to Christian ethics proposed in recent times.In Rethinking Peter Singer four of Singer's contemporaries, fellow Australian scholars Gordon Preece, Graham Cole, Lindsay Wilson and Andrew Sloane, grapple with Singer's views respectfully but incisively. From a straightforwardly Christian perspective, they critique Singer's thought in four major areas: abortion and infanticide, euthanasia, animal rights, and Christianity.Rethinking Peter Singer is not only for those who want to understand Singer's views but also for all who want to challenge the thinking that more and more informs our society's stance on moral issues.

Download or read book In Search of the Soul written by Joel B. Green and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Editors Joel B. Green and Stuart L. Palmer present differing evangelical perspectives on the body and soul, mind and brain problem: Stewart Goetz on substance dualism, William Hasker on emergent dualism, Nancey Murphy on nonreductive physicalism and Kevin Corcoran on the constitution view of persons.

Download or read book Reconsidering Israel and Judah written by Gary N. Knoppers and published by Eisenbrauns. This book was released on 2000 with total page 647 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Paradox and Truth written by Ralph Allan Smith and published by Canon Press & Book Service. This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 1,500 years after the foundational church councils, the doctrine of the Trinity is still as central and as puzzling to theologians as ever. Reformed theology has seen increasing calls for the Trinity to live at the center of Christian confession, prompting the need for a fuller biblical and practical understanding of the subject.In recent Reformed thought, Cornelius Van Til and Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. have proposed important trinitarian theologies. Ralph Smith assesses these views and, filling out a Van Tilian perspective with Kuyper's lesser-known covenantal view, he provides a refreshing biblical, historical, and applicable perspective on this key Christian reality.

Download or read book Inter Christian Philosophical Dialogues written by Graham Oppy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-22 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inter-Christian Philosophical Dialogues offers a unique approach to the philosophical exploration of Christianity. Five leading Christian philosophers of religion are brought together to engage in a spirited dialogue, debating and discussing the merits and demerits of the diverse ideas, doctrines and practices found in the Christian tradition. Participants in this dialogue represent and defend the following traditions or movements within Christianity: ‘Naturalist’ Christian theism Ecological Christianity Catholic Christianity (Reformed) Protestantism Orthodox Christianity. This set of volumes uncovers the rich and diverse cognitive and experiential dimensions of religious belief and practice, pushing the field of philosophy of religion in bold new directions.