Thursday, August 20, 2015

The Truth Project: What is Truth: Session Two






Truth Claims
  • The truth claims of God
  • The truth claims of Satan.
  • The truth claims of Satan are the Pernicious Lie
  • per·ni·cious1. causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful: pernicious teachings; a pernicious lie. 2. deadly; fatal: a pernicious disease. 3. Obsolete . evil; wicked.
Antithesis
  • This difference in truth claim creates an antithesis.
  • an·tith·e·sis: 1. opposition; contrast. 2. the direct opposite.  
  • This is not just an honest disagreement or a slight difference in perception. This is an evil purposeful destructive distortion of God’s reality.
The Truth Claims of God 
  • UnityMarriage for life
  • Diversity: Male and female
  • Roles: Family structure
  • Responsibility: Confession
  • Authority: Obedience
  • Delegation: God given rights
  • FreedomLiberty within limits
The Truth Claims of the World.
  • Unity: Divorce
  • Diversity: Homosexuality
  • Roles: Desertion, Feminism
  • Responsibility: Blame, Psychiatry
  • Authority: Rebellion
  • Delegation: Tyranny
  • Freedom: Bondage
Worldviews
  • A worldview is the filter of presuppositions that all of our knowledge must pass.

Two opposing worldviews :
  • Layers of rock formed over hundreds of millions of years. Naturalistic evolution.Dr. Karl E. Karlstrom, Ph.D.,Geology,University of Wyoming
  • Layers of mud hardened into rock, laid down quickly by moving water. A great worldwide flood.  Dr. Andrew A. Snelling, B.Sc.(Hons), Ph.D. Geology, University of Sydney, Australia.
  • Two different worldviews. Two different presuppositions.

God’s truth claims work
The world’s truth claims are illogical, do not work and cause pain suffering and dysfunction.                           
 The world says, “It is wrong to oppress the poor and weak of society”. Darwinian evolutionary theory
which is taught in every university in the world tells us that evolution advances by eliminating the unfit among us. It is then a good thing to oppress the poor and weed out those who are weak. There is a logical disconnect here. It makes no sense.





Anthropology: What is man?
  • Imago Dei (“image of God”). Man created in the
    image of God.

  • Man evolves from non living chemicals through random chance, mutation, natural selection, macro evolution. Goo Man. He came up from the goo in the prebiotic pond, grew legs, crawled out on the land, evolved into an apelike creature and then a Wall Street stock broker.



Sin and the fall of man.
  • Augustinian theology. Man born with inherited sin and has no ability to seek God unless God initiates the relationship.
  • Pelagian theology, man born sinless makes mistakes, is evolving toward perfection, can find God through his own will.
    This is the most pernicious lie.


What is truth?…………….Pontius Pilate

Post modern Truth
There is no absolute truth.
Truth is relative according to Jude the Unitarian Universalist.
 Truth is a cathedral with truth streaming through the different prisms of glass.

  • Your truth, my truth, all truths are equally valid.




 Absolute truth.
  • Kyle the 13 yr, old understands that for the universe to operate there must be absolute truth. 2+2=4.
  • Our world requires universal laws of order to exist

Universals:
  • Laws of physics and mathematics
  • Gravity must work just like it did last week
  • Laws of logic
  • Cause and effect, non contradiction
  • Laws of morality and ethics
  • Murder, rape, theft wrong.
  • Why?


Definition of truth:
  • RC Sproul: Truth: That which corresponds to reality as perceived by God.
  • Noah Webster 1828: Truth: conformity to facts and reality. ie the truth of the scriptures.
  • Truth is reality.

Isaiah 44:20
  • He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is
    there not a lie in my right hand
    ?” Isaiah 44:20 (ESV)
  • All idolatry is a lie.
  • I hold in my hand
  • ……………………………. a lie.

Romans 1
Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans 1:25 (ESV)

Man exchanges the truth for a lie.
  • Lies are powerful and can cause us to believe insane things.

Insanity
  • Insanity; losing touch with reality.
  • Believing that the lie is real.
  • Worry is a form of insanity in that we lose touch with the ultimate source of all reality.
In order to overcome pernicious worry we must start with God as our reference point.

All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
To reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible argumentsCol 2:2-4 (ESV)

Faith?
  • Faith: What is faith?
  • Faith in faith?
  • Hope in hope?
  • Faith in Him.
  • Faith like a child.
  • Not based on feeling.
  • Faith connects to actions.
  • We act upon what is real.

So………….the big question

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What is Truth: Veritology Session One


thumbnailCAVGS6RF

Veritology: the study of TRUTH.  This will involve epistemology, the study of knowledge, and questions about:
How do we know what we know?
Is knowing the same as believing?
The Truth Project will involve Christian biblical apologetics.
 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV) but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,


1. According to the video what is the goal of the Truth Project?  
big question





Our goal is:  Transformation
transformation-2
μεταμορφόω metamorphoo (met-am-or-foh’-o) to transform
 To change in form, appearance, or structure;      metamorphos
A caterpillar changing into a butterfly is metamorphosis or transformation.
catapiller
butterfly
2. According to the bible how can we be transformed?
question-guy-4
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, Romans 12:2
The unregenerate unbeliever has no ability to understand or accept the truth claims of God. The believer who now has the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, has the ability to have his changed mind  made new, so that they are able to “discern” God’s will. Testing you may discern translates Greek dokimazō, which has the sense of finding out the worth of something by putting it to use or testing it in actual practice. Before salvation we have no desire to know or do the will of God. Now we have the ability to be transformed and taught by the Spirit of Truth. Even though we are instantaneously regenerated  the microsecond we accept the gospel,  we don’t instantaneously have a Christian worldview. That has to be developed.

3. Specifically, where do we begin to renew our minds.
question lady
  • We will have to answer many Presuppositional questions.
  • Presuppose: to suppose or assume beforehand; take for granted in advance.
  • Presuppositions are the most fundamental reasons.

 These questions are designed to make us think and test what we believe and why we believe it to see if it is true.
Do I wake up in the morning and have to reestablish my identity and all my beliefs. No I have a set of assumption which do not have to be tested daily.
How do you know you are not a disembodied brain, suspended in a vat of chemicals, being manipulated by a mad scientist electrically into believing you are sitting here in this class.
There are some things we just have to assume. We assume our senses, identity and memory is reliable.

 4. What is a worldview?
worldview3






compass












A worldview is the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life and the world. "It's any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement or religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world and man's relations to God and the world,"
A recent nationwide survey completed by the Barna Research Group determined that only 4 percent of Americans had a "biblical" worldview. Of "born- again" believers in America, the results were a dismal 9 percent. This means over 90% of church going Christians have a complete 360 degree worldview.
Barna's survey also connected an individual's worldview with his or her moral beliefs and actions. Barna says, "Although most people own a Bible and know some of its content, our research found that most Americans have little idea how to integrate core biblical principles to form a unified and meaningful response to the challenges and opportunities of life."

5. According to the video, why did Jesus come into the world??
pilate and truth
  • For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. John 18:37



  • Testify : To make a declaration of truth or fact under oath.
   
  6. How is Jesus Christ linked with the concept of truth?
truth christ
  • Jesus uses the expression, “I tell you the truth” 75 times.
  • He uses “truly, truly” “amen, amen” 25 times in the book of John.
  • For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
  • John 1:17

John 1:17 (ESV)   For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
  • God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24
  • And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. John 8:32
  • “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” John 14:6

7. What takes us captive?captive
Lies take us captive and Truth will set us free.
 Declaration: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
This idea of liberty and freedom being a God endowed right was revolutionary……..literally.

Marxism as an economic system is a foolish lie created by an German academic who had never worked a day in his life and had no clue how the real world economy works. His false distorted worldview runs contrary to human nature and anybody who has held a job or owned a business knows this. The only way it could be imposed on Russian was to take away freedom. Those who resisted the lie were murdered. When the farmers refused to give their farms to the state they were imprisoned and murdered in massive purges where millions died. All because of a lie. Same thing Nazism and the whole aryan race lie, slavery in the (slaves do not work as hard and efficiently as free men. Wherever people buy into the lies of the world their are catastrophic consequences.



8. Is there a link between truth and salvation?
lead me
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promiseEph 1:13 (NKJV)
 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.             1 Tim 2:3-4
 In the midst of my atheist existentialist worldview the Holy Spirit began to trouble me, but it took a man speaking the truth of the gospel to me that allowed me to be spiritually reborn or regenerated. Salvation is dependent on us speaking the truth to others.

There is a movement on college campuses and within academia to suppress free speech. Safe spaces and protection from microaggressions is now important to many who are afraid of hearing contrary opinions to the propaganda which their professors spew out.

We take for granted the freedom to have and read a bible but in the past at one time


9. How does the natural man react to the truth of God?

suppressRomans 1:18-20 (ESV)
18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.  
Suppress:  to put down by authority or force, to keep from public knowledge, to keep secret, to stop or prohibit, to exclude from consciousness.

After I posted a piece in the Modesto Bee on the evidence for the existence of God, this was one of the printable responses.
“christianity;  The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.”
After challenging an advocate of Darwinian evolution and asking his to cite one “scientific fact” of  “common descent” , this was his response.
“There is nothing for me to prove, I have already won, I am invited to speak at our public schools and I could have you arrested for doing so.


 10. So, can’t we just all believe what we want and just all get along?
oz2





Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but ratherwhipdivision. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.  Luke 12:51-53


Jesus is BIFURCATING the world.  Bifurcate: to divide into two branches or parts.
bifurcate





We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.       1 John 4:6
gk-chesterton-tolerance

In presuppositional apologetics the first principle is that there is no neutral. No fence sitting. When dealing with the unbeliever never abandon your worldview and try to compromise.
In the beginning God…………..or  In the beginning no God. The choice is clear.



11. How does this difference in worldviews play out?question baby
The result is a COSMIC BATTLE.
 The Truth (reality) in one corner vs The Lie (illusion) in the other corner.
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,  in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.  Thess 2:9-13
cosmic
God chose you….to be saved and to know the truth.
The lies of the world deceive us.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.Romans 7:11 (NKJV)grim
And with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be savedThess 2:10 (NKJV)
Genesis 3:15 (NASB)  And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed
The antithetical nature of Christianity goes back to the garden.
Antitheticaldirectly opposed or contrasted; mutually incompatible.
cain-and-able-2


Enmitythe state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.
Your seed: the unbelieving world. Jesus called the children of the Devil (John 8:44)
Her seed:  the believers,  the children of God (John 1:12)
confront





12. How should we view the unsaved?
Question guy
All sin is belief in a LIE.
IGod perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escchainsape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. Tim 2:25-26 (NKJV)
When we speak to those who are of the world we must envision them in CHAINS.
Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,  in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them Col 3:6-7 (NKJV)
This prevents us from becoming arrogant
humble crusader
Scripture References
 You may look up these verses at Bible Gateway.*
Isaiah 6:1-8John 18:33-38Matt 5:18Matt 10:15
Matt 13:17Matt 16:28Matt 17:20Matt 18:3, 18
Matt 19:23Matt 21:21Matt 23:36Matt 24:2
Matt 25:40Matt 26:21Matt 26:34John 3:3
John 3:5John 3:11John 5:19, 24, 25John 1:17
John 14:6John 6:26, 32, 47, 53John 8:34, 51, 58John 17:17
John 4:24John 8:32John 14:16-17John 16:13
1 Tim 2:3-4Eph 6:14Isaiah 59:4Jer 7:28
Isaiah 59:151 Tim 6:132 Tim 4:3-4Rom 1:18
Acts 20:30Rom 2:8Rom 1:251 John 4:6
Job 1 & 22 Thess 2:9-13John 8:34-47Rom 7:11
2 Thess 2:10Eph 4:22Heb 3:131 John 3:10
2 Tim 2:24-26Col 4:5-6Isaiah 44:18-20Isaiah 44:17
Matt 6:25-34Col 2:2-4 
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