tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3618823873115620727.post1069870615231234692..comments2023-06-25T04:08:47.763-05:00Comments on Soli Deo Gloria: Truth and the Supremacy of ChristRyan Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14177388862369700122noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3618823873115620727.post-61099123942005586992008-05-05T02:55:00.000-05:002008-05-05T02:55:00.000-05:00What I am getting at is the fact that the labels w...What I am getting at is the fact that the labels we create for the world are manmade constructs, and our relationship to them is a matter of personal choice/self-identity. Frankly, you could have a birth certificate saying "Ryan" but call yourself "Larry", which name would be truer? You are a drummer, but how do we define drummer? Most people have drummed some drum at least once so do where could we draw the line between a person who occasionally messes with drums and a drummer? A son, what if you made yourself a daughter, or what if you were born a hermaphrodite or even a female with lacking sexual organs and then had your sexual organs artificially created and were never told or even if you were? A boyfriend? What does that *really* mean in a world with open relationships, gay relationships, unwed coupled parents, polygamy, polygyny, and all too friendly friends? As well, the entire label of "Martin family" is arbitrary as well, as when one picks the root of the tree to call "Martin-ish" is merely a social construct as we could have started that off earlier or later, and frankly we are all members of the same family as descendents of Adam but it seems not to follow that we are all members of the Martin family. As well, there is no objective truth to something being a vegetable OR a weed, so there is NO TRUTH to a statement made about that at all. A goat's vegetable is a man's weed. One man's vegetable is another man's weed so neither category is real. All of that might just be bad overanalysis on my part but postmodernism is, to some extent, man recognizing that the labels he places upon the world are his own doing, and that they are arbitrary because they are only his categories. This is not to totally defend postmodernism, but they view the world as a word game, because they think our understanding of it is just a word game. There is no truth because the words themselves really have no meaning.<BR/><BR/>Ok, I can accept that position.<BR/><BR/>Oh, thanks. I appreciate your efforts. I would say that truth is important, but the question isn't on the truth but on the epistemology. Everybody questions, doubts, or ignores the truth because nobody has the truth, for if you had the truth then you would know the unknowable God/have the absolute perfect theology/whatever other perfection that a depraved man could never achieve.___________________________https://www.blogger.com/profile/16484911353167245584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3618823873115620727.post-14133680729625408002008-05-05T01:42:00.000-05:002008-05-05T01:42:00.000-05:00Not exactly sure what you’re getting at buddy. Wit...Not exactly sure what you’re getting at buddy. With regards to you’re quote, this is not an issue of labeling things. I am Ryan, a drummer, a Christian, a son, a boyfriend, a brother, a member of the Martin family…. Who I am doesn’t change with what I am being described as. This quote adequately describes the folly of Postmodernism, as a rebellion against reason. Though something can be called both a weed and a vegetable, what I call it doesn’t change the TRUTH of what it is. All of this seems to me like fancy mumbo-jumbo dancing around the truth than something can exist outside of our minds or desires. The fundamental principal of truth is not saying “I’m right,” It’s saying “something’s right.” It is also the realization that two completely contradictory views cannot both be right. There IS something! And….it IS!<BR/><BR/>The inerrancy of scripture is an entirely different issue, and any blog post in which scripture is quoted could be held to the same standards as you hold this one.But to respond to your analysis… I accept your standards and believe whole heartedly (as whole heartedly as I believe in the God who gave us the word) that God wrote it through men, and has preserved it to this day.<BR/><BR/>I appreciate your comment! I hope that you can see and understand the importance of truth and the evidence of it both in our faith and in the world around us. To question it, is to question God himself; his existence is the supreme example of truth.<BR/><BR/> God bless,<BR/> RyanRyan Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14177388862369700122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3618823873115620727.post-52850478109806423872008-05-03T21:43:00.000-05:002008-05-03T21:43:00.000-05:00Well, I would think that the reason postmoderns re...Well, I would think that the reason postmoderns redefine truth is because we live accepting things as truth that may not be true based upon our own desires regarding these things. I dislike their redefinition, but the logic is sort of seen in this Max Stirner quote.<BR/><BR/>"Truths are material, like vegetables and weeds; as to whether vegetable or weed, the decision lies in me."<BR/><BR/>Frankly, the issue isn't it is confusing so much as a justification of solipsism. The issue of "knowing something is true" though, is not the issue, the fact is that we don't know anything to be true at all, we believe things to be true, but most of our sources of knowledge provide tentative data at best. Frankly, the fact that all people of all religions "know" their faith to be true is part of where postmodernism gets its gumption from.<BR/><BR/>You can call the Emergent church to be postmodern, but be careful not to attack the Emerging church is not necessarily so bad as only 1 lane out of 4 is comprised of Rob Bells<BR/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58fgkfS6E-0<BR/><BR/>Well, your stance on biblical inerrancy basically depends on 3 things, one, that God wrote the bible, and two, that God selected all that would be in the bible, and three that all information was transmitted through processes that would prevent degradation and all 3 depend on error free methods for biblical inerrancy to effectively be upheld. The emergents you speak of weaken all of these assumptions such that the issue is not that the Bible is a pack of lies, but rather just well-intentioned but misinformed, and inspired but not inerrant. This doesn't prevent us from trusting it partially, but it does prevent us from doing so completely. Frankly, to get more to the point, there are scholars who have argued that flaws exist in the bible by comparing it to other historical accounts, to say that the Bible must be inerrant is to say that any scholar who contradicts it must be ignored, to loosen up on it is to allow more breathing room. I don't say this to be critical, but Bart Ehrman is an example of a scholar who started off very Christian, but who lost his faith because of doubts due to contradictions in scripture and data.<BR/><BR/>Well, the issue is "definitely false". It is perhaps impossible to prove anything definitely false. Really though, it does bring up a question, how do we deal with any concern about evidence that stands against our faith? Do we dismiss it as false without question? Do we set our faith upon our arguing skills? Or do we do what the emergents do and remove a portion of our faith to make it less falsifiable?<BR/><BR/>I dunno, there is a real issue of making Christianity real to people and relating God to man, and focusing too much on one side and not the other isn't going to help a lot. Just be honest and ask how many people convert to the church rather than from.___________________________https://www.blogger.com/profile/16484911353167245584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3618823873115620727.post-13031767623660330412008-05-03T18:55:00.000-05:002008-05-03T18:55:00.000-05:00Just as all others throughout history have sought ...Just as all others throughout history have sought to distort and attach truth, these trouble-makers too will fall to the wayside and truth will yet again prevail. <BR/><BR/>The proper response to these troubling things is to praise God for his sovereignty. <BR/><BR/>Good words RyanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com