tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201628496305035793.post763513008713944176..comments2024-03-17T03:12:26.931-04:00Comments on Reformed Reasons: The Disagreement between Classical & Covenantal ApologeticsEd Dingesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14007054168398086809noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201628496305035793.post-54011656140901553462014-07-20T12:55:53.494-04:002014-07-20T12:55:53.494-04:00The denial of brute facts points us to the view th...The denial of brute facts points us to the view that we are all interpreters of God's reality. The notion that our perception of creation could exist apart from our interpretation of it is a false notion. Romans 1 informs us that unregenerate humans ALL suppress the truth of God about reality. Your daughter approaches chemistry with some bias, either it is what it is as a creation of God or it is what it is apart from being created by God. Even her study of chemistry involves interpretation of those facts through some lens, Christian theism, or human autonomy.<br /><br />Concerning language, I think you misunderstood my point. My claim is that only Christian theism can make sense out of our ability to communicate with each other. In other words, the laws of human thought make no sense apart from Christian theism. Other systems of belief within the non-Christian worldview cannot provide for the intelligibility of the experience of human communication.<br /><br />Modern science and reason only function properly if they are acknowledging their Creator beginning to end. I do not mean that science and reason cannot occur unless one is a Christian. To do science properly is to do it as God designed it to be done and that involves acknowledge God as the source of empirical knowledge. I hope this helps clear things up.Ed Dingesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14007054168398086809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201628496305035793.post-33434797838882957832014-07-19T07:55:07.619-04:002014-07-19T07:55:07.619-04:00Hello Ed
In the spirit of edification, I confess t...Hello Ed<br />In the spirit of edification, I confess to struggle with several statements or claims you make herein and hope you can clarify. <br /><br />First, let me say, that I am a regenerated Christian believer who adheres to reform theology. So, on that basis, I agree wholeheartedly with many of your comments about the lack of theological rigor and scriptural understanding that exists in much of today’s evangelical church. <br /><br />You write, "There are no brute facts". Is that statement itself a “brute fact”? If not, then it seems to me that it is simply one’s (your) interpretation of fact. If yes, then it seems to me to be self-refuting, correct? Second, what do I do with facts such as “I live in Harleysville, PA”, or I have been married 17 years or I have a son with special needs? Are those only interpretation of fact? Can they not be true (for example to my non-believing neighbor) whether or not one is a Christian theist or not?<br /><br />You write, “Man does not approach life as a blank slate seeking to fill himself with truth. Scripture testifies against such attitudes from beginning to end”. I have a 12 year-old daughter who is just learning chemistry. How is it that she does not approach it from a lack of knowledge and understanding seeking new truth on the subject of chemistry? I understand that she will approach the subject based on thoughts and presuppositions that she has developed up until this point in her life (A biblical worldview), but one of those assumptions it seems to me would also be the assumed the analogical use of language. That is, the words of the chemistry textbook must correspond to something that is real such as the word, “proton”. It would further seem that one can understand the structure of a proton regardless of theological presupposition. What is different between the Christian theist and the non-believer it would seem is the ultimate source or origin of that proton. <br /><br />That brings me to your next claim, “The fact is that the rules for human language are absolutely unintelligible absent Christian theism. The experience of language, logic, and evidence only makes sense in Christian theism”. If that is true, then how did Jesus’ unregenerate listeners understand anything he said orally? Is it not the Holy Spirit’s use of a believer’s words that performs the regenerative work that convicts and causes unregenerate man to repent? So, cannot a non-believing pagan understand that if A=B and B=C, then A=C? I would think so, because even the non-believer, being made in God’s image, has the capacity to understand the rules of logic and deductive reasoning. If in that person’s mind, they are not regenerated in the process of hearing or reading scripture, is it not the case that person does not understand, but rather that the person is in bondage against embracing the convicting truth of Jesus? If I ask a non-believing work colleague of mine to meet me in the hotel lobby at 7 PM does he not understand the rules of human language and not know exactly what I mean? How is it that the rules of human language are unintelligible to him?<br /><br />Finally, you write, “Reason nor science can function properly without radical transformation by God’s regenerative work of grace”. Is it not the case, that much of modern science has been developed by non-Christians and actually works because of the order and design God put into the world? Could not a non-Christian develop a small pox vaccine or develop an insulin pump or a hepatitis C drug without even knowing the regenerative work of grace? It is difficult for me to see how that could not be true. Is it not the case, that man’s ability to use reason is not part of God’s creative act in creating humans (as distinct from the rest of the created order) whether or not that human acknowledges or accepts that fact or not?<br /><br />Appreciate your responses.netprophethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11898606037397459638noreply@blogger.com