Theoretical Breakthroughs
Contents
1.1 Logo
1.2 Other Books
1.3 For More Information
1.4 Cover Graphic
1.5 License
1.6 A Unique Approach
2 Intellectual Breakthroughs
2.1 Philosophical Positions
2.1.1 Hermeneutic (Method of Interpretation)
2.1.2 Contrasting Theories of Education
2.1.3 Unified Social Theory of Natural Science
2.2 College Education
2.2.1 Conservative Curriculum
2.2.2 Liberal Arts
2.2.3 College Football
2.2.4 Lost Opportunities
2.3 Philosophy of Religion
2.3.1 Theology includes Philosophy
2.3.2 Honesty
2.3.3 Freedom of Choice
2.4 Striking Back
2.4.1 What is Rational?
2.4.2 Where Blame is Due
2.4.3 God and Country
2.4.4 Medieval Morality
2.4.5 A Matter of Faith
2.4.6 Circular Argument
2.4.7 Only One Answer
3 Social Breakthroughs
3.1 Religion
3.1.1 Philosophy of Life and Death
3.1.2 Future World Religion Trends
3.1.3 The Case for Liberal Christianity
3.2 Innocence Lost
3.2.1 Technology
3.2.2 Human Relationships
3.3 The Public Mind and American Democracy
3.4 The Protestant Ethic
3.4.1 Hard Work
3.4.2 American Philosophy
3.4.3 Faith and Work
3.4.4 Bad Monk
3.4.5 Religion of Isolation
3.4.6 Worldly
3.4.7 Who Can Help Themselves
3.5 Capitalism and Atheism
3.5.1 Un American
3.5.2 Democracy vs. Capitalism
3.5.3 Freedom and Terror
3.5.4 More than Bread
3.5.5 Conscience
3.5.6 Logic and Religion
3.5.7 On Marx and Engels
3.5.8 Marxism is Defeated
3.6 What If?
3.6.1 Buddhists Missionaries
3.6.2 European Backwaters
3.6.3 Christian World
3.6.4 Contemporary Jesus
3.6.5 Toy Society
3.6.6 Farm Society
4 Emotional Breakthroughs
4.1 Son of Strength
4.2 Heaven and Earth
4.3 The Breakthrough
4.3.1 History
4.3.2 Background
4.3.3 Questions
4.3.4 The Letter
4.3.5 More Thoughts
4.3.6 In Verse
5 Nature of God
5.1 Jesus Poetry
5.1.1 The One
5.1.2 The Majestic Down to Earth
5.1.3 Jesus
5.2 Self Poetry
5.2.1 With one material, many souls
5.2.2 Directions
5.2.3 Holy Spirit
5.3 Heavenly Father Poetry
5.3.1 The Perfect Programmer
5.3.2 Praise and Criticism
5.3.3 Praise God for Everything
5.3.4 Awesome God
5.3.5 Family Appreciation
5.3.6 Tolerance
5.3.7 God, Help!
5.3.8 Walking Forward
5.3.9 Morning Sunshine
5.4 Son of God Poetry
5.4.1 The Missionaries
5.4.2 God Speaks
5.4.3 Religion Means Education
5.4.4 Campus Community
5.4.5 Open Market
5.4.6 Epic Hero
5.4.7 Ancestor
5.4.8 Center of Gravity
5.4.9 Crossroads
1.1 Logo
I should explain what the logo is meant to be representing. The guy is a pen, whichis me, which comes from my first poem in Philosophy Core, called Creative Process,where I refer to myself as doing Tai Chi, with my pen being my body. The idea isbased on ”the pen is mightier than the sword” so I created ”the Bible is mightierthan the pen”.
The Bible is shooting out flames because in Ephesians it talks about spiritualwarfare and the Bible is the only armament that is offensive. (It means offensiveinstead of defensive. These are common terms used in combat. The sword is the onlyspiritual weapon. All the other armaments expressed in Ephesians are protective anddefensive in nature like a shield, a helmet, a breastplate, etc.) The flames aremeant as in James when it talks about being purified by fire or struggles withtemptation in our lives. Isaiah also was purified by a live coal to his lips by aSeraphim. So the usage of fire is not evil or anything violent. Think of it aspurifying.
I would ideally like it to show the sword turned inward to his chest, symbolizinglike in many fantasy books that when they defeat the great evil force in the world,they are left with the greatest task, which is to defeat the evil within. The Bible issaid to be a 2 sided sword, with the ability to cut between bone and marrow, andshow the truth. Christ’s tongue is said to be a 2 edged sword in Revelations, todefeat the Devil with. The reason I didn’t show this is it looks like he is committingsuicide.
The spiritual warfare is not against people, ideas, or even spirits. It is aboutfighting for the purity of our own minds. It is an internal thing. Like theNative American proverb ”my greatest enemy is myself.” This purity is inregard to our own sins and does not refer to purity in any other sense. Butthis is a process, not an outcome, as it is not possible for us to live withoutsin.
This warfare is only spiritual in the sense that it is not militant, social,economic, or political. This is for my own moral and ethical development andconsists of practical qualities I try, with Christ’s help, to cultivate like humility,compassion, kindness, and seriousness and do not correspond to anythingsupernatural.
1.2 Other Books
My text books and picture books contain most of my work over the past 10 years.These include my reading of some 235 books containing the philosophical andreligious thinking of the worlds cultures for several thousand years and theapplication of the main themes of some of the major Old Testament Prophets andmajor works of the New Testament.
The main point of this work is to get people to stopping living their lives withtheir minds, but instead follow their hearts. I bring a radically different combinationof viewpoints that you have not heard of before. I am not asking people to followwhat I have written, but rather let the words stir up some sort of emotional responsein your heart.
I challenge my readers to come up with their own unique ideas and that can leadthe world in a new direction. We need a much broader diversity of ideas in ourculture to deal with the problems we are facing in America and throughout the restof the world.
1.3 For More Information
For more books and information, visit me on the web at http://benjamin-newton.com/
Feel free to send me e-mail regarding the books and website atben@benjamin-newton.com I even enjoy constructive criticism
1.4 Cover Graphic
1.5 License
This entire PDF is licensed together under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivative Works 3.0 United States License as a whole, and nothing is to beseparated, added on to, or modified in any manner.
Clarification on what no derivatives means:
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1.6 A Unique Approach
to Asian Philosophy, Religion, and Literature
There seems to be a tendency among those in the West to go to extremes in theirapproach to studying the Asian classics. Many Christians see any other ideas thatdon’t come directly from the Bible as either not important to study or that lumpall non-Christian books together as New Age and therefore see them asforbidden. Many non-Christians think that anything that is not the Bible oris not an Abrahamic religion to be legitimate for study. I have chosen athird option. Not every belief system should be totally rejected or totallyembraced.
I think that there are many things that a number of Asian classics can teachpeople that have ideas that can be compatible with the Bible. I think whatChristians don’t understand is that there were centuries of time and billions of peoplewho never heard of the Gospel and did their best to find the truth as they knew it.Many traditional cultures in Africa and the former communist countries in Asia arevery open to the Gospel and did not intend to worship anything the Bible woulddescribe as forbidden or evil.
I think that many non-Christians are ignorant about the dangers of justembracing any belief system without being a critical thinker. Not everything is as itappears at first. Ironically, many things that turn non-Christians away fromChristian beliefs and the Bible, are actually forbidden by the Bible. Many of thethings that bother non-Christians about the Bible are true about other belief systemsas well. There are also negatives about belief systems other than Christianity thatChristians don’t have to deal with.
Another thing to realize is that it is considered perfectly acceptable to mix andmatch different aspects of different Asian belief systems other than the Abrahamicreligions, while the Bible forbids just taking select aspects of Christianity that theyprefer. So, for a Christian to bridge this gap, they should embrace all Biblicaldoctrines but only select the elements of the other Eastern belief systemsthat are compatible with Christianity, or, in other words, say somethingsimilar.
Another thing to realize is that although you may find similar meaningsin Asian classics other than the Bible, that they don’t necessarily meanthe same thing the Bible does and almost definitely are not meant to beunderstood in the same context. Taoists were not all trying to find Christ and inHinduism, the 3 major gods are not equivalent to the Christian Trinity.Another consequence of this principle is that there is not the same perspectiveon what is forbidden, so although some philosophies and religions may beuseful to Christians while some of the combinations of those beliefs, couldlikely be forbidden by the Bible. What the Bible forbids are the things thatpeople keep hidden or do in secret. Some of the terms for this are esoteric ormysteries.
What is the point of Christians reading about other belief systems? One of thereasons is that Biblical doctrines have already been compromised and changedin order to mix better with Greek philosophy and paganism. Some of thethings that has been compromised is that many Christians think it is ok tostudy Greek mythology and the Church has tried to ignore the supernaturalaspects of the Bible and its implications. Another corruption of Christiandoctrine caused by the Greek pagan and philosophical influence is that theparadoxical doctrines of the Bible have been altered to a divisive theology wherepeople think they can pick one or the other when the Bible clearly specifiesboth.
Studying Asian philosophies helps a Christian to see the Bible more closely towhat it really is - an Asian religion. Another reason is to study non-White culturesand understand why many non-Europeans believe different than Christians and howthis affects world history and politics. If you understand what people believe andelements of their culture, it is easier to share Christian beliefs with them.Another reason is that Paul was an intellectual and understood the beliefsystems of his time and showed us by his example that we should do thesame.
So, where do you start? To find some great books written by Asians, look at myBook of Books, which has 78 Asian classics, other than Bible books. You will find allthe information about how to obtain them and which ones to choose, based on yourinterests. I promise that if you stick to the list, you won’t find anything that isforbidden by the Bible.
2.1 Philosophical Positions
2.1.1 Hermeneutic (Method of Interpretation)
- I use primary sources to derive theology or philosophy for a particular belief system
- I focus on what I see as the pure or original interpretation of the philosophy or theology
- I do not research current or past deviations of each major belief system
Practice and Bible Derived Reasoning
General Methods
- My method of ethical reasoning is derived from practical considerations.
- My method of theological reasoning comes from Biblical considerations.
- My method brings these perspectives to their logical conclusions.
- My theory is based on what the Bible says about theology and what helps influence a person do the right thing.
- I back track the way people should act according to the Bible and what the Bible says about God into a theory that is most consistent with these outcomes.
Applications according to Theory
- My theology, Towards a Philosophy of the Bible, mirrors what the Bible says about God and a solution to suffering that best answers this problem.
- My ethics, Still Theory, are based on a combination of the philosophies most consistent with the Bible and having the least major ethical dilemmas and answers postmodern questions about suffering and uncertainty.
- My psychology, Liberation Psychology/Theology, enables the person to be their own advocate and focuses on religion as a secondary approach to solving lingering problems with Schizophrenia, as the most effective practice is to take the medication.
- My aesthetics, Bible Model Aesthetics, works to solve practical issues like accessibility, morality, and quality from a Biblical perspective.
- My sociology/biology, Community through the Humanities, focuses on finding harmony with the groups of people we come into contact with in real world situations and applying ethics from Still Theory.
- My theory of education, Learning of the Heart, is based on the realities of life and how people can know what is right and wrong.
2.1.2 Contrasting Theories of Education
Learning of the Mind
- The establishment assumes that public education through high school prepares a person for the world
- The establishment assumes that everyone should be educated in the same manner
- The establishment assumes that they know best what the public needs to learn
- The establishment assumes that what they believe is right and wrong should be imposed on everyone else
- The establishment assumes that public education improves people’s social status and morality
- The establishment assumes that with slight modifications, they will get radically different societies
Learning of the Heart
I believe that being prepared for the world is a combination of different things,which the public school system fails at all of them, including:
- understand how the establishment works, how to use it to improve one’s life, and avoid it changing the individual or placing more limits than normal on the individual
- develop critical thinking skills and determine what is right and wrong by conscience
- develop a useful skill for financial support and independence
- I believe that different people should be taught different things
- I believe that people know what is right and wrong at birth
- I believe that the world’s idea of right and wrong is contrary to God’s
- I believe that people’s social status is determined by who they know and what status their parents have and their morality is determined by personal choice
- I believe that in order to radically change society, we must make major changes
2.1.3 Unified Social Theory of Natural Science
- All creatures that feel pain should be kept from any unnecessary suffering
- The difference between humans and animals is a matter of degree
- Human beings are not defined by any distinct characteristics in the Bible
- The distinguishing factor between people and animals is a social construct
- People have social and physical power over animals and are responsible for their well being
- Flora should be treated with respect to their well being as well as fauna
- Water and cells should be carefully looked after as they are the building blocks of life
- The earth should be treated with the same respect as other life forms
- Preservation of life does not mean no harm is done
- Although animals and people may be perceived as the same, the human has a responsibility to look after the animal
- Not subjecting sentient beings to physical pain is just the beginning of a social ethic
- Humans should use their resources to actively advocate for the well being of all sentient beings
2.2 College Education
2.2.1 Conservative Curriculum
Some study to learn
What others have dreamed of
Some study to learn
What is popular
Some study to learn
The values of the past
Some study to learn
The traditions of their ancestors
Some study to learn
What they already believe
Some study to learn
What is well understood
Some study to learn
To be respected by others
Some study to learn
The path well traveled
Some study to learn
From a specific ideology
Some study to learn
From what others tell them
Some study to learn
To be opinion leaders
Some study to learn
To memorize information
Some study to learn
Rules others have made
Some study to learn
What is practical
Some study to learn
What is widely accepted
Some study to learn
What isn’t controversial
Some study to learn
Without questioning
2.2.2 Liberal Arts
There are few colleges
Where you can create
Your own major
There are few colleges
That encourage you to think
There are few colleges
That care about
More than reputation
There are few colleges
That don’t bend over backwards
For a few dollars in grants
There are few colleges
Who dare to have a vision
There a few colleges
Who don’t depend on sports
For getting funding
And recruiting students
There are few colleges
Who are not indebted to
Government and big business
There are few colleges
Who control their own curriculum
There are few colleges
That challenge the status quo
There are few colleges
That prepare students
For unpredicted changes
In the future of society
There are few colleges
That take pride in
Creating controversy
On campus
There are few colleges
That spend as much
On human development
Than on Scientific research
2.2.3 College Football
America is a society
Oriented around sports
We believe that competition
Brings positive change
We believe that physical fitness
Is more important than education
We believe that winning
Is the most important method for change
We are aggressive in business and politics
We are not interested in the community
The leaders only care about
Their own status and wealth
Our young all believe
That they will play
American football for money
They either want to get money
For being famous
Or get a welfare check
Our athletes make millions of dollars
For running a ball across a line
The players feel tough
Because they run into each other
We think that being a man
Means memorizing sports statistics
We spend most our time
Talking about what teams win
And about our football team
We played on in high school
We believe that we peaked in college
And that the only thing important
Is whose team won the game
2.2.4 Lost Opportunities
How will we compete
When every one
Has a college degree?
Will we have to get doctorates
For a family wage job?
How are we to pay
For our education
When our families
Are too rich
To receive aid
But too poor
To afford to help?
Will anyones be rewarded
For a liberal arts degree?
The only degrees that pay
Are business and engineering
Is that what
We want to base
Our future on
Technology alone
With no room
For the arts or religion?
We only care about
What is the quickest way
To build things
Bigger, better, and faster
We have no culture
And no reason to create
We have no imagination
Or reason to live
Other than for
Getting drunk after work
Or losing ourselves
In virtual worlds
We are afraid
To confront reality
And solve real problems
We are told
The problems are too complex
And we need
To solve problems
Through politics and business
We don’t have the creativity
Or the time and energy
To pursue positive change
2.3 Philosophy of Religion
2.3.1 Theology includes Philosophy
Everyone has a perspective
Everyone has opinions
There is nothing theological
That is not influenced by philosophy
We do not live in a vacuum
And ideas come from somewhere
There are no new philosophies
Just restatements done with less eloquence
There is no way to only study the Bible
We are only fooling ourselves
And no one else
We cannot distance ourselves
From our own foolishness
We are corrupt to the core
It is not possible to read the Bible
Without prejudice and without feelings
The Bible is not meant to be
A list of rules or a systematic theology
Don’t you think there is a reason
That there are so many views on
Every branch of theology?
The Bible is not meant to be interpreted
The same by the entire church
The Bible is not about a set theology
No one will ever uncover
The full philosophy of the Bible
The greatest theologians
Have only scratched the surface
And were wrong more times
Than they were right
Verses don’t mean just one thing
The Bible should not
Be read in any set order
Verses should not stand alone
There are no hidden meanings
But few meanings have been found
There is more to a single phrase
Than can be understood
By the human mind in all eternity
And the Bible is only one small part
Of who God is
To say we were only influenced by the Bible
Or that we believe what the Bible says
Does not adequately explain our beliefs
We have presuppositions and experiences
But these aren’t necessarily stumbling blocks
Feelings are great and mental exercises are of use
But we need to reflect on our background
Or we will be repeating the mistakes
Of even the greatest of theologians
It is ok to not be right on even the main points
To disagree creates a healthy diversity
The church does not need core beliefs
Our doctrines only hold us back
There is more to life than theology
And there is more to the Bible
Than your statements of faith
2.3.2 Honesty
When you make claims
Which you use Scripture
To support your position
It is not honest
When you don’t state
Your intentions up front
And explain your background
We are not merely spiritual beings
We are not just vessels
Of God’s will
We have our own
Hopes, desires, and dreams
We are not pure spirits
With empty minds
There is a psychology
To religious beliefs
Ideas don’t come
Out of a vacuum
We cannot wall ourselves
Off from unbelievers
We cannot understand
Our culture expect by
Reading books
Besides the Bible
Our minds are sponges
And we absorb ideas
From places we are
Often unaware
This is the use of
The study of philosophy
We get impressions
From many venues
We just assume
They are all from the Bible
Just because we are Christians
What we come up with
Is not independent
Of our culture and history
Ideas influence us
In subtle and surprising ways
We do not need to read a book
To be influenced by capitalism
Or to evaluate atheism
We are part of a larger
Ecosystem of dialogue
Great thinkers build
On what others have said
Christian and otherwise
Great theologians study philosophy
Some of the greatest philosophers
Were trained as theologians first
The early church adopted
Many ideas from Greek paganism
There is no way to be purely Christian
Without affection and sympathies
2.3.3 Freedom of Choice
Scripture is not meant
To be understood intellectually
Nor by our feelings alone
Although Scripture ministers
To all areas of our person
We should keep our focus
On the heart and the will
It is good to have diversity
Especially in opinion and perspective
The Bible is not meant
To be interpreted in just one way
We don’t need an entire denomination
To be in agreement on any doctrine
Don’t you think there is a reason
Why no one can agree
Or that theologians were interested
In such different topics
Throughout divergent eras?
The more widespread the views
The harder it is to see a pattern
God deliberately designed the Bible
To be poetic instead of legalistic
God could have just written
A list of rules and left it at that
We could just turn off our brains entirely
But that is not God’s nature
He wants us to make rational decisions
And for different people
To go into different directions
And to see the Bible from different views
We have to realize that God speaks
To our entire person
That God is spirit and flesh
Christianity is not meant to be an organization
Or to have a rigid structure
Even the Bible explains salvation
Differently every time
All believers will enter Heaven by grace
But each will do it in a different way
2.4 Striking Back
2.4.1 What is Rational?
W hat is the definition of rational?
Believing that man is the highest good
Or that his intellect can grasp everything
Do you think you can disprove God
By quoting a famous atheist?
You win an argument
But just show your own limitations
And your own weak intellect
Not everything is meant to be
Analyzed in the Scientific method
What cannot be disproved
Is greater than that which can be proven
Guess and check can only go so far
And scientists are as bigoted
And resistant to change and new ideas
Than as are any other bureaucrats
The ideas of Science may have
At one time been an area for non-comformists
But it is no longer
Everyone believes in Science
And that is a great weakness
The masses can be convinced of anything
Scientists fail to realize
That it was their community that
Made a fool of Galileo
The first scientist was a smart ass
When your belief system
Can only understand matter-energy
Aren’t you smart enough
To realize that it cannot explain
Anything important
It is not wrong to have a theory
To explain something
But when you use it as an excuse
To hide from spiritual realities
Who is the greater fool?
It doesn’t matter how good you are at debate
Or how many facts you have on your side
Some things just don’t make sense
Just because the entire Scientific establishment
Believes in one thing, the masses think it is true
No matter how many times
Society confuses facts with truth
The number of believers is growing worldwide
It is interesting that those who think
They are so enlightened
As to be better informed than God
And think that they are the enemy of the establishment
That their ideas resonate best with
The people who create the problems
They are trying to fix
If the same system that said the world is flat
Now even admits they cannot observe
95% of the mass of the universe
Why should I believe them about evolution?
For a community that shuns innovators
And anything unusual or different
And is mainly motivated by prestige
Why would I believe anything
They print in numbers
And collect evidence for?
If scientists would study other philosophies
They would start to realize that the world
Is much bigger than Science
And that the real problems in life
Are not going to be solved by more technology
That we are never going to resolve
The true cause of suffering through education
That the innovation that will bring solutions
Is something that was written down 2,000 years ago
That the most unusual ideas were some of the oldest
That we are just re-inventing what China
Designed thousands of years ago
Without the Scientific method
If the Chinese were not smart enough
To keep the empire going
How are we going to be able to survive
A few more generations of Science?
One of the big problems with Science
Is it has no ethical foundation
Just as you cannot add security onto technology
Not designed with a firm foundation
Ethics are not just an add on
People do not become ethical by
Attending a one semester course
Or even after earning a Ph.D. in philosophy
It is not that we do not know enough
To do find a solution to our problems
But that we need a way to stop
Ourselves from creating more problems
Self control is the key to our survival
But the solution is not an invention
But supernatural intervention
2.4.2 Where Blame is Due
If Christianity is to blame for everything
People claim it is
Then why is there so much more evil
Done by countries which are primarily atheist?
Before jumping on the bandwagon
And blaming every problem on Christianity
People should actually read what the Bible says
The Bible never says it is ok to mistreat animals
Augustine and Thomas Aquinas hated animals
But their theology is based more on Greek paganism
Than it is on any possible interpretation
Of the Bible come up with by the biggest idiot
The Bible holds humans responsible for taking care
Of the entire ecosystem
Not only are we responsible for what we have done
But we must correct any problems no matter
How they were caused
Unlike what the religious wrong say
The Bible states very clearly in several places
That there is no distinction between man and woman
Or peoples of any race or any other background
Contrary to popular belief, the Bible noes not say
That corporations should control the government
Or that the wealthy got that way because
They were following God’s laws
The Bible says over and over and gives many examples
Of moral people who loved God and suffered terribly
Many times exactly because of it
Contrary to popular belief, claiming to be born again
Does not get you to Heaven according to the Bible
You have to humble yourself before God
And believe you are equal to your fellow man
Before you can be saved
According to the Bible, environmental destruction
And stealing from people’s retirements are sins
And are greater than that of committing adultery one time
Unlike what many people think
The Bible does not tell you everything to do
And is designed for there to be different interpretations
Of many ideas in theology
Similar to Taoism, the theology of the Bible is no-dualistic
Even though many Christians treat Paul’s letters
Like analytical arguments, they are really mystical
Unlike what many Christians believe
The Bible encourages study of other religions and
Being intellectual by Paul’s example alone
The religious ideas the Bible disparages come from
Occult religions like Greek Paganism
Which has been synchronized with Christianity
By Augustine and Thomas Aquinas
2.4.3 God and Country
The religious wrong have long believed
That America was a Christian nation
What America really was and this includes
The religious wrong
Is founded on the idea of
Not wanting to pay taxes
The founding fathers were anarchists
So to follow in their foot steps
Would be to overthrow the current government
The United States has always been
An aggressive and violent nation
Something we inherited from the English
We thought we were better than
The rest of the world
It was our duty to spread our power
No matter what the cost
Following in the footsteps of the English
We held people as slaves even though
We claimed to be a democracy
We used biological weapons on the
Native Americans and dishonored treaties
These are not things a Christian nation would do
They do not honor God
And they do not promote human dignity
Now the religious wrong want us to protect
Humans that are not even born
But thinks it is ok to torture baby animals
In their use for food and experiments
Both of which are unnecessary
They believe that monopolies/dictatorships are good
And that our bill of rights is unimportant
They are against giving to charities
They instead want to tax the poor
And give it to the rich to make bigger weapons with
They are using a couple of attacks worldwide
As an excuse to invade another nation
When it had no intention of attacking anyone
So our dictator could settle an old score
The American House of Bush
Loves to redefine worlds until they have no meaning
They have over written every law against pollution
So a couple rich white men can get even richer
He has held teachers responsible for how
Prepared the kids are for school without
Factoring in different socioeconomic conditions
Which will ultimately destroy the school system
After doing all this our dictator has the audacity
To claim he is a born again Christian
There is absolutely nothing Christian
About the way this creep acts
2.4.4 Medieval Morality
Enlightenment writers love to denigrate
The European Medieval period
By referring to it as the Dark Ages
Because they hated God so much
And they were enamored by material wealth
And advanced technology used in warfare
They blamed all their problems on God
Modern authors refer to the time
As being backwards and violent
What they really hate is that it was
A relative time of material poverty for Europe
After the fall of the Roman Empire
The entirety of Europe struggled to survive
But people don’t see the bright side
Without the wealth to destroy others
And depending on the harvest for their food
People began to rely upon God
And had respect for God and nature
People still had evil in their hearts
But the scale of destruction was
Exponentially less than in ”enlightened times”
In fact, although historians love to blame
Christianity for the big wars of the next 500 years
The Church was losing more and more power
As things began to be more and more violent
People saw Science as a way they could
One up God and avoid those inconvenient
Sexual and financial morals
See the main problem with Science is
That it has no formal ethics as part
Of its system of discovery
The superiority of philosophy
Is that it has an ethics
The superiority of religion
Is that is also has a reason
The superiority of Christianity
Is that is also gives a way
2.4.5 A Matter of Faith
Many people believe
That evolution should be
Accepted because
Most scientists believe it
They say it should just be
A matter of evidence
I believe it as a matter of faith
First of all, Science did not
Just arrive out of nowhere
And was not always
The way everything was decided
Neither are we more advanced
For relying on it for everything
Science was invented and came out
Of a particular western philosophical
School called the Enlightenment
Contrary to popular belief
Most technologies of the modern world
Were not invented by Europeans or
By their precious Science
They were dreamed up and produced
First by the Chinese
In fact, the Industrial Revolution
Came about from our discovery
Of Chinese technologies
Invented hundreds or even thousands
Of years earlier
There are many other methods
Of discovery and verification
Jainism has a number all by itself
The five senses, testimony, ESP,
telepathy, and an all knowing ascended being
Mystics have a number as well
Faith, intuition, and prophetic visions
Most schools of Hinduism
Verify knowledge by
Perception, inference, comparison, and testimony
So we see that Science is only
One school out of many
In the panorama of philosophy
Even if I would be convinced
If provided the evidence
In the Scientific form
It would not be possible
For me to accept evolution
Except by blind faith
Because it requires a Ph.D.
In Science to have the background
To make an informed position
Otherwise it is just oversimplified
And I have seen this done
In philosophy and religion
So I would only trust my own
Research into the theory of evolution
2.4.6 Circular Argument
Most people believe anything
Someone with a Scientific education says
How do they prove things?
By facts, of course
How have they proven
That facts are truth?
Because that is Scientific
Facts determine details about
Specific events and measurements
But how does one prove Love?
How does one disprove it?
Many people believe if there
Are no facts for proving something
Than it must not be true
But facts are less important
Than things determined by faith
Things determined by experience
Things determined by reflection
Things determined by immersion
In a particular field of work
Things determined by scripture
Things determined by miraculous
Answers to prayer
If there is nothing to prove
That facts are true
Other than a circular argument
Then why do we base our society
On this shaky ground
And why do we force
This viewpoint on young children?
Our world is getting worse and worse
The more we use facts
To determine policy and direction
Shouldn’t we base our ideas
By what works and what doesn’t
In the real world
With cold, hard truth
Not by just flimsy facts
After all, it’s not like it’s hard
To present lies as facts
2.4.7 Only One Answer
There are few things in life
That only have one answer
This is one of the things
People like so much about Science
But this a false premise
As Science is only one way
Of discovery
And is only applicable
To one way of thinking
Coming from the culture of
One part of the world
Having multiple answers
Is the great thing about art,
Philosophy, and religion
The humanities are the only
Fields that treat other cultures
With dignity and respect
They are the only ones
That explain what being
Sentient is like
They answer the most
Important questions
Better because they can
Have multiple answers
Most things in life are paradoxes
Which aren’t very compatible
With Science and math
How can you reduce
Most fundamental problems
Down to one solution?
How can you explain
Feelings in numbers and attributes?
How do you express mystery
With a system that is designed
To explain everything?
Ever wonder why economists
Can’t predict the future
With mathematical models
Or why it is so hard to
Communicate with psychologists?
Ever wonder why scientists
Are surprised when they
Discover animals are sentient
Or can have mental disorders?
We have an ancient heritage
Of wisdom and understanding
That is aware of things
Science can only dream of
To rely on a system that
Ignores questions of the spirit
Or things that cannot be tested
Under controlled conditions
To guide society into a better world
Shows that our world no longer
Values the truth and is only looking
For easy solutions and doesn’t care
About how bad the consequences are
3.1 Religion
3.1.1 Philosophy of Life and Death
Many Christians see salvation as an end and not just a beginning. They absolvethemselves of doing any help in the world, because they see the world ascorrupt and take the easy answer of letting the world fall apart. They lookknowingly at each other and think they are so much better, because they aresaved.
This is based on the theology of saved by faith alone, but it is not consistent, evenwithin its own system. If God saved us, because we repent of our sins, then why dowe think we are better than others? We are all equally bad and God’s criteria forreaching out to us is just that we humble ourselves before God and consider ourselvesequal to unbelievers. If we can’t even do that, how can we consider ourselves to beborn again or followers of Christ?
If Christ, who is God Himself, did not even consider Himself equal to God andsubmitted Himself to the authority of men, then where do we get off thinking that weare better than unbelievers. Often, theologians compare Christ’s descent to beinghuman as equivalent to us descending to being a bug, but this is a grossexaggeration of our worth and gross simplification of God’s glory above man. Christbeing born as a human is more equivalent to use giving up our existencepermanently.
God is not limited by any thing and He is so far above us that we amount to agrand total of zero in comparison to God. It is a miracle that any of us is actuallysaved and the effort is almost entirely on God’s side. It is not that our submission toGod means anything, but just a rightful understanding of our place in the universe; itis the grace of God that does the work.
It is important that we make a choice, to submit ourselves before God, but this isjust the beginning of the path. Just because we can’t get beyond grace, salvation,and faith, does not mean that we do not make the effort to grow. Just because theworld is going to end soon is no reason to let everybody suffer, without attemptingany way, to help reduce the suffering.
The majority of the Bible tells about how we should live our lives, while on earth.If we really want mass conversions to the Christianity of the Bible, we are going tohave to show unbelievers that we truly value life.
For a person to choose a philosophy of death and to totally give up on improvingthe world is a defeatist mentality. How can we expect to have victory in Christ if itdoesn’t start by reaching out to our own communities in Christ reflectedlove?
3.1.2 Future World Religion Trends
By the year 2050, the term White Christian will be an oxymoron. If you take intoaccount the actual faithfulness of people calling themselves Christian, the Christianworld has already shifted to the Southern Hemisphere. In many of the countriesthroughout the world, they are not as honest at doing statistics as in the UnitedStates, where predominantly Muslim countries are going to severely undercount thenumber of Christians and the same will happen in the predominantly Hindu countryof India.
Europe had not entirely converted to Christianity until the 14th century andthere were more Christians in Asia than in Europe, until the years 1000. Most of thereduction of Christians in the Middle East happened in the late 19th and 20thcentury. The first big reduction of Christians in the Middle East came, after theysupported the Mongol Empire. The conversion of non-Muslims to Islam was largelybrought about by the missionary efforts of the Sufis. 10 percent of the populationsof Egypt and Syria are still Christian. Islam is now experiencing a majorfundamentalist revival and many more nations are going to be governed underIslamic law.
Many of the most populous African nations have a mixture of Christians andMuslims and there is not the same idea of separation between church and state inAfrica than there is as in the West. When a predominantly Christian nation, with alarge Muslim minority, declares itself to be a Christian nation or the exact oppositesituation occurs, we are going continue to have major wars in Africa. Andnow we have nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons on the open blackmarket.
At the same time, Europe is going to have more and more immigrants fromAfrica, for there to be e