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Empiricism vs rationalism
Empiricism vs rationalism
The difference between rationalism and empiricism 123 help me.com
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Christian Belief in a Postmodern World: The Full Wealth of Conviction
Others have tried to do what Diogenes Allen, Professor of Philosophy at Princeton Theological Seminary, does in his book but none with his breadth or effectiveness. That is, others have attempted to exploit for theism's benefit the hard times now befalling the modern world's emphasis on scientific reasoning and pure rationality, which for quite a while had placed Christianity (and religious belief in general) on the intellectual and cultural defensive. Many of these earlier attempts made use of the Wittgensteinian concepts of "form of life" or "language game" to show that both science and religion depended on unproven assumptions and therefore rested equally on grounds without firm foundations. These kinds of attempts, however, could most always aim no higher than to make the world safe for fideism. And fideism is not to defend the faith. What makes Allen's contribution special and important is his effort to examine in a philosophically rigorous way what we mean when we say Christianity is true. He quotes Colossians 2:2 at the start of his book, but I Peter 3:15 is just as appropriate for what follows: "Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence."
Allen is very clear whom he is writing for and what his intentions are: "to give those who have no faith compelling rational grounds to become seekers and to those who have faith a greater degree of assurance and understanding than they can attain while constrained by the modern mentality." He divides his book into three parts. The first part begins with a mapping of our current intellectual terrain. In many ways, modernism committed the docetist heresy to human thought. It failed to see human thought as truly embodied and enculturated. Rather, human intellection consisted in pristine, pure rationality undisturbed by culture, bias, or the vagaries of historical situation. Modernism valued evidence and empirical confirmation and therefore strived to remain valueneutral to mirror a phenomenal world that was itself held value-neutral. The author challenges this way of human knowing and finds it insufficient and incapable of meeting the deepest needs of being human. In so doing, he sheds light on the relation between science and religion. Much of this material is rather provocative intellectual history, including a particularly interesting analysis of the Galileo affair and how it was used for polemical purposes by those hostile to theism.
In his Letter to The Grand Duchess Christina, Galileo challenged the widely accepted religious beliefs of the time, claiming that the conflict lies in their interpretation, not the context. In Galileo’s eyes science was an extremely useful tool that could and should have been used in interpreting the Scriptures. He argued that “the intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven not how heaven goes” (Grand Duchess). The purpose of science was not to counter what the bible teaches; rather its purpose was to help explain the teachings of the scriptures. Furthermore, it was “prudent to affirm that the holy Bible can never speak untruth-whenever its true meaning is understood” (Grand Duchess). However, because of the terminology in which the bible was presented the perception of what the Scripture defined as truth was skewed. The Bible was written so that the common man could understand it and follow its commandments. The people also showed a greater inte...
This essay explains how he feels about any religion, “To choose unbelief is to choose mind over dogma, to trust in our humanity instead of all these dangerous divinities…The ancient wisdoms are modern nonsenses. Live in your own time, use what we know, and as you grow up, perhaps the human race will finally grow up with you, and put aside childish
The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity written by Philip Jenkins looks over religion as a whole in the future. Philip Jenkins was a Distinguished Professor of History in 1973 and was the Co-Director for Baylor's Program on Historical Studies of Religion, he has studied the Bible and the Quran. The main religion being Christianity, as it flows South to other countries such as Central America and southern Asia and Africa. Jenkins also covers “The Rise of Christianity” where he predicts that it will increase in the coming years. The world would be moving from secularism to non-secular as the Northern states and countries are urbanized. The Southern countries are not urbanized, they believe in the practice of spirituality. In the Next Christendom, Jenkins also predicted that there will be a big population growth in the next coming years as Christianity spreads. Christianity as a whole can be adapted to many different cultures, as it is not as strict as many other religions such as Muslims. In other religions you would have to be
Singer details modernity as “post-sacred” (Singer 24), exempting modern society from belief systems psychologically tied to mankind for millennia. While Western countries may be treading down a post-sacred path for now, the path is riddled with foot prints of countries past that go both directions. Singer believes “Modernity…denotes the rise of secularism and a…deflation of the influence of religious… mythologies” (Singer 24). It cannot be described so simply. Previously modern and developed countries have fallen in and then out of secularity. For example, 400 years before Christ, the Chinese philosopher Mo Zi levied secular thought against the reigning ideology of Confucianism. Mo Zi proposed secular ideas congruent with those of the scientific method and even Newton’s laws of motion (REFERENCE). Maybe Mo Zi needed an apple to the head if he truly wanted his science to be heard. The political takeover of the Qin dynasty and legalist philosophy put a stop to such free scientific and secular thought. In a similar vein, a first century Islamic scholar named Ibn al-Haytham once said “The duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists... is to make himself an enemy of all that he reads” (REFERENCE). This rings a similar bell as the modern scientific method. Famous science educator Neil Degrasse Tyson has even said that “The reawakening to science that took place in Europe in
Through the close study of two of the aspects shown in the diagram, their contributions allow Christianity to be considered a living religious tradition. The significant contributions of Pope John XXIII, during both his papal and Pre-papal life have had everlasting effects on not only Catholicism, but Christianity as a whole and lead to the sense of Christianity being a living religious tradition. His works include two Papal encyclicals, Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris, along with his work being Apostolic Delegate of Greece and Turkey. Moreover, The significant practice of Baptism has further contributed to Christian being considered a living religious tradition as it accounts for the premise of most Christian beliefs to be initiated, especially in terms of salvation and affirming the beliefs in the trinity and following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
In today’s culture, the idea of there is perfect and divine designer that made the earth and everything that entails with it, really pushes people away. Not only has this idea been conflicted about in today’s culture. It has been especially trivial in past decades, an example of this is seen by H.J. McCloskey. McCloskey wrote an article about it called “On Being an Atheist”, which attempts to defeat the notion that there is a God. McCloskey first addresses the reader of the article and says these arguments he is about to address are only “proofs”, which should not be trusted by any theist. He then goes and unpacks the two arguments that he believes can actually be addressed, the cosmological and teleological argument. McCloskey also addresses the problem of evil, free will, and why atheism is more comforting than theism.
Anyone whose only area to be proven wrong in is there faith is severely shallow and pathetic. Within the Christian life and even life in general, there is much ambiguity and freedom for argument. Philosophy is all about seeking out how to prove everything we know wrong and rethink it only for it to be found faulty again. This course and history show us that philosophers that claim faith in God engage with this examination of beliefs and fundamentals as well.
David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion provide conflicting arguments about the nature of the universe, what humans can know about it, and how their knowledge can affect their religious beliefs. The most compelling situation relates to philosophical skepticism and religion; the empiricist character, Cleanthes, strongly defends his position that skepticism is beneficial to religious belief. Under fire from an agnostic skeptic and a rationalist, the empiricist view on skepticism and religion is strongest in it’s defense. This debate is a fundamental part of the study of philosophy: readers must choose their basic understanding of the universe and it’s creator, upon which all other assumptions about the universe will be made. In this three-sided debate, Hume’s depiction of an empiricist is clearly the winner.
... uses the lack of proof of Gods existence for God’s existence. This then essentially leads to a battle between science and religion on the idea of whether or not God can be proven to exist and whether that proof is essential to determine if science or religion has the right answer.
Although, there is one thing to remember. The author believes a Christians mind is different than a secular’s. Christians are influenced by a secularistic point of view even thought their minds are different. However, secular ideas are similar to Christian ideas in many ways which makes them “partly right.” These secular ideologies are “pervasive, and felt to be so self-evident, that they are not visible as beliefs to those who hold them” which is why Christians fall victims to them. That is why they need to be shown so Christians do not fall victim to
I would like to explore one of the questions posed to us by Professor which is “How can we make the positive aspects of postmodernism work in our favor?” Or even more specifically, the positive and neutral elements of postmodernism, work in the favor of the Christian worldview and thought. We will start by first exploring the basic tenants of postmodernism and a brief history of where it has been and where it is currently, revealing multiple advantages for the Christian worldview in the engagement of a postmodern.
I must say that I learned a lot from this class both through the readings and through class discussion. I really, honestly do not have anything that I starkly disagreed with in either. I found it all to be very valuable information for me and this class was extremely helpful in assisting me to better understand the current paradigm shift the church is going through. There are three take-a-ways in particular that helped me to better understand the post modern shift in the church and my role as a minister in this changing paradigm. The first take-a-way is the understanding that there is a shift occurring towards focusing more on the congregational life of the church with more attention on the laity and its formation. Second, is how to plan, as a church and as pastors, to adjust to this shift towards congregational life and how to be better prepared as a postmodern church to be relevant in this changing time. Lastly, I received a better way of explaining the meaning of what truth is in this post modern time.
The thesis of this essay is that philosophy is at an important crossroads at the end of the twentieth century in its role as paideia—philosophy educating humanity. An unprecedented challenge and opportunity for philosophy today is to mediate, and enhance understanding of the relationship, between science, ethics and faith. A central question arises: What can philosophy contribute to the emerging dialogue between science and theology? The emerging science-theology dialogue is characterized by complexity and considerable confusion regarding proper methodologies, goals, and possible interactions. There are at least three major schools, model...
...wever, in the best interest of advancing education and an enlightened society, science must be pursued outside of the realm of faith and religion. There are obvious faith-based and untestable aspects of religion, but to interfere and cross over into everyday affairs of knowledge should not occur in the informational age. This overbearing aspect of the Church’s influence was put in check with the scientific era, and the Scientific Revolution in a sense established the facet of logic in society, which allows us to not only live more efficiently, but intelligently as well. It should not take away from the faith aspect of religion, but serve to enhance it.
Throughout history there have been a few prominent epistemologies and we are currently witnessing a one become increasingly prevalent – postmodernism. When Christians are confronted with ideologies of postmodernism, one of two reactions occurs. They either select aspects of postmodernity that can be assimilated into Christian thinking, or they believe the entirety of the postmodern movement to conflict with Christian beliefs and values. On the positive side, postmodernity does have a few aspects that correspond well with Christian values.