Introduction We live in a world filled with prophets, individuals who are dissatisfied with the way that things are and who articulate a new design for living that moves a people toward a preferred way of personal and communal existence; in other words, they engage in designing and fostering a revitalization movement within their respective [...]
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LAW AND GOSPEL in Luther’s Galatians Commentary INTRODUCTION -when the Law causes a person to acknowledge his or her sinfulness, and to confess one’s sin from the bottom of one’s heart, then it has done its work properly…then it is the time for grace, that the Blessed Seed (Jesus Christ) may come to raise up [...]
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A very useful book concerning the role that religion plays in the organization of life is RELIGION IN SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE by Bryan Wilson — here are just a few insights from this excellent book concerning the process of secularization: -the process of secularization within Western culture is evident and well-documented: men’s diminished concern with the [...]
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A very useful book concerning the role that religion plays in the organization of life is RELIGION IN SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE by Bryan Wilson — here are just a few insights from this excellent book concerning the functions of religion in contemporary society: -the explicit and manifest function of religion is to offer men the prospect [...]
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A very useful book concerning the role that religion plays in the organization of life is RELIGION IN SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE by Bryan Wilson — here are just a few insights from this excellent book concerning the sociology of religion as a science: -in the past, man was committed to a religious WORLDVIEW but with the [...]
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BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND CULTURE LEARNING — A BIBLIOGRAPHY Barrett, William. Irrational Man. New York: Anchor, 1962. Bellah, Robert. Habits of the Heart. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985. Berger, Peter. Against the World For the World. New York: Seabury Press, 1976. Berger, Peter. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: [...]
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BIBLIOGRAPHY concerning WORLDVIEWS Adams, David L. The Challenges of American Civil Religion for the Church in Witness & Worship in Pluralistic America. John F. Johnson, editor. St. Louis: Concordia Seminary, 2003. Allen, Diogenes. Christian Belief in a Postmodern World. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1989. Althaus, Paul. The Theology of Martin Luther. Translated by Robert C. [...]
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The lengthy material that follows is gathered from two sources, both by BEST and KELLNER, who are professors at the University of Texas, Austin — the title of their two books are POSTMODERN THEORY and THE POSTMODERN TURN — they are, in my opinion, the best two books on the POSTMODERN CONDITION and are a [...]
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The following material is from the technology and culture faculties of GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: NARRATIVES -MODERNITY…master narratives and meta-narratives of history, culture and national identity -POSTMODERNITY…suspicion and rejection of master narratives…instead there are local narratives and the deconstruction of master narratives GRAND THEORY -MODERNITY…faith in a GRAND THEORY, totalizing explanations in history, culture and science, to [...]
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-by SOCIOLOGICAL LAW we mean law that has no fixed base but law in which a group of people decides what is SOCIOLOGICALLY GOOD for society AT THAT GIVEN MOMENT and what they ARBITRARILY DECIDE becomes law -with the growing influence of secular humanism, as articulated in the HUMANIST MANIFESTO, the law, and especially the [...]
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-there is great strength in the Christian worldview: (1) God has spoken in ways people could understand (2) Christians have knowledge about the universe and humankind that people cannot find out by themselves (3) Christians also have absolutes, universal values by which to live and by which to judge society and the political state in [...]
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-there is a world spirit that has existed ever since man revolted against God…today we might call it SECULAR HUMANISM or RATIONALISM…it is the spirit of ANTILAW that manifests itself in revolution against God Himself -it is characterized by MAN PUTTING HIMSELF at the center of everything…yet, even though its basic attitude is always the [...]
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PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY THINK: men do what they think…whatever their WORLDVIEW IS, this is the thing that will spill over into their external world — this is true in every area, in sociology, in psychology, in science and technology, etc. -people are unique in the INNER LIFE OF THE MIND…what they are in their [...]
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-man in every culture had moral motions…men have always felt that there is a difference between right and wrong; that is, all men have this sense of MORAL MOTIONS…the specific standards may be different, but all men operate under MORAL CATEGORIES -every moral motion of man who has ever lived condemns man, because man keeps [...]
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Francis Schaeffer on the observation that much of modern theology merely echoes what the culture is saying and not what God is saying: -today, when we listen to the religion that is preached, it is largely the SAME THING the UNBELIEVING PHILOSOPHERS and SOCIOLOGISTS are saying…the only difference is that theological language is being used [...]
Francis Schaeffer does a great job of helping the 21st century person understand the ROOT MYTH of Western culture in a simple and clear way — the following statements are just a few of his many fine writings on ORIGINS -the shift in emphasis from the uniformity of natural causes TO the uniformity of natural [...]
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-Francis Schaeffer observed these four major divisions as a result of the Fall of humankind into sin: (1) the first and basic division is between man, who has revolted, and God -the heart of the rebellion of Satan, and of the first human pair, was the desire to be AUTONOMOUS…by the action of one man [...]
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-in 1961, observed Francis Schaeffer, the Supreme Court defined SECULAR HUMANISM as a religion — what are some of the primary tenets of “the humanist religion” as stated in THE HUMANIST MANIFESTO (1933): (1) the universe is self-existing and not created (2) the nature of the universe is that there is no supernatural reality (3) [...]
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-in answer to WHY HAS OUR SOCIETY CHANGED, Francis Schaeffer made the following observation: -the answer is clear: the consensus of Western society no longer rests on a JUDEO-CHRISTIAN BASE but rather on a humanistic one which makes MAN THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS — it puts man, rather than God, at the center of [...]
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-in my bibliography I list all five volumes of THE WORKS OF FRANCIS SCHAEFFER — in my opinion, they should be required reading for any communicator of the Gospel in the 21st century — some of the things that Francis observes and recommends are dated, but the way that he engages the culture with Scripture [...]
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LUTHER ON ISLAM Missio Apostolica Volume VIII, No. 2 (October 2000) INTRODUCTION What were the views of Dr. Martin Luther on the religion of Islam? What was his advice concerning the emerging presence of Islam into the European continent? As early as 1518, Luther had identified the Islamic faith as the SCOURGE OF GOD and, [...]
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One of the best books on American culture was written by an economist by the name of Herbert Schlossberg titled IDOLS FOR DESTRUCTION (1983) — here are a few of his many fine cultural observations: -anyone with a hierarchy of values has placed something at its APEX…whatever that IS, is the god he or she [...]
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THE POST-MODERN AGENDA is: (1) an intense concern for PLURALISM and RESPECT FOR LOCAL CULTURES resisting modernization (2) the desire to cut across different TASTE CULTURES which now fracture society with a new DOUBLE CODING (3) an acknowledgement of DIFFERENCE and OTHERNESS which those (such as the feminist movement) have brought to the forefront (4) [...]
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-the idea that THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE could be a new credible metanarrative…it certainly would replace humanism (man the measure of all things) with the larger picture in which THE COSMOS is the MEASURE OF ALL THINGS, giving direction, orientation, and meaning to human activity -because of physical laws such as gravity, and the [...]
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-in late 20th century a traditionally-garbed Bedouin can be found riding a camel across the desert while having, beneath his robes, a business suit, mobile phone and laptop computer -the most visible shift in the post-modern world is towards PLURALISM and CULTURAL ECLECTICISM -pluralism is mostly a by-product of COMMUNICATION and GLOBAL CAPITALISM…the globe has [...]
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