CEDARVILLE University 2009-2010

[Date Today] Dear Mr. Kennelly: Thank you for your letter of April 17 [Date Today] Dear Mr. Kennelly: Thank you for your letter of April 17. After careful consideration I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me employment with your firm. This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates it is impossible for me to accept all refusals. Despite Acme Inc.'s outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet with my needs at this time. Therefore, I will initiate employment with your firm immediately following graduation. I look forward to seeing you then. Best of luck in rejecting future candidates. Sincerely, [Your name here]

Wisdom 20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street,         she raises her voice in the public squares;  21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out,         in the gateways of the city she makes her speech. Proverbs 1:20-21

Folly 13 The woman Folly is loud;         she is undisciplined and without knowledge.  14 She sits at the door of her house,         on a seat at the highest point of the city,  15 calling out to those who pass by,         who go straight on their way.  16 "Let all who are simple come in here!"         she says to those who lack judgment.  17 "Stolen water is sweet;         food eaten in secret is delicious!"  18 But little do they know that the dead are there,         that her guests are in the depths of the grave.  Proverbs 9:13-18

“I had a crisis of faith. I thought you had to “I had a crisis of faith. I thought you had to experience things if you want to know right from wrong. I’d go to Christian revivals and be moved by the Holy Spirit and I’d go to rock concerts and feel the same fervor. The I’d be told, ‘That’s the Devil’s music! Don’t partake in that!’ I wanted to experience things religion said not to experience. . . When I got untethered from the comfort of religion, it wasn’t a loss of faith for me, it was a discovery of self. I had faith that I’m capable enough to handle any situation.” Brad Pitt

In The Year 2525 In the year 2525 If man is still alive If woman can survive They may find In the year 3535 Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies Everything you think, do, and say Is in the pill you took today In the year 4545 Ain't gonna need your teeth, won't need your eyes You won't find a thing chew Nobody's gonna look at you

In the year 7510 If God's a-comin' he ought to make it by then Maybe he'll look around himself and say Guess it's time for the Judgment day In the year 8510 God is gonna shake his mighty head He'll either say I'm pleased where man has been Or tear it down and start again

WORLDVIEWS Using your mind

craigslist         

Behavior Values Worldview

Your worldview answers the ULTIMATE questions… ORIGIN: Where did everything come from? MEANING: Why are we here? MORALITY: How should we live? DESTINY: What happens when we die?

Getting out of the Christian Bubble

Transcen- dentalism Naturalism Ultimate Questions Theism

Naturalism the world as we see it

Naturalism Nature Nothing

“I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious ideas of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals or of a personal God.” Thomas Edison

“I’m an atheist, and that’s it. I believe there’s nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and what we can for each other.” Katharine Hepburn

“The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance… logic can be happily tossed out the window.” Stephen King

“Dear god, if you were alive, You know we’d kill you.” Marilyn Manson “Godeatgod” from the album Holy Wood

“Here’s what happens when you die– you sit in a box and get eaten by worms. I guarantee that when you die, nothing cool happens.” Howard Stern

“I would thank God, but I don’t believe in it.” Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam

“I’ve got my own religion… If I get into trouble, there’s no God or Allah to sort me out. I have to do it myself.” Bjork

“I believe in the good message that you can find in religion. But whether there is some ruler up there, above the clouds, I doubt it.” Annika Sorenstam

“It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God…I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that…” Thomas Nagel Professor of Law and Philosophy NYU

"If I was having a bad day, or if something was really getting me down -boy troubles, whatever- I wanted to go out and get a new piercing. It was definitely a release for me. Something that made me feel a little more strong or empowered. Because it was something that had to do with me and no one else." Christina Aguilera Rolling Stone, November 14, 2002, p. 55.

TRANSCENDENTALISM the world as we want it

TRANSCENDENTALISM NATURE Nothing = “GOD”

“Ultimately the Force is the larger mystery of the universe. And to trust your feelings is your way to that.” George Lucas

“I think I was a tree or something in a past life “I think I was a tree or something in a past life. I’ve always been attracted to nature.” Tommy Lee

“I think a lot of people are losing their religion. Definitely “I think a lot of people are losing their religion. Definitely. Even me, I know that when I grew up, I used to go to church every Sunday, and now it’s become holidays. But I think as long as you have your own thing, whether it’s meditation—anything that centers you in life is good. Do I pray? Yeah, I do.” Kirsten Dunst, Rolling Stone, When asked about Tom Cruise’s Scientology . . . “If it makes Tom Cruise happy, I don’t care if he prays to turtles. And I don’t think anybody else should.” Madonna

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment . . .” Hebrews 9:27

the world from God's hand Theism the world from God's hand

Theism NATURE God

Theism NATURE God

THEISTIC RELIGIONS JUDAISM (2,000 BC) CHRISTIANITY (AD 30) ISLAM

“Our father, God, Allah, we thank you for this moment in time. Bless Kanye, bless his album, take over his album and take it to the highest place possible . . . In the name of Allah and the spirit of our inner essence. Amen.” Prayer by Kanye West prior to a concert, Blender

Jesus Christ THEISTIC RELIGIONS JUDAISM (2,000 BC) CHRISTIANITY (AD 30) ISLAM (AD 600)

“I was pro-choice all my life until I came to faith and now I find it very difficult to reconcile that in biblical terms. I’ve had to remove myself from a number of pro-choice groups; I was on their boards . . . ” Bob Beckel Political Commentator

“We cannot expect the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus' claims are true, and that Christianity is true, unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of true Christians.” Frances Schaeffer “The Mark of the Christian”