DEVELOPING A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW

Group Questions 1.How would you explain that a message scribbled in the sand on a beach was the work of an intelligent agent? 2.What is the Big Bang Theory? Do you think it supports Naturalism or Creationism the most? 3.Famous scientist, Carl Sagan, was known for saying, “the Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.” Is this statement reflective of Science or Religion? Why?

3 Questions 1.Where did we come from & who are we? 2.What has gone wrong with the world? 3.What can we do to fix it?

Naturalism A theory denying that an event or object has a supernatural significance; the doctrine scientific laws are adequate to account for all phenomena

Genesis 3:4-5 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Romans 5:12-21 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned- - for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass…

Romans 5: For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ…

Romans 5:12-21 …Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Utopian Worldview Human beings are intrinsically good and, under the right social conditions, their good nature will emerge.

Utopian Worldview

Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Christianity 1.Where did we come from (CREATION)  1.God spoke the universe into existence & created life 2.What has gone wrong (FALL)  1.The human condition is marred by sin 3.What can we do to fix it (REDEMPTION)  1.God in His Grace has provided a way to be Reconciled to Himself in Christ.

Rousseau THESIS Progress of civilization has been harmful for human beings, not beneficial

Rousseau The New Man…is the agency of emancipation that permits the individual to develop the latent germs of goodness heretofore frustrated by a hostile society.

Anatole France Never have so many been murdered in the name of a doctrine as in the name of the principle that human beings are naturally good.

JB Watson Promised to bring up children with… “better ways of living,” who “in turn will bring up their children in a still more scientific way until the world finally becomes a place fit for human habitation”

Clarence Darrow There is no such thing as a crime as the word is generally understood…I do not believe that people are in jail because they deserve to be. They are in jail simply because they cannot avoid it on account of circumstances which are entirely beyond their control and for which they are in no way resposible.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.