CHRISTIAN

PHILOSOPHY
  One’s Personal philosophy is developed at an early age and
IMPORTANCE continues to guide our thoughts, our emotions and our
actions.
OF HAVING A  Your philosophy can change and adapt according to your
PERSONAL experiences. It is important that you understand what your
main philosophies are and continue to keep them at the top
PHILOSOPHY of mind throughout your life.
 ECLECTICISM

 the practice of deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of
sources.
 ECLECTICISM AS A PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH

 Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm
or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to
gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular
cases.
IF YOUR LIFE WERE A MOVIE WHAT WOULD THE THEME SONG
BE?

INDIVIDUALLY EXAMINE YOUR BASIC BELIEFS IN TERMS OF

REALITY, TRUTH AND VALUE.
DISCUSSION

 Discuss the advantages and

disadvantages of eclecticism.
 Reality Has Intelligible, Friendly,
Purposeful, Personal, and Infinite
Aspects
Humanity’s Observations Lead to a
CHRISTIAN
Search for Meaning
PHILOSOPHY
The Problem of Pain Confuses
Meaning
THE BIBLICAL
FRAMEWORK
OF REALITY
 the existence of the living God, the Creator-God;
 the creation by God of a perfect world and universe;
 humanity ’s creation in the image of God;
 the “invention” of sin by Lucifer, who forgot his own creatureliness and sought to put
himself in the place of God;
 the spread of sin to the earth by Lucifer, and the Fall of humanity, which resulted in
the partial loss of God’s image;
 the inability of human beings, without divine aid, to change their own nature, overcome
their inherent sinfulness, or restore the lost image of God;
 the initiative of God for humanity ’s salvation and its restoration to its original state
through the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ;
 the activity of the Holy Spirit in the plan of restoring God’s image in fallen humanity and
His work in the calling out of the community of believers, the church;
 the return of Christ at the end of earthly history ; and
 the eventual restoration of our world (and its faithful inhabitants) to its Edenic condition.
CHRISTIAN METAPHYSICS AND EDUCATION

 God exists. His existence calls for an educational system in which He is

the central reality that gives meaning to everything else.
A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON EPISTEMOLOGY

For the Christian, the Bible is the foremost source of knowledge and the most essential
epistemological authority. All other sources of knowledge must be tested and verified in
the light of scripture.
 Revelation
 Reason
Underlying the authoritative role of the Bible are several assumptions:
 humans exist in a supernatural universe in which the infinite Creator-God has revealed
Himself to finite minds on a level they can comprehend in at least a limited fashion;
 human beings created in the image of God, even though fallen, are capable of rational
thought;
 communication with other intelligent beings (people and God) is possible in spite of
humanity ’s inherent limitations and the imperfections and imprecision of human language;
 the God who cared enough to reveal Himself to people also cared enough to protect the
essence of that revelation as it was transmitted through succeeding generations; and
 human beings are able to make sufficiently correct interpretations of the Bible, through the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, to arrive at Truth.
AXIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

 Both a Christian ethic and a Christian aesthetic are grounded in the

biblical doctrine of creation. There are ethical and aesthetic values
because there is a Creator who deliberately created a world with ethical
and aesthetic dimensions.
 The legalist-antinomian tension.

antinomianis
legalism
m
AESTHETIC

Should all Christian art have biblical themes?

CHRISTIAN
PHILOSOPHY