The Mars Hill Club

Here is a helpful partial glossary for the discussion Paul Ethington will be leading tonight at our Mars Hill Club discussion group in Costa Mesa. You can also find it at the end of his blog posting immediately below this.

Hope to see many of you tonight in person, & others of you posting and/or responding here before, during, & after.

A PARTIAL GLOSSARY
Design and Purpose – the belief that there is a reason for all that happens in the larger scope of things and that there is a designer who ultimately is in control. Furthermore, it is the belief that the designer is not capricious or arbitrary in his creation, but that all things will be made clear in the long run.

Epistemology – the examination of how we can know something is true, exists or is real rather than imagined. It is to consider the nature of knowledge, its foundations, its presuppositions, and its extent and validity.

Metaphor – a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that designates one thing is applied to another in an implicit comparison.

Monotheism – the belief that there is only one God.

Naturalism – Nature is the “whole show.” There is no supernatural realm or intervention in the world. The term may be applied to all views that are not theistic.

Postmodernism – Following the industrial revolution and enlightenment of the 19th Century came 20th Century skepticism, existentialism, nihilism, logical positivism, deconstructionalism and relativism. Philosophers, artists and thinkers began to speak of art as “for its own sake,” intentions were unknowable and it became more difficult to see purpose in our existence.

Presupposition – a tenant in one’s worldview. A presupposition is foundational. It requires no further proof and is a settled matter for the person holding it. It rises above presumption in that it is accepted on strong authority.

Relativism – the denial of absolute truth. Things may appear to be true but from another vantage point may not. Of course if there is no absolute truth, no one is really ever wrong. One person’s truth is just as good as the next person’s.

Revelation – God reveals Himself to us through what He has created (general), through history (progressive) and through intervention in our own lives (special).

Selective Sampling – Human beings often see what they want to see and ignore what does not fit their paradigms. The truth can be avoided by choosing to see only what supports one’s view and ignoring that which contradicts it. Such a person is said to be biased or prejudiced.

Skepticism – a doctrine which finds true knowledge uncertain.

Tests of coherence, experience and livability – These should be applied in order to validate any worldview according to author John Byl.

Transcendent God – over all in authority, power and understanding. God transcends are abilities and our knowledge in every way. He is all-powerful, all-knowing and eternal.

Worldview – how one views or interprets reality. It is the framework by which one makes sense of the data of life. A worldview makes a world of difference in one’s view of God, origins, evil, human nature, values and destiny.