HISTORY OF CHRISTENDOM
One thing in particular that we will be looking at closely this year with this class will be Revisionist History. The definition for this is simply a challenge to current assumptions. For instance, one person could rush in and say that a whole forest was on fire and that everyone had to run in order to escape with their lives, as opposed to a person with a revisionist type of view who could say that the fire was on the other side of the forest; it had just started and the wind was blowing in the other direction so there was no cause to worry. A revisionist view is not always appropriate, appreciated, or admired. You don't always need to take that kind of a stance, but on the other hand you don't need to automatically presuppose that what someone says is true. Christians need to be leaning more toward having a revisionist history type of view. There is a lot of false suppositions and we need to learn to be a bit more circumspect when we hear someone's take on a historical fact, story, or opinion. These are most often told to us in such a fashion that we believe them, but nevertheless, they are told to us by godless pagans and as such, we are not to believe them. The reason for this is simply that they have entire radical and fatuous doctrines so violently opposed to ours that it is morally wrong for us to capitulate with anyone with such notions.
Integration - with integration, you observe how religion drives cultures, architecture, music, and art. We will look at how everything works together and influences each other. We, as a people, tend to compartmentalize all the different areas of our lives, and that can't be the case. Everything is tied together and anyone who says differently is wrong. How can anyone possibly say that God is the ruler over their spiritual life, but not, say their school life, or their family life, or their work life, or their political life? HOW CAN THAT BE POSSIBLE?
History has its roots. It always does. We will learn how to trace it back to the beginning. We will also address the fact that all ideas have consequences. Depending on the idea, the consequences will be good or bad. Therefore, we must be cautious with our ideas or they will end up going bad and we won't be able to understand why. Those who don't study and learn from history are bound to repeat it.
Leaders are readers and learners. If you want power, you must be educated.
Everything is worldview dependent. If you have a different god than someone, you will write and think very differently than that other person.
Everyone answers the questions of the cosmos whether they think they do or not. For the Christian, it would look something like this: Origin of Cosmos = God, Nature of Cosmos = Glory, Destiny of Cosmos = Heaven.
For a pagan or a humanist it go something along the lines of: Origin of Cosmos = Man, Nature of Cosmos = Perfection, Destiny of Cosmos = Kingdom of Man.
Explaining more of the Christians point of view: our Origin is creation from God, our Nature is the image of God, our Role is to glorify God, and our Destiny is the kingdom of Heaven.
Ontology is the question of our being. "How is it that we exist?" The answer to this question is simply we exist because of creation.
Epistemology is the question of knowledge. "How do we know that we know?" "What is knowledge?" The answer to this one has been argued back and forth. Some believe it is Revelation, some say Reason, and others say that it is Intuition. We would say, however that all reasoning and intuition comes from a former knowledge...such as revelation.
Axiology is the question of value or worth. "What is our ultimate value?" For the Christian, we would answer that to glorify and advance the name of God is our ultimate value. For the pagan, they would say that the ultimate value would be to advance the self.
Teleology is the question of finality or the end. "What is the end?" "What is the purpose?" "Where are we going?" For the Christian, we would say that we are going toward and closer to the Kingdom of God = Heaven. For the pagan, they would say that they are moving closer to a Kingdom of Man = a Utopia.
And that ends our first week of notes for my History of Christendom class.
One thing in particular that we will be looking at closely this year with this class will be Revisionist History. The definition for this is simply a challenge to current assumptions. For instance, one person could rush in and say that a whole forest was on fire and that everyone had to run in order to escape with their lives, as opposed to a person with a revisionist type of view who could say that the fire was on the other side of the forest; it had just started and the wind was blowing in the other direction so there was no cause to worry. A revisionist view is not always appropriate, appreciated, or admired. You don't always need to take that kind of a stance, but on the other hand you don't need to automatically presuppose that what someone says is true. Christians need to be leaning more toward having a revisionist history type of view. There is a lot of false suppositions and we need to learn to be a bit more circumspect when we hear someone's take on a historical fact, story, or opinion. These are most often told to us in such a fashion that we believe them, but nevertheless, they are told to us by godless pagans and as such, we are not to believe them. The reason for this is simply that they have entire radical and fatuous doctrines so violently opposed to ours that it is morally wrong for us to capitulate with anyone with such notions.
Integration - with integration, you observe how religion drives cultures, architecture, music, and art. We will look at how everything works together and influences each other. We, as a people, tend to compartmentalize all the different areas of our lives, and that can't be the case. Everything is tied together and anyone who says differently is wrong. How can anyone possibly say that God is the ruler over their spiritual life, but not, say their school life, or their family life, or their work life, or their political life? HOW CAN THAT BE POSSIBLE?
History has its roots. It always does. We will learn how to trace it back to the beginning. We will also address the fact that all ideas have consequences. Depending on the idea, the consequences will be good or bad. Therefore, we must be cautious with our ideas or they will end up going bad and we won't be able to understand why. Those who don't study and learn from history are bound to repeat it.
Leaders are readers and learners. If you want power, you must be educated.
Everything is worldview dependent. If you have a different god than someone, you will write and think very differently than that other person.
Everyone answers the questions of the cosmos whether they think they do or not. For the Christian, it would look something like this: Origin of Cosmos = God, Nature of Cosmos = Glory, Destiny of Cosmos = Heaven.
For a pagan or a humanist it go something along the lines of: Origin of Cosmos = Man, Nature of Cosmos = Perfection, Destiny of Cosmos = Kingdom of Man.
Explaining more of the Christians point of view: our Origin is creation from God, our Nature is the image of God, our Role is to glorify God, and our Destiny is the kingdom of Heaven.
Ontology is the question of our being. "How is it that we exist?" The answer to this question is simply we exist because of creation.
Epistemology is the question of knowledge. "How do we know that we know?" "What is knowledge?" The answer to this one has been argued back and forth. Some believe it is Revelation, some say Reason, and others say that it is Intuition. We would say, however that all reasoning and intuition comes from a former knowledge...such as revelation.
Axiology is the question of value or worth. "What is our ultimate value?" For the Christian, we would answer that to glorify and advance the name of God is our ultimate value. For the pagan, they would say that the ultimate value would be to advance the self.
Teleology is the question of finality or the end. "What is the end?" "What is the purpose?" "Where are we going?" For the Christian, we would say that we are going toward and closer to the Kingdom of God = Heaven. For the pagan, they would say that they are moving closer to a Kingdom of Man = a Utopia.
And that ends our first week of notes for my History of Christendom class.
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