601 F Worldviews

World ViewsModule 601 F

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The five world philosophical tendencies …

This are causing a lot of damage in business and the way we make

economic decisions


The five world philosophical tendencies

• Humanism• Pragmatism• Existentialism• Positivism• Materialism


HumanismAnswer to the question:

“What is true?” “The truth is inside you – inside

the human being.”


Humanism• Inside the human being there is sin, which

distorts our capacity of seeing, perceiving and understanding the truth.

• The truth is external to the human being: it is in the Word of God –“Your Word is truth...” says John 17:17- and it is in Jesus Christ –“I am the way, and the truth and the life...” says John 14:6-.


HumanismHow this affects us?

• If the truth is inside us, then each one has a “truth” of his/her own, and “the truth” as an absolute doesn’t exist.

• What is good for you may be wrong for me, and what is wrong for you may be good for me


HumanismHow this affects us?

• This has led us to be the “Kings of Situational Ethics”; things are good or bad, depending on the circumstances.

• For example, that is why we don’t have problems in lying, such as in managing our businesses in ways that are not completely transparent, or we don’t have problems in bribing our authorities.


Pragmatism

“The truth is what works”.


Pragmatism “The truth is what works”.

• The truth is absolute and God demands fidelity and obedience from us.

• We should be committed to obey the Lord in spite of things not “working” very well, or not being convenient for us.

• Sometimes we should be willing to lose –even life- by obeying the Lord.



• The Word of God says in Revelations 2:10: “Be faithful until death and I’ll give you the crown of life.”

• Integrity is doing “what has to be done, when it has to be done, in the way it has to be done, whether it is convenient or not.”



• Again, Pragmatism leads us to Situational Ethics, where for example, we use bribes as a part of our daily life or we don’t pay attention to copyrights because “it is the way things work in this country.”

• We use credit to start our businesses or we ask for loans because “that is the way businesses expansions work in this country”.


Existentialism

“The truth is what I can feel”


Existentialism “The truth is what I can feel”

• The Word of God teaches us not to rely on our feelings. “Deceitful and sick is the heart…” says Jeremiah 17:9.

• If Joseph led by what he “felt”, he would probably have not ended in jail, but would have ended with the same shame as David –who ended up committing adultery, lying to everybody, murdering an innocent man, losing his son to sin, and eventually, losing his family and all the kingdom.



• We are very “passionate” people. • That is why Existentialism has penetrated

so strongly in the Body of Christ. • We are led by our feelings, hunches and

“visions”… like a Pastor who told a female member of his congregation that the Lord had told him to marry her.

• She answered, “But you are already married … and have three children!”



• We should stop being led by our feelings, revelations, visions, and things like that, and, instead, put the Word of God back as the standard for our plans, feelings, visions, and actions.



• It is not bad to have an “experience” with God.

• What is wrong is making that “experience” the center, the motor, and standard measure of our relationship with Him.


Positivism

“The positive is the truth.”


PositivismThe positive is the truth.”

• The truth is neutral and has no “poles”.• There is a difference between being a

positive person in life and being a “positivist”.

• The person influenced by this diabolic philosophy will deny negative things in life and will force his parishioners to “declare no negative things” in their lives.

• As you read the Scriptures it becomes obvious that this philosophy is nowhere to be found.



• From the beginning of the Bible to the end of it, the Word of God never encourages to not declare that which is negative, but telling the truth as it is.

• In the stories of Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Solomon, and many other Biblical “heroes” we see that the Bible says the “positive” as well as the “negative”.

• Facing tribulations, the typical Biblical teaching is shown in the story of Job; he complains about what he thinks is unfair, and even then he doesn’t sin.



• Positivism leads us to “declare only the positive”, and doesn’t allow us to make right decisions, based on “harsh reality”.

• The positivist is always in danger of sinning and ruining the ministry.

• Proverbs 22:3 says,“The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,but the naive go on, and are punished for it.”


Materialism

“The truth is the material, what I can touch.”


Materialism “The truth is the material, what I can touch.”

• The greatest truths are those we haven’t seen or touched.

• 1 Corinthians 2:9 says: “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him.”

• Spiritual things are as real as material things.

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• We could discover a preacher influenced by the Philosophy of materialism because he is always going to define “blessing” and “prosperity” in material and positive terms.



• This teaching has caused a lot of damage to our people. It has also created a false hope of “striking it rich.”

• The poor among us are made to feel guilty because they equate spiritual alignment only with material blessing.

• Nothing could farther from the Biblical truth.



• Let’s read again 2 Chronicles 29:11b and 12 and also Proverbs 10:22.

• God’s judgment will fall over those that take advantage of the humility, kindness, and innocence of our people all over the world.


601 F Worldviews

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