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The Beauty/Splendor/Glory of God.45

http://www.fbcweb.org/sermons.html

John 1:47: In whom there is no deceit ( ) Philosophy of Human Nature-12: Human Intellection and Emotion-5

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Bible Doctrines (The True-Good-Beautiful!)

Philosophical/Theological/Doctrinal/Spiritual Mental Framework

Eschatology Thanatology Ecclesiology Israelology Dispensationalism Doxology Hodology Soteriology Hamartiology Natural Law Anthropology Angelology Pneumatology Christology Paterology Trinitarianism Cosmology Theology Proper Bibliology

Reality Logic 32, Truth 32

Metaphysics -11 (Trans. 47)

Epistemology

P.R. - 32

Stage 1 Christian baby = life of ups and downs. All baby believers have a great deal of pagan views of

God due to the problem of pagan horizon of meaning. All baby believers are tossed here and there by the

kosmos, Eph 4:14. For baby believers it is all about pragmatism or

personal encounter with truth. If it works or feels good , they think it must be true.

Stage 2 Christian doctrinal believer = life of doctrine! Through BD, this believer has gained a great deal of

divine viewpoint in his soul regarding God and the spiritual life.

However, he continues to have some pagan views about Gods nature due to lack of metaphysical development.

He is stable, but still very dependent on others for confidence in metaphysical truths.

Stage 3 Christian metaphysician = life of glory! The believer who becomes a Christian metaphysician

has a totally new mindset with regard to the nature of Ehyeh/Esse and the transcendentals.

Only in metaphysics can a believer really understand Bible, the attributes and glory of God

Stage 3

Stage 2

Stage 1

Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit

Bible Doctrine

Bible Doctrine

Any questions? Repetition level OK?

1. The Bible speaks of a massive and unprecedented apostasy and deception in the end times2 Thess. 2:3, Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first . . . 1 Tim. 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times, some will fall away from the faith . . .; 2 Thess. 2:10-12, . . those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved (= -R).

2. There can be no doubt about the vast darkness and ignorance in our generation, even among people of the Word on salvation, f-ship, the nature of God, creation, and man. World is ripe for a major crash. What we see in the rampant immorality and relativism of our time is but the tip of iceberg of darkness of our age.

3. You must realize that you can know the truth, but only if you want it, Jn. 4:23-24; 8:32. A word about two areas of certainty: spiritual and philosophical (realism). Do you want Truth or is pragmatism/religion OK?

4. The three aspects of the classical Christian of 1 Pet. 3:15: CCSF, doctrinal, and philosophical (realism).

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Logic, TruthdSISD

The need for philosophical/theological foundation of philosophical realism

1- Reality that which is (Logic 32, Truth 32)

2- Metaphysics what is that which is? Being as being.

(11-Transcendentals.47)

3- Epistemology how do I know that which is?

4- Linguistics how is that which is communicated?

5- Hermeneutics how do we understand that which is?

PR 32

Absolute Truths

Bible presupposes philosophical realism (PR).

Hardly anyone has a mindset of PR these days.

PR makes a huge difference in way you read the Bible. We cant just quote Heb. 4:12 and expect that to take care of everythingit certainly has not worked regarding Esse, esse, intellection, and emotions.

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1. Due to the influences of methodological naturalism, most Christians do not share the transcendental worldview of the Bible. To believe that beauty is subjective and only in the eye of the beholder is to stand in contrast to the biblical worldview. To hold that beauty is subjective is to deny your intellective spiritual capacities as a human being. The fact that you can have a concepts of beauty is evidence of your ability to rise above the material order and grasp true beauty.

- C.S. Lewis was one of the last greatest apologist who made several attempts to revive the transcendentals of the true, good, & beautiful.

- One of the most alienated groups to Christianity is the artist. This is partly due to depreciation of art and the beauty of nature among some conservatives in reaction to Romans 1. However, consider Jesus Christ in Matthew 6 and God in Job 38.

The Transcendentals-47 (The Existence of Beauty: Poetry)

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2. Do you share the biblical worldview or have you been influenced by naturalism and relativism regarding beauty?

The objective reality of beauty in music (Ex. 15; Rev. 5).

The objective reality of beauty in paintings.

The objective reality of beauty in dancing.

The objective reality of beauty in poetry and literature cf. Psalms, SOS, Proverbs, Gospels.

The objective reality of beauty (and utility) in architecturecf. Rev 21-22.

The objective reality of beauty in statuary/artifactscf., the tabernacle.

The objective reality of beauty of the theatrecf., drama in SOS.

The Transcendentals-47 (The Existence of Beauty: Poetry)

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3. We have been noting the transcendentals of the true, good, and beautiful in the biblical poetry. In Proverbs the poems vary from distichs (2 line poems) to octostichs (8 line poems) and are found in different forms.

Hexastich proverb/poem, Prov. 23:19-21

Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way. Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

Note how the intellective and emotional natures of man come alive once we understand them. BTW, one cannot understand ethics (what one ought to do; not to be confused with spirituality) unless one understands the nature of a person (his nature; philosophical psychology). This illustrates the power of all-truth, the whole-truth of philosophical realism. Joke: No philosopher came close to solving the problem of guilt and weight until Descartes divided mind and body in two, so that the body could gorge itself while the mind thought, Who cares, its not me.

The Transcendentals-47 (The Existence of Beauty: Poetry)

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Introduction of glory in creation, Christ, and God: Genesis 1-2; 3:6; 6:2; 12:11; Exod. 2:2; 25:8, 22; 29:43-46; 33:18-22; 40:34-38; Rev. 21:1-22:5; Psa. 19:1-2; Isa 5:20-21; 6:1-8; 42:18-20; Jer. 7:24-26; 13:13-14; Gal. 3:1-5; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; ; Matt. 5:8; 11:25-30; Rom. 1:18-32; Heb. 1:1-3; Philip. 2:5-11; 1 John 1:1-4; Prov. 6; 1 Peter. 3:1-5.

Effulgence of Gods beauty/glory manifested in the incarnation: John 1; 2:11, 16; 3:13, 16-17; 4:6, 10, 14-18, 31-34; 5:17-27, 30, 36-37, 44; 6:33-48; 7:18, 28-30, 37-38; 8:12-14, 28, 31-42, 50, 58-59; 10:7-11, 14-18, 28-30, 38, 12:27-28, 32-50; 13:1-34; 14:6-31; 15:1-6, 8-19, 24-26; 16:7-15; 17:6, 24; 19:23-30; 20:28-31; 21:19. Old Testament Glory: Job 38-42; creation, Garden, Abel, Abraham, Moses, David, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the throne of Glory, lost glory (Psa 27:4; 32:1-11; 34:8; 145:8-17; Prov. 4:5-9; 2 Chron. 26; Isa. 3:18 48:4; 64:6; 53; Jer 6:22-23; 15:12-14; 27:36). New Testament Glory: Luke 1-2; 4:6-13; 21:5; Acts 3:2; 17:26-27; 20:28; Rom 3:9-19, 21-26; 5:1-2, 6-11; 10:15; 1 Cor 1:18, 23-31; 2:8-9; 2 Cor 3:6-4:6; 8:9; Gal 3:13-14; 4:4-5; Eph. 1:6; 2:10; 5:25-32; Col. 2:9, 13-14; 3:10-14; 3:13-14; 4:4-8; Titus 3:4-6; 1 Pet. 1:8; 2:21-25; 2 Pet. 3:16; Heb 2:11-18; 5:5; James 1:11, 17; 1 John; 2:1-2; 3:2-3, 16; 4:9-10, 20; Rev. 5:9-14; 12:3, 7, 9.

Conclusion: the beatific vision: Rev. 21:1-22:5.

The Beauty (Glory) of God-43 : The Road to understanding Gods Beauty

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1. The influence of Cartesian/Platonic dualism on mans view of the intellect and emotionseven among serious students of the Word of Godis as alarming as it is inexplicable.

- Not only are most Christians ignorant about the true nature of God and creation (Esse and esse), they are in the dark about their own intellectual, volitional, and emotional hylemorphic nature.

- Many do not even understand what an emotion is and how sense-love and intellectual-love are related to emotion, even though they regularly use the term love for sensed as well as intellective objects.

- Whats worse is that most do not care.

The Beauty/Splendor/Glory of God-45

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2. Philosophical realism (philosophical psychology) alone will enable us to get to the philosophical presuppositions of the Word of God.

- The original languages of the Bible, while a necessary condition is not a sufficient condition; furthermore, it exacerbates many of the modern problems we all have grasping crucial truths in Gods Word (cf. Ehyeh, ).

- Bible does not make sense in the modern naturalistic and dualistic framework.

- Philosophical psychology is not to be confused with modern psychology with its personality psychobabble orientation.

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3. Survey of passages that touch on the nature of mans hylemorphic intellective and emotional wholeness (cf. Isa. 1:18; 1 John 3:17; Mark 6:34; Luke 7:13; Rom. 12:15; 2 Cor. 2:1-4; 7:8-11; Philip. 4:4-13; Col. 3:12-14; 1 Thess. 4:1-8 ; 2 Tim. 2:20-22; Titus 3:3; James 1:2-4; 3:1-18; 4:7-10 ; 1 Pet. 1:22; 3:13-17; 4:8; 2 Pet. 1:2-9).

1 John 3:17, But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and shuts down his emotions ( ) against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Consider how one might shut down ones emotions?

Which view does the Bible support? Cartesian dualism or hylemorphic unity? Hylemorphism of being or naturalism?

The bottom line for all of us believers must always be : Are we getting closer to the Truth in the Word of God? That is why I was first drawn to the ICE methodology? (Although I will have to admit I did like the no nonsense teaching style of Thieme).

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4. As hylemorphic beings, we operate on two ontological levels:

a. The spiritual (not to be confused with spirituality of HS). We share this likeness with God.

- Immaterial knowledge (concepts), will (intellectual desires), and

love (justice, mercy, God).

b. The corporeal/material. We share this likeness with the animal world. - Material knowledge (images), will (sensed-desires), and love (ice-

cream with hot fudge ).

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5. The power of intellection is the human transcendent mental power to receive, abstract, and manipulate immaterial forms and concepts which are beyond the time-space continuum.

6. While human beings share the imaging of concrete objects with animals, they alone have the spiritual nature for the power of intellection.

7. The power of intellection is the power of the 3 acts of the mind, to know the nature of things, to abstract, and to know universals.

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8. Only humans can think conceptually as illustrated in the following use of syllogisms (which are all spacelessthey are not locatable in the space-time continuum).

Syllogisms on 1 John 1:9: P=confess sins Q=forgiveness/cleansed from all unrighteousness. F=fellowship S=spirituality (in spiritual fellowship with God)

Modes ponens: P>Q, P, =Q Modes tollens: P>Q, -Q=-P Sorites: All P=Q, Q=F, F=S, P=S Enthymemes: P>Q (Q>F), P>F Pure Hypothetical: P>Q, Q>F, F>S, P=S Disjunctive (must negate to be valid) (F v -F), -F = F Conjunctive (must affirm to be valid) - (F & -F), F = F

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Man not only knows things in an immaterial way, his intellection does not depend upon anything material.

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Some [immaterial knowledge] is [tw we possess] No [sense knowledge] is [immaterial knowledge] Therefore, some [tw we possess] is not [sense knowledge] All [tw is mere matter] is [tw is the object of thinking] No [tw can think] is [tw is the object of thinking] Therefore, no [tw is mere matter] is [tw can think]

The Beauty/Splendor/Glory of God-45

Man not only knows things in an immaterial way, his intellection does not depend upon anything material.

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Where is triangularity? Consider what we are able to grasp and do in regard to Reality with geometry.

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Where is the Bible? Man is able to understand things in a totally dematerialized way.

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Where is humanity? Try to imagine humanity

Every single one is different, yet they all have the same being of humanity.

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Where are these? What is their atomic structure?

Justice Ownership of property Grace Righteousness Mercy Truth Love Peace

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9. Distinction between immaterial and spiritual.

- Animals have imagination, which is immaterial and sense memory which is immaterial, but they still depend upon something that is extended in space. Immaterial faculties of animals are not extended in space, but they always operate under the conditions of matter. Immaterial internal senses are not enough to establish the spiritual ontology of a being.

- To have spiritual ontology you have to not only not be extended in space but also not be dependent on anything extended in space. To have proper operations independent of matter entirely is required for a spiritual ontology. The intellective soul is not only not extended in space, it is not dependent on things extended in space for its being or proper operation. It needs physical for data, but not for its existence. As a person you are immortal, but as a man you are mortal.

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10. Radical nature of human intellection. Human intellectualism is not merely quantitatively greater than imaging (senism) as though it was just more of what is found in lower life forms. There is a quantum leap (with no steps in between) between all creatures and man. There are philosophical reasons a strict Darwinianism cant work.

11. The intellect must be spiritual to produce the universal spiritual concept. Furthermore, the human soul must be spiritual to be able to sustain support and have as a property the spiritual intellect which in turn produces the universal concept. The cause must be as great at the effect.

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12. We have a spiritual way of knowing the nature of things. This is true not only of spiritual things like justice and beauty, but material things like a man or a Bible. We can abstract from the material conditions the whatness of things and form a universal which is completely separate from matter. We have a spiritual way of knowing things.

13. Our minds are able to understand, embrace, and illuminate the entire universe around us, and by this ability to come to understand the nature of things. The human mind penetrates beyond the sensible, physical phenomena to the very nature of the realities around us.

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14. Matter itself is not capable of spiritual intellection or free will. - A local atom does not decide to get out of bed in the morning and

brush its electrons ;-) BTW, the more you can intellect the more you can recognize the whatness of things and less tendency for racism.

- If the influence in previous generations in America was one of philosophical realism, it perhaps would have made a difference in the views of people in regard to blacks.

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