Post on 16-Dec-2015
transcript
Church History and Christian Ministry
Augustine (354 – 430)
Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274)
Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)
Karl Barth (1886 – 1968)
Crisis of Confidence following the Reformation
Renaissance: undermined confidence in the church
Reformation: further eroded, but no consolidation
Religious Wars:
Germany: 30 years war
France: St. Bartholomew’s Massacre
England: The Puritan Revolution
Crisis of Confidence following the Reformation
Renaissance: undermined confidence in the church
Reformation: further eroded, but no consolidation
Religious Wars:
Scientific Revolution
Produced a new approach to confidence - Reason
17th Century: The Age of Reason
Continental Philosophy
Descartes
Leibniz
Spinoza
British Empiricism
Locke
Berkeley
HumeKant
17th Century: The Age of Reason (Reason our tool)
18th Century: The Enlightenment (Reason our savior)
The great successes of science led to an even greater confidence in science, with a diminishing place for God and the supernatural – the Enlightenment
The Enlightenment generally stood for the idea that man is the solution to his own problems – his own savior, and God is either non-existent or irrelevant to the quest for human meaning and achievement
In the Enlightenment, science as a tool was exchanged for science as a god, and the impact of this change affected all subsequent philosophy
The Festival of Reason – French Enlightenment – 1793.
Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804)
Worried about the attack of science on things religious and metaphysical
Hoped to show the limits of human reason in Critique of Pure Reason
Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804)
Worried about the attack of science on things religious and metaphysical
Hoped to show the limits of human reason in Critique of Pure Reason
Kant’s philosophy produced what came to be called, “Kant’s Wall”
The things that matter most are safe behind the wall
On this side: science, nature, observation, experience, “phenomena”
On the other side: God, self, real beauty, truth, goodness, “noumena”
Truth on this side known by science; truth on the other side by faith
Kant’s Wall
Noumenal World: God, Self, the thing-in-itself (essences)
Phenomenal World: science, reason, observation, experience
Kant’s Wall
Two responses to Kant’s Wall:
1) Pessimestic: we must create a philosophy with no reference at all to transcendent (noumenal) truth
Positivism: August Comte
Kant’s Wall
The Pessimistic Approach
August Comte (1798 – 1857)
Positivism: no “why,” just “what” – description over explanation
Scientism: science alone will bring progress and save humanity
Pragmatism: the measure of worth is determined by utility
Two responses to Kant’s Wall:
1) Pessimestic: we must create a philosophy with no reference at all to transcendent (noumenal) truth
Positivism: August Comte
Pragmatism: William James
Existentialism: Fredrick Nietzsche
Kant’s Wall
Kant’s Wall
Two responses to Kant’s Wall:
2) Optimistic: The noumenal “breaks through” into the phenomenal
Two responses to Kant’s Wall:
1) Optimistic: The noumenal “breaks through” into the phenomenal
History
Kant’s Wall
The Optimistic Approach1) Hegel (1770 - 1831): Dialectical Idealism
Truth (Absolute Spirit, Absolute Ego, Reason) revealed in the “dialectic” of history – the “dialectical triad”
The Dialectical Triad
Thesis – a Great Idea
Antithesis – a GreatOpposing IdeaConflict
Synthesis – truth revealed In the Clash
Synthesis = New Thesis
The Optimistic Approach1) Hegel (1770 - 1831): Dialectical Idealism
2) Marx (1818 - 1883): Dialectical Materialism
The Optimistic Approach1) Hegel (1770 - 1831): Dialectical Idealism
2) Marx (1818 - 1883): Dialectical Materialism
The Marxist Triad
Thesis – the rise of capital
Antithesis–exploitation of the workersConflict
Synthesis – Revolution
The Optimistic Approach1) Hegel (1770 - 1831): Dialectical Idealism
2) Marx (1818 - 1883): Dialectical Materialism
3) Freud (1856 - 1939): Dialectical Psychology
The Optimistic Approach1) Hegel (1770 - 1831): Dialectical Idealism
2) Marx (1818 - 1883): Dialectical Materialism
3) Freud (1856 - 1939): Dialectical Psychology
The Freudian Triad
Thesis – the Id, ourbase instinct
Antithesis – the Superego – social
constraintConflict
Synthesis – the Ego, Resolution in
self-understanding
The Optimistic Approach1) Hegel (1770 - 1831): Dialectical Idealism
2) Marx (1818 - 1883): Dialectical Materialism
3) Freud (1856 - 1939): Dialectical Psychology
4) Darwin (1809 - 1882): Dialectical Biology
The Optimistic Approach1) Hegel (1770 - 1831): Dialectical Idealism
2) Marx (1818 - 1883): Dialectical Materialism
3) Freud (1856 - 1939): Dialectical Psychology
4) Darwin (1809 - 1882): Dialectical Biology
The Darwinian Dialectic
Thesis – a speciesAntithesis – a modified
species through random mutation
Conflict
Synthesis – the superior Species wins the struggle
Synthesis = Which faces a new struggle
…as reflected in his most famous title…
The Optimistic Approach1) Hegel (1770 - 1831): Dialectical Idealism
2) Marx (1818 - 1883): Dialectical Materialism
3) Freud (1856 - 1939): Dialectical Psychology
4) Darwin (1809 - 1882): Dialectical Biology
17th Century: The Age of Reason (Reason our tool)
18th Century: The Enlightenment (Reason our savior)
19th Century: Evolution (Reason our god)
Effect on Christian Theology
1) Immanentism
2) Naturalism
3) Humanism
4) Optimism
Karl Barth (1886 – 1968)
Trained in 19th century Christian Liberalism
Convinced Liberalism produced German NationalismPublished Romerbrief (1922)
Rejected basic liberal outlook
1) Immanentism: God is radically transcendent
2) Naturalism: God breaks into history supernaturally3) Humanism: Refuses to tie Christ to any human achievement
4) Optimism: Apart from redemptive work of Christ, we are hopeless
Karl Barth (1886 – 1968)
Trained in 19th century Christian Liberalism
Convinced Liberalism produced German NationalismPublished Romerbrief (1922)
Rejected basic liberal outlook
Rejected traditional view of Bible
Accused traditional view of Biblical Docetism
Bible is “witness” to revelation
Bible may “become” the Word of God – shattered mirror analogy
Karl Barth (1886 – 1968)
Trained in 19th century Christian Liberalism
Convinced Liberalism produced German NationalismPublished Romerbrief (1922)
Rejected basic liberal outlook
Rejected traditional view of Bible
Rejected traditional apologetics
Affirmed basic content of the gospel – neo-orthodox
Courageous stand against the Nazis in the 30s