Unit 3 Philosophy

Why should any thoughtful person have a theory on who Jesus was and what happened to him?

It has a historical impact of the birth of Christianity

Why is 1 Corinthians considered to be a reliable source?

It was written by Paul and an early source

Habermas’ four minimally accepted resurrection facts

1. Jesus died by crucifixion

2. The disciples had a real experience they thought was the risen Jesus

3. James (skeptic) had a real experience

4. Paul (skeptic) had a real experience

How do you use the minimal facts to make a case for the resurrection?

Use them to rule out the naturalistic theories (ex: conspiracy theory)

Problems with the hallucination theory

1. No first century evidence that points to the causes of hallucination happening to each witness

2. No first century evidence accounts for the missing body

3. Jewish people were more likely to think a dead person was appearing from the afterlife if they had a vision

How do you make a possible theory about the resurrection reasonable?

Evidence

miracle

A marvelous event occurring within human experience which cannot be brought about by human power or by the operation of any natural agency and must therefore be ascribed to the special intervention of the deity or some supernatural being.

Do natural laws tell us what must happen?

No, they tell us what has happened in the past

What does God’s existence have to do with the possibility of miracles?

If God exists, there is no reason to reject miracles “apriori”

Apriori belief

Denoting reasoning before empirical data has been shown

Aposteriori belief

Denoting reasoning after presented facts

Does environment and genetics have anything to do with forming a person?

Yes. both theists and naturalists believe this

3 difficulties about naturalism

Does not provide a foundation for rationality, consciousness, or free will (We act like we have all of these things, and if removed, we lose ability to make advancements in society)

Why does naturalism have a hard time explaining how people could make real choices?

Closed cause and effect system of natural evolution doesn’t provide ability to make actual choices

What are other ways God can intervene in the world other than miracles?

1. Changed lives of believers to be instruments of God for change

2. Speaking to people through Holy Spirit

3. Answering prayers

4. Providential guidance

How does someone discuss the resurrection of Jesus without arguing for the truth claims of the entire Bible?

Minimal facts case and smaller chunks of scripture that critical historians prefer (1 Corinthians 15)

Why did Lennox say that it is more reasonable to believe in the supernatural than not to if you are a scientist

Atheistic naturalism teaches that our brains are the result of mindless cause and effect over time, in which case we have no reason to think our brains produce anything trustworthy, but we need to believe this to think science is true. We have no reason to trust the rational and mathematical intelligibility of the universe

post-modern philosopher Wittgenstein

“The great deception of modernism is thinking that the laws of science are explanations. They aren’t. They are descriptions”

Philosophical naturalism

Belief that all phenomena are explainable by only matter and energy

Monism

people are essentially one substance (either material or supernatural)

Dualism

People are both physical and supernatural beings

Five scientific discoveries that support a non-physical part of a human being

1. Lack of one location for higher level thinking

2. Split brain surgery patients don’t experience drastic changes

3. There are no intellectual seizures

4. People in vegetative state can understand and respond

5. Existence of free won’t

Why does the Bible teach that people should not pursue spiritual power/knowledge outside of God?

People are only designed to find fulfillment in God, since he is their creator. Pursuit of spiritual power is idolatry, can result in bondage for person