Mike's+Summary

=Summary= As stated in the introduction, the answer to Schaeffer's question can be found in the absolutes that are presented in the biblical scriptures. Unlike Humanism, Christianity has a sound basis for moral reasoning. The faith is not dependent upon particulars, individual truths that are parts of a larger whole. Rather, Christianity proclaims that the trinitarian godhead is the source of ultimate truth. Therefore, human beings are to perceive the world in reference to the higher authority of God. It is through Him that the world is given meaning.

The reason Humanism does not provide a realistic framework upon which we can build our lives is that particulars never lead to an absolute. Particulars are only significant in and of themselves. They stand alone as fragmentations, but they never direct us toward universal thought. The early Protestant thinkers were aware of the hazards of Humanism, and they combated the problem of fragmentation with doctrine such as //Sola Scriptura//, which held that sole authority could be found in the canonized word of God. Men like Martin Luther and John Wyclif were among the first advocates of this doctrine. For them, humanistic thinking posed a threat to proper Christian lifestyle. The threat could be avoided, of course, if people accepted the scriptures as the sole, supreme authority.

During the Enlightenment period, the perception of reality changed dramatically, posing a new threat to Christians: science. The goal during this period was to use human reason as a means of discovering truth. No longer did people need the divine and spiritual realms to help shape their thinking. The function of God, to the enlightened mind, was merely setting the world into motion. This was the God of Deism. Apart from Creation, God was distant and inactive in the lives of humans. Deism, which played a major role in the lives of America's founding fathers, allowed humans to draw their own conclusions about morality. As far as they were concerned, truth was to be discovered through human reason and the observation of natural law. This left little room, if any, for the mystical participation of God in the universe. Here is a PDF journal article that gives a brief description of early American Deism.

The progression of western philosophy eventually arrived at existential methodology, which, like Humanism, Deism, and Scientific Naturalism, led people to believe that truth was not absolute, universal, or objective. For existentialists, there was a dichotomy between reason and non-reason, and there was no such thing as a reasonable absolute that could create a foundation for common morality. Truth, existentialists believed, was subjective. This, as might be expected, generated meaninglessness. Since objectivity was an impossibility, the meaning of life became obscured, giving way to a reverence for chaos rather than structure. As expressed in music and art, absurdity was venerated above all. Caryl Churchill's drama "This Is A Chair" is an expression of absurdity in art. media type="file" key="09 Pigeon.mp3" width="240" height="20" "Pigeon" by Maps and Atlases expresses the fragmentation and chaos of this period. media type="file" key="01 When The Catholic Girls Go Camping, The Nicotine Vampires Rule Supreme..mp3" width="240" height="20" "When The Catholic Girls Go Camping, The Nicotine Vampires Rule Supreme" by a band called Giraffes? Giraffes! As the name suggests, the song exemplifies the absurdity of non-reason.

If the progression of western philosophy continues, there will no longer be a necessity for Christianity. If people continue to buy into the idea that truth, peace, and affluence come from the self, God will no longer serve a purpose in society. In order to resist the temptation to pursue these anti-Christian values, Christians need to advocate for the universal truths that are foundational to the faith. These truths, which are found in the scriptures and sacraments of the Church, must be the objects of veneration--not absurdity.

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