Introduction
We are seeking to sketch out the fundamental structures and truths that literally shape all reality.
If we do not get these right, as it were, everything else will be “queered” thereafter. But, let us be clear, these fundamental things are denied by the entire non-christian world. More than denied, they are rejected, ridiculed, or hated amongst unbelievers. So right away, when speaking of The Christian Mind, we must concede—nay, we must insist—that the way a Christian thinks (that is, ought to think) of reality is fundamentally different from the non-Christian.
There is, in principle, no common ground with the unbeliever. In principle, we disagree about everything. We call this “the antithesis.” Therefore, when we take up any subject—let’s say, mathematics or physics—we can speak meaningfully of Christian mathematics or Christian physics, and unbelieving mathematics or physics.
But we can go further—because of “the fundamental truths that shape all reality” we will believe and argue that only Christian mathematics is true; that unbelieving mathematics is in principle wrong and ultimately wrong—that is, it does not accord with reality. It is erroneous. It is a mirage. It does not reflect what actually is!
This may seem strange—even extreme. But I propose that by the time we have worked through the heads below, you will agree with me.
The God Revealed in Scripture
The Book of Genesis sets out the framework which constitutes all of reality, all that exists. We mean by this that all material and immaterial reality is encompassed, prescribed and proscribed. Every human being that has ever lived, or will ever live, is shaped, constituted, and utterly conditioned by the what is revealed in the book of Genesis.
The divine revelation contained in Genesis is presuppositional to all human thought, existence, and endeavour. As such, it cannot be "proven" because there is nothing more fundamental than its truths.
Nothing exists outside of its all-conditioning truths that can possibly verify it. But, on the other hand, nothing else has meaning at all apart from the truths and revelation contained therein. Unless the truths revealed in Genesis are presupposed as the foundation of all meaning, all thought and argument descends rapidly into a rationalist/irrationalist hole. Moreover, so fundamental, so presuppositional is its revelation, that any attempt to reject or disprove its truth can only proceed by trading on its currency.
Let us, then, consider some of the key conceptual frames of Genesis 1-3.
The first reality we are confronted with in Genesis is the Living God.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . . .” Genesis 1:1
Not “a god”, but “the God.” Sometimes Christians get confused here--and non-christians are always confused at this point. Unbelievers always gloss the text as if it were speaking of some kind of deity, or "big guy"--anything but the God who is actually spoken of and revealed in these chapters.
Because mankind is incurably religious and gives due obesiance to something or someone (Truth, Nature, Being, Reason, Love, Material, Life Force, Allah, the Unmoved Mover, Dagon, Baal, Zeus, etc.) Christians often try to find common cause with unbelief and speak of "lower" and "higher" conceptions of God--as if all mankind are striving after the true God, but have just got a bit confused along the way.
But the Bible is very clear at this point. It allows no room for compromise. There is only one true Living God; all other gods (or conceptions of gods) are falsehoods and despicable idols. The First Commandment is first for a reason: the True God will not tolerate any other gods in His presence. This is the fundamental starting point.
So, when we speak of God, we must be faithful to God's self-revelation in the Bible, particularly in Genesis. Any other conception of God is a lie, a false god.
In Genesis, we learn, firstly, that God is a personal Being. God speaks, God sees, God considers, God thinks, God wills, God determines, God decides, God assesses, God weighs things up, and God concludes. Personal pronouns are used by God as He describes Himself and how He created the world.
Now, this is one of the most fundamental truths of all. This means necessarily and inevitably that God speaks, sees, considers, thinks about, wills, determines, decides, assesses, tests, and draws conclusions about the entire world--about all human history--about my family--about my history--and, about me. Moreover, His words, sight, thoughts, determinations, testings, and conclusions about the world, about my family, and about me will prevail over my views and convictions or anyone else's for that matter--since, as we discuss below, everything that exists apart from God has been created by Him out of nothing, and consequently is completely and utterly dependant upon Him.
Our post-Enlightenment age is so disturbed by this attribute of God that it has made a persistent attempt to substitute deities which are impersonal. It commenced during the Enlightenment with the deification of Nature (capital "N" was deliberate), then Reason, Truth, Progress, Natural Laws, etc. It has morphed subsequently into constructions such as Life Force, Hegelian Dialectic, Evolution. A constant theme running through these manifold self-blandishing notions is that god is impersonal--which means that none of us are responsible to Him or before Him.
The constant militating of modern culture to construct any idea of any god, while insisting that the God Who reveals Himself in Genesis cannot possibly be true, gives a disinterested observer reason to wonder why that ought to be. Why this pathological hatred of God? Genesis goes on to account for this pervasive phenomenon, as we shall see below.
We are seeking to sketch out the fundamental structures and truths that literally shape all reality.
If we do not get these right, as it were, everything else will be “queered” thereafter. But, let us be clear, these fundamental things are denied by the entire non-christian world. More than denied, they are rejected, ridiculed, or hated amongst unbelievers. So right away, when speaking of The Christian Mind, we must concede—nay, we must insist—that the way a Christian thinks (that is, ought to think) of reality is fundamentally different from the non-Christian.
There is, in principle, no common ground with the unbeliever. In principle, we disagree about everything. We call this “the antithesis.” Therefore, when we take up any subject—let’s say, mathematics or physics—we can speak meaningfully of Christian mathematics or Christian physics, and unbelieving mathematics or physics.
But we can go further—because of “the fundamental truths that shape all reality” we will believe and argue that only Christian mathematics is true; that unbelieving mathematics is in principle wrong and ultimately wrong—that is, it does not accord with reality. It is erroneous. It is a mirage. It does not reflect what actually is!
This may seem strange—even extreme. But I propose that by the time we have worked through the heads below, you will agree with me.
The God Revealed in Scripture
The Book of Genesis sets out the framework which constitutes all of reality, all that exists. We mean by this that all material and immaterial reality is encompassed, prescribed and proscribed. Every human being that has ever lived, or will ever live, is shaped, constituted, and utterly conditioned by the what is revealed in the book of Genesis.
The divine revelation contained in Genesis is presuppositional to all human thought, existence, and endeavour. As such, it cannot be "proven" because there is nothing more fundamental than its truths.
Nothing exists outside of its all-conditioning truths that can possibly verify it. But, on the other hand, nothing else has meaning at all apart from the truths and revelation contained therein. Unless the truths revealed in Genesis are presupposed as the foundation of all meaning, all thought and argument descends rapidly into a rationalist/irrationalist hole. Moreover, so fundamental, so presuppositional is its revelation, that any attempt to reject or disprove its truth can only proceed by trading on its currency.
Let us, then, consider some of the key conceptual frames of Genesis 1-3.
The first reality we are confronted with in Genesis is the Living God.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . . .” Genesis 1:1
Not “a god”, but “the God.” Sometimes Christians get confused here--and non-christians are always confused at this point. Unbelievers always gloss the text as if it were speaking of some kind of deity, or "big guy"--anything but the God who is actually spoken of and revealed in these chapters.
Because mankind is incurably religious and gives due obesiance to something or someone (Truth, Nature, Being, Reason, Love, Material, Life Force, Allah, the Unmoved Mover, Dagon, Baal, Zeus, etc.) Christians often try to find common cause with unbelief and speak of "lower" and "higher" conceptions of God--as if all mankind are striving after the true God, but have just got a bit confused along the way.
But the Bible is very clear at this point. It allows no room for compromise. There is only one true Living God; all other gods (or conceptions of gods) are falsehoods and despicable idols. The First Commandment is first for a reason: the True God will not tolerate any other gods in His presence. This is the fundamental starting point.
So, when we speak of God, we must be faithful to God's self-revelation in the Bible, particularly in Genesis. Any other conception of God is a lie, a false god.
In Genesis, we learn, firstly, that God is a personal Being. God speaks, God sees, God considers, God thinks, God wills, God determines, God decides, God assesses, God weighs things up, and God concludes. Personal pronouns are used by God as He describes Himself and how He created the world.
Now, this is one of the most fundamental truths of all. This means necessarily and inevitably that God speaks, sees, considers, thinks about, wills, determines, decides, assesses, tests, and draws conclusions about the entire world--about all human history--about my family--about my history--and, about me. Moreover, His words, sight, thoughts, determinations, testings, and conclusions about the world, about my family, and about me will prevail over my views and convictions or anyone else's for that matter--since, as we discuss below, everything that exists apart from God has been created by Him out of nothing, and consequently is completely and utterly dependant upon Him.
Our post-Enlightenment age is so disturbed by this attribute of God that it has made a persistent attempt to substitute deities which are impersonal. It commenced during the Enlightenment with the deification of Nature (capital "N" was deliberate), then Reason, Truth, Progress, Natural Laws, etc. It has morphed subsequently into constructions such as Life Force, Hegelian Dialectic, Evolution. A constant theme running through these manifold self-blandishing notions is that god is impersonal--which means that none of us are responsible to Him or before Him.
The constant militating of modern culture to construct any idea of any god, while insisting that the God Who reveals Himself in Genesis cannot possibly be true, gives a disinterested observer reason to wonder why that ought to be. Why this pathological hatred of God? Genesis goes on to account for this pervasive phenomenon, as we shall see below.
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