THINKING LIKE JESUS AND SOCRATES
Dr. Gary VanDeWalker
Dr. Robert Hughes
Evangelical Free Church of Mount Shasta
Lesson Five: Who am I?
(A question of Metaphysics…questions science cannot answer)
1. Metaphysics in philosophy is not the same as metaphysics advertised in a New Age bookstore.
2. Metaphysics asks questions about the fundamental nature of the universe.
3. There is a problem with how to reconcile universal and particular concepts.
--Plato stressed universals
--Aristotle stressed particulars
--Physics today struggles with this dilemma
4. 1 Corinthians 13 is an example of a universal concept, broken down into particulars.
5. Is the universe just one “thing” or
many “things”. Is the universe both one and
many? How does one reconcile that something is one but many?
--Genesis 1:1
--John 1:1, 18
6. Before deciding this problem is irrelevant,
consider its implications in the real world. Our world skews
towards universals, with no particulars.
--Everyone is right
--All religions are true
--All choices are equal
--Everything should be tolerated
--People are no different than animals or inanimate objects
7. So who am I?
--Do you have any identity or value of your own or is that an illusion?
--Genesis 1:26…you are a creation of the God who is one, but many
--You are different from Him (a particular), but like Him (a universal)
--Here is your value and your identity
8. The nature of the universe
--God created the universe apart from Himself, but interacts with it
--The universe was created perfect, but is now flawed (Genesis 3)
--The universe is waiting redemption (Romans 8)
--He universe will be restored (Revelation 20)
9. There are possible worlds, but there is only one actual world.
--Some world are not possible
--Because a world is possible, doesn’t make it actual
--The Christian must desire to find the world that is really there as well as the God who is there.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
