Meditation – Page 18 – Andrea Arthur Owan

Worldview Philosophies: The Lowdown on Realism, Absurdism and Existentialism

Today we come to the last three major philosophies—Realism, Absurdism, and Existentialism—in our worldview discussions. They give us an idea about just how weird the world can get in its thinking. Although there are many more philosophies we could cover, we’re sticking to the major ideas that have profoundly shaped our world, its politics, and social beliefs.

Meet Naturalism’s cousin Realism—

Realism has the same substance as Naturalism but takes that philosophy to the extreme. Realism says that if people were really honest, they’d admit that there wasn’t any God at all, that He doesn’t exist and never did. An Evolutionist (although we could argue that evolutionism by itself could be called a religion or philosophy) might fall into this category. Everything’s here by chance and God, or any god, doesn’t have a thing to do with it.

Realists embrace (and worship) reality. In their mind, that’s what should drive the world. Some have called it an “in-your-face” view of life. These are the “telling it like it is” folks. Whatever happens on earth stays on earth, and it’s all just a big game of luck, aside from what they can force into reality, to make happen. And that’s what they get meaning from. There is no abstract in life from which you can draw meaning. It is what you can see and experience.

Say Hello to the Absurdist, close friend of Realist—

The Absurdist believes what the Realist does, but takes it a step further. For them, there is no meaning to life. Zilch. The Absurdist abandons all hope of finding meaning in existence. At heart, you could consider them embracers of nihilism. They’re hardcore skeptics, pessimists and cynics that see nothing good or purposeful in the world. All religious and moral principles can be rejected because they ultimately mean nothing. Why would they if nothing in the world has real existence?

The extreme Russian Revolutionary Party held to Absurdism. Because they saw nothing good in the social order of their day, they didn’t see anything about it worth saving. On the contrary, they thought it should all be destroyed. And that’s what they set out to do.

They even reject the Romantic’s belief in a desire, that parts or aspects of life were transcendent. To an Absurdist, desire cannot exist if life is senseless, meaningless, and therefore, devoid of hope. The American author, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., combined Absurdismand Humanismin his writings. However, while he sometimes set outrageous plots and hopeless characters, there were undercurrents of encouragement for people making the world a better place. Somehow.

In an interview with Robert Musil in 1980, Vonnegut expressed his view on the condition of life, a condition that strongly correlates with the idea of the absurd:

“I think that at least half the people alive, and maybe nine-tenths of them, really do not like this ordeal at all. They pretend to like it some, to smile at strangers, and to get up each morning in order to survive, in order to somehow get through it. But life is, for most people, a very terrible ordeal. They would just as soon end it anytime. And I really think that is more of a problem really than greed or machismo or anything like that. I think that’s the fundamental thing that’s going on. (Musil 129) (Krisandra R. Johnson, Indiana Wesleyan University, published in Butler University Libraries’ Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research Journal, Volume 4, Article 7 )

Pretty sad commentary, isn’t it? Although I have a suspicion that he’s right about how people feel about life. As I view it, the problem, is that these despondent (and usually angry) people don’t have the hope they need to make this life meaningful, regardless of what situation they find themselves in. And they haven’t passed that hope down to their children, who are now suffering record numbers of depression and suicide.

Existentialism: Welcome subjective feeling as the way to live!

Existentialists don’t debate meaning of life. They go for the feelingit gives them. Who cares what it means? There’s no point to discussing meaning since it’s the feelingthat matters. They worship experience. No wonder an existentialist tends to go from one feeling to another, and search for it constantly.

No deity needed on this one. The goal is to do what feels good. The reality of life exists in human desire not some God who created and manages the universe. According to an Existentialist, discovering and experiencing your desires leads you to the divine. Not a true divinity, but a divine (perfect) existence.

They focus on making sense of the chaos in life and seeking to learn their life purpose, their reason for being. Evidently Existentialism as a writing genre is regaining popularity among the millennial generation. Not surprising since many of them don’t have a Judeo-Christian foundation to draw from; or their Judeo-Christian foundation was so legalistic, authoritarian and distasteful that they rejected it and ended up finding something more palatable that felt as though it had some Judeo-Christian ideas attached to it.

And you?

Would your worldview fit any of these philosophies? Have any of them seeped into your life perspective, theology or faith?

NEXT WEEK we’ll have one final formal look at worldview, why it matters, and how you may be affected by these philosophers in ways you didn’t imagine.

Until then, keep trying to figure out what worldviews your political leaders, teachers, writers and media personalities espouse. It will help you figure out what they’re basing their arguments on, how they see the world, approach life, and think you should live it.

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Your Body is a Temple

The last couple of months we’ve been doing a lot of meditating on whether or not we are more spiritual than physical, or if both are equally important to us. Today we’ll look at some additional supporting evidence for a blended combination.

Jesus indicated there are times when, although the spirit may be willing, the flesh fails to comply because it is weak. But does having weak flesh make it less important than our spirit? Even if our spirit/soul continues to exist immediately after physical death and simply moves on to be present with the Lord in a “new house?”

These three critical body and spirit Bible passages indicate that isn’t the case.

“[The body] is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (First Corinthians 15:44).

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (First Corinthians 6:19-20).

“…according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20).

Take-away—

Temples are important structures. They’re built for a physical and spiritual purpose and are to be a source of respite, of rejuvenation and hope, joy and promise. If God considers our bodies to be temples, how can we regard them as anything less important? And treat them as such?

God says there are both a natural body and a physical one. And both are equally important to us down here on Earth. (For more support, look up the passages having to do with eating and drinking unto the Lord.)

Jesus bought us with His life. He has chosen to take up residence in the hearts of believers. He lives in us. Body and spirit. Because of this, we are to glorify Him in both body and spirit. Our focus should be to glorify Him. The spirit can drive the glorification; but the body does the glorifying.

Every chance you get you must try to magnify Christ—in what you do with your body. What you see with it, experience with it, say with it. How you approach death with it.

Meditation—

In the weeks to come, remind yourself daily that your precious body is a special place to God. A hallowed place, a place set apart for Him.

To God be the glory, great things He has done—in body and spirit!

NEXT WEEK: One more proof that we are a lovely integration of body and spirit.

Until then, take care of your temple! It belongs to the King of the Universe.

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Kirill Zakharov

Will Your Resurrection be more Spiritual or Physical?

What does your future resurrection mean to you? Do you look forward to it with longing and joy, or questions, fears, and misunderstandings?

Do you believe your spirit will go on eternally but your decrepit, physical body will remain eternally entombed someplace in the Earth?

Today we’re going to explore some Scripture that may impart new meaning, new joy, and new purpose to you for your resurrection, and for your present life on Earth.

Getting it straight—

Throughout the pages of Scripture—Old Testament and New—you can read a promise of, and belief in a future resurrection—spiritual andphysical. There is both a physicality and soul/spiritual component. The physicality of a resurrection actually defines and solidifies the definition of resurrection.

Word pictures of resurrection—

Scripture gives us word pictures of people “coming forth” out of their tombs after hearing God’s voice calling them to come forth, like Jesus called out to Lazarus when He raised that dead man from the grave.

This resurrection will be grand and unspeakable, an awesome display of God’s creative and re-creative and restorative powers. It will be a day unlike any other since Jesus’ Resurrection.

There are Old Testament resurrection passages echoed in the New Testament.

Even Job believed in a bodily resurrection.

Supporting Scripture—

Meditate on the following verses to expand, solidify and encourage your resurrection view and hope.

“But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Jesus speaking in Matthew 22:31-32).

“And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14).

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed” (First Corinthians 15:51-52).

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (First Thessalonians 4:16).

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).

“Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39).

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are I the graves will hear His voice and com forth—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29).

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:51 – 53).

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2)

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,

And He shall stand at last on the earth;

And after my skin is destroyed, this I

know,

That in my flesh I shall see God,

Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold, and not

another,

How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27).

May your heart yearn within you, dear reader and child of God, for the bodily resurrection you will enjoy, the eternal spirit that already resides within you, and the promise of seeing our precious Savior—in our renewed, restored, and revitalized bodies—face-to-face!

Until NEXT WEEK (when we’ll explore more about the importance of our bodies), may you revel in these truths and meditate on them in supreme joy!

For more reading on this subject see this article on the “desiring God” website.

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Hand and Sea photo by Ian Espinoza

Bible photo by Colin Carey

The Power of your Philosophy—Are you an Enlightened Rationalist, Hopeless Romantic or Doubting Naturalist?

On our last Meditation Monday we covered Theism, Christian Theism and Deism and learned the sometimes-subtle differences among these three worldviews or philosophies.

Today we’ll explore Rationalism, Romanticism, and Naturalism and the effect they’ve had on world history.

Be Enlightened!

Around the early 1600s a new breed of philosopher emerged who focused on being rational. (Although this thinking, evidently, can be found in antiquity.) These great thinkers envisioned themselves to be enlightened and believed truth to be derived via intellectand deductive reasoning.

They believed that certain undeniable principles naturally exist in mathematics, sciences, logic, metaphysics and ethics and were confident that reason was the method mankind could use to understand the world. To them, empirical or physical evidence are unnecessary to prove something. The French philosopher, Rene Descartes, championed this philosophy and is considered the father of modern Western Philosophy.

John Locke, an English philosopher, also championed this belief and is considered to be one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers. He is referred to as the “Father of Liberalism.” Locke considered life to be somewhat of a “chalkboard” or tabula rasa, (the Latin term meaning “blank slate”), on which a person’s life experiences and responses are “written,” thus creating a personality. One of his quotes sums up much of his worldview:

“No man’s knowledge here can go beyond his experience.”

The Enlightenment worldview gained a foothold in Europe as it spread across that continent. It was particularly prevalent in England, France and Germany and is believed to have run from 1650 – 1800. It holds particular significance for the United States because it was the primary philosophy leaned on to justify and plant the seeds that sprouted the American Democratic Republic and American Revolution. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were considered to be great men of the American Enlightenment period.

The people who combined Rationalism and Deism thinking often spoke of “unalienable rights” (ever hear that term before?) and “common sense.”

Enlightened thinkers focused on:

Reason
Individualism
Skepticism

Does that not sound like the guts of the American spirit? That if we only reason things through, we can fix them; that we are stalwart individualists that abhor having our rights tread on; and that we have a tendency to view everything with a jaded eye, even while being optimistic? Pull out your Declaration of Independence and read through that document. Do any of the terms scream Enlightened to you?

Enter the Romantics—

The people who embraced Romanticism took issue with the Deists and Theists. They believed that Nature was God, and it was very good. In their belief, original sin was man’s separation from Nature. And man should try to return to Nature because doing so determines his goodness and effectiveness in life. The closer he gets to Nature’s perfection the better he is.

Romantics didn’t like Deism or Theism because they considered those philosophies, or beliefs, too dogmatic and close-minded. Too legalistic; not free enough. Better to commune with Nature to get back to your roots; be in a constant search to return to the Garden. They emphasize the subjective, while Deists emphasize the objective. Subjectivism gives a person way more latitude in their thinking and behavior. (What’s good for you may not be good for me. “Whatever floats your boat!”)

A popular American novel exemplifying Romanticism is James Fennimore Cooper’s Deerslayer, in which the protagonist is content and safe while on an island, separated from humans. In Walden, famous American author Henry David Thoreau writes about his experience living alone on Walden Pond in Massachusetts for a year, to find his God. It certainly wasn’t what he expected it to be. He came away a little jaded and disappointed through that experience. And maybe he wasn’t quite so Romantic in his views thereafter. (I couldn’t finish Deerslayer when I tried to read it. But Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans was fabulous!)

Naturalism is the way (And there’s proof!)

So along comes Naturalism, which is different from Romanticism’s Nature-is-good beliefs.

Naturalism does not look kindly on Nature, as it does not believe Nature is good or benevolent (gift giving). On the contrary, they consider it to be mischievousness, having a bent toward being and doing evil, and being quite unpredictable.

World War I had a tremendous impact on people’s beliefs, and Naturalism seemed a more logical and proven alternative to Theism and Deism.

After that bloodbath, how could anyone believe in a living God that loved people?

And if there really was a God, how could anyone believe He cared about His creation? The war was proof that He didn’t. And, if He did exist, He was just as unpredictable as His creation (nature) and prone to behaving in evil ways. So, maybe there is a God, or maybe there’s not. Either way, people lose because the end result is bad and impossible to make a judgment call on.

Although Naturalists may hold a soft spot for Romanticism, they believe that particular philosophy to be terribly naïve.

To the Naturalist, God is:

Absent,
A big wimp; or
Just plain mean and in possession of a bad temper.

Take-away—

Do any of these philosophies sound familiar to you? Can you see them filtered through our media, educational curricula, or modern (more liberal/progressive) religious teachings?

Meditation Points—

I invite you to spend some time this week really pondering what kind of influence these worldviews have had on your life and life outlook. Because, whether you’ve realized it before or not, they have.

How have any of these beliefs sneaked into your worldview and influenced you? Who taught them to you, by their words, instructions or actions?
Have they affected your belief in, understanding of, or relationship with God?
Do you ever ask yourself: “How could a loving God allow such-and-such to happen?” (Rape, murder, ethnic slaughter, natural disasters?) What answer do you give yourself?
When you analyze your worldview, do you have a hodge-podge of beliefs?
Do you have a difficult time seeing God has loving, good, benevolent, and just?
Are independence, freedom, and individualism a primary focus for you?
Do you pride yourself in being a rational, thoughtful and logical person? Do you analyze the world and your experiences through these filters?
Do you need to have evidence in order to believe? Are you prone to doubt?
Has combining these beliefs resulted in your frustration with life? Has any one of them led you to depression or a feeling of hopelessness?
I have a acquaintance, an older lady who is a brilliant and witty scientist. She told me once that she didn’t deny there being a God; she just couldn’t prove He existed. She proclaimed herself to be an agnostic. Which worldview(s) do you think she is inclined to follow?
What worldview do you think an pure environmentalist would hold? A Democrat? Republican? Libertarian or Green Party candidate?

NEXT WEEK I’ll offer my perspective on our American holiday, Labor Day.

Until then,

try to figure out what your favorite television personality or news anchor’s worldview is. Read and hear what they have to say, where their focus is.

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Tom Coe

Was the Resurrection More Spirit than Body?

What are you?

Are you spirit or body? Equally? Or more spirit than body? Or vice versa.

As I’ve said in previous body and spirit posts, I have a suspicion God thinks both are equally important. Today I’ll give you another reason why I believe that to be true.

What about the greatest event in human history?

Remember the Resurrection? After Jesus was resurrected from the grave, He appeared to the apostles and then to His other disciples in bodily form. In such bodily form that He tells His disciple Thomas to touch his nail-punctured hands and put his fingers into His lanced side to touch Him, really know that it is He—Jesus—returned from the dead and restored to life. Thomas is so overwhelmed by just seeing Jesus in the flesh that he doesn’t seem to need to do those things, even though he previously claimed he’d have to do them in order to fully believe Jesus had come back to life.

the facts—

Jesus’ spirit was rejoined with His body. He walked with the disciples; he ate with the disciples. He demonstrated a perfect, fulfilled melding of body and spirit by enjoying bodily activities and also performing a disappearing act when He suddenly departs from the disciples he joined while they walked on the road to Emmaus.

What others think—

Some religions that claim to follow Jesus believe His resurrection was purely spiritual, with no real body component. Whatever body we saw seemed to be a figment of our imagination, or maybe something the Lord willed His followers to see. I’ve never gotten them to explain that idea so it’s comprehensible.

I don’t see what the point of that kind of resurrection would be. It doesn’t make sense. Not with the promise of our own future, post physical death resurrections God talks about in Scripture. Jesus had a point to prove, a promise to fulfill.

And a future promise to foreshadow.

Jesus’ resurrection was a literal conquering of death. It was real, it was tangible, and it held a promise for our own futures. It is the hope we look forward to, the end reward for a well-run race. Being spiritually and physically reunited with Him to enjoy eternal life.

The Resurrection displayed the power of the spirit and its eternal existence. But I don’t think that fact negates the body’s importance.

While our spirit does return to the Lord upon our physical death, the story doesn’t end there. Scripture indicates there is much more to come.

NEXT WEEK we’ll explore that more-to-come truth.

Meditation points—

Until then, I invite you to take a moment to explore the following questions:

Why do you think it was so important for the disciples to see Jesus in the flesh rather than just “feel” or experience Him in the spirit?
What do you think went through the disciples’ minds when they actually laid eyes on a fully (in body) resurrected Jesus?
What difference would it make for you to see a loved one resurrected in the body rather than just in the spirit? Do you think Jesus knows the important of that to you and wants you to experience it, like He made sure the disciples did?

Enjoy pondering these questions until next week!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Andrea A Owan