What do you think?

I am posting this because it happened right next door to the place I grew up. Breckenridge county high school was our arch rivals in sports.
I think it is interesting the way this blog compares the ACLU's behavior in the different situations.
Click on the link above, and tell me what you think. Should 16 or 17 year olds be allowed to go to church services and get baptized without their parents' permission? What about if it is a different denomination than their family? What do you think God thinks about it?

Cosmic Humor

If you want a good example of cosmic humanism, read this post.

POH part 2 Powerpoint

Purity of Heart, part 2

Adultery within Marriage
• Is a man free to look lustfully at his wife?
• Adultery in the heart is defined by the presence of lust
• If a person reduces their spouse to an object for pleasure, this is adultery in the heart (3)
• The dignity and balance of human life depends on who men and women will be for each other

The Path to Purity
• Adultery is sinful because marriage is sacred
• Marriage - free, mutual giving, not taking
• The sixth commandment can only be fulfilled by purifying our heart
• We become pure of heart
– by restoring Christ’s lordship over our lives
– by battling lust(4)
– Christ wants to liberate us from lust; His words give us the power to save us

Embodied Morality
• Christ’s words have often been misunderstood
• Manichaeism -heresy
– matter is the source of all evil
– spirit is good
• A human being is a good spirit trapped in an evil body
– the body itself was the cause of sin; sexuality and procreation were degrading(5)
• Jesus located sin in the heart, not the body(6)
– He calls the total person to purity

The Value of the Body
• Christ’s words about lust affirm the value of the body
• The body shares in our dignity as persons
• The body is sacramental; it manifests the spirit and expresses the person
• Christians believe in the redemption and resurrection of the body
• Purifying the heart helps us to see the true value of the body

The Heritage of the Heart
• Nietzsche -will to power
– pride of life
• Marx -economic wealth
– lust of the eyes
• Freud -sexual urge
– lust of the flesh(8)
• Bible - hope of redemption
– man is afflicted by lust, but not defined by it(9)
• The heritage of our hearts from the beginning is the call to love

Passion and Purity
• Eros
– Greek word for romantic love - passion
– Genesis- the call to become one flesh
• Ethos
– what is good and right -purity
– Ethos understands Eros as a call to embrace the good, the beautiful and the true(10)
• Passion and purity are called to meet and bear fruit in the human heart
• Christ’s call to overcome lust is a call to experience the fullness of erotic love

The Hidden Spring
• Does ethos (morality) suffocate eros?
• Christ does not limit our hearts, but liberates them and calls them to fullness
• Our hearts are the hidden spring - guard them against impurity
• We need to fully understand and live our masculinity and femininity
• This requires a deep study of oneself(11)

The New Man
• Christ introduces a new way of living as an embodied person
• All of Christ’s work is directed toward the redemption of the body
• Without redemption, we would be in permanent bondage to lust and decay
• Freedom is the fruit of self-control and the foundation for love(12)
• Love can only flourish where there is purity of heart

True Purity
• The Old Testament placed great importance on ritual purity
• Purity became understood in an external sense
• Jesus taught that only what is in the heart can make a person pure or impure(13)
• The human heart is the battleground between purity and impurity(14)

Living by the Spirit
• St Paul uses the terms “flesh”and “Spirit” he does not mean body and soul
– Flesh - the part of the heart dominated by sin
– Spirit - the Holy Spirit who lives in the heart of every Christian
• We overcome sinful nature and develop a disposition of purity
– by the power of Christ operating with us through the Holy Spirit(15)
• The fruits of the Spirit flow from a heart given over to Christ

Freedom in the Spirit
• Christ’s saving work is cosmic; it rescues the universe from sin
• It begins with man and the redemption of the body(16)
• Self-control is essential for living by the Spirit(17)
• Living by the flesh
– bondage to sin and decay
• Living by the Spirit
– true freedom(18)

Love Fulfills
• The Gospel is an appeal to human freedom
• All of Christian morality finds its fulfillment in a single word - love
• Christ sets us free so that we may love
• Using our freedom to indulge in sin is the opposite of true freedom(19)
• A heart given over to Christ expresses itself through self-control and acts of love

Honoring the Body
• Purity is more than just abstaining from lust
• Purity -
– directing our desires towards the true, the beautiful and the good
– using self-control to direct the body towards holiness and honor
• The negative and positive poles of purity(20)
– Abstinence and self-control depend on each other
• Self-control -not because the body is evil, but because the body is worthy of honor

Restoring Harmony
• St Paul describes the entire human person
• Because of its divine creation and redemption, it is worthy of honor(21)
• We restore order in our lives by controlling our bodies in holiness and honor(22)
• Harmony in the body springs from harmony in the heart

Bought with a Price
• When the Word became flesh, the human body was brought into the life of the Trinity(24)
• “You are not your own; you were bought with a price”
• The fruit of redemption is the Holy Spirit, who dwells within the body as a temple
• By accepting the Spirit, the Christian receives himself again as a gift
– He becomes who he was meant to be(25)

Purity and Love
• Purity is both a virtue and a gift
– The virtue of self-control prepares our heart to receive the gift, which is the sight of God
– The gift strengthens the virtue, enabling us to enjoy the fruits of a pure life in the Spirit(26)

Purity and Joy
• God inscribed his love in the human body by creating man in his image, as male and female(27)
• When purity is gained, we are free to experience the body in all its fullness and joy
• We receive the gift of ourselves by controlling our bodies in holiness and honor through the Holy Spirit(28)
• Only then can we become a true gift for another person

An Education in Being Human
• The Creator gives us all a task; to declare, through the body, the dignity of their person(29)
– we must fulfill the sign of the gift by truly becoming a gift
• Science treats the body as an object to be manipulated(30)
– This alienates the body from the spirit
• Spiritual maturity must accompany science to find the true meaning of the body

The Role of Culture
• What happens when the body becomes the subject of art?
• How do we relate to depictions of the body with purity of heart?
• How can we foster a culture that promotes the truth about being human?

The Veil of Shame
• The role of art in encouraging purity of heart
– The naked human body has the meaning of a gift from person to person
– sin brought shame and a need for bodily privacy; sexual privacy shields the gift from the gaze of lust
– The right to privacy must be respected in art and the gift-giving meaning of the body must be preserved(31)

The Naked Truth
• When the meaning of the body is obscured, distorted or misrepresented, art becomes a lie(32)
• Art must not separate the body from the person and make it an anonymous object
• We must oppose pornography out of respect for the true dignity of the body(33)

Building a Culture of Purity
• The question is not whether the body should be described in art, but how
• An artist should be pure of heart
• Artistic morality also involves the recipient of the work
– not a mere consumer of sensuality, but an active seeker of the truth
• We should always live in a way that affirms the dignity of the body
• The affirmation of the body is essential for fostering a healthy culture(34)

Sex outside of marriage?
• The one flesh union is designed to be a reflection of God’s love
• If it is not, it cannot be authentic love
• God’s love
– Total gift of self
– Freely given
– Fruitful; open to the gift of new life
– Faithful
– Forever - lifetime commitment
• If it doesn’t meet these standards, it is immoral

Aren't you happy to live in the USA?

Be thankful that you are able to come to school freely. These girls were not so blessed.

Unit 2 test - Philosophy

If you click here, you will find the study questions for the test.

Study questions for Unit 1 test

Be sure to study these questions:
1. What are the two “foundations” upon which Christian theism rests?
2. What is the difference between general and special revelation? What does it mean that general revelation is “a necessary but insufficient” means of revelation? What is God’s most direct form of special revelation?
3. What is a linchpin? How is special revelation “the linchpin of Christianity?” How does general revelation function as a “prod?”
4. When C.S. Lewis says, “Unless I believe in God, I can’t believe in thought,” what does he mean?
6. What are the key beliefs of Islam?
7. What are the key practices (or pillars) of Islam?
11. What term best describes Secular Humanist theology? How do Humanists view the supernatural?
18. What well-known quote by Karl Marx best summarizes his sentiment toward religion?
22. According to Cosmic Humanism, who is God?
23. According to Cosmic Humanism, what happens when a person dies?
28. What is deconstruction? How might this theory be applied to texts such as the Bible?
29. How has Postmodernism influenced the notion of religious pluralism?
30. Reflection Question: What do you think Friedrich Nietzsche is saying in his poem The Madman?

Study Questions for Intro Test

1. What is a worldview?
2. In 2 Timothy 2:22-26, Paul instructs Timothy to teach the (blank) to others that have been taken captive. The hope is that they will be set free.
3. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Paul informs the Corinthians that Christians should demolish (blank) set up against the knowledge of God.
4. In Colossians 2:8, Paul warns the Colossians not to be taken (blank) by vain or deceptive philosophies.
5. What are some fundamental questions a worldview answers?
6. How is a worldview like a pair of eyeglasses? How is a worldview like a tree?
7. What are some characteristics of the empty self?
8. How do we overcome the empty self?
9. What is the Biblical view of the mind?
10. How does one develop a Christian mind?
11. What does it mean to be an ambassador for Christ?
12. What are three key elements for being an effective ambassador for Christ?
13. What does it mean to have knowledge while being an ambassador for Christ? Is the purpose offensive or defensive? How do we get knowledge of the answers?
14. What does it mean to have wisdom while being an ambassador for Christ?
15. What does it mean to have character while being an ambassador for Christ?

Happy Studying!