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| ISBN-13: | 9781450238366 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | iUniverse, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 08/16/2010 |
| Pages: | 152 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d) |
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Power Living Through Science
By Brian Keen
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2010 Dr. Brian Keen, CGEAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-3834-2
Chapter One
Supposition
This is the Prolegomenon to the position that theology is a scientific discipline. This is the basis of Theanthropic Ethics as an ethical category based upon scientific methodologies.
Theologians and ethicists must utilize the same laws of methodology as any other scientific research.
The supposition for theology is: there is a god or gods.
A supposition requires a minimal amount of proof. This is true in any scientific research, including theological research. The twofold general classifications within scientific evaluation are: argumentum a posteriori, and argumentum a priori.
The proofs of the supposition are: cosmological, teleological, psychological, and historical.
The cosmological proof is that since the world exists therefore there must be a god or gods. There must be a god or gods to construct the world. A building presupposes a builder. This is a logical conclusion. Every rational person through deductive reasoning upon observing a created structure concludes that there must be someone who has thus created the structure. Consequently, the observation of creation presupposes a creator.
The teleological proof is that the Earth and universe is a great, beautiful, and wondrous work. This observation concludes that there is an intelligent being behind this work. The universe is a work of wondrous purpose and motion, with order and laws, with beauty and grace. The universe is a work that hides within itself a most wise mind and an infinite power that created it. Consider the great readiness and diligence for work displayed by bees and spiders. So great is their love for art that bees create wax so artistically and fragrantly and the spiders weaving their intricate webs with such delicacy, with ethereal threads and such intricate patterns! Consider the marvel at the composition and action of water. The nature, the appearance and the taste of water are one and the same. However, its energy has many powers. Water in the grape becomes wine and takes on a new taste. While in the olive it becomes oil and is transformed into bread when mixed with flour.
The psychological proof is that mankind seeks after a god or gods. In the inner recesses of man's nous there is an acknowledgement of His Existence. When one perceives the good and evil in the world, the logical conclusion is that the existence of a god or gods is necessary and inevitable.
The historical proof is that throughout mankind's history there has always been recognition of a god or gods. The great historian Plutarch (born A.D. 46) has stated, "Wherever you go, you may find cities without walls, without schools, without kings, without inhabitants, without currency, without theatres or gymnasia, but an atheist city without the need for prayers and vows, for oracles and sacrifices, for beneficence, you will never see, for such does not exist. It seems to me that one can more easily find a city without ground than one without religion and belief in God. Such a city cannot exist and should perchance such exist, it cannot endure."
The supposition has proof required to commence research, on the subject of theology as a scientific discipline. From here we will be required to provide more proof. As in all research, there is an assumption.
This means that atheism can only be proved as a negative supposition. Agnosticism is untenable since science requires a supposition that supports the concept of theological research.
Research utilizes the Law of Non-contradiction. Aristotle defined this law as, "the same attribute cannot at the same time belong to the same subject in the same respect."
Research utilizes the Law of Causality that incorporates Aristotle's classification of motion.
Now we must make a determination as to whether there is one or many gods. The proof for One God is the reality of the attributes of the One True God.
The assumption for us to consider in our theological research is: God is the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity.
The first step is to consider the attributes of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity. The attributes of Tri-Hypostatical Divinity consist of Him being: omnipresent, omniscient, eternal, immutable, omnipotent, all-wise, holy, righteous, virtuous, and the Truth.
The omnipresence of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity indicates that He is not subject to any limitations relating to physical space. The Tri-Hypostatical Divinity sees and oversees everything, whether visible or invisible. There can be no mystery in the One True God, the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity.
As a result of being omnipresent, the consequence, logically, is that the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity must be omniscient. The omniscience of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity indicates that He is outside of time. Consequently, the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity knows only present. There is no concept of past or future, since everything is present to the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity. His creatures respond to past and future due to their understanding of time. Time is only a form of limited being, changeable being. The omniscience of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity does not indicate that man's freewill is impinged in any way. The foreknowledge of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is not the cause of the occurrence of things, but rather He foreknows that we are to do this or that, thus that which a person is to do, does not have the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity as its cause, but rather a person's own free will.
The eternal nature of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity indicates that He is ever the same, and as far as time is concerned, has neither beginning nor ending. With reference to the essence of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity the term means that He never changes, but remains continuously the same. This is understood as a natural development of His omniscience. Being omniscient He must be eternal.
The immutable nature of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is understood as a direct result of the previous position of His being omniscient and eternal. This un-changeability does not indicate some kind of immovability. Quite the contrary, The Tri-Hypostatical Divinity's Being is life, filled with POWER and activity. The Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is Himself life, and life is His Being.
The omnipotence of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is understood as a direct result of logical sequence. He is Almighty, for how could it be otherwise for the One True God. There is nothing that the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity cannot do, as long as this is extended to everything, which is pleasing to His thought, to His goodness, to His Will.
The attribute of wisdom of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is inseparable from His omniscience, and is an extension of that attribute. It is the property of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity to ascertain and determine the most excellent and perfect means whereby His most excellent aims and purposes leads to completion. We see how this is manifest in the reality of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity, especially in the reality of the Theanthropic Hypostasis.
The attribute of Holiness in the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity indicates that He is pure and free from all moral and ethical imperfection, and is free from and despises sin, wickedness, and depravity. The Tri-Hypostatical Divinity loves only that which is good and just. Consequently, the holiness of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is the source of holiness for His creatures.
The attribute of righteousness of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is a derivative of His Holiness. He is righteous because He is Holy. Since He hates and despises evil, He must be righteous and does not tolerate any injustice. He judges objectively and without bias. The righteousness of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity has two aspects: that of lawgiver and that of judge. The laws are all appropriate, such as the Law of Gravity. All laws require judgment. The Law of Gravity works for all creatures upon the Earth.
The attribute of being virtuous of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is an extension of His righteousness. As a result He does not keep His bounties to Himself, but bestows them upon all His creatures. This is indicative of the capacity to love from the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity. The Tri-Hypostatical Divinity has no preference and makes no distinctions.
The attribute of being the Truth is the culmination of all the previously outlined attributes. The Tri-Hypostatical Divinity must be the author of Truth. The Tri-Hypostatical Divinity always possesses Truth, or rather, He is Truth, and loves Truth, and speaks Truth to all creation. Theology declares that Truth is not a concept but a Hypostasis. We shall see later, when we look at the reality of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity what the significance to this actuality is.
We can now conclude that there can be only One True God, the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity. From this vantage point, we can conclude that some theological positions are in error. For instance, polytheism is wrong when assessed in light of research utilizing scientific methodologies as we shall see in the following paragraphs. This brings us to the position that the following faith groups are the only ones that are viable: Christianity, Orthodox, Islam, and Judaism. We must proceed to see if the one True God is the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity.
One of the areas of dispute among the proponents of the One True God is with reference to whether He has a name. The problem with this is that a name is usual when one addresses another. God has no equal who can address Him. The only way that this can be plausible is for God to manifest Himself in a form that allows equal access to mankind. Let us first consider the potential names presented by the various faith groups who understand the One True God, but do not necessarily subscribe to the position of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity.
To a theologian who is a proponent of Islam, God's name is "Allah." Unfortunately Allah is unknown outside of Islamic theological works.
Theologians who are proponents of Judaism accept a number of personal names. Adonai is the unique, personal name of God and the name most frequently used in The Torah. The original pronunciation was most likely "Yahveh", but since Jewish tradition permitted the name to be voiced only by the High Priest it became customary, after the destruction of the Second Temple, to substitute the word Adonai (meaning "my Lord").
The other popular name for God is Elohim. However, Elohim is the generic term for divinity most frequently found in the Bible. It is used as a plural noun for gods of other nations and as a singular noun when applied to Israel's God.
Some Christian theologians assert that Jehovah or Yahveh is God's name. Unfortunately, a Christian writer of the sixteenth century was unaware of the substitution made by the Masoretes in The Torah. They placed the vowels from the word "Adonai" and put them with Yahveh to remind the reader not to read "Yahveh" but "Adonai." As a result the word "Jehovah" erroneously entered many Christian Bible translations.
Many theologians support the position that the most reasonable name for God is Jesus. This has viability, especially when utilizing the concept of the Theanthropic Nature of Jesus of Nazareth. The name Jesus means "Saviour" which is attributed to the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity.
There are other names, which will be addressed further under Christology.
These faith groups should also be assessed through theological research. We need to assess the validity of our proposed conclusion.
Now, we will evaluate the supposition that the One True God is the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity. This indicates that God has One Essence, yet there are three Hypostases. The Hypostases have hypostatic attributes.
The principal reason for acceptance of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is the Law of Love. In order for the One True God to be the author of the Law of Love, He must be able to express this reality.
The concept of the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity indicates the fullness of the mystical inward life in the One True God, for He is Love. This theological supposition proves correct, thus leading us to the conclusion that the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is the One True God. Let us further evaluate these proofs.
The reason for the number three in the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is based upon the concept that: the element of conjoint action as two experiences, there must be a third who serves as object. There is no reason for more than three, yet there could not be less. On this ground of fact within a triad of Hypostases every demand which reciprocity might present is satisfied.
The Tri-Hypostatical Divinity is understood as: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The Symbol of Faith, also known as the Creed, clearly and concisely delineates the roles of each Hypostasis in the Tri-Hypostatical Divinity. The Symbol of Faith states:
1. I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
2. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only begotten, begotten of the Father before all worlds. Light of Light, very God of very God: begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father, through whom all things are made.
3. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became a man.
4. And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried.
5. And rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.
6. And ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father.
7. And shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, and whose Kingdom shall have no end.
8. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, and who spake through the prophets.
9. In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
10. I acknowledge one baptism, for the remission of sins.
11. I look for the Resurrection of the dead.
12. And life in the world to come. Amen.
The Symbol of Faith was enumerated at the first two Ecumenical Councils, which were convened in Nicaea (A.D. 325) and Constantinople (A.D. 381). The Symbol of Faith has been continuously ratified, by the entire Ecclesia and at subsequent Ecumenical Councils (i.e., there have been a total of seven Ecumenical Councils).
God the Father is understood to be Unbegotten.
Unlike the other Hypostases, there is not much study of God the Father that is as extensive in theological research. In the case of God the Son, theologians have developed Christology. This is due, in part, to our slavery to time and space. God the Father is less present in time and space to us than the other two Hypostases. Augustine of Hippo clearly explains the dichotomy for us:
"For how could countless ages pass by if you had not made them, since you are the source and creator of all ages? What times could those be which were not made by you? And how could ages pass if they did not exist? Therefore, since you are the creator of all times, if any time existed before you made heaven and earth, why is it said that you refrained from working? For you made that same time, and times could not pass by before you made them. But if before heaven and earth there was no time, why do they ask what you were then doing? For there was no 'then' when time was not."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Power Living Through Science by Brian Keen Copyright © 2010 by Dr. Brian Keen, CGE. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction....................1Chapter 1 - Supposition....................3
Chapter 2 - Bibliology....................14
Chapter 3 - Christology....................30
Chapter 4 - Angelology....................43
Chapter 5 - Anthropology....................50
Chapter 6 - Hamartiology....................59
Chapter 7 - Soteriology....................66
Chapter 8 - Ecclesiology....................87
Chapter 9 - Pneumatology....................106
Chapter 10 - Eschatology....................122
Chapter 11 - Conclusion....................133
Bibliography....................137