Reflections on Biblical and
Christian Philosophy

Glossary (Dictionary) of Biblical and Christian Philosophy

"A Concise Christian and Biblical Philosophy of Words"

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The length of definitions in this Glossary will differ, as some need more clarification than others.  After all, this site is about the Bible, theology, and philosophy.  Thus, definitions are basic to this area of study.  Every effort will be made for coherence in these definitions and elsewhere on this sit and  for unique insight, breadth of concept.  This Glossary will essentially be a capsule summary of this website (which I began in August 2008).  Therefore, this Glossary is under construction and many words will be incomplete and expanded as the site is developed.  The author welcomes comments as this construction develops.  Also, I will use my Glossary at www.biblicalworldview21.org which has been carefully and more fully developed.

This glossary is a work in progress.  As my thinking and reading progresses, definitions may be modified or added. You will note that some terms have not yet been defined.  I place them here so they will not be lost to memory until I can address them properly.

This glossary is not intended to be comprehensive of philosophical terms that have little or no correspondence to a Biblical theology.  One focus is to reflect the entire website in miniature.  It will center on those words and terms that are essential to a truly Christian and Biblical philosophy.  Thus, this Glossary could be considered "A Concise Christian and Biblical Philosophy in Words."

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A priori: Knowledge that precedes or is otherwise given prior to, or apart from, experience.  This knowledge may be innate or given supernaturally later, as in "your faith (notitia component) has made you well" (Matthew 9:22).  "Every non-Christian has an a priori.  And the a priori of every non-Christian is different, radically different, from that of the Christian."  (Van Til quoted in Bahnsen, Van Til's Apologetic, page 107).  It is regeneration that accounts for this "radically different" a priori—Ed.

Abstract idea, abstraction, abstract art: “The process of forming a general concept by omitting every distinguishing feature from our notions of some collection of particular things; thus, substantively, an abstraction is the concept or idea that results from this process.…. Thus, for example, the idea of "green" could in principle be derived by abstracting from one's specific experiences of a summer lawn, the leaves of trees, and emeralds.”  (philosophypages.com)  A synonym would be a universal. 

Abstraction is supposed to exist apart from the concrete, as Locke’s triangles.  And, the debate between abstraction and concrete continues.  However, it seems clear to me that an abstraction does not really exist.  While there are categories (chairs, for examples) and universals (green), they are only applied to actual objects. If I envision a chair in my mind, it is quite specific—I could draw it on paper or describe it to someone else.  I cannot picture “green” as just a color; it is always a green object (for example, a tree) or green splotch which is still a concrete picture in my mind.

Even ideas that seem “abstract” are not.  For example, “justice” seems abstract.  But one person cannot talk to another or write about the subject without reference to specifics of right and wrong.  For example, it is always wrong to steal from others.  Even if one thinks that there are exceptions to stealing, these are concrete, definable exceptions, not abstractions.  The number “two” does not exist apart from “two” objects.  Even as printed or painted, the number two is just a symbol that has no meaning apart from application to two objects.

Finally, there is abstract art.  But what does one do with abstract art?  Just listen to conversations in an art gallery.  As spectators look at the splay of paint on a canvas, they inevitably say, “That looks like ____.”  Or, “Down there in that corner, that looks like a ____.”  A thought of nothing that exists is not possible.

The idea of abstraction as it is usually used is really an idea of nothing.  Sometimes, it may even be a conscious or unwitting attempt to avoid being concrete!  For the mind to think, it must have content.  An “abstraction” of something that does not exist concretely simply does not exist.  Nay, it cannot exist either for idealists or materialists.  An abstraction is simply a universal that is common to two or more things or propositions.  A though is always intentional—thought about a particular object, term, or concept.

Acts 17:22-32: Paul's speech to the Athenians at the Aeropagus is possibly the most focused encounter between Biblical and pagan philosophy.  It can also serve as a model for apologetics.  For a more substantive review of Paul's speech by Greg Bahnsen, see here.

Agreed-upon Bible:  the 66 books of the Holy Scriptures that is "agreed-upon" by the orthodox Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Greek Orthodox.  While translations differ, and apart from modernistic and fanciful influences in them, they are based upon the same surviving documents.  That God has superintended these documents is demonstrated in the  almost 100 percent agreement of these old texts in theology and ethics.

Amsterdam philosophy: see Dooyeweerd and the Word of God.

Analogy: "Analogy ... must depend on some sort of similarity; but if so, that similarity can be designated by a single term, however broad in meaning; and unless this broad term has one meaning equally applicable to the two things in question, the similarity does not exist and there is no analogy at all."  Gordon Clark, Thales to Dewey, page 278. 

Anthropology: the study of the nature, origins, purpose, and destiny of man.  This area of study in a Biblical system rises to great prominence in that man is not just another evolved creature, but made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Further, he lost his close identity with God in his Fall into a sinful and inimical status to God.  But this Fall instituted God's great plan of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ to save many of those who would otherwise be condemned forever.  This anthropology includes The Creation Mandate and man's eternal destiny to heaven or hell.  In contrast to any non-Christian anthropology, one can readily see how creation, purpose, fall, redemption, and eternal destinies form a huge dimension in a Biblical philosophical system. For more, see here.

Antinomy: literally, against (anti-) law (nomos).  For Kant and others, antimony was the status of two contradictory propositions, both of which have equal proofs within their philosophical system.  (2) For others, this contradiction may be only apparent ... one that can be eventually solved or the solution of which rests in God's knowledge, but unknown to man.  Paradox is a rough synonym.

Apologetics: An organized defense of the Christian faith, based upon I Peter 3:15-16.  There are primarily three approaches.  (1) The evidentialist in classical apologetics takes a position on the evidence of Christianity, for example, the historicity of the Gospels, the unity of the Bible, and the findings of archeology.  These evidences will convince the unbeliever of the truth of Christianity and his need for salvation in Christ.  (2) The presuppositionalist takes the position that the unbeliever cannot be convinced by evidence, but must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit so that his presupposition becomes that of the Gospel and the truth of Scripture.  (3)  The evangelist or preacher simply preaches or tells others about the truths of Christianity.  He is usually an evidentialist, but he may never have adopted a serious position.   In all these approaches, Christianity must be defended as a whole.  This lack of defending the whole is where apologists often fail.  See a review of the book, Classical Apologetics which is an evidentialist approach. 

A comprehensive study of apologetics and Christian (Biblical) philosophy are virtually identical, as faith and reason have been at the center of philosophical arguments since they were begun.  See Apologetics.

"Apostles to the intellectuals": John Frame coined this phrase for those who address philosophical and other intellectual issues.  (Apologetics to the Glory of God, page 74)  This endeavor is extremely important to demonstrate the intellectual coherence and logical system of Biblical Christianity.  However, each Christian in this endeavor, especially the philosopher, must be careful that Biblical truth governs his work.  Else, he may be guilty of another phrase coined by Frame, "philosophical imperialism."

Argument: Neither a "hostile encounter, as the term is sometimes used in ordinary language... nor ... an acrid, purposeless discussion of abstract or theoretical issues—the concept that some people associate with the word.... rather ... in the logical sense... a group of premises which the arguer claims, imply a conclusion.... roughly synonymous with reasoning....  Every sermon, every Bible study, every witness to Christ seeks to warrant a conclusion (faith, repentance, obedience) and thus has an argumentative aspect. (John Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God, page 16)

A se, aseity of God: A se means “from himself.”  Aseity, then, means that God is complete within Himself.  And, since “In the beginning, God …,” only God can be a se.  That is, only God is without derivation, without source, and without beginning.  Everything else “is” at the direct creation of God or secondarily through agents that he has created.  God is the original and only true substance— Greek ousia.  In His essence, God does not “need” anything—He is complete within Himself.  He did not need to create or to “save” men.  He is and always has been complete within Himself.  Further, God’s attributes are not a comparison or analogy with something else, but synonymous with His being.  He is His attributes: holy, righteousness, justice, love, faithfulness, truth, etc.  God has no “intention”—His thought and His will are one in decree.  Self-contained, self-existent, self-sufficient, and true independence are synonyms for a se.

Attributes of God, Priority of the: The most common attribute of God in evangelical groups and churches today is that "God is love."  But, God must first be understood as truth or His love cannot be believed.  Second, God's righteousness must be posited, else His love cannot be understood.  For example, Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments."  One of His commandments is that of capital punishment by the state (Genesis 9:6).  Also, John 3:16 cannot be understood without knowing that God is both righteous and just.  Jesus Christ as a perfectly righteous sacrifice, satisfied God's requirement of justice, which He gives to sinners that they might have "eternal life."  John 3:16 is not the simple "love of God" that is so facilely presented from pulpits and public arenas today.  All God's attributes must be equally considered to have a knowledge of His Person.  See the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 2, Sections 1-3.

Author of sin, evil (God as the): God in His omnipotence "who works all things after the counsel of His will," is the cause of everything that happens in His universe, including all the thoughts and actions of His creatures.  He is the potter an they are the clay (Romans 11).  God cannot be both omnipotent and "permit" anything, including the Fall of Satan and the Fall of man.  He predestined the death of His own Son (Acts 2:23).  He cannot be both omnipotent and "passive" to any thought or event in His creation.  See compatibilism.  For more explanation, see here. 

Autonomy, epistemological: "The suggestion that disagreements between believers and unbelievers can(not) be settled by an appeal to 'religiously neutral' principles of reason."  (James Anderson here.)  This idea is similar to that of Abraham Kuyper who posited that knowledge of anything is never isolated from its relationship to a whole system.  Thus, while the regenerate and unregenerate may use the same language, their propositions correspond to antithetical systems.  This antithesis among the respective communities of Christian and pagans is Augustine's city of God and city of man.

Axiom: "A proposition formally accepted without demonstration, proof, or evidence as one of the starting-points for the systematic derivation of an organized body of knowledge." From philosophypages.org  All metaphysics, epistemology, religion, worldview, and philosophy begins with one or more axioms--which is also a position of faith.  See synonyms at first principle.

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Baconian fallacy: "The idea that a historian (or philosopher—Ed) can operate without the aid of preconceived questions, hypotheses, ideas, assumptions, theories, paradigms, postulates, prejudices, presumptions, or general presuppositions of any kinds.  He is supposed to go a-wandering through the dark forest of the past (or various philosophies) gathering facts like nuts and berries, until he has enough to make a general truth.  Then he is to store up his general truths until he has the whole truth.  This idea is double deficient, for it commits a historian (or philosopher) to the pursuit of an impossible object by an impracticable method."  (David Hackett Fischer, Historians' Fallacies..., 1970, page 4, quoted in D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, page 104)

Basic belief: Sometimes called "properly basic belief."  A proposition that needs no prior belief—it is justified within itself; it needs no "proof," as in fact proof is impossible because proof belongs to a system based upon these basic beliefs. No two systems with basic beliefs can ever necessarily cohere.  Synonym of presupposition, first principle, axiom, fundamental principle, premise, assumption, and many other terms.

"While a Christian can prove that his Christian position is fully as reasonable as the opponent's view, there is no such thing as an absolutely compelling proof' that God exists, or that the Bible is the word of God, just as little as anyone can prove its opposite."  (Greg Bahsen, Van Tils' Apologetic, page 79.  From the text, it is not clear whether Bahnsen is quoting Van Til, George Mavrodes, or himself.)

Begging the question: petitio principii; synonym of circularity.

Belief:  synonym of faith.  To state a difference between belief and faith is a failure to understand the English language which has no verb form for "faith."  In the Greek, the stem pist- is the same for both noun and verb.  There is no other stem to correspond to a difference between "faith" and "belief."

Being: See essence, true (truth)

Big Bang:  Perhaps the most irrational of non-theistic beliefs.  In mans' experience, especially since the invention of gun powder, the bigger the bang ... the bigger the destruction and chaos.  And they want us to believe that the grand order of the universe from gigantic galaxies to sub-atomic structures acquired their complex systems from an explosion?  This conclusion is beyond rational, it is silly, childish, and should be ridiculed, rather than considered as possible truth.  See chance.

Bible: See Scripture.

Biblical presuppositionalism: See dogmatism.

Biblicism: See dogmatism...

Body:  See dualism.

Brain: the physical organ through which the mind works in the physical world.  See mind.  Thinking takes place in the mind (a spiritual entity), not an "epiphenomenon" of the brain.

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Calvinism: The basic teachings of John Calvin in breadth of particulars, not just casual association.  Reformed and Presbyterian theology are close synonyms.  The tenets of Calvin were the central doctrines of the Protestant Reformation, but overt and covert Arminianism has greatly diluted the understanding of these central doctrines.  Often, the Five Points of Calvinism or the Five Solas of the Reformation are used as shorthand to represent Calvinism, but these misrepresent the breadth and depth of Calvin's teaching, as well as that of the Reformation.  The best summary of Calvinism would be the Westminster Confession with its Larger and Shorter Catechisms, although it and Calvin would differ on some matters.

Category: see Classification.

Cause and effect: One of the most interesting and complex concepts in philosophy.  Cause and effect in everyday life seems straightforward: the world rotates and the sun comes up, one flips the electric switch and the light comes on, and "what goes up, must come down."  Each day would be chaos, if these events and hundreds of others were not predictable.  However, these events are far more complicated than they appear.  Virtually the entire solar system, even the universe must be in almost perfect balance for the "sun to rise" each morning—an almost endless series of causes and effects in themselves.  Then, consider the complex structures necessary for the light bulb to receive electricity and "burn"—the generator, power lines, and the light bulb: their manufacture and continual operation.  Then, electricity becomes even more complex at a cellular, atomic, and subatomic level.  Any of these links in the chain can prevent the particular "cause and effect."  Indeed, one finally has to see an "invisible hand" that keeps all these forces in balance—the hand of God.  "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:25).  "All things are upheld by the word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3).

Four particular problems are present in "cause and effect."  (1) Mind and body.  How mind (immaterial) affects body (material) is an ongoing mystery in philosophy.  However, as we have seen, God's power and plan and sustain all that is, making the relationship between mind and body simply another relationship in this plan.  Indeed, in God's universe the spiritual world is foundational to physical world, "the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 12:1-2).  (2) Miracles.  Miracles interrupt cause and effect.  The conception of Jesus Christ was a miracle that superceded the normal union of egg and sperm.  Miracles within God's universe are simply His choosing to override His own "cause and effect" for His own glory.  They are "supernatural" from our vantage point, but not from His.  (3)  The black swan.  All swans are white... until one encounters a black swan.  Black swans are interruptions of usual cause and effect.  There are 50,000 airline flights a day around the world—rarely do they crash—but they do.  In humans, most conceptions are a smooth transfer of maternal and paternal genes—but there are genetic defects that do occur.  (4) Chaos and quantum theory.  These concepts have virtually destroyed an historical understanding of cause and effect.  These events are seemingly random and unpredictable, yet an orderliness and predictability exists in the universe!

Cause and effect is severely problematic in humans.  Some adults follow evil behaviors in spite of "normal" upbringing.  A man divorces his wife after 25 years of marriage.  A penicillin injection cures most patients when used properly, but an allergic reaction may maim or kill.  There are virtually no drugs or procedures that are one-hundred percent effective.  In an impersonal universe, cause and effect can only be seen as "fate" or random events.  In a Personal universe of the Biblical God, nothing is random but worked together for His will (Ephesians 1:11).

Certainty: The greatest certainty in life is the impending death of every person.  Philosophers can speculate at length about epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics, but death is the great issue of life.  Whether one speculates about creation or evolution, reason vs. faith, realism vs. idealism, materialism vs. spiritualism, or any other of the ongoing debates within philosophy, death is always reality—up close and very personal.  Not only is death the specter towards the end of one's life, but disease and death in babies, children, and young adults remind each person that even the remainder of a current day has no guarantee.  If death is recognized for what it is, then the sober-minded person will seriously consider the various possibilities of the meaning of life and what happens after death.  "It is appointed unto to man once to die, and after that the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).  See Certainty by John Frame.

Certitude: the subjective condition of being certain, as opposed to certainty which concerns coherence of argument for a belief.

Chance: Total randomness in the absence of anything material.  The evolutionists have been granted too much with their concept of chance.  In common language, chance has prescribed boundaries, as in games of chance: cards in a deck are limited to 52, a roulette wheel has 39 slots, dice have 6 sides, etc.   Or, the chance that it might rain tomorrow is limited to weather patterns.  The chance of a stock market crash has a limited number of factors. However, chance "in the beginning," there would be nothingness.  But "in the beginning," there would be no organization of any atom or molecule and no possibility that there would ever be any structure of any kind.  "Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could."  The importance of Biblical creation as ex nihilo destroys evolution before the idea can ever even be conceived!  Probability (as in "statistically significant") has no place in a chance universe.  Chance and probability are incoherent, yet probability is the basis of much of modern science, especially in medicine.  Thus, evolution by chance is antithetical to the very basis of modern science—that past data can lead to accurate predictions.  That most modern scientists have a dogmatic belief in evolution contradicts their own science!  Thus, the supposedly "most rational" endeavors of modern scholarship, that of the natural sciences, believes that their system has its origin in irrationality.

Chomsky, Noam: a modern linguist whose theory and research stand solidly for an a priori or innate structure of language that would be most coherently explained by man's being created in the image of God, Christ as logos, and other principles of Biblical anthropology.  Chomsky is a convinced naturalist and political activist, so his generative grammar should in no way be considered an endorsement of any of his opinions outside of his expertise in language.  Nevertheless, a Biblical theism must acknowledge the science that best conforms to its principles.  ( For an excellent discussion of language and its relevance to Biblical theism, see Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority, Vol. III, 325-346)

Christian: See discussion here.

Christianity: (1) A broad classification that includes beliefs from the humanism of Universalism, the false testimony of Joseph Smith (Mormon), the re-sacrifice of the mass in Roman Catholicism, the Biblical Christianity of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and everything in between.  All except the last one represent some degree of error or heresy.

(2) Belief in the infallibility and total sufficiency of the 66 books of the Protestant Bible.  As a system, it is best represented in the Westminster Confession of Faith and its catechisms.  The central message of this system is The Creation Mandate and The Great Commission.

Circularity, circular reasoning, circular argument: A process that is inescapable when a person argues from basic beliefs with another person who has different basic beliefs.  Both a Biblical system and a naturalistic system are antithetical to each other.  Arguments that are acceptable within one system can only be seen as circular.  See basic beliefs for more discussion.  Thus, all arguments are circular and dependent upon the worldview that the individual or group accepts.

Civilization: "the sum total of a society's spiritual, intellectual, ethical, and institutional values, which in varying degrees will permit those living in it to develop as completely and harmoniously as possible."  See What Is Civilization?  Civilization is a concept which must be re-thought within a Biblical worldview.  Great architecture, substantive writing, structured government, and other entities (the commonly accepted criteria of "civilization") along with the presence of human sacrifice and child abandonment (as was present in "the grandeur that was Greece and the glory that was Rome") does not qualify as being "civilized."  A civilization must have some consistent application of Biblical Justice. 

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Clark, Gordon H.  See dogmatism and Gordon H. Clark.  I believe that Dr. Clark will someday be recognized as the greatest Christian philosopher—ever!  (Unless God raises up someone after his time.)

Clark-Van Til controversy: One of the great tragedies of Christian history.  Gordon Clark was ordained in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of which Cornelius Van Til was a teaching elder.  Van Til with twelve others made a complaint against Clark's ordination on disagreements over the "incomprehensibility" of God primarily and secondarily over some other issues.  John Frame states that neither Clark nor Van Til was "at his best," personally nor in explanation.  Frame further states that "truth was the great loser in this battle."  Working together, Clark and Van Til could have been far more powerful than working alone.  Their failure at reconciliation both personally, theologically, and philosophically says too much about personal pride and the limitations of rational thinking.  Most certainly, if the pride had been overcome, the rational issues could have been resolved.  (John Frame, Cornelius Van Til, 97-114; Herman Hoeksema, The Clark-Van Til Controversy)

Classical foundationalism: see foundationalism.

Classical theism: See theism, classical

Classification: “On one major base some sort of theory of Ideas stands impregnable.  Unless we can use concepts and talk of groups of things, philosophy (nay any communication at all—Ed) would not be possible.  If only individual things existed, and every noun were a proper name, conversation and even thinking itself could not be carried on.  Neither the medieval nominalists nor Bishop Berkeley, who tried to get along without abstract ideas, were able to explain the reason why we classify men as men and horses as horses.  Classification requires ideas, and zoology requires classification.  So does mathematics.  Cubes vary infinitely in size, but they all have the same identical shape.  Not only are the ellipses and parabolas, but there is also an invisible, eternal, unchangeable general conic.  Theology, too, uses the classes Jew and Gentile, saint, and sinner, not to mention God and man.  All thought and speech depend on classification, and no epistemology can succeed without something like the Platonic Ideas.”  (Gordon Clark, Philosophy of Gordon Clark, page 28.)  Synonym: category, universal.

Coherence: the internal consistency of a system of thought (mind), as determined by all the processes of reason (definition, logic, grammar, etc).  Interestingly, only a system that is based upon a Biblical epistemology meets this criteria.  Unfortunately, few Christians ever understand this Biblical system in a complete form that will demonstrate its coherence.

Common sense, common sense philosophy, common sense realism, Reidian philosophy: "Some knowledge is 'self-evident'—that is, forced upon us simply by the way human nature is constituted.  As a result, no one really doubts or denies it.  It is part of immediately, undeniable experience.  For example, no one really doubts that he or she exists (not in practice, at least)..  No one doubts the material world is real (we all look both ways before crossing the street).  No we doubt our inner experiences like memories or pain.... if anyone does deny these basic facts, we call him insane or a philosopher." (Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth, 297)  See Scottish Realism.  (Ed: The problem is that there is no composite standard by which to determine which common sense beliefs are valid and which are not.  No two people, much less the entire human race, agree on what the common sense principles are.  One wonders how this approach ever had the influence that it did.)

"Good sense is of all things in the world the most equally distributed, for everybody thinks himself so abundantly provided with it, that even those most difficult to please in all other matters do not commonly desire more of it than they already possess."  (René  Descartes, A Discourse in Method, quoted in Irving Copi, Introduction to Logic, page 17.  (Ed: Does more need to be said about the invalidity of common sense or its philosophy?  Common sense philosophy is an extreme fallacy.)

One thing needs to be said in defense of this approach—it works quite well.  We carry on conversations, even as you are reading this definition, and communicate quite well.  Without it, daily discourse would fail.  But the process itself fails to establish truth, just as any other form of pragmatism does.  Pragmatism does not work for the same reason—there is no common agreement on what "works" means in the sense of right and wrong (ethics).

Compatibilism:  The belief that free will (in its common and philosophical use) and God's Sovereignty are "compatible."  This position is Biblical and logical nonsense.  If God is omnipotent, then no "effect" can occur without His "cause," else He has given up some of His "all" power to someone or something else, making Him no longer have it "all."  Fore-seeing is not "compatible" with "fore-directing."  Biblically, God works all things according to His own will (Ephesians 1:11), and as the Potter demonstrates His wrath on those whom He decides should receive it for His glory (Romans 9).  See author of sin, evil (God as) and free will.

Comprehensibility of God: Too many systematic theologies, other books, and teaching start with the in-comprehensibility of God.  However, with several hundred names of Himself in Scripture, His plan of salvation, and His eternal plan revealed in His Word, surely "we have (a great deal of) the mind of Christ" (II Corinthians 2:16).  And just as surely, we do not want to minimize how "high his thoughts are above our thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).  But from a Christian perspective, the comprehensibility of God should be our focus, more than His incomprehensibility.  "But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:31).  Many errant philosophies and theologies could and should be corrected with what is comprehensible about God and His Word to mankind.  For a great discussion of this issue, see here.

Concept: simply a statement, proposition, or definition.  A concept is not an abstraction.

Conscience: Conscience is simply, the act of thinking (judging) about moral norms.  It does not differ from other acts of rational thought except in its subject matter.  (See Gordon Clark, The Biblical Doctrine of Man, page 55.)

Continuous creation: a theory of Augustine that God creates ex nihilo every moment of experience, there being no link between each creation except for the flow of history and experience.

Correspondence theory of truth: The proximity of a thought to reality (truth), or "what is."  Truth is God's revelation in Scripture with its application to every area of knowledge, so truth can be tested by its "correspondence" to Scripture.  In secular philosophy, correspondence has traditionally been one test of truth, but since there is no agreed-upon reality, there is nothing to which any thing or moral truth can "correspond."

Creation Mandate: The sum of God's decrees given to mankind before his Fall.  These are (1) "the procreation of offspring, (2) the replenishing of the earth, (3) subduing the same, (4) dominion of the creatures, (5) labor, (6) the weekly Sabbath, and (7) marriage."  (John Murray, Principles of Conduct, page 27).  The Creation Mandates should be linked to The Great Commission, which includes "make disciples of all the nations" and "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you... all authority in heaven and earth" (Matthew 28:19-20).  They can also be linked to The Lord's Prayer in "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). In essence, The Creation Mandate, The Great Commission, The Kingdom of God, Biblical Worldview, Biblical ethics, and The Two Great Commandments are one and the same. 

Creation, Biblical: (1) the act, or (2) the product of the act.  Christian orthodoxy declares that God created all things ex nihilo: spiritual (angels, demons, worshipping creatures in Heaven), physical (the universe and plants), and spiritual-physical beings (humans and animals) in six days.  Genesis 1:1 establishes Biblical metaphysics, ontology, cosmology, and any other term relatively synonymous with this concept.  This creation is sustained by Him (immanentism), but He remains distinct from it (transcendent) in contrast to Deism.  God established the Creation Mandate for men and women to achieve as both families and in social structures.  The Fall of man and the Flood greatly affected the course of this creation.  God created it "very good," but these two events made it abnormal and "groan" for regeneration (Matthew 19:28; Romans 8:22).  Man only is created in the image of God which is primarily his ability to think, reason, and communicate.  This creation was by the Trinity of Persons.  After the Fall, God enacts a plan of salvation (soteriology) for man that will culminate in heaven for those whom He calls and hell whom He does not choose.  Natural laws are concluded from the observations of the orderly universe.  The inductive (empirical, experimental) method in Natural Revelation, under the clarity and deduction of Special Revelation, is the method by which the Creation Mandate is to be effected.   The hypostasis of creation is spirit, as God is spirit first in time and ontological priority.

Creation science, creationism, scientific creationism: A modern understanding of science that is developed and taught by Christians and considered to be compatible with the Biblical account of Creation and The Flood.  As empirical science, it is interesting and helpful to Christians, but it is not truth—it is only "probably" true.  As theories of science change, creation science is subject to change, as well.  Indeed, not all creation scientists agree among themselves. For more on this subject, click here.

Credulity: A willingness to believe with little evidence.  Biblical Christianity is not credulous with its historicity, world-changing effects, its correspondence to reality, its non-conflicting ethics, etc.  Modern Biblical apologetics has assembled an enormous body of evidences of Biblical faith.  The problem to unbelievers is not the evidence, but their being unregenerate.  Belief in Scripture and thus God's plan of salvation is to embrace a rational system with rational evidences, not a "leap of faith."

Cultural Mandate:  See Creation Mandate.

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Darwin, Charles (1809-1882): See skepticism.  Charles Darwin was a skeptic to his own belief in evolution!

Death: the Biblical definition of death is separation from a former state of existence.  There are four types of death.  1) Separation from self, other people, and God because of the sin of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:17, 3:7, 9-11, 23) and one's own sins.  2) Separation from this sinful way of life (the "flesh" or "old man") upon regeneration, profession of faith, and repentance. 3) Physical death, when our soul/spirit is separated from the physical body.  4) The Second Death, the most terrible punishment of being separated from God and the fellowship of any other living person forever (Revelation 20:14, 21:8).  Man's greatest fear is the fear of death (I Corinthians 15:26; Hebrews 2:15).  "The last enemy that will be destroyed is death" (I Corinthians 15:26).  Thus, in heaven there will be no separation from our true selves, others, and God Himself.

Greatest issue: For philosophy, death is the greatest certainty in epistemology and the reason to investigate religious and philosophical claims with some urgency and comprehensiveness.  Philosophers who are not Biblically based are anti-God and pro-death: "All those who hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:36). See certainty. 

Eternal destinies:  While "religions" are endlessly complex, eternal destinies are not.  There are only three possibilities: Heaven and Hell, nothing (naturalist worldview), and some form of reincarnation without conscious identity.

Deduction The method in formal logic of reasoning by syllogism.  If the premises are true, and the method valid, then the conclusions are necessarily true.  Valid deduction may be applied to Scripture to derive conclusions that are as true as the statements of Scripture itself, e.g., the Trinity.  See Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 1, Section 6.

Determinism: See Predestination.

Dialectic: (1)Reasoning by means of dialogue, discussion, debate, or argument with others.  One's ideas are frequently modified by this process through the ideas of others that may agree, disagree, or be completely opposite to one's own ideas.  The process of thesis-antithesis-synthesis is more ideal, than actual.  While a dialectical process is one method of learning, absolutes cannot exist in that process.  Also, a position may be decided by a process of dialectic, but not subject to further revision.  Thus, the dialectical process does not necessarily continue with every subject.  (2) In the Middle Ages, dialectic was the term for logic.

Dialectical materialism: Hegel developed the thesis-antithesis-synthesis of his Absolute Giest as pure idealism, that is, mind-spirit is the only true reality, and the material is simply a manifestation of the function of the mind.  Marx opposed Hegel, his immediate predecessor, in that all that exists is a manifestation of the physical-material world of inanimate and animate objects.  Marx kept Hegel's dialectic, but for Marx the dialectic then became material (physical), thus "dialectic materialism."  The mind is an epi-phenomenon of the material-physical brain.  See dialectic.

Ding an sich: German for "thing in itself."  This term originated with Kant for whom the ding an sich could not be known.  On this one concept, he was correct.  All that a Christian can say about an object is that God created it.  We can know its characteristics: for example, an atom has electrons, protons, neutrons, and other sub-atomic particles.  We can know much about their behaviors, but we can only say that they function this way because God made them that way.  There is no natural phenomenom "in itself" to explain those functions and behaviors.  This understanding is not a "God of the gaps," but a God of the whole "in whom we (and all that exists) live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).  See unknowable.

Dogmatism and Gordon H. Clark "That method of procedure that tries to systematize beliefs concerning God, science, immortality, etc. on the basis of information divinely revealed in the sacred writings."  (Clark, Christian Philosophy, page 19).  Clark also accepted the synonyms of "Biblical presuppositionalism," "Christian rationalism," "Scripturalism," and "axiom" of Scripture.  (Gary Crampton, The Scripturalism of Gordon Clark, 27)  John Frame has written "In Defense of Something Close to Biblicism" here.)

Dualism: (1) Biblical-metaphysical dualism.  The metaphysical position that the universe consists of two realities: that which is physical and that which is spiritual.  God, angels, and demons are pure spirit.  All non-living things in the universe are purely physical.  Animals have one kind of spirit (soul)—Ecclesiastes 3:21.  Man has another that is created in the image of God—Genesis 1:26.  This image represents primarily, if not entirely, man's mind: the ability to think, reason, and remember.  God, as Spirit, existed before anything physical which He created ex nihilo—Genesis 1:1.  Everything physical is maintained by by that same Spirit—Hebrews 1:3.  Thus, the ultimate reality is spiritual or Spirit, not physical.

Man is the unique creature in the universe, having both physical (body, material) and spiritual (soul, mind, heart) components.  Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man.  Thus, the dualism of man, as described here, is orthodox (Biblical), Christian doctrine.  Those Christians who posit that man is only a physical being with mind being some sort of epiphenomenon are in serious error, if not heresy.  Neither neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, nor any other finding of natural science (empiricism) has any epistemological justification to supplant Scripture in its anthropology, especially soteriology, or any other clearly defined Biblical theology.

Within this structure, thought (ideas, concepts, hypotheses, etc.) exist independently of any material or physical influence.  This domain is more "real" than the physical world.  On this basis epiphenomenalism is decidedly erroneous, if not heresy.

(2) Greek dualism.  "(One) of the views that were current in Greek philosophy.  In the form of Gnosticism, it found entrance into the early Church.  It assumes the existence of an eternal principle of evil, and holds that in man the spirit represents the principle of good, and the body, that of evil.  It is objectionable for several reasons: (a) The position is philosophically untenable, that there is something outside of God that is eternal and independent of His will.  (b) This theory robs sin of its ethical character by making it something purely physical and independent of the human will, and thereby really destroys the idea of sin.  (c) It also does away with the responsibility of man by representing sin as a physical necessity.  The only escape from sin lies in deliverance from the body."  (Berkhof, Systematic Theology, pages 227-228)

(3) Scholastic dualism or "All truth is God's truth" and "integration." The view of the Scholastics in general and Thomas Aquinas in particular about natural and special revelation.  "He (they) recognized, besides the structure reared by faith on the basis of supernatural revelation, a system of scientific theology on the foundation of natural revelation.  In the former one assents to something because it is revealed, in the latter because it is perceived in the light of natural reason.  The logical demonstration, which is out of the question in the one, is the natural method of proof in the other."  (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, pages 37-38)  This position has also been called "the two-fold" theory of truth or "upper story" and "lower story" truth.  There was no way to resolve conflicts over "truth" in each category.   A modern version of this dualism is that "all truth is God's truth," when the speaker equates natural or empirical "truth" with Biblical truth.  This modern edition also goes under the name, "integration."  This dualism is especially prevalent among Christians in psychology and other "social" sciences.

(4) Cartesian dualism.  At a superficial level, it is the same as Biblical dualism.   However, Descartes did not work from a Biblical foundation, so body and soul do not mean the same to him as in a Biblical understanding.  Nevertheless, the mind is spiritual (immaterial) and the body is material.

(5) Sacred/secular dualism: a division exists between the world that is governed by men and their ideas and that which is governed by God and His Church.  This dualism is prominent in the Roman Catholic Church beginning with the Scholastics and continuing to modern times.  The Reformation, and especially the Puritans, saw that every sphere of life, whether church or social, was a calling of the Christian.  The Creation Mandate and The Great Commission calls every Christian to think and act Biblically and claim dominion for the Kingdom of God, advancing in history.

(6) Epistemological dualism: the view that the "objects out there" are in some ways or entirely different than what the mind constructs of their representations to it.  Kant stated that the mind could not know the "thing-in-itself," but only the a priori representations of the object to the mind.

Duhem-Quine thesis: "The thesis that a single scientific hypothesis cannot be tested in isolation, since other, auxiliary hypotheses will always be needed to draw empirical consequences from it."  (Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, "Duhem thesis")  This view would be consistent with the unity of a universe created by one Mind—the God of Scripture.

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Education: the life-long pursuit of wisdom and knowledge, necessarily dependent upon one's Christian or non-Christian beliefs.  That most Christian parents turn their children over to an anti-Christian, public school system is startling evidence of their not understanding what education is.  Education is inescapably, unavoidably, necessarily dependent upon one's "religious" beliefs.  See Summary Principles of Education

Emotion: "Negatively, the momentary (acute) and ongoing (chronic, continuous) disturbance within the mind (soul, spirit) caused by the discrepancy between perceived reality and one's desires."  (From A Definition of Emotions.)  Positively, emotions result from the fulfillment of one's desires.  Acute emotions fluctuate considerably in intensity and may cause sudden, not-thought-out reactions which are often harmful to self and others.  Chronic emotions are more stable and given to attitudes and actions that are more thought-out and purposeful.  Values, ethics, and worship are derived from these more solidly based desires.

Empiricism: the process by which observations are made and conclusions are reasoned from those observations without any kind of a priori knowledge or categories.  For example, the sun rises every day; therefore, the sun will rise tomorrow and every day thereafter.  Synonym for induction and is virtually equivalent to the scientific method.  Empiricism is a logical fallacy by its very process, because it cannot examine every condition in the universe.  In our example of the sun rising, both the Bible and science agree that the sun will not rise forever (although each gives different "causes").

Enlightenment Project: Usually, just called the "Enlightenment."  However, a major theme of Alister McGrath is the "failure of the Enlightenment project" which was the attempt to divorce knowledge and derived ethics from God and His Revelation—the attempt to explain the universe and man strictly by his own reason.  That project has failed, creating possibilities for appeals to and reasoning grounded in the transcendent.  (Alister McGrath, The Open Secret, 12)

Epiphenomenonalism: A theory of monistic materialism that thought and reason is a product of the physiology of the brain, but that they are not material in themselves.  Usually, if not exclusively, espoused by Christians and non-Christians who do not believe in an "immaterial" soul.  This belief is inconsistent with Biblical orthodoxy which clearly and necessarily defines and describes the mind that is a part of the soul (spirit).

Epistemology: traditionally, how does one know what he knows?  Epistemology looks for grounds on which to have knowledge that is certain or true.  Also, traditionally, justified true belief (JTB) has been equated with knowledge since Plato and some of his predecessors.  However, JTB has caused hopeless confusion as it is too complex to be based upon any concrete concept.  I prefer to consider knowledge as the matter with which the mind occupies itself.  Then, the question becomes where does knowledge come from: (1) innate, (2) acquired by experience (observation, reading, education, etc.), and implanted (mystical).  Certainty, truth, and belief become separate issues.  I have discussed justified true belief briefly below and more fully here.

Epistemology, Biblical.  Synonym of Epistemology, Revelational.

Epistemology, Reformed.   See Reformed epistemology.

Epistemology, Revelational:  See Revelational epistemology.

Essence: a thing as it really is; being.  Only God knows this reality.  Man can only describe characteristics, function, and associations.  See existence, real (reality), and true (truth).

Eternal destinies: see death.

Ethics: "Ethics deals with the voluntary conduct of individual man insofar as it is judged to be good or bad in reference to a single, inclusive, and determinative principle of moral value grounded in and validated by ultimate reality (metaphysics)."  Stob, Ethical Reflections, page 24.  For my (Ed's) work in ethics, see my website on Medical Ethics and Worldview.

Evangelical: A Christian who believes in the infallibility (inerrancy) and sufficiency of Scripture as the ultimate authority for all matters of theology and ethics.  The statement of the Evangelical Theological Society for membership is that "the Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written and is therefore inerrant in the autographs. God is a Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each an uncreated person, one in essence, equal in power and glory."  What is lacking in this statement is that through the best translations, Christians today have the very Word of God written, in spite of not having the original autographs.

Evidentialism: The belief by a Christian (1) that the evidence for Christianity (historical records, prophecy, empty tomb, etc.) can convince a non-Christian to covert; “the claim that religious belief is rationally acceptable only if there are good arguments for it” (Alvin Plantinga, Warranted Christian Belief, page 82);; (2) that presuppositions are not necessary; (3) that there are "brute facts," that is, facts that are indisputable to any rational person and require no presuppositions; and (4) that ontological, cosmological, transcendental, and other arguments for God are valid.

Evil: Evil must be defined from both the perspective of God and man.  And, it cannot be defined without defining what is "good."  On that basis, there are four definitions.  (1) God, as wholly good and omnipotent, is "working all things to the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11).  Therefore, from that perspective the universe and all that happens within it are "good," as He is omnipotent.  There is no evil.  This world is the "best of all possible worlds" because it is the only world.  Another name for this good is God's decretive or secret will or His Providence.  "

Romans 9 is clear.  It gives a reason why evil exists.  God says that He wanted to demonstrate His nature. He wanted to demonstrate His wrath and His power, and so he endured with long-suffering vessels of wrath that He designed for that purpose.... The same is true of this other side of His nature.  Wishing to exhibit His mercy and grace, God designed the vessels of mercy for that purpose."  (Jay Adams, "Jay E. Adams's Reply to John Frame," in John Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God, page 246.  For a greater length of explanation, see Adams' book, The Grand Demonstration)

Ed: "The problem of evil," then, is not a problem about God's goodness or omnipotence, it is His central purpose in the creation of the universe and of man!

(2) Any other definition of evil can only be defined by an individual (which from a Biblical perspective has no legitimacy).  No two individuals are ever going to agree fully on the specifics of what is "good" and what is "evil."  All goods and evils, then, are arbitrary, except as two or more people are able to agree on an arbitrary standard, for example, a well-defined religion or life philosophy.  Another example is that the short term evil of an economic disaster may settle the economy on a more solid base for future prosperity.  A tsunami may destroy thousands of lives, much property, and the beauty of nature, but there will be many stories of "good" told of individual lives that were changed for the better, property re-built as bigger and better, and nature has a way of restoring her beauty over time.  See Nature Discloses God's Good in National Magazine.

(3)  Another definition of evil is a subset of (2), yet distinct because it comes from man's only infallible and sufficient source of truth.  Christians choose subjectively the Bible as the One Source of definition of "good."  Sexual relationships within marriage are good.  Sexual promiscuity is evil.  Christians are to "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).  And, there are hundreds of other "goods" in the Bible.  These goods may be called God's declarative (moral, prescribed, defined, revealed) will.  Even here, all Christians will not agree on the specifics of what is good (i.e., God's will), but at least they will be arguing from the same objective source.  So, evil would be any action by individuals or groups that violate God's prescriptive will.  This same definition would be that of sin, as well.

(4) "All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).  God promises the Christian that he will never experience evil.  Everything that happens to him will work towards his good.  This promise includes persecution and martyrdom, sexual infidelity, church schisms, natural disasters, etc., etc.  This promise does not extend to the unbeliever whose only "good" is that which God's common grace extends to him (Hebrews 6:7-8) while he lives on planet earth.

Much, if not most, of the evil in the world must be attributed to false religions.  The masses of Asia, Africa, South America, and elsewhere experience poverty, illiteracy, and cruel dictatorships because of what they believe.  Surely, God cannot be blamed for these great evils where His truth and His Son are rejected.  Where Christianity has gone, these evils (for the most part) have been erased.

Further reading on evil and theodicy: (1) Gordon H. Clark, God and Evil: The Problem Solved, available at www.trinityfoundation.org.  (2) A Biblical Theodicy, paper by Gary Cramptom, and (3) The Problem of Evil by Greg Bahnsen.

Evil as a problem for civil government: It seems that the problem of evil as a social problem is almost never discussed by philosophers and few theologians.  Yet, it is a real problem—an immediate problem.  Evil cannot allowed its freedom for a civil society to exist. 

Exist, existent: (1) to be present in the created universe (both seen and unseen); the being or reality of an object, that is, as a thing really is, known only to God.  Man can know characteristics of an object that God has created, but not its essence or its substance ... he same as Kant's ding-an-sich ("a thing in itself").  (2) Existence has a relationship to the mind in which it is known.  The universe exists in the reality of God's mind, as He created it.  A world and its characters in a novel "exist" in the mind of its author and those who read it.  A dream "exists" in the mind of the one who envisions it.  Exist is synonym of real, reality.

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Fact or Facts: (1) a synonym for truth, "what is" or reality itself.  For a fact to be true, it must be placed within the Biblical framework that defines its existence.  A "fact" does not exist apart from a philosophical or religious system.   (See Sir Fred Hoyle's quote under scientific method below.)  (2)  Knowledge of a situation, object, or person that is sufficiently and commonly known among enough people to be acted upon with considerable reliance and a relatively predictable outcome, but it is not necessarily true.  For example, that the sun will rise tomorrow is a fact.  It is not true because sometime in the future, the sun will not rise because virtually all philosophies and worldviews, posit that time and the universe will not continue, as we know it, forever—whether one's belief system is Bible-based or naturalistic.  (3)  There are difference kinds of facts that are evidenced in different ways.  "We might ask , 'Is there a box of crackers in the pantry?' And we know how we would go about answering that question. But that is a far, far cry from the way we go about answering questions determining the reality of say, barometric pressure, quasars, gravitational attraction, elasticity, radio activity, natural laws, names, grammar, numbers, the university itself that you're now at, past events, categories, future contingencies, laws of thought, political obligations, individual identity over time, causation, memories, dreams, or even love or beauty. In such cases, one does not do anything like walk to the pantry and look inside for the crackers. There are thousands of existence or factual questions, and they are not at all answered in the same way in each case." (Quote from Greg Bahnsen from the Bahnsen-Stein debate) (4) A known state of affairs that has been determined by the empirical method.  Thus, its accuracy is wholly dependent upon the validity of the method used to establish the particular fact.

“All our perceptions of the world are influenced by our interpretations; there is no knowledge of facts that is not influenced by our interpretative activity.  The Christian knows by faith that this world is not of his own making, that there is a “real world”—a world of facts—that exists apart from our interpretation of it.  But in actual life, we only encounter the world through the mediation of our interpretations, and so the world we live in is to some extent of our own making…. human beings (are) secondary creators.  What prevents us from constructing an absolutely crazy world?  Only our faith.  Only our faith assures us that there is a “real world” that exists apart from our interpretation.  Only God’s revelation provides us with a sure knowledge of that world and so serves to check our fantasies.  Non-Christians, then, have no safeguards against such craziness, except for their tendency to live parasitically off Christian capital”—Ed's emphases.  (John Frame, The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, page 100) 

Facts are related to functionalism or operationalism.  Facts "work" in that they have a certain utility that does not require that they be true.

Faculty psychology, faculties of the mind: differing actions of the mind, identified variously as understanding (judgment, reason), will (power to act, emotive, emotions), and cognition (knowledge, intellect).  Interest in such functions was waxed and waned over the last two centuries, and is sometimes linked to particular kinds of philosophy and psychology.  Probably, the most important concept here is the interrelatedness and interdependency of the various faculties.  Each may predominate in decision-making and execution, but upon what information this process is based seems most important.  That is, it is better to act with understanding and knowledge, than on ignorance, a "hunch," emotional burst, "spur of the moment," or otherwise momentary or superficial process.  This position is usually identified as "the primacy of the intellect."   See heart, soul, mind, and spirit.

Jonathan Edwards is often mis-understood in his faculty psychology.  His "affections" are thought to be equivalent to the modern concept of emotions, but if one reads carefully his A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, it is easily discernible that his affections include "understanding" and "knowledge."  In modern times, heart, as it is used in the Bible, is often misunderstood in the same way.  See heart below.

"Properly functioning faculties" is sometimes used to qualify "basic beliefs" (e.g., Alvin Plantinga).  However, who determines whether they are "properly functioning."  If I differ with someone over a basic felief, is his or mine or both of our faculties not functioning properly?

Faith, generic: Knowledge (innate, learned, assumed, "subconscious," studied, etc.) that predisposes to action, the truth  of which will be determined by reality in the near or distant future.  Every behavior (action) of every person anywhere at any time is a result of faith. 

Faith is usually thought of relative to religious ideas, especially in Christianity.  However, faith is present for every decision made in life because there is always some degree of uncertainty.  Knowledge must start somewhere.  (See first principle.)  Nothing in life can be known absolutely, for sure.   Belief in God and His promises comes the closest to absolute certainty in our physical existence.  However, even on God's Word, we only "know in part" (II Corinthians 13:9-10).  Both philosophers, theologians, and laymen have greatly diminished the force of Biblical faith by not understanding that reason rests on faith, that is, on some first principle.  Reason helps faith to work out its coherence and may challenge that first principle.  But, faith, as a first principle, is always prior and foundational to reason. 

Knowledge may be instinctual, that is, what one knows without really thinking about it.  Knowledge may involved weeks, months, years of study.  Knowledge has varying degrees of trustworthiness or certainty; for example, there is a great deal of certainty that the sun will rise tomorrow; there little certainty that a "hot stock tip" is worth placing an investment.  The point here is that knowledge has an extreme range from the hunch (intuition) that an item on sale is a good buy to the life-long study of a college professor.  What is fascinating about knowledge that its certainty or truthfulness has no necessary correlation to the degree to which it was acquired by study.  The mullah of Islam is just as wrong after 40 years of study of the Koran, as he was when he first embraced Islam.  The stock that is studied for weeks may be not more profitable than one chosen with a dart thrown to the stock page. 

Certainty or uncertainty is what makes the apparent difference between knowledge and faith.  This distinction has been the great debate of philosophy throughout history: rational thought vs. religious faith.  But, once it is understood that no absolutely certain knowledge exists, then faith is prior to all knowledge.  Augustine was right when he said, "I believe in order to understand."  The evolutionist has greatly misplaced faith to project present scientific knowledge into history.

Faith, as a gift.   Faith is a always of gift of God.  He gives faith to every person so that he or she is able to function in life without absolute certainty.  In saving faith, God causes a person to accept His Word as true (Ephesians 2:8-9).  In miraculous faith, he gives the conviction that He will heal (Matthew 9:22).  In other contexts, this knowledge of faith would be called mysticism.

A synonym of "belief."  "Believe" is the verb form of faith, an idiosyncrasy of the English language.  I have written a book on faith here.

Faith, saving: Knowledge of Scripture that predisposes to action, initially, in confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and, thereafter, to love Christ by "keeping His commandments" (John 14:15, that is, all the directives of both the Old and New Testaments) to the extent enabled by the Holy Spirit.  These directives are synonymous with good works.

Is there certainty and assurance of saving faith, as in being "saved from the wrath to come?"  How much certainty does God require of a regenerate person in his faith? God only requires that one of His own be certain sufficiently to act on that belief.  Of course, that person must have sufficient knowledge to perform the many "good works" that God requires of him.  Interestingly, assurance of one's salvation depends upon acting (faith is action - see above) in these "good works."  See Assurance of Salvation.

"Salvation" includes sanctification, the process of increasing holiness of the believer over his lifetime.  So "saving faith" in this sense is the knowledge of those propositions and actions required on an ongoing basis to live that life.

(The) Faith: the knowledge, as a foundation for action, found in the 66 books of the Protestant Bible, for example, Ephesians 4:5, Jude 1:3.

Faith-Reason: Faith is almost never divorced from some degree of reason.  The evolutionist has his "scientific" evidences.  The humanist says that the facts speak against miracles, and therefore, any concept of a supernatural being.  The regenerate Christian points to all the amassed arguments of modern apologetics and to the Scriptures. 

Philosophy obscures the interaction and interdependency of faith and reason.  It is impossible in the human mind to separate faith and reason.  (Ed: I credit Vincent Cheung with leading me to this concept.)

(The) Fall:  simply, the disobedience of Adam and Eve to obey God and the effects thereof.  Perhaps, the greatest dilemma in philosophy and religion is to explain the present of evil and suffering, and people that are just inherently evil.  Outside of Genesis 3, there is no break in any philosophical or religious metaphysical chain of human development and history to explain the presence of both good and evil in mankind.  And, there is no explanation for conscience and moral guilt.  Hume was correct when he said that no "is" can determine an "ought."  The Biblical explanation of The Fall not only explains these realities, but it also posits a break in scientific uniformitarianism to explain certain discrepancies of dating, geological inconsistencies, etc.  Anthropology becomes much more of a central feature of metaphysics and posits not only the need for correction (salvation) of this great defect in man and the universe, but the solution in Jesus Christ and the final consummation of history.

False witness: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor," states the Ninth Commandment.  As seen in truth below, man cannot know truth as God does.  Thus, this commandment is carefully crafted as it is, not as, "You shall always tell the truth."  There are two parts.  (1)  "False witness" means that the witness intentionally is telling something different from what he knows.  It also means that he is making sincere effort to be accurate and complete in what he knows.  What he knows, may or may not be the best representation of "what is," but he has done everything reasonable to present his best understanding.  (2)  The commandment says, "neighbor," not enemy.  When confronted by a declared and avowed enemy, one is not required to tell the truth.  Cory ten Boom was not required to disclose the Jews that she hid from the Nazis.  Now, one has to be careful that enemies are not casually defined, but nevertheless this commandment does not say that one must always tell the truth.  See truth below.

Feelings:  synonym of emotion.

Fideism:  A term that is used loosely to denote faith that ranges from one that is virtually without any evidence, "a leap," or reason to one that has substantial evidence or reason to believe.  Essentially, fideism is a synonym of faith, but some authors have a more particular meaning.

First principle, first philosophy: The most basic truth (reality, certain knowledge) upon which a system of knowledge is based and from which all ideas within that system cohere.  A first principle is chosen on the basis of belief (faith) from which reason builds a consistent system.  Augustine said, "I believe in order to understand."  Reason may challenge the coherency or correspondence of a system, but does not choose its first principle.  Therefore, all systems of thought are built upon faith (belief), not reason.

Synonyms of first principle include belief, faith, first truth, first philosophy, presupposition, basic presupposition, fundamental principle, axiom, basic foundation, basic belief, assumption, bias, prejudice, starting point, and several others that are favorites of particular philosophers.  First principles are accepted by faith, they do not have to be proven.

Foolish, Fool: "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'"  Those that are unregenerate are also foolish--the epitome of anti-wisdom.  "Foolish" is different in the Biblical sense.  It is not just "unwise" or not the best policy, but it is ethical and religious—enmity against God.  This attitude is easily seen in the atheism and agnosticism of our day.  God has chosen the foolishness of the Cross—His greatest wisdom—to humble the earthly wise (I Corinthians 1:27).  True philosophers, who "love wisdom," will love the Word of God and discuss it at length in their speaking and writing.  In addition, the fool has denied what he knows to be true (Romans 1:19ff).  If he no longer "knows" what he denies, then he truly has a reprobate heart that is likely beyond regeneration.

Foundationalism:  epistemology based upon belief.  Classically, these beliefs have been divided into (1) "properly basic beliefs" (PBB or classical foundationalism) which require no prior beliefs, thus stopping an infinite regress.  These beliefs had to be "justified" by their being self-evident, evident to the senses, or incorrigible.  However, there is no common consensus about what these PPB are.  Thus, the process fails of its own criteria.  If there are no PPB, then (2) concept of properly non-basic beliefs collapses also. 

A true basic or foundational belief (faith) simply is one upon which a person (subject) chooses to construct his epistemology and coherent philosophical system.  Whether it is "proper" or "justified" is that person's judgment alone.  He may choose to examine it carefully according to various tests of truth and rational thinking, or he may simply go his way accepting no challenges.  A basis belief is a first principle or axiom.   As axioms of geometry are not and cannot be proven, thus basic beliefs are not and cannot be proven.  Such action is not required of them by definition.  On this basis, the Great Pumpkin argument is indeed valid. 

The great importance of this sort of belief is that it should be the basis of Biblical Christianity.  I believe that the 66 books of the agreed-upon Bible are truth.  I will construct my coherent system (systematic theology) upon that system.

Free will, freedom, freedom of the will: (1) Philosophical sense: the mistaken notion, thought to be necessary to moral responsibility, prevalent among philosophers and many Christians, that man is "free" to make any choice that he desires.  The error in this thinking is that some form of predestination is unavoidable. No man makes decisions without being pre-conditioned by his physical capacities and his accumulated knowledge over which he had no choice in his early years.  See Predestination. 

(2) Biblical sense: man is not forced to make any particular choice.  His "freedom" is to choose consistent with what he is and what he desires without external compulsion.  See Responsibility.  Also, see Chapter IX of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

(3) Sense relative to God's character.  Among Biblical theologians and consistent with Scripture, God is considered "most free," that is, the entity in the universe who is the most "uncoerced," as He is omnipotent.  Yet, God is limited by His own nature, for example, He is perfectly righteous—He cannot be unrighteous.  Thus, if God has limited freedom, it is only consistent that "freedom" for created beings to have "freedom" that is limited.  This supposed dichotomy can be illustrated by the title of two of the greatest books written on the subject.  Martin Luther's book was entitled, Bondage of the Will.  Jonathan Edwards' book was entitled, Freedom of the Will. 

For a complete review of this subject, see G. C. Berkouwer, "Human Freedom."

Functionalism: Ed's preferred term for technical or scientific pragmatism, that is, a technical or scientifically derived procedure that "works" or produces desired results.  Operationalism is an approximate synonym.  The tricky aspect of this definition is that "what works" does not have to be true, even when the desired results occur.  For example, placebos in medicine can reduce blood pressure, significant pain, tense muscles, and more.  But there is no possible correlation between the chemical ingredients of the placebos and the physiological effects. 

This concept may be considerably broader than its application to science—it may be applicable to everything that concerns the physical world.  For example, the understanding and theory of language is quite complex, but it works remarkably (not perfectly) well.  Statistics have a certain usefulness, but their basis and interpretation are somewhat tentative.  I would even propose that functionalism (or operationalism) is the mode by which The Creation Mandate is to be achieved in the physical world.

Future states: see death.

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Generative grammar: See Noam Chomsky.

God, argument(s) for the existence of: See Two Dozen or More....  While these are pleasing and supportive for Christians, they are invalid for non-Christians because their presuppositions differ.

God of the Bible vs. gods of the philosophers: "(Philosophers) adopt a presupposition contrary to the conclusion they wish to argue. They seek to gain knowledge of God by adopting a non-theistic epistemology." (John Frame, here.)

In philosophical discussions, a distinction is rarely made of which "god" is being discussed.  Neither Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Sartre, or Anthony Flew are talking about the God of the Bible.  If one examines closely the characteristics of "God" used by these philosophers, one will find distinctions among each one.  Moreover, these "gods" are not the God of the Bible. Yet, even Bible-believing Christians enter these discussions, often attempting to defend their God against the particular philosopher's "God," as though each side was discussing the same God.  Such argument is doomed to failure by both sides.  Blaise Pascal understood this distinction when he referred to the "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and the scholars."  See onto-theology.

Perhaps, this definition is most central in a discussion of Evil or Theodicy.  (See both definitions in this Glossary.)The God of the Bible is "working all things to the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11).  Since He is omnipotent, no evil can exist in this "best-because-it-is-the-only world."  He is the cause, not the immediate agent, of all that happens. 

A more complete definition of the God of the Bible is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 2, Section 1:

There is but one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal, most just, and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty.

More of the definition continues in Section 2 and 3, and Chapters 3, 5.  For more on the discussion of the God of the Bible and evil, see Gordon Clark's God and Evil: The Problem Solved (Trinity Foundation, 2004).  For more on this subject, see Gods of the Philosophers and Theologians.

God of the Gaps: Philosophers, scientists, and others have sometimes posited "God" to fill in the "gaps" of their systems of knowledge and cosmology.  However, by His own Special Revelation God states that "In Him we live and move and have our being," and that "all things are upheld by the Word of His power."  Thus, He is not only Creator of all that exists, but sustainer of all that He created.  He is not the "gap"; He is the creator and sustainer—past, present, and future—of everything that exists.

Good: all that God does; the opposite of evil.  See "Evil" above.  To define one is to define the other as an opposite.

Gospel (The): The Gospel is the entire Special Revelation of God from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.  It is not simply the  message that "Jesus died for your sins" preached most simply from the pulpit and evangelistic podiums.  This abbreviated message that began with Finney, Moody, and others has resulted in the weakness of modern Christians to impact their own lives, much less the culture and civil state for the Kingdom of God.  A creed that encompasses the most and the clearest of this whole is the Westminster Confession of Faith. 

(The) Great Commandments: "Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:29-31, NKJV).  These are a summary of the Ten Commandments which is a summary of the entire Law of God (The Bible).  Application of these commandment is the Creation Mandate, the Kingdom of God, Good Works, the Great Commission, and a Biblical worldview.

(The) Great Commission:  See Creation Mandate.

Greek civilization:  "The glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome," wrote Edgar Allen Poe.  Many, including Christians, lament for the civilization that was Greece.  But was it really "civilization?"  Consider these characteristics and then consider whether "classical education," with this Greek history is right for Christians.

(1) The legitimacy of homosexuality, especially the seduction of teenage boys by men over age 30; (2) warfare as a man's supremely meaningful activity; (3) polytheism; (4) a personal demon as a philosopher's source of correct logic; (5) slavery as the foundation of civilization; (6) politics as mankind's only means of attaining the good life, meaning salvation; (7) the exclusion of women from all aspects of public religion; (8) the legitimacy of female infanticide.  Quoted from here.

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Heart: one of the spiritual (non-material or non-physical) aspects of a person (others are soul, spirit, mind, will, and conscience); the life that we live within ourselves, unknown to anyone except God; the thought-life of a person; the source of all motives and desires.  Thinking and understanding, rather than emotions, is the predominant activity of the heart. See The Biblical Heart, Soul, Mind, and Spirit.

Hermeneutics: The rules that govern Biblical interpretation.  It is interesting that the large majority of them are not Biblically derived themselves, as rules of grammar, definition, logic, coherence (system), etc.  This situation demonstrates the interdependence of Special Revelation and the tools of philosophy.

Hypercalvinism: Almost always a derogatory term that denotes what an individual (usually) or group believes is an extreme position of some form of Calvinism.  In this Editor's opinion and in today's shallow theological understanding, hypercalvinism is usually applied to those who actually believe and state the fullness and accuracy of Calvin's Biblical position. For a discussion of this issue, see Hypercalvinism: A Brief Definition.

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Image of God, imago Dei: The image of God in man is his heart and mind: his ability to think, make judgments, and communicate with other men and with God.  This is the primary meaning of logos (below).  See The Image and Likeness of God and Man as Created in God's Image.

Immanence and transcendence:  "Immanence and transcendence are always opposed to each other in ordinary speech; but technical language can specify different types of opposition.  When immanence and transcendence are taken as contradictory or contrary terms, the former is applied to systems in which God is the essence of the universe and the universe is the essence of God.  In such a sense no principle can be both immanent and transcendent.  At the same time Christian theologians (with Biblical accuracy) though retaining the colloquial opposition between the two words, have used them not as contraries but subcontraries.  Thus they can say that God is both immanent and transcendent.... The Greek philosophers can be called immanent in the stricter sense so that all notion of the transcendence (of God) is precluded."  (Gordon Clark, Thales to Dewey, page 183.)  Pantheism from that of Spinoza to that of Hinduism is immanence with no transcendence.  Deism is pure transcendence with no immanence.  

Immediacy: The general method of philosophers is virtually an endless debate about their own and others theories.  Yet, there are real, immediate problems that need to be addressed for everyone, including the "common man," for example, the problem of evil in society and death with an or no afterlife.  Praise God that He has provided those answers in Revelation... if philosophers would only look.

Incomprehensibility of God:  See comprehensibility of God.

Induction: A method of reasoning in which "the truth of the premises merely makes it probable that the conclusion is true."  Induction proceeds from observations to conclusions.  Deduction, however, within the laws of logic render true conclusions, if the premises are true.  Induction does not render true conclusions, only "probable" ones.  "Probable" is not a sufficient basis upon which to base one's life and conduct, as well as eternal life.

Induction, Biblical: The process by which all occurrences of a term or concept are examined.  If logical deductions are valid, and coherence is achieved, then the conclusions are as true and applicable as a direct quote of God's Word.  The Trinity is one example of this process, as the word, "Trinity," does not appear anywhere in Scripture.

Innate knowledge and categories: John Locke's tabula rasa seems to have little credence today.  Modern science has demonstrated the tremendous amount of motor and cognitive skills that infants and children have that could only be inborn, especially the work of Noam Chomsky.  In De Magistro, Augustine works through a teaching process whereby all knowledge is supernatural, that is, provided immediately by the Logos, Himself, Jesus Christ.  That argument is strong worth considering, based upon John 1:9 and Romans 1:19ff.  But this position is not to endorse Kant's categories or any other philosophy.  It is to endorse God's being immanent in His creation, including the minds of humans.  Read De Magistro for more on this subject.  Innate knowledge, at least as categories, is an unavoidable concept because thinking would otherwise be impossible.  See Noam Chomsky.

Then, there is the transcendental argument that the existence of language, communication, logic, and meaning presuppose God through His special revelation.

Is/ought problem: No "is" can determine an "ought," or "what is" cannot determine "what ought to be,"  or "What is" is not necessarily "what ought to be."  The origin of this fallacy is attributed to David Hume.  It is similar to the naturalistic fallacy.

Insanity: (1) "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no god.'"  There is no greater insanity than to take a knowledgeable stand as an atheist, as does Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, and others.  In this same category are those who may acknowledge some sort of "god," even a Christian "God," but who do not believe in Biblical inerrancy.  For to not accept the Scriptures of God Himself is to reject the God of the Scriptures. 

There is insanity in any disobedience to a known violation of Scripture.  Thus, regenerate and unregenerate alike have some degree of insanity.  However, the regenerate have hope of progress (sanctification) in this insanity; the unregenerate do not.

(2) Behavior that is clearly irrational and inconsistent with established norms, as in some real "mental illnesses."  This category is imprecise in its definitions and based upon an evolutionary hypothesis.  It can be feigned, as well as, misdiagnosed.  For more, see The Christian Worldview of Psychology and Counseling.

Intelligent Design: An attempt by Christians to oppose evolution and remove a personal God from a concept of origins (cosmology), so that this teaching will be acceptable in public schools.  Their attempt is misguided.  (1) The God of Christianity cannot be removed from intelligent design because He was the Intelligent Designer.  (2) Intelligent design is nonsense without naming that Designer.  In this attempt, they deny the Creator God and overlook the Biblical truth that the state should not be involved in public education.  For more on this subject, click here.

Intuition: (1) Knowledge known immediately without having to reason.  All God's knowledge is immediate, while most of man's knowledge is discursive, that is, learned through the process of reasoning.  (2) Knowledge that is acquired passively at birth (innate) or thereafter (implanted or mystical).  God "breathed out" the Scriptures through His Prophets (II Timothy 3:16).  Specific knowledge of healing was granted by Christ to some at the moment of their healing, e.g., Matthew 9:22.  (3) Colloquially, knowledge that seems to be "just there," that is, present without having to consciously think about its content.  It is sometimes called a "gut feeling."  While such is often presented as being mysteriously acquired, the origin can usually be discerned with conscious effort.  Almost always, this "knowledge" is discursive, rather than passively acquired.  (4) Kant's theory of the application of space and time to experience so that it can be understood.

Irrational: (1) The opposite of rational.  Only valid arguments are rational.  Therefore, an argument may be valid (rational), but not true.  Or, must the argument be both valid and true for it avoid being irrational?  It would seem that only an absolutely comprehensive, coherent and true system could avoid some degree of irrationality.  On a human level, the possibility of a system without some irrationality is impossible, even from a Biblical perspective.  The latter, however, would offer the greatest hope, as it is the Revelation of God's mind that is perfect logic.  (2) Any argument that does not agree with one's own, especially in matters of first principles (i.e., presuppositions, basic beliefs, or faith positions).  (3) Any argument that is inconsistent or incoherent with one's first principles and deduced theorems.  Every person will commit some fallacies somewhere in their system.  (4) Any inductive or empirical inference.  (5) Any argument that commits an established fallacy.

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Justice:  Justice requires the application of all the Biblical parameters of ethics and law that are relevant to a situation.  This application may be within the family, a group, the church, society, or civil law.  As such, justice is identical with love.

Justification (philosophy), justified true belief: A term that makes epistemology hopelessly complicated.  It states that a basic or foundational belief should be chosen from which all other principles are inferred.  This basic belief, then, is either true or false for the person holding that belief.  The problem is that there are no absolute criteria by which a belief can be determined to be true and that is held by all people and philosophers.  All basic beliefs are simply positions of faith.  One's first principle is his truth, not The Truth (unless founded upon the Bible).  A process of justification just adds complexity to two issues: belief and truth.  And, philosophers disagree considerably over what is justified and what is not (again, no standard).  Epistemology is about one's belief and whether it is true.  "Justification" lies in the the eyes of the one believing—first principles do not require justification, just because they are first principles.  This justification should not be confused with the theological concept of justification: the imputation of Christ's righteousness to sinners.

Justification by faith: This term is often called the "formal" principle of the Reformation.  It is the legal application of the perfect keeping of all laws of God by Christ to the account of a person who has broken all the laws of God—by this act of God Himself in His own courtroom, that person is viewed with Christ's righteousness.  Although this term is strictly theological, it is pivotable in history because of (1) its place in the Reformation against Roman Catholic doctrine and (2) the only means by which salvation is possible in all the other schemes of philosophy and religion.  For a more complete definition, see the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 11.

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Kalam Cosmological argument: Kalam means literally "word" or "speech," often used to translate the Greek word, logos.  The argument is that (1) "Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its existence."  (2) "The universe began to exist."  (3) "Therefore, the universe has a cause for its existence."  (2) has a much more detailed development and can be seen here.

Kenosis, kenotic theology: The name of interpretations of Philippians 2:7 given to the phrase, "Christ emptied (Greek kenoo) Himself." Serious errors are often made, especially from those who are or tend towards existentialism.  (1) Christ gave up or discarded some or all of His attributes as a member of the Trinity.  However as R. C. Sproul writes, ". If God laid aside one of his attributes, the immutable undergoes a mutation, the infinite suddenly stops being infinite; it would be the end of the universe." (2) We are to emulate Christ by total self-denial.  While this directive is mostly true, we cannot ignore another of Christ's total directives, "If you love me, keep (all) my commandments" (John 14:15).  Often this "self-emptying" becomes self-absorption, trying to find some transcendental, inner development that is directed away from all the instructions ("commandments") of how we are to behave towards one another.  (For more specifics on such instructions, do a word search in the New Testament on the "one another" passages of the New Testament.  For more information on "kenosis," see the above reference to Sproul and this kenosis website.)

Kingdom of God:  Synonym for Kingdom of Heaven.  See Creation Mandate.

Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: "Heidegger set forth not only the basis for the so-called “New Hermeneutic” of Ott, Ebeling, Fuchs, Bultmann, and Gadamer but also the foundation for the widely and often naively used Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Among the troubling hidden premises in this massive work are the contentions that: 1) The origin of a term is the key to its meaning; 2) This meaning is non-conceptual and mystical; 3) Language is symbolic, not descriptive. Even the liberal James Barr exposed Kittel’s Heideggerian presuppositions in his Biblical Semantics. Considering the extensive and often philosophically uncritical use of Kittel by even evangelical scholars...." (Norman Geisler, "Beware of Philosohy: A Warning to Biblical Scholars, Christian Apologetics Journal, Spring 1999, page 8)

Knowledge: Knowledge is the activity of the mind (incorporeal, not brain).  Common knowledge is that which is present in two or more minds.  Knowledge only has three sources: (1) that which is passively given, or (2) that which is actively acquired or experienced—the empirical or scientific method.  But even the latter is determined by categories and knowledge that is already present in the mind.  The former may be innate or given after birth (mystical, infused, imparted).  See What Is Knowledge?  (3) Knowledge gained through Special Revelation, the only source of knowledge that is true. In an ultimate sense, all knowledge comes from the omniscient God who "enlightens every mind" (John 1:9).

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Language: An agreed upon set of symbols by which men codify and communicate knowledge to each other.  God uses this language to communicate to man through His Word, the Scriptures.

"Man's endowment with rationality, his innate ideas and a priori categories, his ability to think and speak were given to him by God for the essential purpose of receiving a divine revelation, of approaching God in prayer, and of confessing with other men about God and spiritual realities.... A dubious appeal to metaphor, symbolism, or analogy to explain this transition would be unnecessary."  (Gordon Clark, Religion, Reason, and Revelation, pages 135-136)

An instrument of power at Babel, language was, according to Scripture, confused by God in order to create diversity and the possibility of separate and integral developments.  Men fail to understand one another not only when they speak alien tongues, but when they use the same words with very diverse meanings.  Communists and conservative U. S. Republicans alike use the word “republic,” but with radically different interpretations.  Christians and relativists both speak of “law” with no identity of meaning.  Again, the definition of liberty is not limited to its nine dictionary definitions but has, in its civil and religious connotations, as many meanings almost as there are political parties and religions in existence.  As a result, the very fact of a common tongue and an identical word can sometimes, on the presupposition of a necessary cultural unity, further the confusion of speech.  (R. J. Rushdoony, This Independent Republic, page 1, 1978)

Language theory of Noam Chomsky: Modern linguist who has resurrected the idea of innate structures as being necessary for the rapidity of development of language in children.  With the Enlightenment and modern materialism, there was no room for innateness. Innate language structure and ability is consistent with a Biblical philosophy that man is made in the image of God and certain knowledge of Him is written on their hearts. Chomsky is also well-known for his geopolitical views which are not  endorsed by his mention here.  See language above and light below.

Law of noncontradiction: "A is never non-A at the same time and in the same respect."  (John Frame, No Other God, 44)

Life, as in all "living things": the state of being derived from another living thing.  God is the creator and sustainer of life.  There is no life apart from His creation and sustenance.  Characteristics of life: mobility, reproduction, animation, metabolism, intake of nutrients, disposal of toxins and waste, etc. is an insufficient definition of life, as no living things have all these functions throughout their lifespans.  Through reproduction, life forms generate life forms according to their own "kind," but this generation is simply passing on to their offspring what God began.

As an argument for Creation.  The immense step from inorganic compounds to a living form seems to have been overlooked as an argument for Creation.  This step requires the activity of God.  That animal or plant life could originate on its own defies every reasonable understanding of the difference between life and non-life.  Non-Biblical philosophy does not even recognize the higher and highest forms of life: man's immortal soul, angels and demons, and God Himself.

Life, highest form:  life in heaven by those who have experienced the new birth of Spiritual life (John 3).  The second highest form would be the earthly life of those who are born again and are obedient to all the commands of Scripture.  This life is inextricably linked to righteousness, as in "I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly."

Life-after-death: see death.

Light: There is a close association with language, understanding and light with "seeing."  First, "light" is often used to mean "understanding" in common speech.  But in the Bible is "light (or seeing) is closely identified with saving faith (Matthew 13:15).  Greater faith is exemplified by not actually "seeing" in the physical sense (John 20:29).  In John, Chapter 1, Jesus is identified as the "Word" and the "light."  He enables every man to have "light" (v. 9) which Augustine sees as His being the Teacher of all men.  (See his De Magistro - The Teacher).  Also, God spoke physical light into being (Genesis 1:14-15).  Thus, physical "light" and "light" as understanding and communication are closely associated.  In the new heavens, Christ will be the light without their being a physical light, as He was in Creation (Genesis 1:3) until He created the physical light (Genesis 1:14-15).

Logic: The science of the derivation, study, and application of laws that are necessary for communication, using language, to occur and for valid arguments to be constructed.  Valid arguments of true propositions inescapably result in true conclusions. See Reason Fully Explored...

Logic, Eastern: "There is really no such thing as "Eastern logic."  It is true that certain strands of Hinduism and Buddhism teach that contradiction lies at the heart of reality, that on the path to enlightenment one must learn to embrace contradiction.  But as Mortimer Adler pointed out, as long as Hindus and Buddhists accept the results of modern science and technology (and the mathematics of the market place—Ed), they are tacitly affirming the law of noncontradiction, which lies as the very foundation of science."  (DeWeese and Moreland, Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult, page 12)

Logic, "merely human."  See "merely human logic": A phrase that has crept into modern evangelism that posits a difference in the way that God reasons and that man reasons.  But the statement itself is self-refuting.  If "God's logic" is different from (merely) "man's logic, then the statement itself makes no sense.  If the statement itself is not true for God, then neither can it be true for man.  If truth is different for God and also different for man, then we cannot "know the truth that will make us free" (John 8:32).

Logical fallacy: a process of reasoning which in its method is false; performative contradiction.  For example, an ad hominem argument attacks the opposing person, not the argument itself.  There are hundreds of logical fallacies.

Logical positivism: An early 20th century movement by a group of philosophers called the Vienna Circle.  It was based upon the verification principle that all meaningful statements had to be empirically verifiable.  It should never have had any impact because the principle itself could not be verified empirically, thus violating its own condition.  Thus, it was a performative contradiction.

Logos: Too many philosophers and theologians seem to have overlooked the breadth and depth of the concept of Logos, as presented in John 1:1-16 and elsewhere in the New Testament.  Augustine of Hippo posited in De Magistro (The Teacher) that Christ is the teacher of all men of all things.  In epistemology, the problem of innate and intuitive knowledge is almost, if not, inescapable.  If knowledge can only exist in a mind, then a greater Mind has to create the lesser mind, and the knowledge of the lesser mind can only come from the greater Mind. This concept would also be consistent with man's being created in the image of God  See Faith Is Logical Deduction and Logos Defined.

John Calvin translates logos in John 1:1 as "the Speech."  (1) God (Jesus Christ) "spoke" the universe into being, "Let there be... and there was...."  Thus, in a real sense speech is metaphysical essence.  (2)  Communication ("speech" to one another) has always existed amongst the Trinity.  (3)  Communication between God and man and man is impossible without "speech."  (4) Knowledge and language are necessarily the same.  If Augustine is right (I think that he is) about "God enlightening every man," that is, imparting knowledge directly to persons is Christ "speaking" to every man.  Thus, how accurate was Calving and who central is the concept of "the Speech" to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and logic—the principles that allow clarity of communication and argument.

Love:  "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15), that is,  sacrificial acts (speech and behavior) within Biblical or Godly parameters (law, precepts, principles, etc.) for the greatest good of the one loved (God, spouse, child, neighbor, and even enemies).  Biblical parameters (law) limit "anything goes," as acts of love.  For example, a man cannot divorce his wife because he "loves" another woman.  Sacrifice on the part of the one who loves illustrates its supreme value.  The ultimate act of love, as sacrifice, is "to lay down one's life" (John 15:13).  Obviously, love is one of the richest of Biblical concepts.  It is commonly misunderstood by many Christians, even concerning the greatest act of love in history, God's sacrifice of His Own Son for the greatest good of those whom He loved, which included the fulfillment of the law to propitiate God and impute it to those saved (Matthew 5:17-18).  Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments."  Love is obedience to all the commandments of God.  See , Attributes of God, Priority of above.  For a full discussion of the dependency of love on law, see Law, Justice, Love, Law, etc..  Synonyms for Biblical love include Creation Mandate, Ten Commandments, Biblical law, Biblical worldview, Kingdom of God, and Great Commission.

Love, unconditional: see unconditional love.

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Materialism: See proof (below).

"Mere human logic": A phrase used piously to reflect that "God's thoughts (or his "logic" or reasoning) are not our thoughts."  This phrase is destructive of all believable propositions in the Biblical, Christian faith.  If God's "logic" differs from ours, then we know no eternal truths.  Any understanding of language is necessarily dependent upon logic. There is, then,  no correspondence between human language and God's language, so that what He has revealed to us in salvation is not "real."  What we will experience "face to face" is nothing like what we think that it will be.  While the intent of the phrase is noble, that is, to protect the extent to which God's knowledge differs from ours, the effect is to destroy any understanding of God and his Creation, if not to annihilate the possibility of language altogether.  (2) The proof of my position is that "mere human logic" must be used to state and defend this position.  The phrase is self-refuting, so it means nothing.  Therefore, there is correspondence between God's logic (He is perfectly rational) and human logic.  See paradox (below).

“If there is absolutely no point of contact between the divine logic and so-called human logic, then what passes as human ‘preaching’ can never be valid.”  (Ronald Nash, The Word of God and the Mind of Man, page 96)

See The Westminster Confession of Faith and Logic.

Middle knowledge: see Paul Helm's refutation.

Mind: the non-physical component (spirit, soul, heart, will) of man which thinks, reasons, and remembers knowledge.  The mind works through the brain by mechanisms that will never be understood completely.  However, the brain as a physical organ cannot account for all the functions of the mind and cannot be the "image of God" in man.  See dualism.

Mind/brain dualism: See dualism.

Miracles: events that violate the patterns (sometimes called laws) of natural science.  While this is often a great problem, extensively discussed by both Christian and non-Christian philosophers, it is simply accepted within the framework of Biblical revelation.  As someone has said, if one can accept the resurrection of Jesus as one criterion for eternal salvation,  acceptance of other miracles simply follows.  For a philosophical treatment of miracles, see Colin Brown: Miracles and the Critical Mind (Eerdmans, 1984).

Modern philosophy: "The most disastrous day in European history .. was the day that Descartes shut himself up in his (warm room)," stated Archbishop William Temple.  "(On this day Descartes) set up individual consciousness as the final criterion of truth."  (Quotes from Colin Brown, Philosophy and the Christian Faith, 52-53; also, see Andrew Hoffecker, Revolutions in Worldview,  254)  Descartes is called "the father of modern philosophy," an attempt by man to find all the answers to metaphysics, epistemology, and morality within his own reasoning and without the Revelation of the Holy Scriptures.  See Modernism.

Modernism: See modern philosophy.  Beginning with Descartes (at least with his cogito), the attempt to understand metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics without Special Revelation and based upon reason alone.  This approach resulted in rationalism and its inherent presupposition against Biblical Christianity.  Its failure to achieve its ends resulted in postmodernism.  Modernism failed to discern what Augustine stated, "I believe in order to understand."  All first principles are beliefs, whether the thinker is an atheist or believer in some religion.  Both have their basic principles of faith.  That this basic understanding of first principles has not been more widely recognized is a glaring condemnation of the irrationality of almost all philosophers.

Modernity: the modern attitude that almost all ideas of the past are of no value.  Moderns are the only "enlightened ones."  Thus, this attitude is linked to the Enlightenment, although not quite identical with it (some recognize the "genius" of past philosophers.  This position is a problem for Christians, as well as non-Christians.

Monism: The metaphysical belief that everything in the universe is of one "substance."  Fire, water, numbers, and Greek "atoms" have been named.  Modern (post-Descartes) philosophy has narrowed the field to that which is material (physical, sensical, empirical) and immaterial (spiritual, ideal, supernatural).  Orthodoxy requires a Biblical dualism, but there is a large contingent of (questionably) Bible-believing Christians who are positing monism, at least relative to the mind/brain issue.  This latter position is therefore unorthodox.

Mystery: some concept or event that is not immediately understood, but may be known later.  "Mystery" is too often used among theologians and philosophers relative to God's being and actions.  Before declaring something a "mystery," a diligent search should be made to see whether God revealed what had been so-called.  For example, He has revealed the mystery that the Jews held for centuries that the Gentiles should be "fellow-heirs" with them in salvation and blessing.  Also, the presence of evil and an omnipotent, good God is not a mystery, but one solved both directly by Biblical reference and logical necessity.  (See author of sin, evil [God as the]).  Paradox is often used in association with "mystery," and again sound Biblical exegesis may reveal that neither mystery nor paradox exist where originally thought.  Certainly, many "mysteries" about God and His Providence will always remain (Deuteronomy 29:29), but what has long and often been declared "mystery" may not be Biblically true.

Mysticism: Passively (on the part of the recipient) imparted knowledge after birth (not innate).  Such knowledge cannot in and of itself be verified as true.  The person who receives it may believe it to be true, but should not expect anyone else to believe it without some form of objective (outside of himself) verification.  Thus, such knowledge may be entirely of the subject's imagination.

In the Bible, what might otherwise be called mysticism, is sometimes called faith.  For example, "Your faith has made you well" (Matthew 9:22, Mark 5:34, Luke 17:19, etc.).  The given knowledge was the certain conviction of healing.  That such knowledge can be acquired by an act of a person's will or meditation (gnosticism) and not "from above" is a serious misinterpretation of the definition of faith.  In the above sense of verification, the healing itself is the objective evidence.  God's activity in all such knowledge ended with the close of Special Revelation, Chapter 22 of the Book of Revelation.

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Naive realism:  the concept prior to Kant that the objects of experience are virtually what we perceive them to be.  Naive realism bypasses the comlex process of an object registering on the retina, which must be functioning "normally" (whatever that is), then be "perceived" by the brain, and further interpreted by the "mind."  Interaction with that object is even more complex.  Kant structured the world of objects by intuitions and judgments of the mind.  See common sense philosophy.

Natural law: (1) The laws of nature, such as, the law of gravity, Newton's three laws of motion, laws of chemistry, etc.  (2) Civil laws derived from natural ethics, as all civil law is based upon some ethical principle.  All civil law that is not derived directly from Biblical ethics and law.  Basing civil law upon natural law has been a major mistake of Christians through the ages and into modern time.  Natural law can only be decided by the authority of a tyrant (whether as an individual or group) or vox populi, the vote of the people as a majority or largest segment of a plurality.  For more, see this book review.  See natural theology—natural theology and natural law cannot be separated.

Natural philosophy: beginning in the Scholastic period, this term designated what today is called natural science or just "science."  For example, Isaac Newton's great book on motion and gravity, published in 1687, was entitled, The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.  Essentially, the process is empiricism or the scientific method. 

Natural theology: "Philosophy of religion .... is terminology used to designate an old, old task, that of "natural theology" (Oliphant, Reasons for Faith, page 13—emphasis his)  Natural theology fails to establish any concrete truths.  In nature, there is both complex construction and devastating destruction... beauty and ugliness... complexity and simplicity... wholeness and fragmentation... numbing coldness and invigorating warmth... life and death, etc., etc.  How does one determine a theology from these extremes?  Finite limitation and vacillating contingency does not logically lead into perfection and necessity, as  many philosophers have argued.  These contingencies are all that unregenerate philosophers have upon which to based their faith and reason.  Christians who base their arguments upon natural theology, one form of which is Creation Science, lack coherence and correspondence, and are contingent in themselves.  Natural theology must be structured under Biblical theology.  Christian apologetics must defend Christianity as the whole of Biblical and natural theology.  See Colin Brown's discussion and philosophy of religion (below).  See natural law—natural law and natural theology cannot be separated.

 "The old term for philosophy of religion."  (Oliphant, Reasons for Faith, page ix)  "Natural theology (is) the use of unaided human reason to draw theological conclusions."  (Paul Helm, Faith and Reason, page 15.  See philosophy of religion.

Naturalism: See Naturalism vs. Evolution.  It is not clear to this Ed. that naturalism is not the basis for natural law and natural theology.

Naturalistic fallacy: the mistake of identifying moral good with any natural property.  That is, the characteristic of an object does not imply an ought.  For example, "water is good."  Well, there is the problem of drowning in water and floods, as opposed to water being necessary for life in most instances.

Neo-orthodoxy: a movement that posited a position between "liberal" theology and orthodox Christianity.  While there is not total agreement among them, they saw the Scriptures as an important "word from God" along with tradition, "personal encounter" of "being" with the "ultimate, various philosophies, and various "modern sciences," such as, psychology and sociology.  They differ among themselves as to the various emphases, but their vague terminology gives a deceptive coherence to their philosophy.  It is one of the broad categories of Christianity that contrasts sharply with a truly Biblical philosophy.

Noetic effects of regeneration: Regeneration does not eliminate the noetic effects of sin.  However, the primary noetic effect is an attitude to assent to the Scriptures as the very word of God.  The Scriptures provide true propositions from which Biblical truth can be extended by valid deduction. (Westminster Confession of Faith, I:6) The central personal application of Biblical truth is one's salvation in the grace of Jesus Christ alone.

Noetic effects of sin: "Noetic" is from nous the Greek word for mind.  Adam's fall affected man's ability to think correctly and rationally.  According to Abraham Kuyper, those effects include the possibility of (1) falsehood, (2) unintentional mistakes, (3) self-delusion and self-deception, (4) the intrusion of phantasy into the imagination, (5) intentional negative influences of other minds, (6) physical weakness influencing the total human psychology, (7) the disorganized relationships of one realm of life upon ideas from another domain, (9) self-interest, (10) the weakening of mental energies and the darkening of consciousness, (11) internal disorganization of life harmonies, and (12) the loss of the pou sto (a place to stand or point of reference for truth).  (Abraham Kuyper in Principles of Sacred Theology, 104-114, quoted in Robert Reymond, The Justification of Knowledge, 30)  God, however, has given a corrective and certain method of avoiding the noetic effects of sin by careful definitions and logic.  Only valid deduction (logical inference) from the propositions of Scripture avoids these mistakes.  (Westminster Confession of Faith, I:6) See logic.

Nominalism:  the belief that only individual objects (nom-. name) exist and share nothing in common with other objects.  Thus, there are no universals (classes, classifications, etc.).  Nominalism does not allow for a universal church, only individual churches.  It allows for no universal headship in Adam or in Christ.  It is generally anti-realism.

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Object: (1) the nominative predicate of a proposition or (2) a proposition itself, both of which are of a "public nature."  We say, "There is a chair" with the chair being an object that virtually everyone can see or sense.  The law of non-contradiction is an object of the study of logic in the public arena.  Object as a nominative contrasts with a universal.  While it has been debated, especially among the Scholastics, whether universals "exist," certainly they only exist as a classification of an object.  For example, the color "blue," does not exist apart from an object that is blue.  See classification.

Objective, objectivity: an attempt to "get outside oneself" to look at the universe or ethics without personal bias or the quality of having a public nature, independent of our thoughts.  This attempt is impossible, as one cannot avoid his own presuppositions and "categories" (e.g., Kant).  The only Person who can be fully objective is also fully subjective, God alone.  This union of subjectivity and objectivity is one more demonstration of the unity within the Person of God and the universe which He created.  Kant tries to give "objectivity" to the subjective dimension of the "sensible manifold" by his transcendental method, but even this approach has its presuppositions and pre-conditions.

The objective Bible:  Because of its inculturation in the West, the Bible is not often appreciated for its objectivity.  It is God's mind objectified... it is His Special Revelation objectified... it is the knowledge that God wants humans to have available to them objectified.  The Bible is the knowledge of God entering history through a source that is an object.  It is there in the public square for the Church and for society for understanding and direction.  It is the objectively thinking philosopher's dream: a source of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics in a fixed, determined source that he can study!

Occasionalism: the denial of cause and effect because God links "occasions" that are His immediate action.  Cause and effect is simply God's linking one preceding event (cause) with its following event (effect) when He is actually the cause of both.  This concept has never had many followers, but violates the stance of the Westminster Confession on "second causes" (III.1.).  A similar, but extreme version, of occasionalism would be Augustine's concept of continuous creation. 

Onto-theology: "Onto-theology occurs when philosophy allows God to become a theme of its discourse only on its terms and in the service of its project," completely denying Biblical revelation in which God describes Who He is.  Quote is from Peter Leithart, who is quoting Merold Westphal here.  Martin Heidegger has soundly refuted this process in his writings, which is also discussed at the URL cited.  See philosophical imperialism.

Open theism: A heresy that God is not omniscient about the future.  This limitation is an attempt to give man the freedom to choose among options without God's predestinating action.  Also called "the open view of God," "creative-love theism," and "free-will theism."  See A forum on free-will theism...

Operationalism: see Functionalism.

Orthodox, orthodoxy: Orthodoxy, literally "right doctrine," exists at various levels.  (1) The most basic level which would separate true Christianity from false Christianity would be belief in the 66 books of the agreed-upon Bible as the ultimate authority, inerrant, and totally sufficient to govern rightly all man's thinking (religion and philosophy) and actions (ethics).  (2) The next level would be agreement on the historic creeds on the "catholic" (universal) church, such as, The Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian, and Chalcedon Creeds.  (3) The next level would be the creeds of the various denominations or individual churches.  Obviously, these differ greatly to issues of heresy, being anathema, and even warfare, inquisition, and other forms of bloodshed.  (4) Finally, there is the "orthodoxy" of individual belief.  No two persons on earth agree upon every jot and tittle of any interpretation, even or the "agreed-upon" Scripture.  However, the former levels give strict guidance to this individual belief.  Departure from them causes the Christian to face almost insurmountable challenges to his thinking "Christianly."  While corporate bodies (sessions, boards, synods, and councils) make mistakes ("err"), extreme caution must be exercised to differ with them, and rarely is one "orthodox" in doing so.  It is possible that many of these issues could be resolved with stricter attention to the rules of logic and coherence. 

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Panentheism: an attempt to define God as "being" in all created things, but with both God and creation each retaining an identity separate from the other.  Panentheism is an attempt to avoid the "extremes" of pantheism and Thomistic theism, while still allowing God to be both dependent and interdependent with His creation.  The world is central to the process theology of A. N. Whitehead.  It may be possible to define a sort of panentheism with a Biblical, orthodox understanding of God. However, this term is used mostly, if not entirely, by Neo-orthodox, Catholic, and other non-evangelical theologians and philosophers.  Thus, even a truly Biblical panentheism would still be linked to these other uses and thus any helpful designation would be lost.  It would be best to use the traditional and orthodox description that God is both immanent in Creation and transcendent above Creation.  Biblically, "all things are upheld by the Word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3) and "in Him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

Paradox: the judgment that two or more propositions cannot both be true; its is a subjective position.  However, this conclusion may be only "apparent" due to incomplete or false reasoning or a lack of sufficient knowledge. Every attempt logically should be made to resolve what anyone has called a "paradox."  The Bible is not full of paradoxes and contradictions.  In fact, properly understood, it has no paradoxes.  Within the intuitive knowledge of God, there are no paradoxes.  See here. Also, see "mere human logic" (above).

Peace: "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You" (Isaiah 26:3).  A perplexing and slippery concept in philosophy is certainty. There is a definite correspondence of the Biblical concept of peace, which includes regeneration and a basic understanding of forgiveness that exists in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.  It is not too difficult to relate "trust" to certainty.  The truth is that true "peace" of mind and "certainty" of knowledge can be found only in regeneration and proper Biblical belief. 

Performative contradiction: A statement that contradicts itself when stated; self-refuting proposition.  Perhaps the most famous example is from Descartes who said that whether his thinking was "clear and distinct" or "false," he was still thinking.  Thus, he equated thinking with existence with his famous cogito, "I think; therefore I am."  This contradiction is powerful.  The only way to refute it is to posit that thinking itself is a deception, but Scripture confirms that we think so that the performative contradiction is true.  Other performative contradicting include the verification principle of the Logical Positivists, and the statement of the post-moderns that "There are no absolutes."

Person: (1) That which is conceived from a descendent of Adam and Eve.  (2) "Philosophers err when they confine their attention to 'universal man'  There is only one real man: the suffering, tearing, individual on the street; he who is here today and gone tomorrow. he whose heart is the scene of relentless conflict between the self as it ought to be.  Whenever a philosopher speaks of mankind in the abstract, rather than concrete individuals at home and in the market, he deceives both himself and all who have faith in his teaching."  (Carnell, The Case for Biblical Christianity... page 58)  Only the Scriptures have the answers for this "real man."  Philosophy without revelation is an endless search that will provide no answers for man's purpose and destiny.  (3) Gordon Clark, in several of his books, has defined a person as a "set of propositions."  Bible-believing philosophers should seriously consider this definition and meet its challenges.  For myself, I have not yet fully been able to limit person to this definition.

Personhood: This word does not appear in Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828 Edition) or in the Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language (2nd Edition, 1950).  Neither does it appear in several dictionaries of philosophy that I reviewed.  My personal belief, grounded in these and other observations, is that "personhood" is a means of obscuration of the status of the unborn child in the abortion debate.  Instead of the unborn child at his various stages (conceptus, embryo, fetus, etc.) being a person (1st definition above), then he has to have or achieve some characteristic of "personhood" to be morally and legally "protected."  If my reasoning is correct, then to use personhood at all in this debate is virtually to give away the argument.  From conception, the unborn child is a person.  Because of the Fall and sin, we are all imperfect in many ways, so the idea of having to achieve some "state of being" (-hood) is unbiblical, unscientific, and heinously immoral.

"Philosophical imperialism": "The comprehensiveness of philosophy has often led philosophers to seek to rule over all other disciplines, even over theology, over God’s Word. Even philosophers attempting to construct a Christian philosophy have been guilty of this, and some have even insisted that Scripture itself cannot be understood properly unless it is read in a way prescribed by the philosopher! Certainly, philosophy can help us to interpret Scripture; philosophers often have interesting insights about language, for example. But the line must be drawn: where a philosophical scheme contradicts Scripture or where it seeks to inhibit the freedom of exegesis without Scriptural warrant, it must be rejected.” (John Frame, Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, page 86)  See onto-theology.

While Oliphint did not use the label, "philosophical imperialism," as Frame did, nevertheless his comments are similar. 

 "Francis Turretin's warning is as relevant now as it was then; we must not allow our great love of philosophy so to captivate us that we become all too ready to abandon our theology for the sake of philosophical acumen or academic respectability (page xi) ... One has to search far and wide for a philosophy of religion that takes seriously its place as a handmaid to theology.  Conversely, one need hardly search at all for an article or essay in philosophy or philosophy of religion wherein the historic truths of Christianity are under attack.  Not only so, but philosophy, because of its subject matter and its general methodology, has an allure to many that is Sirenically seductive in its force.  So, says (Francis) Turretin, 'This [use of philosophy] must however be done so carefully that too great a love of philosophy may not captivate us and that we may not regard it as a mistress, but as a handmaid.'"  (Oliphint, Reasons for Faith, page 32)

Philosophy: (1) A synonym of religion in that it is an attempt to find meaning, purpose, and understanding of the universe apart from the supernatural, that is, apart from God.  This definition makes all philosophy, that does not posit the Bible as its first principle, merely forms of humanism. The apparent sophistication of philosophy gives it an aura of intellectual pursuit that is deceptive in its denial of God.  See All Philosophy Is Unavoidably Religious and Reformed Epistemology as Religion.  See philosophy of religion, natural law, and natural theology which are all one and the same.

"There are few areas of philosophy that are shorn of religious implications. Religious traditions are so comprehensive and all-encompassing in their claims that almost every domain of philosophy may be drawn upon in the philosophical investigation of their coherence, justification, and value."  (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy online, "Philosophy of Religion")

"Of course, every system of philosophy is religious, not in the sense that it advocates certain rites of worship, but in the more important sense that (1) it is committed at some point to faith-presuppositions, just as religions, are, and (2) it offers a comprehensive worldview and comprehensive solutions for the troubles of human beings.  (John Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God, page 32)

"Secularism... is the name for a ideology, a new closed world-view which functions very much like a new religion."  (Harvey Cox, The Secular City, page 21, quoted in Sproul et al, Classical Apologetics, page 5.

(2) A serious and self-conscious pursuit of reliable knowledge.  "The unexamined life is not worth living," said Socrates.  In this pursuit, one has to consider the origin of the universe (cosmology or metaphysics) and how sound knowledge may be obtained.  Based upon these two considerations, one then must choose how to determine right and wrong (ethics).  Reasoning in the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics uses the tools of language and logic.  Faith (basic belief) is the foundation for this pursuit, as no person can avoid having an unproven and circular first principle (axiom) that determines what conclusions he will draw in his subsequent theorems.  The regenerate mind will choose the Bible as truth, an epistemological authority above all others.  The unregenerate mind will choose some other belief system than the Bible.

(3) The coherent and serious application of the rules of logic and grammar to ideas (propositions), so that understanding of those ideas and their derivative notions correspond to reality and demonstrate their pragmatic value.

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Philosophy, Biblical:  the philosophical system that posits the 66 books of the worldwide agreed-upon Bible as the final, ultimate, inerrant, and totally sufficient authority for all issues of religion and philosophy.  A synonym is Biblical Christianity.  A close approximation is the Reformed theology of the Westminster Confession of Faith and its Catechisms.  The only difference between Biblical philosophy and Biblical theology is that philosophy determines the form and nature of the discussion, instead of the centrality of Biblical themes.  However, Biblical authority supersedes any philosophical authority in a broad and comprehensive manner.

Philosophy, Christian: There are two types of "Christian" philosophy.  (1) One "Christian" philosophy is exemplified by the Society of Christian Philosophers.  "The Society is open to anyone interested in philosophy who considers himself or herself a Christian.  Membership is not restricted to any particular 'school' of philosophy or to any branch of Christianity, nor to professional philosophers."  Such a loose statement allows any position resembling "Christian" that requires only a personal claim.  But a Christian who does not at least claim agreement with one or more of the orthodox creeds (for example, Apostles', Nicene, or Chalcedonian) has no grounds to call himself or herself a Christian or to pursue "Christian" philosophy.  The definitive division for "Christians" is the infallibility and sufficiency of the 66 books of the Protestant Bible.  "Christian" today can mean almost any belief system and this diversity of beliefs in reflected in Faith and Philosophy, the journal of that society.  For more, see Christian above.

(2) "Christian philosophy deliberately poses to interpret the created world in the light of the Christian Scriptures.  In doing so, it denies that it is sacrificing its claim to the name philosophy.  The Christian philosopher repudiates the dogmatism that would make the human consciousness autonomous and philosophy a purely 'intellectual' enterprise, carried on in a abstraction from 'faith.'  He insists, on the contrary, that the beginning of an adequate interpretation of the world can be made only when a thinker allows himself to be instructed by that world's maker and interpreter, only when a philosopher enrolls himself in the school of God."  (Henry Stob, Theological Reflections, page 178-179.)  True "Christian philosophy" is Biblical philosophy.

Ed: I am using the term, "Biblical philosophy, hence this website.  Of course, one could list a number of "Christian" philosophies: Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormon, Arminian, Calvinistic, liberal, Neo-Orthodox, etc.  But the watershed issue is that of the Scriptures, as stated above.  God has spoken clearly, and we heed His voice, or we only see His voice as One among many.

Philosophy of ... : E.g. philosophy of science, philosophy of art, philosophy of economics, or philosophy of _________ any scholarly area.  There is no correspondence to "a philosophy of _________."  There is a philosophy of a person or a philosophy of a group in a particular area who identifies themselves with a specific philosophy.  For example, the philosophy of science for Isaac Newton was based in the Biblical God as Creator of the universe, but the philosophy of science of Richard Dawkins is based in a totally atheistic universe.  Both have a "philosophy of science," but their philosophies are not the same.  Not being specific with such terms is this manner has caused great confusion in any attempt for clarity and coherence within the whole of philosophy.

Philosophy of religion: See natural theology above.  Actually, this term is a misnomer.  "Philosophy" is a religious enterprise within itself, as it seeks to understand the universe and mankind and ethics—the same tasks as those of religion.  Philosophy of religion in the west is virtually identical with philosophy of Christianity.  Then, within Christianity there is almost every "philosophy" or belief imaginable.  Actually, there are only two philosophies and they are antithetical: Biblical philosophy and all other "Christian" philosophies.  See philosophy of ... above.

Synonyms: It may help the reader to grasp the inclusiveness of "philosophy of religion" by listing synonyms.  These include  natural religion, philosophical theology, theological philosophy, natural theology, natural law, theology of science, liberal theology, neo-orthodoxy, atheism, agnosticism, all non-Biblical forms of Christianity, non-biblical religion, non-biblical philosophy, secular philosophy, all non-Christian religions, all “arguments” for God (cosmological, ontological, metaphysical, etc.), evidentialism, brute facts, naturalism… Thus, any philosophy or religion which does not posit the 66 books of the agreed-upon Bible as its ultimate, final, inerrant, and sufficient authority stands in antithesis to the true religion and philosophy: Biblical Christianity.

Philosophy of theology, philosophical theology, philosophical theism, theistic philosophy:  synonyms of  philosophy of religion.

Postmodernism:  a reaction to the failure of The Enlightenment Project (godless rationalism).  Its premise is that "There are no absolutes" (which is a performative contradiction).  It is also an irrational reason to continue the immorality and "anything goes" that was a product of the Enlightenment.  It is basically a system of deconstruction with no reconstruction.  In a real sense, postmodernism was the "logical conclusion" of modernism, "and to this extent no real alternative to modernity after all."  (John R. Betz, After Enlightenment: Haman as a Post-Secular Visionary, 313). For more on postmodernism, see Leithart on Postmodernism.

Pragmatism: the test of truth by the criterion of "what works."  Biblical Christianity is not often recognized as being "pragmatic," but being that it is God-designed, it must be the most pragmatic system known to man.  Properly understood, there is never any conflict between the individual, his family, the church, society, and government of the city, state, nation, and world.

Biblical Christianity is the most pragmatic of religions.  In the Christian West, the achievements of Christianity offer a stark contrast to the rest of the world.  It established the nation with the most freedom of any in history: the United States.  It has achieved an economic prosperity that other nation can only mimic or piggyback to achieve similar results.  It abolished and set a standard against human slavery.  The United States is the most philanthropic nation.  Modern science developed in the West.  World exploration began in the West.  And, on and on.  For a short, but accurate summary of this development, see Rodney Stark, The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success.

Predestination:  See determinism.

Presbyterian:  roughly equivalent to Calvinism and Reformed.

Presupposition: See first principle, basic belief, etc.

Primacy of the intellect: See faculty psychology.

Probability: The likelihood that a certain event will happen based upon past events.  In a chance universe, probability has no place.  There is no probability to random chance, yet much of modern science is based upon probability, especially in medicine.  Probability has a functional (pragmatic) basis in an ordered universe which has been profoundly affected by a cataclysmic event, The Fall.  Probability is not truth and has a varied certainty, but great pragmatic value in this so-damaged world.

Proof: the evidence or propositions which are sufficient to a person to cause him to change his mind or agree with the argument, but proof is always limited to that person's worldview; a proof is not possible between worldviews.  For example, a proof of God for a person who believes in materialism or other atheistic system is impossible.  When the atheist asks for "proof," he has already decided what he will or will not accept to support or deny his position.  Proof is always relative to the system of philosophy or religions of any person.  In fact, it would be incoherent for a person to accept an argument as proof that contradicted his system.  Thus, all arguments are circular and are dependent upon an individual or groups worldview.

Properly functioning faculty: See faculty psychology.

Psychology: See Biblical psychology, secular psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy here.

Psychology, evolutionary: A more recently developed area of psychology that intends to explain human emotions, reasons, and behaviors on the basis of evolutionary theories.  As a Christian would expect, it is entirely secular and humanistic.  Christians have no basis to use its theories or research, instead of Biblical explanations, yet many are attempting to do so.  The Bible is truth; no empirical science can arrive at truth by its own philosophy and design.

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Quine, Willard Van Orman: A modern philosophical linguist who demonstrates the complexity of language.  He has also challenged empiricism in his paper, The Two Dogmas...

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Rational: See reason.

Rationalism: "A system of philosophy which holds that all knowledge is based upon reason (logic) alone."  (Clark, Thales to Dewey, page 311)  However, reason does not choose the knowledge that is already present at the time that reason begins.  Thus, all conclusions are entirely and wholly limited by that a priori knowledge that is either innate or acquired in the early phases of one's life.  Further, belief (faith) is prior to reason, as Augustine said, "I believe in order to understand."  So, reason is not really a source of knowledge, as it is traditionally designated, but is only a method of forming conclusions about knowledge that is already present in one's mind.  It is the application of the rules of logic, avoiding fallacies, definition, and other means of thinking clearly.  Reason may challenge the  coherence of a system of knowledge, as it exists in one's mind, but it cannot choose that knowledge which is already present.  Rationalism has been called "The Enlightenment Project" since Descartes, as an attempt to discern truth without Special Revelation, i.e., by man's reason alone.  Thus, man becomes the "measure of all things."  This concept is different from being rational.  See The Enlightenment Project.

Real; Reality: "what is." See true, truth. 

Realism: (1) the belief that objects in the universe exist on their own, independent of any mind that perceives them.  This position would be coherent with the Genesis account of Creation ex nihilo.  However, objects are perceived only by minds.  Thus, objects can only be know subjectively, and for this reason are always interpreted objects.  Objects can never be know objectively, or in Kant's terms, "in themselves" (ding an sich).  Empiricism (induction) is the methodology of study of objects and their behavior, even though this method by definition can never arrive at truth (non-universal).  However, as operationalism, it can be quite powerful in a pragmatic way. (2) The belief that truth exists.  There are two forms: (a) Does objective truth exist?  If so, (b) can the mind perceive and understand it?  Jesus said, "You can know the truth, and the truth will make you free!"  So, yes, the truth exists (only in the Bible) and we can "know" it, as He said.  (3) Do ethics exist in an objective form?  Again, the Bible gives the answer in that ethics (right and wrong, righteousness, justice, etc.) is everything that the Bible has to say about this subject.

Reason, rational: The process by which argument or communication from one person to another is made skillfully, using all the tools of philosophy: definition, sentence structure and grammar, induction and deduction, syllogism, and any others necessary to the process.  See Reason Fully Defined and  Unraveling the Concept of Logic. 

Reasonable: A more colloquial term used loosely to justify a statement or argument by virtually whatever means the person chooses.  "It seems reasonable that the student will improve his grades if he works harder on his schoolwork." 

Reformed theology: See Calvinism.

Reformed epistemology: The position held by Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, and others "that people are rationally justified in believing in God without evidence or argument, though such rational beliefs are open to refutation by evidence and argument.... we come to know God when our faculties of knowledge, working rightly and placed in the proper environment, come naturally to form a belief in him."  (John Frame, "Machen's Warrior Children," at www.frame-poythress.org.)

"Reformed epistemology" is an inappropriately chosen term.  Wolterstorff identifies with the "Continental Reformed (Calvinist) tradition .... (and) has characteristically been antievidentialist."  (Faith and Rationality, page 7. )  But this position has also posited sola Scriptura, the Bible as truth, inerrant, and sufficient as a rule of faith and practice and total depravity or inability, that man cannot know truth (God and His word to man, as defined by Scripture) apart from regeneration.  Neither "warrant" nor "justification" (in the philosophical sense) can persuade the unregenerate of the truth of Scripture.  Belief in the Scripture does not need to be "justified" for the regenerate.  He is persuaded by the Holy Spirit.  Further, those in Reformed epistemology rely on Scripture or theology only sparingly, whereas the theologically Reformed are thoroughly grounded in Scripture.  In this Ed's opinion, Reformed epistemologists are guilty of "philosophical imperialism."  (John Frame, The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, page 86.  Also quoted on this website here.

"Reformed epistemology" is not "Reformed philosophy" nor "Reformed theology."  It is a narrow definition held by a few philosophers who minimize, even not compromise, the authority of Scripture as the ultimate epistemology.

Regenerate, Regeneration: Biblically, "born-again" or "born-from-above."  The change wrought in the human soul (spirit) by the work of the Holy Spirit that causes a person to believe that the Bible is the Word of God (truth) and that it primarily speaks of salvation in Jesus Christ.  All peoples of the earth can be divided into the regenerate and the unregenerate (the world and the church), except perhaps those in the process of being effectually called, that is, being moved from one division into the other.  See Regeneration.

Relativism: Relativism is simply irrationalism because, if all is relative, the statement denies itself.  Also, if nothing is fixed (normative) then there is no reality, and everything is meaningless. 

"In the postmodern context, relativism is ... less a conclusion than a presupposition, and a presupposition whose purpose is to insulate us from the need for commitment, decision, and passion. Observing ... students knee-jerk relativism, (one)  concludes that relativism is not a philosophical theory. It is a spiritual truth, a protective dogma designed to fend off any power that might claim our loyalty. It is a habit of mind that insulates postmodern life from the sober potency of arguments and the force of evidence, from the rightful claims of reason and the wisdom of the past. This is all done to protect the soul from all demands, rational or otherwise.  If truth is out there, and if we can know it, then we might be forced to take a stand on truth. Truth might claim us, and demand something from us, perhaps something very difficult. But if we know before the game begins that there will be no winner, we don't have to join a team."  Peter Leithart, here.

Religion: "Man seeks in religion ... strength, life, a personal power, that can pardon sin, receive us into favor, and cause us to triumph joyfully over a world of sin and death.  The true religion which shall satisfy our mind and heart, our conscience and our will, must be one that does not shut us up in, but lifts us up high above, the world; in the midst of time it must impart to us eternity; in the midst of death give us life; in the midst of the stream of change place us on the immovable rock of salvation.  This is the reason why transcendence, supernaturalism, revelation, are essential to all religion."  (Bavinck, The Philosophy of Revelation, page 17.) 

"Religion and philosophy have the same objects."  (John Caird, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, The Croall Lectures; 1878-79 (Glasgow: J Maclchose, 1880), 1.  Cited in K. Scott Oliphint, Reasons of Faith, 15)  That is, religion and philosophy are about origins, belief, and ethics—the same subject matter.

Religion is Biblical Christianity, based upon the inerrancy and sufficiency of the 66 books of the Protestant Bible, is the only belief system that can satisfy these criteria of religion.  All other claims by beliefs that call themselves or are called by others as "religion" or "philosophy" are false.  Therefore, Christianity is the only religion.  All other "religions" are false and caricatures of this true religion.

"The problem confronting paganism (and all non-Christian religions) is thus apparent: only a fully self-conscious, self-existent, sovereign, and creating God can save man, because only He can fully control, govern, and determine all things."  J. R. Rushdoony, Salvation and Godly Rule, page 2)

Secular quasi-religion: A term used by Tillich to describe humanism, communism, fascism, socialism, nationalism, and other such ideologies.  While Tillich is certainly not an evangelical theologian, his discussion of these "-isms" is quite relevant to the notion that they are indeed religions.  Everyone believes in either a religion proper (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc.) or a quasi-religion.  See Christianity and Encounter.  Thus, Karl Marx only replaced one "opiate of the people" with his own opiate—history now reveals the deadliness and devastation caused by his religion, as history reveals the overwhelming advance of civilization under Christianity.  Greg Bahnsen has an article contrasting Christianity with other "religions" here.

Religion-science conflict:  see conflict thesis.

Responsibility: See Freedom, freedom of the will and Law and Freedom.

Revelational epistemology: the system of knowledge that begins with Sola scriptura or the 66 books of the agreed-upon Bible as its first principle or axiom from which all other knowledge is derived.

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Salvation: Simply, "to be rescued from something."  Thus, to understand any form of salvation, one must know from what he has been saved.  Salvation in the Bible is no different.  But, few Christians seem to understand the full extent of the terrible and severe circumstances from which they have been rescued, and the great opportunities which they have been given in their earthly life, not just heaven.  The Kingdom of Heaven  begins now!  See Salvation: Its Phases and Wonderful Fullness: Often Considered Too Narrowly.

Scholasticism: The work of the "Scholastics" (Abelard, Aquinas, Ockham, and others) during the late Middle Ages.  Virtually every modern idea and philosophy can be traced back to their work.  Thus, Scholasticism is foundational to modern "scholasticism" (scholarship). 

Science: Beginning with the Scholastics about 1200, theology was called "The Queen of the Sciences."   "Science," as used in this sense, referred to any discipline of systematic study.  Webster's Dictionary of 1828 (see References below), in his 2nd definition states, "In philosophy, a collection of the general principles or leading truths relating to any subject. Pure science ... is built on self-evident truths; but the term science is also applied to other subjects founded on generally acknowledged truths...."  In modern times, "science" refers to the physical and natural sciences.  The great problem is that the more "precise" sciences of physics, chemistry, and mathematics connote the same precision to such areas as biology, psychology (of man), and medicine, that these latter areas do not have.  For more on this discussion, see What Is Science? Science could also be considered a synonym of systematics, as in systematic theology.  By science and systematics, subject matter is fitted and understood as parts of a whole.  Then, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

"The term, 'scientist,' was not coined until 1834."  (Pearcey and Thaxton, The Soul of Science, 10)  Ed: I suggest that much of the derogation of Biblical Christianity has resulted from this change in the meaning of science.  The "science" of systematic theology and its derivative ethics forms the most coherent system of any other philosophy or "religion."

Science-religion conflict: "The idea of a war between science and religion is a relatively recent invention—one carefully nurtured by those who hope the victor in the conflict will be science.... (The goal of Thomas H. Huxley and others) was to overthrow the cultural dominance of Christianity.... to secularize society, replacing the Christian worldview with scientific naturalism, a worldview that recognizes the existence of nature alone." (Pearcey and Thaxton, The Soul of Science, 19)  See conflict thesis.

Scientific creationism: see Creationism

Scientific method: A system of steps by which theories about the physical universe may be tested and "proved."  This proof is limited to the design of the experiment.  It is not proof in the philosophical sense of finding truth.  Many people are deceived by the use of proof in this way.  The scientific method, by design, is limited to proofs in the physical world.  It can say nothing about the supernatural world because the method excludes any supernatural interference by design.  See Proof.

"Writers on scientific method usually tell us that scientific discoveries made "inferentially," that is to say, from putting together many facts.  But this is far from being correct.  The facts by themselves are never sufficient to lead unequivocally to the really profound discoveries.  Facts are always analyzed in terms of the prejudices of the investigator.  The prejudices are of a deep kind, relating to our view on how the Universe "must" be constructed."  Sir Fred Hoyle, Highlights in Astronomy (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1977), page 35-36.

Scientism, scientific realism (rational realism): "The view that science progressively secures true, or approximately true, theories about the real, theory-independent world 'out there' and does so in a rationally justifiable way."  (Moreland, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, pages 326-327)  This truth, then, becomes the foundation for a philosophy of reality that denies anything supernatural and provides all the necessary answers to individual's and society's issues and problems.  Logical positivism is one form of scientism.

Scripture: The 66 books of the Bible that is commonly agreed-upon by Bible-believing Christians worldwide.  See The objective Bible under objective.

Scripturalism: See dogmatism.

Self-refuting statement: See performative contradiction.

Sensus divinitatis: Latin for "sense of divinity."  The primary text of the Bible from which this concept comes is Romans 1:18-32-2:16 where man deceives himself about his innate knowledge of God, and the results are God's "giving him over" to worse sins than he would have otherwise have committed.  This "sense of divinity" is commonly discussed among evangelical philosophers, especially those Reformed.  However, their base reference is often that of a person (e.g., Alvin Plantinga bases his sensus divinitatis on Aquinas and Calvin), rather than the Scriptures.  Exactly this term means in its fullness is a matter of debate and speculation.  However, no evangelical apologetics should be done without some  understanding of what this term means. 

Sequence: "Logical sequence is not necessarily temporal sequence. Temporal sequence is not necessarily causal sequence."  Paul Helm here.

Skepticism: "With me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been developed from the mind of lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy.  Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?"  [Cited in Moreland and Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, page 103.  Original in Darwin's letter William Graham Down, dated July 3, 1881, in The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin Including an Autobiographical Chapter, ed. Francis Darwin, 2 vols. (London: John Murray, Albermarle Street, 1887), 1:315-316.]

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Sociology: A "modern science" that studies the patterns of thinking, speech, and behavior of groups.  However, there is no sociological norm, other than Scripture, to determine whether those activities are ethical or unethical.  "What is" can never determine an "ought." 

Solipsism: the view that any real knowledge is limited to one's own mind, as other mind's cannot be known directly.  One could be dreaming, or the other person could be a mirage or an hallucination.  To this Ed, solipsism is one of the most difficult problems in philosophy—one that cannot be overcome except by Special Revelation in which God tells of God's mind and the existence of other minds.

Soul:  the immaterial component of man, also called mind, spirit, heart, and will.

“The soul, rather than the sterile abstraction of an ego, was an entire and unified spiritual and corporeal reality; it was the life and form of the body, encompassing every aspect of human existence, from the nous to the animal functions, uniting reason and sensation, thought and emotion, spirit and flesh, memory and presence, supernatural longing and natural capacity; open before being, a permeable and multiplicity attendance upon the world, it was that in which being showed itself, a logos gathering the light of being into itself, seeing and hearing in the things of the world the logoi of being, allowing them to come to utterance in itself, as words and thought." (David Bentley Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite, 138, found at www.leithart.com )

Speculative philosophy, metaphysics, or cosmology: “the endeavor to frame a coherent, logical, necessary system of general ideas in terms of which every element of our experience can be interpreted.” (A. N. Whitehead, Process and Reality, page 3).  “Attempts to synthesize an overall picture of reality as a whole, and of the place of mankind within it.... large scale philosophies of the kind found in Hegel or Bradley, or many religious pictures of the cosmos.”  (Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy)  Speculative philosophy is contrasted with “critical philosophy” in which rationalism interprets experience.  It is “speculative” because it exceeds rational precepts, as Kant’s noumena and placement of the knowledge of God beyond his “critical” structures.  However, Broad comments, “the discursive form of cognition by means of general concepts can never be completely adequate to the concrete Reality which it seeks to describe.”  (See here.)  Ed: Thus, the attempt by atheists and others to exclude religions and other sources of “Reality” beyond the empirical are simply ignoring a large portion of philosophical history and thought—a naive and foolish approach.

Spirit: See soul.

Starting point, starting principle: I use this term with some variation from other philosophers.  It is usually used as a synonym for first principle.  However, one's starting point or principle does not necessarily equate with one's final or most basic (first) principle.  Descartes really worked from a starting principle, not a first principle, because he needed a prior proposition to complete his syllogism, "Anyone who thinks exists."  Then comes his "I think; therefore I am."  Many atheists' starting principle has been, "Christianity lacks evidential validity."  But upon investigation (and the work of the Holy Spirit), their first principle becomes "Christianity, as defined by the Bible, is true."  An empiricist may start with "All the universe is real because I see it."  When he becomes a rationally consistent  Christian, he will see that the universe is the "substance of things unseen."  See See Where Do You Begin?

Subconscious mind: See Exploring the Unconscious.

Subjectivism: The epistemological idea that reality is person-determined and that each person determines his own reality.

Subjectivity: See objectivity.

Substance: See being, essence.

System, systemization: perhaps, the most neglected tool of both Christian and non-Christian philosophies.  First, few true or total systems are devised.  Thus, no one knows whether they cohere, that is, are internally and thoroughly consistent.  Second, of those systems that may approach completeness, the standard of coherence is rarely applied.  "Without an integrated system, it is easy to 'solve' two special problems (of any kind) from two incompatible principles without noticing the inconsistency; with an integrated system is it easy to demolish less skillful constructions."  (Gordon Clark, Thales to Dewey, page 269)

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Tabula rasa: Literally, Latin for "blank slate," a term first discussed in the "modern" era by John Locke.  If the mind were truly "blank," that is, without any prior knowledge or "categories," anything presented to it would "stick" no more than a camera that is turned off.  Babies are born with an extensive knowledge of how to suckle, move their eyes and extremities, cry, and eventually to talk and walk.  In De Magistro, Augustine works through a teaching process whereby all knowledge is supernatural, that is, provided immediately by the Logos, Himself, Jesus Christ.

Tension: for example, D. A. Carson's book, Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Biblical Perspectives in Tension ((Wipf and Stock, 2002).  Almost always, "tension" is used to denote an irresolvable impasse, as the example cited.  There are three perspectives, however,  (1) There is no tension in God.  He is perfectly at peace with Himself and His Sovereignty.  (2) Many tensions can be removed by further study and application of reason and logic applied to Biblical truth.  Thus, "tension" is usually only apparent, not real.  "Tension" should not be invoked after only superficial reflection for this reason.  (3) There can be no tension in Biblical philosophy or ethics.  The Christian is never faced with "a choice between two evils."  See John J. Davis article.  Neither is there ever any conflict in the Biblical system of ethics for the individual, family, society, state, or world.  Also, see paradox and mystery, synonyms of this use of tension.

Truth is "what is" or the "actual state of affairs" and is eternal. Truth is God. Truth is the knowledge found in the Bible.  Faith, truth, and knowledge are synonymous in the Bible.

Truth exists in different contexts for God and for man.  (1)  In a sense, only God can know truth because He is omniscient, and man is finite.  "What is" has a context that includes the entire universe and God's mind.  While man can speculate about the Butterfly Effect, God knows exactly how the flapping of the butterfly's wings affects the weather around the earth.  Further, He knows how a man's thoughts relate to His actions (Jeremiah 17:9-10).  In relation to the remainder of the universe and to all thinking beings, only God "knows" with the absolute certainty that truth requires. 

(2) In two different senses, a man cannot know truth and can know truth.  (A) Man cannot know truth the way that God does.  (B) But man can know truth.  God can know everything about the truth, "Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt."  Man can know only what God has said about "a state of affairs" in the Bible.  But that "partial knowledge" is true.  Man's knowledge corresponds to God's knowledge.  Thus, when man knows what God has revealed in the Scriptures, he knows truth.

(3).  Apart from the Bible, man cannot know truth.  If three people witness an automobile accident, each will see what happened in a considerably different way.  Even assuming that they are doing their best to describe what happened, they will not agree.  Neither each one, nor all together knows all that happened.  Man can know the truth of the Bible, but he can never empirically know "what is" because he is finite.

It is quite interesting and extremely important that God does not call man to know truth apart from the Bible.  God said, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."  God's requirement of man is that he not intentionally tell something that he knows is false except to an enemy (as opposed to a "neighbor").  God only requires that each person make his best effort to tell what he believes to be true. 

For a more complete discussion of the many facets of truth for philosophy and the authority of Scripture, see Truth: A Comprehensive Review.  Much discussion about truth is confusing because the difference of truth quantitatively and qualitatively is different for God and man.  The use of the word "truth" in the Bible makes this difference clear.  Synonyms of truth are real (reality) and exist (existence).

Truism: A statement that is "true" most of the time.  For example, the sun rises every morning.  Well, by whatever metaphysics a person believes, one day the sun will not rise.  Possible synonym of a proverb (colloquial, not Biblical).  For example, "He who hesitates is lost," vs. "Look before you leap."  Both cannot be true, but there is a truth in each.

Truth, two-fold theory: "The theory that what is true in philosophy may be false in theology and conversely.   (For example) in theology it is true to say that there is a hell, but in philosophy it is true that there is no hell.  Both of these expressions are the same truth."  (Gordon Clark, Thales to Dewey, page 267) This same term could be used to apply to any apparent conflict between Christian faith and any other worldview or philosophy.  A Biblical concept of truth means that the Bible is true in whatever area to which it speaks, and the Scripture speaks to every area of life and worldview.  There can be only one truth in reality.  Where language is clear that there is a conflict between Scripture and philosophy, philosophy is always false.  There can be only one truth, or as Francis Schaeffer phrased it, "true truth." "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One!" See Unity of God and Philosophy.

U

Ultimate concern (Paul Tillich): the central focus of Paul Tillich's definition of faith.  "William Alston notes, and rightly so, that what psychologically concerns a person ultimately need hardly coincide with what is in fact and truth ontologically ultimate." ("Tillich's Conception of a Religious Symbol," cited in Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority, Vol. 1, 62)

Unconditional love: a term that is non-sensical and illustrates the grave misunderstanding of what love is.  Love is conditional by definition.  Love is the sacrificial fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8, 10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8).  Love is always conditioned by law.  The love of John 3:16 is conditioned on Jesus' fulfillment of the law to propitiate His Father and to impute that fulfillment to effect salvation of the elect. 

Underdetermination: See Duhem-Quine thesis.

"Unexamined life":  Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."  If a pagan saw the value of reading, thinking, and reflecting, how much more should the regenerate Christian "examine" God's revelation for his own good and God's glory?

Universal: See Classification

Unknowable: "Gordon Clark reminds us of the assertion of an unknowable, that whether by Kant or his modern successors, really asserts nothing.  To know that X is the limit of knowledge requires the knowledge that Y is beyond the limit; but then Y is not completely unknowable."  (Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority, Vol. 1, page 63.)  See ding an sich.

V

Value: The subjective condition of "what matters" to a person and is evidenced by his words and works (actions, behavior).  Paul Tillich has called this concept "ultimate concern."  The objects of one's worship would be a synonym, as "worship" means to give "weigh," that is, "value" to an object.

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Will, permissive will of God: "We may 'speak of the permissive will of God in order to stress man's undoubted responsibility for sin, but this distinction may never lead to subversion of the clear teaching of Scripture on the all-controlling if ultimate and mysterious power of God."  ( John Frame quoting Van Til in Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought, page 83.  Original quote is from Van Til, An Introduction to Systematic Theology, page 175)

Will, willingness: (1) The will of man within himself.  The will is the motive, emotive force, or judgment that is sufficient or insufficient to result in an action.  If “I am willing,” does not result in action, then I am not convinced sufficiently to act.  In this process, the will has a striking resemblance to faith.  Perhaps, the old “faculties of the mind” and modern psychology have made the mind more complicated than is necessary.  Francis Turretin of the 17^th century posited only the intellect and the will.  The mind, then, consists of knowledge and a willingness or unwillingness to act on that knowledge.  Faculty psychology, receiving considerable weight from modern psychology, added  a third component of the mind, “emotion.”  However, emotion is just a sensation that change may occur or has occurred.  Its power ranges from weak to quite intense.  “For example, “I could care less.”  Or, “I am so angry that I am going to kill you!”  However, the present situation and past experience (a form of knowledge) give an emotion its intensity  I can feel “sad,” “mad,” “afraid,” or “glad” about a wide range of thoughts and situations (knowledge). 

The mystery is how “willingness” is determined.  This judgment could be some sort of value or a command.  It could be the feeling attached to that value or command.  All these interactions cannot be addressed here.  But I propose that “will,” as willingness, is a synonym of faith.  That is, both faith and will are actions based upon knowledge with an expected result that is dependent upon Reality (the truthfulness of that knowledge).  If I believe (have faith) that I ought to do something (go to church Sunday), then I will do it.  If I don’t’ go to church Sunday, I did not truly believe that I should.

There is a sense in which “unwilling” cannot occur.  If a child is unwilling to go to school on a particular day, he has “willed” that he not go.  So, concerning any decision to be considered, “unwilling” and “willing” are the opposite sides of that one decision.

(2) The will of man compelled by a higher power.  A king may force a man into slavery against his will.  This situation is more complicated for actually the man chooses slavery over the punishment that would occur did he not “will” to be a slave, perhaps death.  So, in a sense, no man faces a situation in which he does not “will” himself into one of several options.  While that higher power may limit his choices, he still has some relative choice.

As the Highest Power, God does not compel man.  “God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that it is neither forced, nor, by any absolute necessity of nature, determined to good, or evil” (Westminster Confession of Faith, IX:1).  God does limit man to two choices in all his decisions: God’s moral will or evil, Heaven or Hell.  Man must choose between pleasing God and pleasing himself.  But, properly understood, no conflict exists between what God has prescribed and what is best for individual man.  The problem is that only the regenerate can understand this unity of God’s will and man’s will. 

(3) The decretive will of God.  God’s will is different altogether from man’s will.  If God wills something, that something occurs.  With God, willing and completion are one and the same.  For Him, willing is simultaneous with his action.  From man’s perspective, God’s willing may take place over time, as God has willed everything that occurs in human history. 

(4)  The will of God may be expressed in Scripture as His declarative (prescriptive, moral) will for men, for example, Romans 2:18.  God prescribes behaviors for men that He knows are best for them.  As was mentioned in (2) above, the problem is that unregenerate man’s heart cannot understand this goodness.

The question arises, “How can God’s decretive will and man’s free will be reconciled?”  Man’s will is not coerced.  No man ever feels (senses, is aware of) working against his own willingness.  He may feel strongly compelled by his values or the teaching of another, but his final decision is never forced upon him.  So, while God “wills and to do His good pleasure,” in all men, they are never compelled by God so to do.

Wisdom: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10).  "Foolish" is different in the Biblical sense.  It is not just "unwise" or not the best policy, but it is ethical and religious—enmity against God.  This attitude is easily seen in the atheism and agnosticism of our day.  God has chosen the foolishness of the Cross—His greatest wisdom—to humble the earthly wise (I Corinthians 1:27).  True philosophers, who "love wisdom," will love the Word of God in its entirety and discuss it at length in their writing and speaking.

 “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.  And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.  However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,   nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.  These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴ But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.  For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”  (I Corinthians 2:1-16, NKJV)

"In (Christ) are hidden all the treasures (thesaurus) of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).

Wisdom Books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.  One wonders why Christian philo-sophers ("lovers of wisdom") rarely discuss God's wisdom in these books, rather than their own.

Works righteousness: A first principle of every religion or philosophy posits that man must contribute in some way to "make himself better" or to "save" himself.  This definition includes virtually all "free will" philosophies and Christian beliefs, especially those called "Arminian."  Only those theologies called "Calvinism," "Reformed," or "Presbyterian," as posited in their creeds are free of the "works righteousness."  They receive salvation and blessings strictly and only on the basis of the grace of God, that is, the sola gratia cry of the Reformation.

Worldview: the composite of beliefs (presuppositions) which govern all the opinions of an individual.  This composite is rarely coherent, but instead is built haphazardly from what is learned from parents, teachers, preachers, books, lectures, and other sources that are considered authoritative.  The only true worldview is that constructed from a careful systemization of Biblical theology and ethics.  Synonyms for a Biblical worldview include Creation Mandate, Biblical ethics, Kingdom of God, Great Commission, and the Two Great Commandments (Biblical love).

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Zoroastrianism: see Glossary, www.bw21.org.

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