20 hours

TILLERY | 1

Jasonus Tillery

APOL 500

24th September 2016

1. Worldview Selection

Worldview selected: Naturalism.

Naturalism is the philosophical viewpoint that supports that belief that all existence began from natural properties and causes. In it, there is no room for spiritual ideologies of supernatural explanations about the beginning of life or existence. Naturalists basically believe in the laws and forces as the controls of the world and how things run. Naturalism is the main rival to deism. Naturalism is expressed in the belief that there is no “main man in the sky.”

2. Summary of Significant Beliefs of the Naturalism Worldview (using several major categories of belief)

· Naturalists believe that the big bang was the source of all life where energy was the main source.

· The fingerprint of God, also recognized as the seven days significance in the creation of the world and everything else, is seen in usage within Naturalism, thus the usage of the repeated number sequences that have digit seven (7) in them (Mahner, 2016).

· Naturalism also believe that energy cannot be formed or created; they, therefore, do not believe in creation, but believe in the big bang theory where energy transformation was the rationale behind the existence of the world.

· Naturalism asserts that here are many galaxies, and that the Milky Way is not the only galaxy, and that the cause of the big bang was because of the multiple galaxies and energy transformation (Mahner, 2016).

· Naturalism asserts that the whole idea of Christianity was developed to formulate a system of control that can restrain people so that the rules and laws of supernatural beings can prevent man from causing havoc and chaos.

· Naturalisms also questions the first verse of the bible, which asserts that during the first day of creation, God separated light and dark, and on the fourth day, he separated the heavenly bodies. This contradiction makes it obvious that there is a discrepancy in the theory of creation because there cannot be day and night if there are no heavenly bodies (Putnam, 2016).

Preliminary Evaluation Ideas (focus on 8 criteria for evaluating a worldview)

Groothuis provides a list with which apologetic reasoning should be guided. The lists states that

· A worldview must explain what it ought to explain (Groothuis 2011, 52) – Naturalism explores the origin of life and provides a concise and scientific approach that is approachable through natural laws and science, albeit not applicable in experimental testing due to the sheer span of time and global mass when it comes to the simulation of theories such as the big bang.

· A worldview must exhibit internal logical consistency (Groothuis 2011, 53) – Naturalism uses logical comparisons of the Christian worldview and naturalism to show that the theory of creation-fall-redemption and the existence of a supernatural heavenly being are illogical, and that the logical thing is that which can be proven through science as naturalism does.

· A worldview should be evaluated by its coherence (Groothuis 2011, 54) – Naturalism is coherent and comprehensive in its coverage of existence and evolution from the beginning of time to present, incorporating such theories are evolution and natural selection.

· A worldview must obtain factual adequacy (Groothuis 2011, 55) – Albeit lacking in facts about the origin of the earth and the galaxy, it postulates theories that can be backed by research and experimentation using physical components and energy equations.

· A worldview must possess existential viability (Groothuis 2011, 55) – In naturalism, there is proof of life support structures that could have led to the evolution of the different species including mankind to the current organisms and life forms we see today.

· A worldview must demonstrate intellectual and cultural fecundity (Groothuis 2011, 56) – As backed by science, naturalism is backed by Darwin’s theory and biological sciences, which bear experimental proof of things such as evolution (Putin 2016).

· A worldview must not resort to radical ad hoc readjustment (Groothuis 2011, 58) – Naturalism is factual and does not resort to other descriptions other than the scientific ways that are observable and replicable for studies and research. It provides proof through science and critical evaluation of the postulated theories, thereby discounting any doubts that are not backed by science (Mahner 2016).

· All other things being equal, simpler explanations are preferable to unnecessary complex ones (Groothuis 2011, 52) –Naturalism does not assume there are other supernatural beings in charge of controlling the physical world. It takes account of the existent forces of nature and makes sense out of what is tangible and evidenced through studies. This way, it uses simple explanations that are easy to understand and see through replication or simulation and experimentation (Mahner 2016, 96-97).

How is Christianity Better? (Use preliminary basic descriptions of how Christianity s better using reasons in the course text to show why Christianity is true or better, use a bullet list of concise statements)

· Christianity is true, rational and pertinent – Our lack of complete knowledge makes it impossible for us to disprove that God exists

· Not knowing everything means there is no way to disprove God and that God is not human, for he knows more than any man can know.

· Death and life are sourced from a metaphysical realm; apostles did not simply purport to support a reason for which they submitted themselves to death. There is a belief in something higher that makes them opt to die for what they believe.

· Naturalism asserts that the whole idea of Christianity was developed to formulate a system of control that can restrain people so that the rules and laws of supernatural beings can prevent man from causing havoc and chaos.

· Christianity places values on the need to maintain control, and regards the forces of the metaphysical world as superior. It appreciates the fact that there are spiritual beings around us (Parker 2015,12).

· Christianity states that creation was the source of life, and that the fate of mankind is not complete extinction, but transference to a heaven or metaphysical world where life is preserved (Griffiths 2013, 23-24).

· Christian worldview gives people hope for a future and a moral compass that prevents them from destroying what is around because they fear judgment day (Crocker 2013, 65-66).

Preliminary Bibliography (five academic sources)

Crocker, W. 2013. A Christian's Introduction to Naturalism. Biola University.

Griffiths, P. J. 2012. Philosophy and the Christian worldview: analysis, assessment and development. D. Werther, & M. D. Linville (Eds.). A&C Black.

Groothuis, D. 2011. Christian Apologetics: A comprehensive case for biblical faith. InterVarsity Press.

Mahner, M. 2016. Science, Naturalism, and Education. Springer.

Parker, C. 2015. Christian worldview. Nurture: the voice of the National Union of Associations for Christian Parent-controlled Schools, 49(2), 12.

Putnam, H. 2016. Naturalism, realism, and normativity. Harvard University Press.