Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. [Heb 11:3] |
Subject: In the beginning |
Bible Note: Dear keliy, I was not being critical of philosophy, and certainly not of rationality -- nor was John Calvin in the passage I cited. Philosophy, when it is the handmaiden of theology, is a valuable servant. Rationality, although tainted by sin, is a communicable attribute of God; i.e., it is a divine attribute that humans share (to a certain degree) with their Creator. Let me see if I can articulate what I was trying to say: A syllogism is an argument in which the proposition is inferred from the premises. No matter how sound the deductive process itself, if the premises are flawed, the conclusion will be wrong. The Scriptures instruct us about two kinds of revelation: general revelation is available to all men through what the old theologians called "the light of nature" (cf Romans 1:19); special revelation is the Word of God (Acts 17:30-31; Hebrews 1:1-2). Anthropology -- the study of the nature of man -- is both a subject of theology and philosophy. However, without the underpinnings of special revelation, it cannot arrive at truthful conclusions. Without the explicit revelation of creation and the fall, man cannot really make heads or tails of himself. Man sees a ruin, and thinks it is a castle. Theological anthropology, on the other hand, with the benefit of special revelation, makes the nature of man is clear. We understand what the castle was built to look like, and that what is before us is a ruin. The application is this: If we start with what God reveals in His word, we can arrive at reasonable conclusions. If we make His word servant to our reason, we arrive at silly conclusions. Like a few that I have read from the author of this thread. In Him, Doc |