Episode 17. At the end of the last episode I introduced a very provocative religious idea, that's in impacts our epistemology. I want you to be aware that there's some serious philosophers and theologians who accept this concept. For example, Alvin Plantinga is one of the most important philosophers in the world today. In his book Warranted Christian Belief, he has an entire chapter on the epistemological impact of sin. Note that his book was published by Oxford University Press, one of the most prestigious academic publishers in the World. Chapter 7, is entitled Sin & It's Cognitive Consequences. The title of section IV is The Noetic Effects of Sin. The Greek term nous means mine. And section B has the title Sin & knowledge. Therefore it's clear that planning a believes that sins impacts our epistemology, and I want you to be aware that some leading scholars like him accept this idea. In the light of this last religious epistemological category, the impact of sin on our thinking, we can return to our first foundational principle in this course, and consider sin and the metaphysics physics principle. Let me cast this issue as a question, if sin is real, if the greatest sin is breaking command number one, that is, not putting God as number one, then will sin impact the upward and downward steps of faith in his principle? For example, takes someone who utterly hates the idea that God exists, will this influence the two way intellectual leaps between their metaphysics and the science? As always, I want to introduce both sides of an issue, so we can ask another question. If someone believes in God, then will this belief impact the upward and downward steps of faith? For example, take someone who completely loves God, will this influence their view of the relationship between science and religion? In the light of these two questions, I think it's clear that we need to be aware, are metaphysical beliefs impact our epistemological tools? Or to put this another way, are religious and philosophical beliefs impact the way we think? This is why good education and critical thinking or so important, they force us to justify our beliefs, and this is one of the goals of this course. It's to push you to first, identify your beliefs, and then for you to give reasons why you accept them. We're now going to shift away from philosophy, and return to theology. And now we will introduce a new set of categories called, Hermeneutical categories. The term Hermeneutics simply refers to, the rules of interpretation for reading a book, even though most people do not know this category, everyone has hermeneutics because we all read books. The reason we're going to focus on Hermeneutics is because the interpretation of the opening chapters of the Bible, is absolutely critical for developing a healthy relationship, between science and religion. To appreciate the importance of Hermeneutics, let's do a drawing exercise. I would like you to draw a picture of the opening scene, in the first two verses of the Bible. Quote 10 sites, Genesis 1:1-2, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Please draw the heavens, the earth, and the waters. Here are some diagrams from my students, of the opening scene in the Bible. Have you notice something? Yes, they all picture the earth to be a sphere. However, I think that most of you know, that ancient people believed that the earth was flat. In fact, to the surprise of most Christians, the Bible has a three tier universe, as seen on page six of the handouts. The three tiers are, heaven above, the Earth in the middle, and the underworld below. And if you think about it, this makes perfect sense from the perspective of ancient people, because they did not have scientific instruments like telescopes. For example, look out at the Earth from an elevated place like a mountain. The Earth looks flat, or look up, it seems like there is a huge inverted bowl above our heads, and it's blue, to think that there was sea water over head, makes perfect sense. The best example of the three tier universe in the Bible, appears in the kenotic Hymn found in Philippians 2:6-11. The Greek verb kanoal means to empty, pour out, and this is one of the most important passages in the Bible. It presents the central Christian belief that God emptied himself out, and became a man in the person of Jesus. And as we noted, in our divine revelation categories, this is known as the incarnation, the belief that God took on human flesh, and entered the world's Jesus. The Apostle Paul is the author of this hymn, and later in the course, you will see the significance of this passage for the issue of origins. But for the time being, just remember that Paul is the author. Verses 10 and 11 of the kenotic hymn appear in quote 11, and we can identify the three tiers in this ancient understanding of the structure of the universe. At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, where, in heaven that tier number one, on earth that's tier number two, and UNDER THE EARTH that's tier number three, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. I have a couple comments with regard to quote 11, and the three tier universe in the kenotic hymn found in Philippians two. The English translation under the Earth, that is commonly found in most Bibles, is not the actual Greek word. This is why we need to know a little Greek. The Greek noun is katachthonion, and it's made up of the preposition kata, which means down, and the noun chthonios, which refers to the underworld. Therefore, a more accurate translation of verse 10 in Philippians 2 reveals it Paul believed in a three tier universe, and this verse should be translated, at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, and on the earth, and in the UNDERWORLD. In other words, one of the most important authors in the Bible, believed in ancient science. Later in the course, I will return to this biblical fact, because it has significant implications for origins. So please keep Philippians 2:10 in mind. End of episode.
