• In our last Fast Facts we noted that there are two basic worldviews – Theism (belief in God) and Atheism (the belief that there is no God).
• Atheism rose to social prominence in the Western World during the 19th century when certain philosophers and scientists declared that “God is dead” and science could explain all of reality. Men and women no longer needed to appeal to God or the supernatural to make sense of our existence.
• The inevitable result of this Atheistic worldview was the rise of a philosophy known as Secular Humanism. Secular Humanism says that humanity is supreme and that men and women are the pinnacle of the natural world.
• In the Humanist worldview, since there is no God, humanity is simply an accident and a product of millions of years of random, chance events through the process of evolution.
• Humanism declares that men and women are alone in the universe and therefore there is no ultimate meaning to life, nor any absolute truth or morality to guide us. In fact, for the Humanist, these are just concepts that humanity creates and defines on our own terms.
• Humanism has become, today, the basis of education and belief throughout most of the world. In upcoming Fast Facts we will discuss some of the foundational assumptions upon which Secular Humanism rests, as well as its sad and disastrous philosophical implications for individuals and societies.

For more information on the importance of a person’s worldview, please check out the book, Apologetics For A New Generation, available in our online store.

• Every person has a worldview or philosophy of life that influences how they think, act, and perceive reality.
• The fundamental questions that all worldviews must answer are called “The three great questions of life”: 1) What is the origin of life? 2) What is the meaning of life? and 3) What is our ultimate destiny?
• How a person answers these three most basic questions will influence everything else in their life: their value for human beings, their basis for morality, their purpose for living, and even their standard of living.
• The two most basic worldviews are Theism and Atheism. Theism affirms that there is a God; and Atheism declares that there is no God. Both of these worldviews have profound implications and numerous important questions that arise from them. We will explore these further in our upcoming Fast Facts.

For more information on the importance of a person’s worldview, please check out Dr. Carlson’s lecture, World Religions: What Makes Jesus Unique? available in CD or MP3 in our online store.

• In Genesis 3:15 God prophesied that the Messiah would be of the human race, from the seed of a woman. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in that he was the only person in history not conceived through the seed of a man.
• In Genesis 12 God promised Abraham, roughly 2,200 years before the birth of Jesus, that he would make his descendants into a great nation and that through him all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy as the Jewish Messiah who would provide salvation for all people.
• In 2 Samuel 7:12-16 God told King David, roughly 1,000 years prior to the birth of Jesus, that his throne and kingdom would be established forever. Jesus came from the line of David (Matthew 1) and became the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who will reign forever (Rev. 11:15).
• In Isaiah 7:14 God prophesied through Isaiah, roughly 700 years before the birth of Jesus, that the Messiah would be born of a virgin and would be called Immanuel, meaning God with us. Jesus was the fulfillment of this prophecy as God come in flesh, born of a virgin.
• In Micah 5:2, roughly 700 years prior to the birth of Jesus, God prophesied that the Messiah would be born in the town of Bethlehem. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in fulfillment of this prophecy.

For more information on the amazing Messianic prophecies found throughout the Old Testament, please check out the Apologetics Study Bible for Students, available in our online store.

The Bible teaches the following about our enemy, Satan:

• He is the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4).
• He is the deceiver of the human race (Gen. 3:4-13).
• He is the archenemy of God (Mt. 4:6; Jn. 8:44; 2 Cor. 2:11).
• He reigns over sinners (Acts 26:18).
• He attempts to deceive Christians (Eph. 6:12; Mt. 24:24).
• He creates deceptive wonders (2 Thess. 2:9).
• He masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).
• He was defeated in God’s plan by Jesus’ birth (Gen. 3:15).
• He could not tempt Jesus to sin (Mt. 4:1-11).
• He was defeated by Jesus’ death (Heb. 2:14-15; Col. 2:15).
• He is doomed for eternity (Rev. 20:7-10).

For more information on Satan and the world of the Occult, please check out Dr. Carlson’s lecture, The Occult Explosion, available in CD or MP3 in our online store.

• White Magic, also known as Witchcraft or Wicca, is one of the most popular areas of the Occult today.
• Wicca is essentially a monistic/pantheistic worldview. Wiccans believe in one universal, impersonal force called “the One” or “the All” which permeates all things; and they believe that everything in the world is spiritually interconnected.
• Wiccans believe that “the One” is represented by a host of pagan deities, but Wiccan worship is primarily directed towards the Mother Goddess (referred to as Diana, Isis, or Demeter) and her partner, the horned god, Pan. The worship of nature deities is also prominent in Wicca.
• The primary rule of Wicca is known as the Wiccan Rede, it states, “Do what thou will, and harm none.” Wiccans often point to this “moral code” to attempt to justify their religion.
• Wiccans practice casting spells in order to improve everyday life situations and to transform themselves personally. In contrast to Black Magic or Satanism, casting harmful spells or curses against others is forbidden in Wicca.
• Wicca is a false religion based on selfish pursuits (“Do what though will”), the worship of creation rather than the Creator, and the practice of casting spells, which God forbids (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). God opposes Wicca because it sets up nature and the individual as idols of worship (Romans 1:25).

For more information on the influence of Wicca and the Occult today, please check out the documentary DVD, Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged, available in our online store.

• 1 Timothy 4: 1 states, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” We are seeing this today as never before, especially in regards to the world of the Occult.
• Within the realm of the Occult there are three primary branches: Mantic, Magic, and Spiritism.
• The term Mantic refers to divination or fortunetelling. Examples of this area of the Occult include practices like astrology, tarot cards, palmistry, numerology, etc. The Mantic practices of the Occult are forbidden by God in Deuteronomy 18:20-22 and Isaiah 47:13-15.
• Within the area of Magic there are two schools: White Magic and Black Magic. White Magic refers to Witchcraft or Wicca. This school believes in one universal spiritual force that is basically good. Black Magic refers to Satanism. This school believes in two poles of power in the universe, God and Satan. We will discuss both of these areas of the Occult in more detail in future Fast Facts, but it is important to recognize that practicing Magic in any form is condemned in Scriptures like Deuteronomy 18:9-13.
• Spiritism refers to the practice of contacting the dead or the spirit realm. Examples of this area of the Occult include practices like séances, consulting mediums, playing with the Ouija board, etc. God forbids the practice of contacting the dead in passages such as Leviticus 19:31 and Isaiah 8:19.

For more information on the world of the Occult, please check out the documentary DVD titled, Pop Culture Paganism: Vampires, Wicca, and the Occult, available in our online store.

• What is the Occult? The term Occult comes from the Latin term occultus, which refers to “hidden or secret things.” It refers specifically to the incursion of a fourth dimension, a spirit realm, into our three-dimensional world.
• It is estimated that over 50 million people, including a growing rate of young adults and children, are dabbling in the occultic world.
• Well-known, and even popular elements of the occult that we see today are: astrology, tarot cards, palm reading, Ouija boards, psychics, mediums and witchcraft, to simply name a few.
• But when we look to the Bible, we see very clearly God’s condemnation for those who look to such false powers and wonders: Deuteronomy 18:9-14 reveals God’s distaste for those who look to those “who practice witchcraft, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or one who calls up the dead... You shall be blameless before the Lord your God.” See also, 2 Kings 21:1-6, 10-15.
• The Bible says that it is the job of the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and teach us all things in this life. God wants to be the Guide and Teacher of your life. The Bible says there is only one God—and only He knows all things about you—which include all of your past, present, and future.

For more information on the World of The Occult and how we as Christians can give an informed response to it, please check out the book, Fast Facts on False Teachings available in our online store.

• The first American Thanksgiving was a feast celebrated by the Pilgrims at Plymouth (Massachusetts) in 1621. It was an expression of gratefulness for God’s faithfulness and provision.
• President George Washington proclaimed the first national day of Thanksgiving on November 26, 1789, citing a need to acknowledge “the many and signal favours of Almighty God.”
• In the early to mid-1800’s a woman named Sarah Josepha Hale undertook a nearly 40 year letter writing campaign urging politicians to create an official Thanksgiving holiday for the United States of America.
• In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War and seeking to encourage national unity, President Abraham Lincoln made a Presidential proclamation declaring that the final Thursday of November would be a national holiday devoted to Thanksgiving.
• On December 26, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a congressional resolution moving the national holiday of Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November.

• The final characteristic of the Postmodern worldview that we will highlight in our Fast Facts series is how religious truth has moved from the rational to the mystical.
• With the Postmodern shift away from objective truth and absolutes based on reason and Divine revelation, many in Postmodern culture have embraced a renewed mysticism: seeking mystical, supernatural experiences or encounters with the Divine.
• Postmodernism has declared that religious truth is not discovered through the rational study of Divine revelation (the Bible), but is truly experienced through mystical, personal encounters with the spiritual realm.
• This is why in recent years we’ve seen an explosion of interest in non-traditional religions, especially non-Western religions, which emphasize the interaction of men and women with the spiritual realm. Eastern philosophy, Yoga, Wicca, and many other New Age and Occult practices are exploding in popularity today, all offering humanity a unique spiritual experience or mystical encounter with the Divine.
• This move from the rational to the mystical is even happening within the church today, as more and more churches are deemphasizing the role of Scripture and instead elevating various experiential forms of “worship”. For many churches today, Bible studies and sermons are devalued, and mystical practices like contemplative prayer, walking prayer labyrinths, and Yoga mediation are highlighted as means to providing congregants with a unique spiritual experience.
• While spiritual experiences are not bad in and of themselves, when removed from a basis in God’s word, spiritual experiences have a tremendous ability to deceive and draw people away from the truth. This is why Christians are admonished to stand firm and hold fast to the Word of God (2 Thess. 2:15); for only God’s word gives us an objective basis by which we can judge whether or not a spiritual practice or experience is in line with His will for our lives.

For more information on many of the mystical, spiritual practices that are being elevated in our Postmodern culture today, please check out Dr. Carlson’s book Fast Facts on False Teachings, available in our online store.

• In part six of these Fast Facts on the Postmodern worldview we highlighted the disorientation with reality that has been created by Postmodern thought, stemming from its rejection of absolute truth, meaning, and morality.
• The seventh characteristic of Postmodernism is seen in how more and more people are turning to virtual reality to find a sense of meaning and identity and to fill the void in their lives that Postmodern thought inevitably creates.
• What has essentially taken place with many in our culture is they have said, “If I have no inherent identity, meaning, or worth as an individual, I will create identity, meaning, and worth for myself.”
• And so, in recent years we’ve seen a dramatic rise in interest and participation in social networking websites, blogs, podcasts, role-playing games, virtual worlds online, and reality television shows. And while these things are not bad in and of themselves, for many, they have become their primary means of attempting to create a sense of self-worth in a culture that denies any inherent self-worth.
• The problem with virtual reality, however, is that it’s like every other false idol; it cannot fill the void in our lives. Only a relationship with our Creator God can give us the meaning, identity, and worth we all long for.

For more information on Postmodernism and the Christian response to it, please check out the Apologetics Study Bible for Students, available in our online store.