• Last week we began looking at the three ways in which Postmodern philosophy manifests itself by examining Postmodern Existentialism. We saw how Postmodern Existentialism ends in a spiritual vacuum where man has divorced himself from his Creator and ultimately faces an existence that is meaningless and absurd.
• Others in our Postmodern world have not denied the supernatural, but rather, have taken a second option we call Postmodern Spiritualism.
• Postmodern Spiritualism ignores the Judeo-Christian tradition and instead elevates non-Western, non-traditional religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and various forms of Paganism.
• Postmodern Spiritualism believes in a “God”, but generally defines “God” as an impersonal, universal force. This view is essentially the monistic and pantheistic view of Eastern philosophy (monism = all is one / pantheism = all is god).
• Many who embrace Postmodern Spiritualism are also very active in the ecology movement, even to the point of religious zeal. The Postmodern Spiritualist’s passion for the environment stems from their monistic/pantheistic belief that everything is spiritually interconnected, along with the Darwinian view that we’ve all evolved out of the same slimy algae. Therefore, in protecting “Mother Earth” we are actually caring for ourselves.
• Another key element of Postmodern Spiritualism is the belief in universalism, the idea that there is no eternal judgment and ultimately everyone will be saved (becoming one with the impersonal force they call “God”).
• While Postmodern Spiritualism is an attractive option for many people who desire spirituality in their lives, but aren’t interested in submitting to a personal, Creator, there are some significant consequences to this worldview: 1) It devalues human beings (ex. If the dirt is god and you are god, what do you become equal with?); and 2) It’s universalistic view of salvation comes at the expense of your own individuality and personality, as ultimately you cease to exist as you become one with the impersonal all.

For more information on Postmodern Spiritualism and the consequences of this worldview, please check out Dr. Carlson’s lecture titled, New Age Spirituality, available in CD or MP3 in our online store.

• Last week we highlighted the rise and characteristics of Postmodern thought during the second half of the 20th century. We also mentioned how Postmodernism expresses itself in three primary manifestations: Postmodern Existentialism, Postmodern Spiritualism, and Postmodern Secularism.
• Postmodern Existentialism flows directly out of the Naturalistic-Humanistic worldview that there is no God and men and women are alone in the universe.
• Existentialism is simply a fancy philosophical term which means, “meaning of existence”. So, a Postmodern Existentialist is one who recognizes that without a God to instill meaning and purpose to our lives, humanity must create our own meaning and purpose.
• Sadly though, the logical outcome of Existentialist philosophy is that life is ultimately meaningless and absurd. As the famous Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said, “No finite point (man) has meaning without an infinite reference point (God)” (parentheses mine).
• Postmodern Existentialism creates a spiritual vacuum where man has consciously divorced himself from the reality of his Creator (Romans 1:18-32). And the sad reality of Existentialism is that those who embrace this philosophy realize what they have done. Again, quoting Sartre, “That God does not exist, I cannot deny, that my whole being cries out for God I cannot forget.”

For more information on Postmodernism and other Worldviews, please check out the Apologetics Study Bible for Students, available in our online store.

• In the 20th century Secular Humanism’s idealistic myth, that humanity is basically good and could create a Utopia on earth, was shattered by the undeniable reality of human evil and atrocity evidenced in two World Wars, the Holocaust, Stalin’s gulags, Mao’s cultural revolution, and the killing fields of Cambodia, amongst other examples.
• However, instead of returning to the truth of a Creator-God and His moral guidance for society, secular philosophers continued to attempt to explain existence and the meaning of life without Him.
• The mid to late 20th century saw the popular rise of a philosophy known as Postmodernism which would gradually infiltrate all areas of society.
• Postmodernism denies the existence of God and the reality of absolute truth and instead elevates relativism and a politically correct notion of tolerance that calls for uncritical acceptance of all beliefs, practices, and lifestyles.
• Postmodernism expresses itself in three primary manifestations: postmodern existentialism, postmodern spiritualism, and postmodern secularism.
• In our upcoming Fast Facts we will explain these three manifestations of Postmodern thought and highlight the implications of embracing them.

For more information on the philosophy of Postmodernism, please check out Jason Carlson’s 5-disc CD series titled Answering the Postmodern Challenge, available in our online store.

• During the last part of the 19th century, following on the heels of Naturalism and Darwinism, Humanism, or Optimistic Humanism, became the dominant Secular philosophy of life.
• Taking inspiration from philosophers like Nietzsche, Humanism believed that it was religion, and specifically Christianity, that was holding humanity back from our ongoing evolutionary progress towards the emergence of the “Superman”.
• So, Humanistic philosophers declared, “God is dead”, and supposedly freed humanity from the restrictions of religion, believing that in our innate human goodness we could achieve Utopia on earth apart from God.
• However, coming into the 20th century the idealistic hope of Secular Humanism was shattered by the realities of two World Wars, the Holocaust, the Great Depression, a nuclear arms race, and many other examples which demonstrated that men and women are not “basically good”, but instead are bent towards evil.
• The philosophy of Secular Humanism has proven itself to be morally bankrupt and unable to provide a basis upon which to build a just society. However, instead of turning back to God in this situation, humanity has continued to search for meaning and purpose on our own terms.
• In our upcoming Fast Facts we will see the inevitable consequences and the ongoing spiritual confusion that’s resulted from Humanity’s fundamentally flawed search for meaning and purpose divorced from our Creator’s guidance.

For more information on the implications of a person’s worldview, please check out the book, Answers For A Confused Church, available in our online store.

• When Naturalistic and Humanistic philosophers declare that there is no God, there are some profound questions that arise as a result. The first of which is, “If there is no God, what then is the origin of life?”
• When considering this question it is important to realize there are only two possible answers: 1) Life is either the result of a supernatural creative act of God; or 2) Life is the product of spontaneous generation (life from non-living matter) and millions of years of random, chance events through the process of Darwinian evolution. There is no third possibility.
• Since Humanistic philosophers today have ruled out the possibility of a Creator, God, they are forced to declare that evolution is the best explanation for the origin of life; and this is what we have been teaching students in our schools for the past 150 years.
• The theory of evolution states that men and women are ultimately an accident, nothing more than highly evolved slimy algae whose closest ancestors swing from the trees and live in the zoos.
• The practical implications of this belief system are profound. For example, if there is no God and men and women are simply animals: What does this do to the value of human life? What basis do you have for morality, ethics, truth or justice? What is the meaning and purpose of life? What is humanity’s ultimate destiny?
• In our next Fast Facts we will begin to examine the Humanist response to these questions; and we’ll come to see that ultimately the Naturalistic-Atheistic worldview leads to tragedy and confusion.

For more information on the significance of a person’s worldview, please check out Dr. Carlson’s lecture, Red vs. Blue: The Real Cultural Divide, available in our online store.

• Secular Humanism, based on the philosophy of Naturalism, begins with the presupposition that there is no God.
• It’s important to understand, however, that Naturalistic and Humanistic philosophers and scientists never disproved God. What they did was create a definition of reality that is so small, that God simply did not fit!
• Naturalism and Humanism declared that reality is limited to what can be seen, observed, and experimented with in the three dimensional world of natural science. And in the Humanist worldview, since God cannot be put into a scientific “test tube” for observation and experimentation, God simply does not exist.
• The philosophies of Naturalism and Humanism never disproved God; they simply defined God out of existence a priori by limiting themselves to this finite definition of reality.
• In our next Fast Facts we will explore some of the philosophical implications that stem from the Humanistic declaration that there is no God.

For more information on the worldviews of Naturalism and Humanism, please check out Dr. Carlson’s book, Fast Facts On False Teachings, available in our online store.

• 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.