Sejak zaman pre-modern, para intelektualis tersohor seperti Socrates, Plato, dan Aristotle telah aktif menentang worldview dunia yang menjadi ciri utama dalam budaya Yunani kuno. Meski mereka bertiga tidak mengenal Allah, namun mereka menerima anugerah umum (common grace) untuk memaparkan kebenaran yang merujuk kepada Allah.
Socrates dipaksa untuk meminum hemlock karena dia beragumentasi bahwa tidak ada ilah-ilah; yang ada hanyalah ‘Allah’ yang esa sumber segala kebenaran, keindahan, dan kebaikan. Plato lalu mengembangkan ide classical idealism bahwa segala idealisme manusia bersumber dari idealisme transenden dalam pikiran Tuhan. Hal ini dikembangkan oleh Aristotle yang menelurkan konsep the Unmoveable Mover, Tuhan yang transenden sumber dari realita eksternal yang ada dalam dunia, tidak dicipta dan digerakkan oleh siapapun.
Dengan fondasi yang sudah dibangun sedemikian, kita membaca dalam Kisah Para Rasul perjalanan misionaris Paulus kepada Yunani kuno yang telah siap dituai bagi Injil. Orang-orang saat itu telah familiar dengan konsep eksistensi ‘Allah’ yang transenden, realita spiritual, dan keabadian jiwa. Disini kita mengerti latar belakang Paulus menemukan altar bagi “Allah yang tidak dikenal” yang lalu diperkenalkan oleh Paulus (Kisah 17:23).
Kemudian muncullah Agustinus yang membangun konsep teologi berdasar konsep Plato, dan Thomas Aquinas berdasar konsep dari Aristotle. Kedua paradigma ini – rasionalisme klasik dan Alkitab – menjadi karakteristik dunia Barat berabad-abad kemudian. Ilmu pengetahuan yang mengalami kemajuan drastis di tahun 1600-an sebenarnya berangkat dari dua paradigma: paradigma Alkitab bahwa alam dicipta dengan baik dan teratur oleh seorang Pencipta yang berkepribadian, dan rasionalisme klasik bahwa ada hukum alam rasional yang memerintah seluruh mekanisme jagad raya.
Pendirian universitas-universitas terkenal di dunia dilakukan berdasarkan paradigma ini. Harvard University, misalnya, didirikan pada tahun 1646 memiliki lambang perisai (tanda iman) dengan tulisan Veritas (kebenaran) dan dikelilingi tulisan Pro Christo et Ecclesiae (bagi Kristus dan GerejaNya). Sedangkan tujuannya adalah: "Every one shall consider the main end of his life and studies to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life." Namun sejak abad ke 18, rasionalisme mulai menggerogoti tujuan universitas. Allah digeser dari tahtaNya, seiring dengan merasuknya humanisme sekuler ke sel-sel tubuh universitas. Paradigma Alkitab dicampakkan oleh para ilmuwan. Dan rasio manusia dianggap sebagai ukuran tertinggi kebenaran. Scientific methods diciptakan dengan menihilkan epistemologi diluar rasio manusia. Cendekiawan yang adalah ‘istri’ sang kebenaran menyeleweng, bergaul liar dengan banyak pria idaman lain (PIL) bernama humanisme, rasionalisme, dan sekulerisme. Tidak heran Martin Luther berkata: “Your reason is like a whore.”
(paragraf terakhir diatas diilhami oleh tulisan rekan saya: Yohanes Somawiharja)
Feb 21, 2006
Worldview: Creation
What can we learn from the creational worldview?
GOD
We learn about the Creator God who is eternal (which means he is not a created being, as Karl Marx taught), personal (which means the world does not come to be through random chance or evolution, as secular scientists and evolutionists argue), and sovereign (which means he does not leave the world run by itself, as Deism claims). He is the Creator God who created the universe out of nothing (which means he is not part of the created world, as Pantheism claims) in an orderly manner (which means that the creation order is knowable, which is the basis of human epistemology, unlike the secular humanists' view) through his word (which means he is an almighty God who perfect will gets done on earth, despite what atheists believe), as a general revelation of himself (which means human beings have no excuse to be ignorant of God, as Paul wrote to Romans) for all spheres of creation, believers and non-believers, human and non-human (which demonstrates his sovereign rule over all created beings who one day will hold human beings accountable as stewards of his created world).
The Apostolic Confession of Faith summarizes it succintly: I believe in God, the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
MAN
There are six things we can learn about man, among others:
(1) Men and women were created by a personal God in his image, which means as a reflection of God we have personality, intelligence, morality, social capacity, creativity, and self-transcendence, unlike the rest of creation.
(2) Men and women were 'fearfully and wonderfully made', which means we were not mass produced for God knit each of us uniquely in our mother's womb (hence, our respective DNAs), and that we were not results of some random particles slowly evolved for several million years.
(3) The dignity of human beings, regardless their social status, appearance, IQ, etc., is derived from God as reflections of his glory, which should be the basis for everyone fighting for human rights everywhere across the globe.
(4) Men and women as created beings were, are, and will always be below God, the Creator, which means human beings are not the measure of all things (unlike what Protagoras'
teaching of homo mensura), and should always respond to God in obedient gratitude.
(5) Men and women are created to be stewards of the rest of God's creation, a mandate given by God before the Fall, which means the works that we do in all spheres of life should be an
extension God's creative and good works (no excuse for a grumpy face on Monday morning!) and that one day we all be held accountable for this.
(6) The history of mankind is the history of God's work shown directly (through the natural laws and God-ordained institutions such as government and family) and indirectly (through human involvement in politics, art, law, business, education, etc.)
(7) The purpose and meaning of life is found in and only in God alone (the best person to know what a pencil is for is the inventor of pencils; we should use it for writing not tickling our ears).
GOD
We learn about the Creator God who is eternal (which means he is not a created being, as Karl Marx taught), personal (which means the world does not come to be through random chance or evolution, as secular scientists and evolutionists argue), and sovereign (which means he does not leave the world run by itself, as Deism claims). He is the Creator God who created the universe out of nothing (which means he is not part of the created world, as Pantheism claims) in an orderly manner (which means that the creation order is knowable, which is the basis of human epistemology, unlike the secular humanists' view) through his word (which means he is an almighty God who perfect will gets done on earth, despite what atheists believe), as a general revelation of himself (which means human beings have no excuse to be ignorant of God, as Paul wrote to Romans) for all spheres of creation, believers and non-believers, human and non-human (which demonstrates his sovereign rule over all created beings who one day will hold human beings accountable as stewards of his created world).
The Apostolic Confession of Faith summarizes it succintly: I believe in God, the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
MAN
There are six things we can learn about man, among others:
(1) Men and women were created by a personal God in his image, which means as a reflection of God we have personality, intelligence, morality, social capacity, creativity, and self-transcendence, unlike the rest of creation.
(2) Men and women were 'fearfully and wonderfully made', which means we were not mass produced for God knit each of us uniquely in our mother's womb (hence, our respective DNAs), and that we were not results of some random particles slowly evolved for several million years.
(3) The dignity of human beings, regardless their social status, appearance, IQ, etc., is derived from God as reflections of his glory, which should be the basis for everyone fighting for human rights everywhere across the globe.
(4) Men and women as created beings were, are, and will always be below God, the Creator, which means human beings are not the measure of all things (unlike what Protagoras'
teaching of homo mensura), and should always respond to God in obedient gratitude.
(5) Men and women are created to be stewards of the rest of God's creation, a mandate given by God before the Fall, which means the works that we do in all spheres of life should be an
extension God's creative and good works (no excuse for a grumpy face on Monday morning!) and that one day we all be held accountable for this.
(6) The history of mankind is the history of God's work shown directly (through the natural laws and God-ordained institutions such as government and family) and indirectly (through human involvement in politics, art, law, business, education, etc.)
(7) The purpose and meaning of life is found in and only in God alone (the best person to know what a pencil is for is the inventor of pencils; we should use it for writing not tickling our ears).
Biblical Worldview
Just as a miner needs a lamp on his hat to be able to walk around safely in a dark cave, so does Christians need the biblical worldview to be able to live meaningfully in this dark world .
C.S. Lewis in his genius way put it this way: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
Biblical scholars use 4 frameworks to understand the biblical worldview: Creation-Fall-Redemption-Consummation. These frameworks contain the biblical perspective on and answers to larger-than-life questions such as:
- how does the world come to be?
- what is the value of a human being?
- what is the meaning and purpose of life?
- what is wrong with the world?
- can the problems in the world be fixed?
- is there a life after death?
Feb 1, 2006
Submission
Submission is the title of my last week sermon.
Submission is also the hardest spiritual discipline I have personally known. When we submit, we will paradoxically experience freedom, that is freedom from the need to "Have It Your Way." Frank Sinatra may disagree as he seems to prefer "I do it my way" approach.
We need to learn like Jesus who submitted to His Father despite His preference to have the cup of God's wrath taken away from Him. That's the reason why He admonished Peter so hardly when Peter tried to lure Jesus away from the cross. "Get away behind me, Satan!" were His exact words addressed to Peter.
When things do not go as we expected or want them to be, we should learn to let them go. That means, we don't have to be angry, grumpy, disappointed, hurt, and so on. We are set free from anger and bitterness when people don't act towards us the way we think they should.
There are many things that are better left alone, and will get worse when we get entangled in them. This attitude acknowledges God as a Sovereign God who providentially and actively works within us and through us. Submission helps us to allow God be the Lord of our lives.
When Brother Lawrence heard someone told him that his boss had a mistaken idea about him and wanted to terminate his employment, he said "I am in the hands of God, He will do with me as He pleases. If I do not serve Him here, I will serve Him elsewhere."
Submission is also the hardest spiritual discipline I have personally known. When we submit, we will paradoxically experience freedom, that is freedom from the need to "Have It Your Way." Frank Sinatra may disagree as he seems to prefer "I do it my way" approach.
We need to learn like Jesus who submitted to His Father despite His preference to have the cup of God's wrath taken away from Him. That's the reason why He admonished Peter so hardly when Peter tried to lure Jesus away from the cross. "Get away behind me, Satan!" were His exact words addressed to Peter.
When things do not go as we expected or want them to be, we should learn to let them go. That means, we don't have to be angry, grumpy, disappointed, hurt, and so on. We are set free from anger and bitterness when people don't act towards us the way we think they should.
There are many things that are better left alone, and will get worse when we get entangled in them. This attitude acknowledges God as a Sovereign God who providentially and actively works within us and through us. Submission helps us to allow God be the Lord of our lives.
When Brother Lawrence heard someone told him that his boss had a mistaken idea about him and wanted to terminate his employment, he said "I am in the hands of God, He will do with me as He pleases. If I do not serve Him here, I will serve Him elsewhere."
First day of Feb 2006
It's February today.
And it has been 15 days since I wrote here. Definitely not a good sign...
But hopefully this month shows a different pattern.
And it has been 15 days since I wrote here. Definitely not a good sign...
But hopefully this month shows a different pattern.
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