The Presuppositionality of All Things Part 1
I promise that this post is far more useful than its title. I have spent the past several days reading Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey, which I hope to do a book review on soon, and I wanted to share some of my thoughts on recent happenings as I filter them through my thoughts from this book.
One of the points that she raises is, “If you press any set of ideas back far enough, eventually you reach some starting point. Something has to be taken as self-existent—the ultimate reality and source of everything else. There’s not reason for it to exist; it just ‘is.’” This self-existent ultimate reality is the presupposition from which everything else derives its meaning. Take evolution, for example; the presupposition of evolution is the scientific process; it both precedes and validates all truth.
As a Christians God is our presupposition for all things (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, 15:33, Romans 11:36); God simply is (Exodus 3:14). To illustrate this I want to look at Psalm 138:2.
“I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.”
God has exalted His Word and His Name above everything. This is seen through the fact that apart from the name of Christ no one can be saved (Acts 4:12) and apart from God’s Word no one can be saved (Romans 10:17). Some translations translate this verse as saying, “for you have exalted your Word above your name.” Which is also valid in that apart from the Word of God His name has no meaning; we can only know God through His word. God and His word should presuppose everything the Christian does; everything should flow out of and tested by God through His Word. In order to properly assess our motives and our actions we must determine their ultimate cause, which is either God and His Word or something else.
One of the points that she raises is, “If you press any set of ideas back far enough, eventually you reach some starting point. Something has to be taken as self-existent—the ultimate reality and source of everything else. There’s not reason for it to exist; it just ‘is.’” This self-existent ultimate reality is the presupposition from which everything else derives its meaning. Take evolution, for example; the presupposition of evolution is the scientific process; it both precedes and validates all truth.
As a Christians God is our presupposition for all things (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, 15:33, Romans 11:36); God simply is (Exodus 3:14). To illustrate this I want to look at Psalm 138:2.
“I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.”
God has exalted His Word and His Name above everything. This is seen through the fact that apart from the name of Christ no one can be saved (Acts 4:12) and apart from God’s Word no one can be saved (Romans 10:17). Some translations translate this verse as saying, “for you have exalted your Word above your name.” Which is also valid in that apart from the Word of God His name has no meaning; we can only know God through His word. God and His word should presuppose everything the Christian does; everything should flow out of and tested by God through His Word. In order to properly assess our motives and our actions we must determine their ultimate cause, which is either God and His Word or something else.
2 Comments:
Total Truth is an excellent book...I reall would like to do a reading club with it, I think it is one of those books all Chrisians shoul read.
I am really enjoying it, it is definitely hard to put down. And its advice on cultural transformation is excellent. Either everyone needs to read it or pastors need to read it and lead their churches in such a way that it truly transforms culture.
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