Prime Reality Research Paper
Question one: What is really real?
Various worldviews would answer this fundamental question differently. Naturalist say matter is prime reality, while those of New Age spirituality would argue that self is the prime reality. Christians, however, believe that a higher power is the really real.
What is this God like?
He is infinite. "'I am the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end,' says the Lord God. 'I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come – the Almighty One'" (Revelation 1:8, NLT). He is the source of everything, the creator. Nothing and no one rival him in nature. "He is the only self-existing being"(Universe next door, p.28). He is the prime reality. Moses tells the Israelites that their "God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4, KJV). …show more content…
God is personal, or self-determined.
He can think and act, and designed his creation to have those same capabilities. The Lord has his own characteristics. As well as being personal, God is also triune. The Father, God, the Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are separate and joined at the same time. They are "coequally and coeternally God" (Universe Next Door p.29). C.S. Lewis compares the Trinity to a cube, an object that "is six squares while remaining one cube"(Mere Christianity, p.162).
The Lord is transcendent, or otherworldly, and immanent all at once. He is beyond our universe and yet is always in it. God is always present, everywhere. "[He] is beyond all, yet in all and sustaining all" (Universe Next Door, p.30)
The Lord is omniscient, or all-knowing. He is the origin of all understanding. In Psalm 139, David marvels several times over the fact that God knows everything. "You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord" (Psalm 139:4, NLT) "He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!" (Psalm 147:4-5,
NLT).
God is sovereign. He pays attention to everything in His universe. "Nothing is beyond God's ultimate interest, control and authority" (Universe Next Door p.30).
Above all else, the Lord is good. He Himself is goodness, from which flows all His other traits. "Goodness is the essence of his character" (Universe Next Door p.30). God expresses his goodness in two ways. The first, holiness, emphasizes his righteousness. "God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all" (1 John 1:5, NLT). His holiness separates himself from evil. The second trait is love. God's love for his people causes his self-sacrifice and extension of favor upon mankind. His holiness sets an unobtainable standard of righteousness, but his love gives hope to the world.
Question 2: What is the nature of the world around us?
How did the universe come to be? To that question, a Christian would answer that God created it ex nihilo, out of nothing. He spoke the cosmos into existence."God said 'Let there be light,' and there was light" (Genesis 1:3, NLT). He created an orderly universe and inhabited it with his other creations. The sun rises each morning because the solar system was not created to be chaotic and changing with every new day. Although the system is orderly, that does not mean things will not change. God created his universe to be an open system, meaning that it is "not programmed" (Universe Next Door p.32). The actions of humans decide the future. In conclusion, God purposefully designed the universe to be "orderly but not determined" (Universe Next Door p.32), so the course of the future can change, for better or worse, by the actions of his creation.
Question 3: What is a human being?
To this question, depending on their worldview, one might answer that humans are sleeping gods, creatures evolved from apes, or complex machines. Christians, however, believe that mankind is the creation of God, made in his image. "God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created him"(Genesis 1:27, NLT). When it is said that humans are made in the image of God, it means that humans are like God. Moreover, man is personal because God is personal, or man knows himself and is capable of thinking and acting on his own. This personality reflects an image of God's transcendence over his universe, because "he is free to do as he wills, and his character controls his will"(Universe Next door, p.34). In addition, people have intelligence, morality, gregariousness, and creativity. Man has intelligence of the world around him and of God Himself because God allowed it to be so. All knowledge comes from Him. Morality, or "the capacity for recognizing and understanding good and evil"(Universe Next Door p.35), is based on the character of God. Gregariousness, or "social capacity"(Universe Next Door p.35), is a human's inherent wish for the company of another human. Lastly, creativity is a reflection of God's inventiveness and originality, displayed throughout the universe.
Various worldviews would answer this fundamental question differently. Naturalist say matter is prime reality, while those of New Age spirituality would argue that self is the prime reality. Christians, however, believe that a higher power is the really real.
What is this God like?
He is infinite. "'I am the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end,' says the Lord God. 'I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come – the Almighty One'" (Revelation 1:8, NLT). He is the source of everything, the creator. Nothing and no one rival him in nature. "He is the only self-existing being"(Universe next door, p.28). He is the prime reality. Moses tells the Israelites that their "God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4, KJV). …show more content…
God is personal, or self-determined.
He can think and act, and designed his creation to have those same capabilities. The Lord has his own characteristics. As well as being personal, God is also triune. The Father, God, the Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are separate and joined at the same time. They are "coequally and coeternally God" (Universe Next Door p.29). C.S. Lewis compares the Trinity to a cube, an object that "is six squares while remaining one cube"(Mere Christianity, p.162).
The Lord is transcendent, or otherworldly, and immanent all at once. He is beyond our universe and yet is always in it. God is always present, everywhere. "[He] is beyond all, yet in all and sustaining all" (Universe Next Door, p.30)
The Lord is omniscient, or all-knowing. He is the origin of all understanding. In Psalm 139, David marvels several times over the fact that God knows everything. "You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord" (Psalm 139:4, NLT) "He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!" (Psalm 147:4-5,
NLT).
God is sovereign. He pays attention to everything in His universe. "Nothing is beyond God's ultimate interest, control and authority" (Universe Next Door p.30).
Above all else, the Lord is good. He Himself is goodness, from which flows all His other traits. "Goodness is the essence of his character" (Universe Next Door p.30). God expresses his goodness in two ways. The first, holiness, emphasizes his righteousness. "God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all" (1 John 1:5, NLT). His holiness separates himself from evil. The second trait is love. God's love for his people causes his self-sacrifice and extension of favor upon mankind. His holiness sets an unobtainable standard of righteousness, but his love gives hope to the world.
Question 2: What is the nature of the world around us?
How did the universe come to be? To that question, a Christian would answer that God created it ex nihilo, out of nothing. He spoke the cosmos into existence."God said 'Let there be light,' and there was light" (Genesis 1:3, NLT). He created an orderly universe and inhabited it with his other creations. The sun rises each morning because the solar system was not created to be chaotic and changing with every new day. Although the system is orderly, that does not mean things will not change. God created his universe to be an open system, meaning that it is "not programmed" (Universe Next Door p.32). The actions of humans decide the future. In conclusion, God purposefully designed the universe to be "orderly but not determined" (Universe Next Door p.32), so the course of the future can change, for better or worse, by the actions of his creation.
Question 3: What is a human being?
To this question, depending on their worldview, one might answer that humans are sleeping gods, creatures evolved from apes, or complex machines. Christians, however, believe that mankind is the creation of God, made in his image. "God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created him"(Genesis 1:27, NLT). When it is said that humans are made in the image of God, it means that humans are like God. Moreover, man is personal because God is personal, or man knows himself and is capable of thinking and acting on his own. This personality reflects an image of God's transcendence over his universe, because "he is free to do as he wills, and his character controls his will"(Universe Next door, p.34). In addition, people have intelligence, morality, gregariousness, and creativity. Man has intelligence of the world around him and of God Himself because God allowed it to be so. All knowledge comes from Him. Morality, or "the capacity for recognizing and understanding good and evil"(Universe Next Door p.35), is based on the character of God. Gregariousness, or "social capacity"(Universe Next Door p.35), is a human's inherent wish for the company of another human. Lastly, creativity is a reflection of God's inventiveness and originality, displayed throughout the universe.