{"id":195,"date":"2014-03-26T01:54:59","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T01:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=195"},"modified":"2014-08-11T22:15:43","modified_gmt":"2014-08-11T22:15:43","slug":"the-queen-of-all-sciences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-queen-of-all-sciences\/","title":{"rendered":"The Queen of All Sciences"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Brief Guide to Ideas<\/em> by William Raeper and Linda Edwards provides a great overview of thoughts, philosophies and ideas of the Western world since almost the beginning. The book makes it plain and clear that philosophy cannot be brushed aside as lacking relevance in the present post modern, post Christian culture as it may be frequently thought. \u00a0As the authors suggest: \u201cPhilosophy is not just about how to think; it is about how to live.\u00a0 Philosophy takes a closer look at the ideas behind how we live our lives. What we think is true affects our view of ourselves and how we treat other people and the world\u00a0(Raeper 1997, 11).\u201d\u00a0Raeper and Edwards provides a short yet broad overview on a host of these ideas.<\/p>\n

The reading was quite \u00a0helpful to me in gaining an understanding that Postmodernism, Platonism, Humanism, Existentialism, Feminism, Rationalism, Fundamentalism, New Age etc., are far more than mere terms but structures of thought that are constantly engaged in the journey of life since the authors provide a basic understanding of these structures and how life is influenced by them. The book unpacks the manner in which some of the world\u2019s major thinkers and philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Descartes, Kant, Locke, Marx, Nietche have wrestled with critical questions that influence life even today. (Goodreads – Bill\u2019s Review n.d.)<\/p>\n

Intelligent interaction with the world demands a broad yet clear perspective and appreciation of the ideas that cast every facet of life. These ideas are known to shape commerce, initiate humanitarian efforts, they either instigate wars or generate the desire and initiatives for peace; they have a deep impact on the manner in which God is perceived and how life and human relationship in general is approached(Ibid.).\u00a0 As Raeper so rightly points out, \u201cThe big questions about life and meaning and reality and God are still being asked, and perhaps more than ever we need the capacity to think, and decide on what basis our lives should be lived\u00a0(Raeper 1997, 12).\u201d<\/p>\n

I have two particular thoughts:<\/p>\n

The first thought is related to theology. It was Augustine who put forth that \u201cTheology is the queen of all sciences\u201d.\u00a0 During medieval times, theology was unquestionably embraced as the \u2018queen of the sciences\u2019.\u00a0 \u201cSophia\u201d the Greek word for \u2018wisdom\u2019 was also accepted and together they dominated the thinking and practice of much of the Western world\u2019s knowledge, understanding and acceptance of life following the middle ages.\u00a0 Consider this: for a Christian, Theology is the mother of all other sciences.\u00a0 It is theology that gives birth and becomes both the fountainhead and the foundation of all other sciences and gives meaning to them.<\/p>\n

Secondly, my thoughts concern \u201cFundamentalism\u201d.\u00a0 The term \u201cfundamentalism\u201d was originally coined by its supporters to describe five specific classic theological beliefs of Christianity, and that developed into a movement within the Protestant community of the United States in the early part of the 20th<\/sup> century, and that had its roots in the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy of that time. \u00a0\u201cFundamentalism is the demand for a strict adherence to orthodox theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology (Fundamentalism n.d.).\u201d<\/p>\n

In the present time \u201cfundamentalism\u201d has taken on more of a pejorative connotation than in the past.\u00a0\u00a0 We hear of Hindu fundamentalism, Atheistic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalism etc. \u00a0They are difficult to state and describe in clear and definitive terms. In simple terms, it may be said that \u2018fundamentalism\u2019 is holding rigidly to certain beliefs and insistence on those particular beliefs alone as true.\u00a0 \u201cFundamentalism\u201d has come to be understood as an increasing intolerance toward any faith and belief that is other than and different, and that \u2018Fundamentalists\u2019 cling to the older religious and social customs, demonstrating a reluctance to join the mainstream that embraces freedom of religious beliefs.\u00a0\u00a0 In societies where such fundamentalists are in majority, they gain power and become oppressive forces; posing a threat to the minorities despite their passive religious leanings.\u00a0 In India we see the rise of Hindu fundamentalism, in Burma and Sri Lanka, although Buddhism is a passive and tolerant faith and Hinduism has always been accommodative; minorities are oppressed through force and militancy in these countries.\u00a0 Can Christians also become \u201cFundamentalists\u201d in such a manner?<\/p>\n

Fundamentalism.<\/em> http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fundamentalism.<\/a><\/p>\n

Goodreads – Bill\u2019s Review.<\/em> http:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/1388625.A_Brif_Guide_to_Ideas<\/a> (accessed March 16, 2014).<\/p>\n

Grassie, William. 3\u00a02013. http:\/\/www.metanexus.net\/print\/essay\/queen-sciences<\/a> (accessed 3\u00a019, 2014).<\/p>\n

Raeper, William and Edwards, Linda. A Brief Guide To Ideas.<\/em> Oxford: Lion Hudson, 1997.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Brief Guide to Ideas by William Raeper and Linda Edwards provides a great overview of thoughts, philosophies and ideas of the Western world since almost the beginning. The book makes it plain and clear that philosophy cannot be brushed aside as lacking relevance in the present post modern, post Christian culture as it may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,87],"class_list":["post-195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-raepersmith","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1512,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195\/revisions\/1512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}