The Desecration of Man, Rejecting God & Losing our Humanity

Is the End of the World near? #EOTW  Are the Doom-and-Gloomers right?

Constant news about suicide, ultra low birth rates and Truth-Decay can lead to   seriously sad thoughts.  Carl Trueman, in his new book The Desecration of Man,  argues that modern man's crisis of meaning stems from rejecting the fact that we are all made in the image of God. We disrespect the reality of Imago Dei via abortion, pornography, “free” sex, gender confusion y mucho mas.  Is our situation tagged #Operation_Hopeless ? 

The Early Church survived Roman torment, may the Lord help us to gain the victory in our current crisis.

https://www.amazon.com/Desecration-Man-Rejection-Degrades-Humanity/dp/0593713850

Carl Trueman asks a significant question:

 

What does it mean to be a human being today? Or more succinctly, 'What is man?" Once upon a time in the West, the answer would have been easy: Man is a creature, made in the image of God who created him, and his life is to be ordered to those ends that this involves. The book of Genesis, the origin of this idea, defines these as: going forth and reproducing, subduing the earth, and living life under the authority of God the Creator. We now live in a world that no longer agrees on that definition. (p. ix)

 

Truman comments on The Magic Mountain:

 

In Thomas Mann's novel The Magic Mountain, Claudia Chauchat gives voice to this when she declares that morality should not be sought in virtue but rather in sin. In so doing, she represents a dominant cultural pathology that is particularly notable in today's cultural elites:  Transgression of that once considered sacred has become their primary task. And transgression of the sacred is exhilarating precisely because it makes us feel like gods, the creators of our own meanings and our own selves. All we need to do is cross lines previously enforced by the idea of God and we thereby assume the role of being gods. (p. xii)

Pub. 2021

Trueman supports #Human_Exceptionalism as I do in my book Biological Essentialism:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/biological-essentialism-jay-hall/1140135320

Of course, this work reminds us of CS Lewis, as Trueman admits:

 

This belief that we are autonomous, unencumbered self-creators lies at the heart of the anthropological chaos of our day.  C.S. Lewis pointed toward this in the 1940’s in The Abolition of Man.  He saw that in the modern world human beings had been stripped of any intrinsic, necessary moral structure - stripped, in other words, of those limits and ends that constituted their given nature. For Lewis, they were then doomed to an existence that offered no real significance whatsoever. (p. 13)

 In Tim Challies (CAN) review of the book, he justly shares this challenge:

 

In the face of such destruction, even many who are antagonistic toward the Christian faith are realizing that they do not wish to live in a world completely devoid of Christianity’s influence. Hence, atheists like Richard Dawkins wish to preserve a kind of cultural Christianity, even if not a devotional or dogmatic one. Yet Trueman understands, rightly, that desecration demands a much more substantial response than cultural Christianity or even mere re-enchantment: It demands consecration - a full commitment to the creed, cult, and code of the Christian faith, which is to say, the beliefs, practice, and morality of historic Christianity, as found within the local church. And this, ultimately, is the hope, the message, and the call of his book.

https://www.challies.com/articles/the-desecration-of-man-how-the-rejection-of-god-degrades-our-humanity/

 

The Desecration of Man - A Conversation with Professor Carl Trueman:

https://youtu.be/oqbXv0BkdeU

 

Why the Modern World Is at War with Human Nature - Carl Trueman and Michael Horton:

https://youtu.be/7VfUtOD0RU4

 

Our new podcast:

https://thenewscasters.com/true-truth-weekly/

 

My site: https://totalyouth.us/

 

** kudos – graphic sources:

https://chatgpt.com/c/69dd734f-7940-83ea-8afc-6a5d330d4129

https://www.zondervan.com/p/seasons-of-sorrow/

2020 New Clear Vision Books (#TrueTruth)

Brian Morley has written Mapping Apologetics which provides a survey of the dominant apologetic approaches.  Morley is professor of Philosophy and Apologetics at The Masters University in Santa Clarita, California (been there 2x).  He is also the cofounder of the Faith and Reason Forum:

https://www.faithandreasonforum.com/

Straight out of West Texas and Howard College comes a courageous and strikingly compelling defense of young earth theory.  Assistant Mathematics Professor Jay Hall has written Is a Young Earth Possible? which argues for a youthful world from history and science.  Have the scientific experts misdated the earth?  Hall tackles such diverse topics as Eisenhower and old maps, depression, the Solar System and dinosaurs.  The age-of-the-earth controversy relates to key issues in the public square such as climate change, homeschooling, government funding of science, bullying, depression, fake news, net censorship and free speech (Sacha who?).  You can get the book on Amazon by searching “Young Earth Possible.”

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1088860788

What is Young Earth Science (YES)?  How old is the world?  Are radiometric dating methods reliable?  Is Darwinism substantiated by scientific evidence and valid arguments?  How does the Renaissance of Catastrophism relate to the age of the Earth?  Has plate tectonics occurred more rapidly in the past?  These and other queries are answered in this exciting and fully documented work, YES - Young Earth Science:

https://www.amazon.com/YES-WorldView-Fallacies-Collapse-Darwinism/dp/0692320075

Hall & Smith (not to be confused with Hall & Oates ♫) have written a complete topical treatment of Proverbs and James.  They categorize all of the proverbs and all the verses from the book of James.  God’s Wisdom provides the context for wise thinking in its Introduction and Conclusion.  If you are looking for a guided tour through the divine wisdom of Proverbs and James, you will find this volume most helpful:

https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Wisdom-Norbert-Smith-Ph-D/dp/1463754345

Sacred Cows in Science applies critical thinking to the absolute authority of "science."  Edward Blick, who has three degrees in Engineering, validates doubts about Darwin and discusses climate change.  Jerry Bergman, who wrote Slaughter of the Dissidents (like EXPELLED), critiques Haeckel's recapitulation theory. George Howe (Ph.D. Plant Physiology) shows how homology is consistent with intelligent design (ID).  Norbert Smith (Ph.D. Zoology, Texas Tech), the editor, describes how wild animals respond to fear.  Dr. Smith appeared on the BBC with alligators.  J. Y. Jones, an ophthalmologist, tackles the issues of animal rights and endangered species.  Charles Imes was the president of Oklahomans for Better Science Education and former director of the Association of Professional Oklahoma Educators.  Mr. Imes comes to grips with the controversies of climate change, abortion and eugenics.  Jay Hall (M.S. Math, 53 hrs. Science) argues for the reality of global catastrophe (recall the film 2012) and the historicity of Noah.  Fritz Ward (degrees in English, American History and Math Education) targets the fundamentalist nature of the global warming  movement.  Denyse O'Leary deals with neuroscience and the reality of the mind. Emanuel Tundrea (Ph.D. Modeling Software Product Lines) is from Romania and writes on the devastation of online pornography.  David Williams, recipient of the No Child Left Behind American Star of Teaching award for the state of Oklahoma in 2006, probes pro-homosexual activism and public schools.  Dennis Jernigan, who has recorded with Natalie Grant, Twila Paris, Ron Kenoly and Rebecca St. James, writes the chapter "No One is Born Gay."  The Lord rescued Jernigan from a homosexual background.
https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Cows-Science-Objectivity-Allowed/dp/1456585169

Do you hate Maths? ... you have found the cure.  This 190 page powerhouse includes 39 chapters (3*13) and includes such mind-expanding topics as limits, differentiation, chain rule, Mean Value Theorem (MVT), optimization, integration, Arc Length, Surfaces of Revolution, L’Hopital’s Rule, Hyperbolic Functions, integration by parts, numerical integration, Taylor series, polar coordinates y  mucho mas!  Are you allergic to MathTalk? Here is your solution. Feel the energy of Calculus in your life today‼

https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Easy-Jay-Hall-ebook/dp/B00B3YWYNI

This book answers the question that Ben Stein has brought to the attention of today's culture conflict with his film "Expelled" ... Who is the Intelligent Designer?  Can Intelligent Design and Darwin work together?  What is the source of extra-cosmic information?  Can we find any good news along this cosmic odyssey?  Is it true that, "Intelligent Design is Creationism?"

https://www.amazon.com/Who-Intelligent-Designer-Jay-Hall-ebook/dp/B0018NFVWK

J. V. Fesko (Ph.D., Univ. of Aberdeen) is academic dean and professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Westminster Seminary (Escondido, CA).  Do you know the classical Reformed approach to apologetics?  Read Fesko's tome to get the info on Creation and Scripture.  Believers should always rest on the authority of Scripture but nature speaks truth as well (Job 12:7-12):

https://www.amazon.com/Reforming-Apologetics-Retrieving-Reformed-Defending-ebook/dp/B07FCTQDBV

Social Justice and the Gospel

Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness.  We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love. ...We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. ...As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation - either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force.  I decided to follow the latter course.
  -- Martin LutherKing (d. 1968)

In the light of today's confusion in religious and political matters along with the typhoon of gender blender malapropisms, a number of Christian leaders have put together a fourteen point statement on "Social Justice and the Gospel." Endorsers include John MacArthur, Voddie Baucham, James White, Darrell Harrison, Anthony Mathenia, Vesta Sproul, Douglas Wilson and myself.  Here is the affirmation and denial on Race and Ethnicity (point XII):

WE AFFIRM God made all people from one man. Though people often can be distinguished by different ethnicities and nationalities, they are ontological equals before God in both creation and redemption.  “Race” is not a biblical category, but rather a social construct that often has been used to classify groups of people in terms of inferiority and superiority. All that is good, honest, just, and beautiful in various ethnic backgrounds and experiences can be celebrated as the fruit of God’s grace. All sinful actions and their results (including evils perpetrated between and upon ethnic groups by others) are to be confessed as sinful, repented of, and repudiated.
WE DENY that Christians should segregate themselves into racial groups or regard racial identity above, or even equal to, their identity in Christ.  We deny that any divisions between people groups (from an unstated attitude of superiority to an overt spirit of resentment) have any legitimate place in the fellowship of the redeemed.  We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression.  While we are to weep with those who weep, we deny that a person’s feelings of offense or oppression necessarily prove that someone else is guilty of sinful behaviors, oppression, or prejudice.(Gen. 1:26–28; Acts 17:24-26; 1 Cor. 13:4-7; 2 Cor. 12:16-18)

You can read and sign the statement here.  Also, be sure to download and share the pdf of the entire document.  What do you think?  Let us know:

  ned_oa_1657@yahoo.com

God's Wisdom for Man

God's Wisdom for Man by Norbert Smith and Jay Hall provide a complete topical treatment of Proverbs and James. Smith and Hall categorize all of the proverbs and all the verses from the book of James. God’s Wisdom provides the context for wise thinking in its Introduction and Conclusion. If you are looking for a guided tour through the divine wisdom of Proverbs and James, you will find this volume most helpful. The potent maxims of Proverbs and James impart a profound wisdom that is urgently needed in today’s confused world. Do the righteous thrive and the wicked suffer in general? Read this book and find out.

The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom,
and humility comes before honor. (Pr 15:33, ESV) 

Get wisdom - it's worth more than money;
choose insight over income every time. (Pr 16:16 Msg)

Francis of Assisi rightly said:

Where there is charity and wisdom,
there is neither fear nor ignorance.
Where there is patience and humility,
there is neither anger nor vexation.
Where there is poverty and joy,
there is neither greed nor avarice.
Where there is peace and meditation,
there is neither anxiety nor doubt.