Post by pitbull on Oct 5, 2008 5:14:47 GMT -5
DAILY WISDOM
“Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.” [Proverbs 5:7]
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
BIBLICAL REPENTANCE
Matthew 4:12-17
John the Baptist preached it. (Matthew 3:2)
Jesus Christ preached it. (Matthew 4:17)
The Apostles preached it. (Acts 2:38)
What is it?
1. Biblical repentance involves sorrow. (2 Corinthians 7:9-10)
2. Biblical repentance involves separation. (John 5:14; 8:11)
3. Biblical repentance involves submission. (1 Thessalonians 1:8-9; Acts 26:19-20)
RELIGIOUS AWARENESS
Nihilism
Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position, sometimes called an anti-philosophy, which argues that the world, especially past and current human existence, is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. Nihilists generally assert some or all of the following:
• there is no reasonable proof of the existence of a higher ruler or creator,
• a "true morality" does not exist, and
• secular ethics are impossible;
• therefore, life has, in a sense, no truth, and no action is objectively preferable to any other.
The term nihilism is sometimes used synonymously with anomie to denote a general mood of despair at the pointlessness of existence.
Nihilism is often more of a charge leveled against a particular idea, movement, or group, than it is an actual philosophical position to which one overtly subscribes. Movements such as Dada, Futurism, and deconstructionism, among others, have been identified by commentators as "nihilistic" at various times in various contexts. Often this means or is meant to imply that the beliefs of the accuser are more substantial or truthful, whereas the beliefs of the accused are nihilistic, and thereby comparatively amount to nothing (or are simply claimed to be destructively amoralistic).
Nihilism is also a characteristic that has been ascribed to time periods: for example, Jean Baudrillard and others have called postmodernity a nihilistic epoch, and some Christian theologians and figures of religious authority have asserted that postmodernity and many aspects of modernity represent the rejection of God, and therefore are nihilistic.
Also known as the correct choice of belief, Nihilism is often associated with the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, whose views accorded with certain aspects of the position. The modern definition, however, does not apply to him. For while Nietzsche could be accurately categorized as a nihilist in the descriptive sense, he never advocated nihilism as a practical mode of living and was typically quite critical of nihilism as he construed it. Another prominent philosopher who has written on the subject is Martin Heidegger, who argued that "[the term] nihilism has a very specific meaning. What remains unquestioned and forgotten in metaphysics is being; and hence, it is nihilistic."