I have decided to begin my project by examining the claims of atheism. Atheism is different then all the other systems because it does not espouse a set of doctrines. There are no atheist heretics that pervert and twist the tradition of atheism but keep the title of atheist. In order to be accepted into the ranks of atheism all one must do is believe that God in any name shape or form does not exist. However, at its core atheists and theists still share a common enemy. They are both firmly and militantly entrenched in a unintentional alliance against the growing invasion of postmodernism. This is because atheism does reserve for itself the description of truth. This is slightly different then that of religious systems. Atheism does not claim to posses truth itself but it claims to posses the only means to truth. It depends exclusively upon the observation of the tangible to form its objective conclusions of what is true and what is not.
Therefore, it is not possible to examine its conclusions in order to compare our respective truth claims. We must compare the means to truth. Their is no authoritative source of what atheism is or what it believes. Upon recommendation of an atheist friend I have decided to begin by reviewing “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark” By Carl Sagan. This book is not intended as a call for atheism. It is a passionate call for dependence upon the scientific method for truth searching. This the heartbeat of atheism and is the positive truth claim that sets atheism into conflict with postmodernity. I will review each chapter and attempt to reduce them down to the core ideas that the philosophy of atheism depends upon. I encourage you to leave a comment or e-mail me at romans1verse20@gmail.com and participate in this project.
A Response to Melvin
I just received a comment that posed what is a very good question. The question was: “Why differentiate between Catholicism and Protestantism? In other words, what aspects of Roman Catholic Truth contradict what aspects of Protestant Truth?” When I was first writing my introductory post I did write simply “Christianity.” However, before I published it I went back and changed it for one simple reason – the difference in the standard of truth of Catholicism and Protestantism.
According to the catechism of the Catholic church which states; “As a result the [Roman Catholic] Church…does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.”( CCC Para 82) This is the result of a belief in a doctrine known as “Apostolic Succession.” If there is validity to this doctrine of the Catholic church then the Catholic Church the one true church and Protestantism is teaching a lie.
Since, my objective is to weigh what I believe to be true against other truth claims, as a Protestant, I must compare my standard of truth with that of Catholicism and because that is the case I made a distinction between them. When I begin my quest into the Catholicism my objective will not include how they interpret Scripture differently then I do, it will include what are the truth claims that church tradition makes and are those truth claims internally consistent. Thank you for your comment.
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on May 16, 2008 at 6:33 pm Comments (1)Tags: Catholocism, Comments, Protestantism