If God Is "I AM", then Who Am I? - Day 4

Day 4 – uninvited experts

A society that denies the supernatural usually ends up elevating the natural to supernatural status.  –PHILIP YANCEY

Sigmund Freud explored human nature for most of his life. His psychoanalytical approach transformed the twentieth century's view of man and woman. But you will not find his philosophy in this book.

Charles Darwin for years compared and contrasted simple and complex forms of life. His Origin of the Species became the foundation of modern biology. Not surprisingly, he had a lot to say about the nature of humans. Yet you will not find him in the pages to follow.

In the nineteenth century, Karl Marx's assessment of human nature paved the way for the advancement of socialism. Today, in China and Cuba and other places where communism reigns supreme, his philosophy is the undercurrent of all politics and practice. You will not, however, encounter his ideas in the days ahead.

For those familiar with the biographies of these men, no explanation is needed. Freud and Marx were atheists, Darwin an agnostic. None of them believed in the existence of God.¹ Each man gazed at humanity through the lens of naturalism. I, on the other hand, am different. I believe that God exists. I use a different lens, the supernatural one.

To find the philosophies of Freud, Darwin, and Marx, you must go elsewhere. I discarded their presuppositions years ago. How they and I look at the universe—and at humans, in particular—is mutually exclusive. They never acknowledge God in their writings. I assume God throughout mine. 

SELF-REFLECT

1. Are you ready to examine yourself through the lens of 

    God’s existence?

2. Do you think it matters whether or not you examine     
     yourself through this lens?

¹Freud: “Neither in my private life nor in my writings have I ever made a secret of being an out-and-out unbeliever.” (quoted in Austin Cline, Freud, Atheism, and Judaism, about.com: atheism/agnosticism). Darwin: “I think that generally (and more and more as I grow older), but not always, that an Agnostic would be a more correct description of my state of mind" (quoted in Charles Darwin’s views on religion, en.wikipedia.org). Marx: "The proofs of the existence of God are nothing but proofs for the essentially human self-consciousness... Man is the supreme being for man... Atheism amd communism...are but the 1st coming-to-be, the realization become real for man, of man's essence." (quoted in David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace, Biography of Famous Atheist Karl Marx, Trivia-Library.com). 

Daily Quotation 

Philip Yancey, Rumors of Another World (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 31.