Page 12 - Biblical Ethics Course

1. Existentialism – basically humans define their own reality. It views human
beings as subjects in an indifferent, objective, often ambiguous, and "absurd"
universe, in which meaning is not provided by the natural order, but rather can
be created. Values are subjective. The rightness of a decision is based on the
meaning it brings to the one making the choice. If a wrong decision is made,
then we are responsible for our free choice.

Here is an example of how a believer applies existentialism to his life:

Christian Example: “Read a passage of Scripture. What does that verse mean to you? It may mean something
different to me. Neither of us is wrong or right. The value of the verse is how it impacts your life.”

The Bible declares that truth is found outside of us. Truth is found in God’s Word (John 17:17) and in Jesus
Christ (John 14:6). God declares what is true regardless if humans agree with it or not. God’s words remain true
and absolute. Truth is not based on human opinion. When we study God’s Word, we had better find out what
God said, not what we think it says!

2. Rationalism - reason as a source of knowledge or justification for action.
Truth is derived not in the sensory but intellectual and deductive process. All
ideas come to us through experience, either through the five external senses or
through such inner sensations as pain and pleasure, and thus that knowledge is
essentially based on or derived from experience. We each find our truth through
our experiences and by making rational decisions based on those experiences.
Truth, then, depends upon the collection of your experiences.

Christian Example: “I know that it is a wonderful experience to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I spoke with tongues
when the Spirit filled me. Therefore, the gift of tongues is an experience that validates that you have received
the Holy Spirit.” (Deductive reasoning)

Christian Example: “How can you find the will of God? Take a piece of paper out and list all the positive reasons
why you should do something. On the other side, list the negative reasons why you shouldn’t. If the positives out
weight the negatives, then it must be God’s will.”

The Bible declares that our reasoning skills are not to be relied upon. The reason is that our mind and heart are
tainted by sin. The Bible says in Psalm 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own
understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
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3. Pragmatism - truth is what is useful in the long-term. The pragmatist beliefs are
not true until they have been made true by verification. They believe propositions
become true over the long term through proving their utility in a person's specific
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situation. William James said, “Something is true only insofar as it works.”

Christian Example: “We had a rock concert at our church. We had strobe lights,
and it was really wild and loud! The purpose of the concert was to attract the lost to
our church so we could present the Gospel to them. A whole lot of kids came! We

4 https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_pragmatism.html
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