Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

worldview

Speaking the Truth in Love (Scholar’s Compass)

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Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)

Gossip needn’t be false to be evil – there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around. – Attributed to Frank A. Clark

Reflection

As Christians and as scholars, we value truth, but when we encounter what we believe to be untruth, how should we respond? It is wise to remember that very few positions, whether in our field or in religion, are totally bereft of truth, and points of congruence can often open doors to further conversation. Controversy is inevitable in academia, but we need to approach it graciously, something I have taken care to do in my recent writing on origins, where much of the controversy can be traced to different underlying worldviews. [Read more…] about Speaking the Truth in Love (Scholar’s Compass)

Takeaways from “Is Reality Secular?”

Mary Poplin's Is Reality Secular? What is the nature of reality? (InterVarsity Press, 2013).
Is Reality Secular? Testing the Assumptions of Four Global Worldviews by Mary Poplin (InterVarsity Press, 2014).

Welcome to the third post in a series in which we explore with Mary Poplin her 2014 publication Is Reality Secular? Testing the Assumptions of Four Global Worldviews? (InterVarsity Press). In earlier posts Mary provided:

In this piece Mary Poplin responds to my question, “What do you desire to be the top takeaways for readers of Is Reality Secular?” In future posts Mary will offer particular illustrations of engaging in and “toolkits” to enter/sustain dialogue with those who embrace (even advocate) competing worldviews.

Mary: First, I want to plant into everyone’s mind the fact (or for secularists, at least the suspicion) that reality is not secular. It is not adequate then to work only within the secular mindset. Christian faculty must engage this; what is true and what is false in my field – because all dominant theory and research have been secularized for half a century and more. I hope Christians will ask others to consider the same question; I find very few people realize that secular thought dominates our culture and fewer have asked themselves if this is really true. [Read more…] about Takeaways from “Is Reality Secular?”

Interview: David Naugle on Worldview

David Naugle, Distinguished University Professor, chair and professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University

I’ve engaged in periodic conversation with David Naugle, Distinguished University Professor, chair and professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University, for quite some time. Why? To wrestle with “the heart” and the history of worldview, not only only in an “academic” sense, but also in the life and ministry to which I have been called as a part of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. As you may remember Mike Hickerson interviewed David on Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness (William B. Eerdmans, 2008) at the 2010 CCO Jubilee Conference. Before digging into Worldview: The History of a Concept (William B. Eerdmans, 2002) a little more on David . . .

He is married to Deemie Naugle, the Associate provost at Dallas Baptist University and has been for many years; they have one daughter, Courtney who is working in West Dallas at a non-profit organization. He has two earned doctorates, one in theology and the other in philosophy and literature. He has written four books and three screenplays. He attends the Village Church in Dallas.

Alright, now let’s turn to the interview, with me taking fully responsibility for the related pictures and links 🙂 [Read more…] about Interview: David Naugle on Worldview

Is Reality Secular? Part 2

The Matrix (1999)

What is real? . . . If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain (43)

Material Naturalism

With the above quote from The Matrix (1999), Mary Poplin introduces Part 2 of Is Reality Secular? What is the nature of reality? (Post on part 1). Morpheus’ words and the exploration of Material Naturalism bring back memories not only of a decade of conversation at Carnegie Mellon University as an InterVarsity Campus Field Staff (1996 – 2006), but also nearly a lifetime of my own internal wrestling. So how does Mary Poplin engage:

  • Everything is a Thing (Chapter 5)
  • Science as the Only Truth (Chapter 6)
  • The Purposeless Universe Emerged from Nothing (Chapter 7)
  • No Miracles Allowed (Chapter 8)
  • The Ethics of Things upon Things (Chapter 9)?

I particularly appreciate the insights she offers from the dialogue between Alvin Plantinga and Tom Nagel. Below is her conclusion to Chapter 5: Everything is a Thing.
[Read more…] about Is Reality Secular? Part 2

Is Reality Secular? Part 1

Mary Poplin‘s Is Reality Secular? What is the nature of reality? (InterVarsity Press, 2014).

Is reality secular? Is adequate knowledge secular? And is that something that has been established as a fact by thorough and unbiased inquiry? Is this something that today’s secular universities thoroughly and freely discuss in a disciplined way? (11)

Mary Poplin wastes no time in establishing the centrality of Dallas Willard’s questions to Is Reality Secular? What is the nature of reality? (InterVarsity Press, 2014). Early in Chapter 1: Truth and Consequences, she relates the story of a seminar in which she asks, “Is reality secular? Is it true?”

Inspired by her first chapter: How would you respond as a student (or possibly as a peer when asked in another context)? Would you set “aside the idea of truth . . .”? Do you lean toward truth as “an idea rather than a description of reality”? Are these questions you feel comfortable raising with peers, as an instructor, in a presentation, among members of your community of faith? What do you consider the relationship of “seeking truth” and “the reason of the university”? (13 – 14)

[Read more…] about Is Reality Secular? Part 1