Graham Apologetics

Eric Fromm

Birth: Frankfurt, Germany (1900)

Psychological School of Thought: Psychoanalytic

Training:

·         University of Frankfurt - jurisprudence

·         University of Heidelberg - Sociology (Ph.D. in 1922) – studied under Alfred Weber, Karl Jaspers, Heinrich Rickert

·         Psychoanalytic Institute in Berlin – Learned psychoanalysis

Chapter 1: The Problem

Man’s ability to conquer nature is a fundamental issue for Eric Fromm. Man cannot realize his highest potential until he can make nature productive for man. The modern period (last 150 years or so) has advanced so much that we now have an unprecedented ability to make nature work for man. Since the good life is one that is productive, and since modern man is better at being productive than ever before, modern man should be on the cusp of developing a truly humanistic ethics that is objective and scientific.

The Problem: It appears that present scholarship (1940’s) either demands a religious ethic or a relativistic ethic. Both of these options are unacceptable to Fromm.

Man has greatly improved his means of mastering nature, but he has become confused about his own nature. According to Fromm, man has lost his sight of the only end which gives man significance: namely man himself.

In other words, man is ignorant of the answers to his own most fundamental questions:

·         What is man?

·         How ought he to live?

·         How can the tremendous energies within man be released and used productively?

Again, Fromm wants to avoid both the religious ethics found in the great world religions and the relativistic ethics of various modern psychologists who preceded him. To do this he claims that “valid ethical norms can be formed by man’s reason and by it alone”. (p16) In order to know what is good and what is bad, one only needs to understand human nature. Fromm believes that the discipline best suited to study human nature is that of psychology (particularly psychoanalysis). Thus, the psychologist is uniquely qualified to say what is good for man.

Fundamentally, Fromm says that we should not return to religious ethics to ground our views of morality. Rather we should be looking at man in his “physico-spiritual totality”. Man’s aim should be “to be himself” and the “condition for attaining this goal is that man be for himself”. (p17 emphasis his)

Fromm goes on to describe the basis for humanistic ethics. He says, “moral norms are based upon man’s inherent qualities”. The supreme values of his ethics are as follows:

·         Self Love

·         The affirmation of [man’s] truly human self

Confidence in moral values come from man’s knowledge of himself and “the capacity of his nature for goodness and productiveness.” (p17)

Thanks to all of you who attended the Abortion Talk at Lenior last weekend. Click here to download the powerpoint. If you cannot view the powerpoint you can download a free powerpoint viewer from microsoft.

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Theme

The book of 1 Timothy is letter from Paul to his “true son in the faith” (1:2). The overarching theme concerns instruction and correction. In this epistle, the reader sees Paul pouring himself into Timothy. Due to the situation at the church in Ephesus, the reader gets to see Paul’s advise to a church overseer concerning the correction of doctrinal and practical error in the church. While many New Testament epistles address problems in the church, 1 Timothy focuses on the avoidance of vices associated with youth and encourages the honoring of godly elders, the bold proclamation of truth, and the correct treatment of those in the house of God.

Purpose

Paul wrote to Timothy to help him deal with two main issues in the church at Ephesus. First, Paul wrote to address doctrinal errors which promoted “disputes rather than godly edification” (1:4). There were individuals in the church who were given over to endless disputes and who “turned aside to idle talk” (1:6). Paul commanded Timothy to put an end to that sort of thing.

Second, Paul wrote to Timothy to teach him proper conduct in the house of God (3:15). Paul’s instructions included direct commands to Timothy (4:13) as well as instruction on how the church body should conduct themselves (2:8). Paul primarily instructs Timothy to refute error; both theological and practical.

Paul exhorted Timothy to “Take heed to yourself and to doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (4:15) To be sure, Paul was concerned for the well-being of his “son in the faith” (1:2). However, this letter was written to Timothy for the edification of the church in Ephesus. That church was in error and Paul wrote to encourage and instruct the one he had sent to that church.

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The Bible is a unified book which contains a diversity of literary forms. In the ancient world, as well as today, various literary forms are used for various purposes. One of the forms used in the New Testament is known as the epistle. This paper will (1.) explain what an epistle is (2.) give illustrations of epistolary forms from the New Testament, and (3.) offer some insight into the practical importance of understanding the nature of an epistle.

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What is the Paradox of the Stone?

The paradox of the stone is a paradox which deals with the coherency of omnipotence. Since theists usually claim that God is omnipotent (all-powerful), It is usually presented as a defeater to theism. This paradox is often used to “demonstrate” that such a Being cannot exist. It is usually presented in the following form:

“Can God create a rock so big that He can’t lift it?”

Although it may be presented as:

“Could an omnipotent being create a rock so big that even that being couldn’t lift it?”

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