The Meaning of Life

1
Comunicación y Gerencia

• The Meaning of Life

Answers 101
By Kurt Theodore Wise
2

• What is boredom?

3
Prolegomena

• The Catalyst
• The Universal search for meaning and happiness.
• The Foundations
• Philosophical foundations
• Biblical foundations

4
The Meaning of Life

• The Meaning of Man
• Does man have a purpose?
• The Seven Ages of Man
• How does history reveal this purpose?
• The Eschaton of Man
• How does man achieve this purpose?

5
The Meaning of Man

• His Origin
• Emanation, Evolution, or Creation?
• His Nature
• Gods, Animals, or Kings?
• His Destiny
• Reincarnation, Annihilation, or Resurrection?

6
Seven Ages of Man

• Utopia The Age of Innocence
• Atlantis The Age of Conscience
• Republic The Age of Government
• Patriarch The Age of Promise
• Decalogue The Age of Law
• Ecclessia The Age of Mercy
• Melek The Age of the Kingdom

7
The Eschaton of Man

• The Eternal State
• Mortality or Immortality?
• The Final Destiny
• Knowledge or Ignorance?

8
The Catalyst

• The Search for Meaning
• Mans search for significance, meaning, and
  happiness is universal.
• The universal nature of this search forms the
  basis of one of the arguments for the existence
  of God
• The Argument from Desire.

9
The Argument

• Eternity in the Heart
• The argument from desire postulates that God has
  instilled in every human heart a desire for
  blessed immortality.
• Ecclesiastes 39-11 What profit has the worker
  from that in which he labors? I have seen the
  God-given task with which the sons of men are to
  be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in
  its time. Also He has put eternity in their
  hearts. . . .

10
The Argument

• According to Lewis
• Creatures are not born with desires unless
  satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby
  feels hunger well, there is such a thing as
  food. . . . Men feel sexual desire well, there
  is such a thing as sex. (C. S. Lewis, Mere
  Christianity, 120)

11
The Argument

• According to Lewis
• If I find in myself a desire which no experience
  in this world can satisfy, the most probable
  explanation is that I was made for another world.
  If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that
  does not prove that the universe is a fraud.
  Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to
  satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the
  real thing. (Ibid.)

12
The Argument

• Geislers Restatement
• Every natural innate desire has a real object
  that can fulfill it.
• Human beings have a natural, innate desire for
  immortality.
• Therefore, there must be an immortal life after
  death. (Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian
  Apologetics, 282)

13
Premise One

• Evidence
• The first premise entails a basic presupposition
  about desire - distinction in kind.
• innate (natural)
• externally conditioned (artificial)

14
Premise One

• Innate Desires
• Some desires are natural and universal food,
  drink, sex, sleep, knowledge, friendship and
  beauty.
• Natural desires always have a real object that
  can fulfill them.
• Starvation, loneliness, ignorance and ugliness
  are things we recognize as privations of what
  ought to be. (Kreeft, Handbook of Christian
  Apologetics, 78)

15
Premise One

• Externally Conditioned Desires
• Some desires are formed artificially by society,
  advertising, fiction, etc. These would include
  desires for things such as sports cars, political
  office, flying through the air like Superman, the
  land of Oz and an Astros world championship.
  (Ibid.)
• Artificial desires may or may not have an object
  that fufills them. There is no such thing as
  Ozlessness.

16
Premise Two

• The Desire for Immortality
• It is abundantly clear from history that there is
  in the heart of man a desire for Paradise, or at
  the very least lasting happiness.

17
Premise Two

• The Desire for Immortality
• Even the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, in
  discussing the evolutionary origin of the idea of
  a blissful afterlife for the blessed, says,
  Mans experience of the miseries of this world
  and his instinctive desire for happiness may have
  suggested a blissful other-world as an offset to
  this earth. (Encyclopedia of Religion and
  Ethics,

18
Premise Two

• The Desire for Immortality
• The suggestion of a blissful otherworld points
  out a major element of this argument there is
  no fulfillment of the desire for lasting
  happiness in the present world. True fulfillment
  either comes in an afterlife, or never comes at
  all.

19
Premise Two

• The Desire for Immortality
• Pascal says All men seek happiness. There are
  no exceptions. . . . Yet all men complain. . . .
  A test which has gone on so long, without pause
  or change, really ought to convince us that we
  are incapable of attaining the good by our own
  efforts . . . this infinite abyss can be filled
  only with an infinite object. (Blaise,
  Pascal, Pensees, 148)

20
Premise Two

• The Desire for Immortality
• Atheist Bertrand Russell said, Even when one
  feels nearest to other people, something in one
  seems obstinately to belong to God, and to refuse
  to enter into any earthly communion - at least
  that is how I should express it if I thought
  there was a God. It is odd, isnt it? I care
  passionately for this world and many things and
  people in it, and yet . . . what is it all for?
  There must be something more important, one
  feels, though I dont believe there is. Bertrand
  Russell, The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell,
  125-6)

21
Objections

• Premise One
• The evidence does not support the premise.
• It is argued that the occurrence of starvation
  or dehydration demonstrates that not all natural
  desires can be fulfilled.
• Response
• It is not the case that every desire should
  obtain its object, but simply that the object
  exists.

22
Objections

• Premise Two
• First Objection Some people are perfectly happy
  in the here and now.
• Second Objection While a person may not
  presently be perfectly happy, some future
  circumstance, such as winning the lottery, will
  bring them happiness.

23
Objections

• Premise Two
• First Response To the person who makes the claim
  that they are now perfectly happy, Kreeft says,
  This, we suggest, verges on idiocy or, worse,
  dishonesty. It requires something more like
  exorcism than refutation. . . .This is subhuman,
  vegetation, pop psychology. Even the hedonist
  utilitarian John Stuart Mill, one of the
  shallowest (though cleverest) minds in the
  history of philosophy, said that it is better to
  be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.
  (Kreeft, Handbook, 81)

24
Objections

• Premise Two
• Second Response The history of revolutions is
  most instructive here, and most depressing.
  Nowhere, perhaps, is the gap between promises and
  deliveries, the ideal and the real more
  astonishing. The only thing more astonishing is
  the fact that we are not astonished by it, that
  we blandly accept it with the words Oh well,
  thats human nature.

25
Conclusion

• The Search for Meaning
• It is the nature of man to look for meaning,
  happiness, and even immortality. We all desire
  significance. We all feel the weight of
  meaningless suffering.

26
Foundations of Truth

• Philosophical Foundation
• First Principles
• Theism
• Biblical Foundation
• Miracles and Revelation
• Historicity of the New Testament
• Divine Communication

27
Comunicación y Gerencia

• The Meaning of Life

Answers 101
By Kurt Theodore Wise
28

• Review

29
Part II

• The Meaning of Man

30
The Origin of Man

• Emanation, Evolution, or Creation?

31
The Origin of Man

• Emanations?
• What do the myths Say?
• The term emanation comes from a Latin word
  meaning "to flow out.
• In philosophy and theology, it refers to an out
  flowing of the transcendentally divine that
  accounts for the origin of the universe,
  especially in Gnosticism.
• Propagated by the Alexandrian Jewish Platonic
  philosopher Philo Judaeus in his cosmological
  speculation.

32
The Origin of Man

• Emanations?
• Pantheism.
• This concept is also implicitly found in
  pantheistic (immanent) concepts of God.
• If God is everything and everything is God, then
  humans are a part of the divine being.
• In Buddhism, the ultimate goal is to merge back
  with Ultimate Being. Self awareness is absorbed
  into cosmic awareness.

33
The Origin of Man

• Emanations?
• Philosophical Response
• This is self-defeating
• If everything is God then nothing is God.
• There is no basis for diversity
• If everything is of the same substance what
  causes things to differ?
• There is no solution to Parmenides.

34
The Origin of Man

• Emanations?
• Historical Response
• Original Monotheism points to a primeval theistic
  worldview.
• Almost every peoples group in the world has a
  monotheistic concept in their earliest historical
  memories.
• See Eternity in Their Hearts by Don Richardson

35
The Origin of Man

• Emanations?
• Theological Response
• Created from the elements
• And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
  ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
  of life and man became a living being. (Gen. 27)

36
The Origin of Man

• Evolution?
• What do the materialists say?
• Matter is ultimate reality.
• There is no intelligent cause behind the
  universe.
• Life is the result of chance and time.

37
The Origin of Man

• Evolution?
• Philosophical Response
• The universe, and thus life, could not have
  arisen out of nothing (cosmological argument).
• The universe evidences design and therefore must
  have a designer (teleological argument).
• Ethical notions require an ethical cause (moral
  argument).

38
The Origin of Man

• Evolution?
• Scientific Response
• There is no conclusive evidence for an old
  universe.
• Dating methods give both young and old ages.
  Starlight can be accounted for through relativity
  and white hole theories.
• The Anthropic Principle demonstrates that the
  universe is designed to support life.

39
The Origin of Man

• Creation
• How can we know?
• By faith we understand that the worlds were
  framed by the word of God, so that the things
  which are seen were not made of things which are
  visible. (Heb 113).
• God told us!

40
The Origin of Man

• Created
• In the Image of God
• Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image,
  according to Our likeness let them have dominion
  over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the
  air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and
  over every creeping thing that creeps on the
  earth. So God created man in His own image in
  the image of God He created him male and female
  He created them. (Ge 126-27)

41
The Nature of Man

• Gods, Animals, or Kings?

42
The Nature of Man

• Gods?
• What do the myths say?
• Because the universe is God and humans are part
  of the universe, then humans are gods.
• Mormons and others claim humanity attains divine
  status through some form of progress or merit.

43
The Nature of Man

• Gods?
• Response
• If God is everything then nothing is God.
• It is impossible for a created being to become an
  uncreated being. Calling glorified humans
  divine changes the meaning of the term.

44
The Nature of Man

• Animals?
• What do the materialists say?
• Man is simply the highest form of life yet to
  evolve.
• The only distinction between humans and animals
  is rational thought.
• Aristotle defined man as a rational animal.

45
The Nature of Man

• Animals?
• Response
• Man is more than just molecules.
• Notions of honor, courage, patience, love, hate,
  and even scientific theory are beyond matter.
• We are not simply chemically driven. We exhibit
  purpose.

46
The Nature of Man

• Kings
• What do the Scriptures say?
• When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your
  fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have
  ordained, What is man that You are mindful of
  him, And the son of man that You visit him? For
  You have made him a little lower than the angels,
  And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
  You have made him to have dominion over the works
  of Your hands You have put all things under his
  feet, All sheep and oxen Even the beasts of the
  field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the
  sea that pass through the paths of the seas. (Ps
  83-8)

47
The Nature of Man

• Kings
• Lowly and exalted.
• Made lower than the angels.
• Given dominion over the earth.
• Sarte

48
The Nature of Man

• Man as Person
• Mind
• To know God.
• Will
• To obey God.
• Emotions
• To love God.

49
The Nature of Man

• Man as an Entity
• Monism
• Man has one nature, a human nature.
• Objection
• Man has one nature with two dimensions
  material and immaterial, or mind and matter.
• Does not explain the biblical teaching on the
  soul or spirit (Eccl. 126-7 Lk. 2343 Phil.
  123 2 Cor. 58 Rev. 69).

50
The Nature of Man

• Man as an Entity
• Dichotomy
• Mans human nature is a unity of body and soul,
  material and immaterial.
• Support
• Soul and spirit are the same. Scripture uses them
  interchangeably (1 Cor. 53 620 734 Mt.
  1028 Acts 231 2 Pet. 211).

51
The Nature of Man

• Man as an Entity
• Trichotomy
• Mans nature is a composite of body, soul, and
  spirit. Man is a soul that lives in a body and
  has a spirit.
• Support
• Soul distinguished from spirit. (Heb. 412
  1Thess. 523).
• Objection
• The most that can be asserted is that this is a
  distinction in function not in essence or
  identity.

52
The Nature of Man

• Nature
• Man has only one nature, not two or three.
• Dimensions
• Mans nature has two dimensions, material and
  immaterial.
• Relations
• Man has three relations - the world, the self,
  and God.

53
The Destiny of Man

• Reincarnation, Annihilation, or Resurrection?

54
The Destiny of Man

• Reincarnation?
• What do the myths say?
• Hinduism asserts that all souls are continuously
  reincarnated until one attains sufficient karma
  to migrate into ultimate being, or Brahma.
• Buddhism teaches that reincarnation can be
  by-passed through meditation.
• This doctrine is based on suffering and the
  desire to escape this world, not return to it.

55
The Destiny of Man

• Annihilation?
• What do the evolutionists say?
• Death is the end of existence.
• There is no immaterial soul to continue beyond
  physical existence.
• Immaterial being can only arise from material
  being.
• This fails to account for immaterial aspects of
  man such as his mind.

56
The Destiny of Man

• Resurrection
• What do the Scriptures say?
• Do not marvel at this for the hour is coming in
  which all who are in the graves will hear His
  voice and come forththose who have done good, to
  the resurrection of life, and those who have done
  evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. (John
  528-29).
• What does the fact of resurrection tell us about
  the meaning of man?

57
Conclusion

• Man
• Origin
• Special creation of God.
• Nature
• Persons of dignity and humility.
• Destiny
• Resurrection unto life or death.

58
Comunicación y Gerencia

• Utopia

Answers 101
By Kurt Theodore Wise
59

• What is Shame?

60
Part III

• The Seven Ages of Man

61
The Seven Ages of Man

• Gods Plan for Man
• Ephesians 13-14.
• God is not a God of chaos (1 Corinthians 1433),
  He has a plan.
• As with any plan of action it has various stages.
• In theology these stages are called
  dispensations.
• For our study we will call them Acts, as in a
  play.

62
The Seven Ages of Man

• Dispensation
• Translation of the Greek word oikonomia
• Has the meaning of economy, or stewardship.
• When used in reference to Gods plan of
  redemption the term refers to a specific
  manifestation, or program, of Gods government of
  his creation.
• Each dispensation can be viewed as a distinct
  program in Gods plan that serves a distinct
  purpose.

63
The Seven Ages of Man

• Dispensation
• Elements
• It administers Gods revelation of Himself.
• Tests Mans responsibility to that revelation.
• Man is responsible before God to establish the
  principles of God in the earth.
• The heart of man and his need for salvation is
  revealed in his response to these principles.
• Each dispensation constitutes a test designed to
  reveal the nature of Man.

64
The Seven Ages of Man

• Progressive Revelation
• Every dispensation reveals more about who God is
  and what he requires of Man.
• Every dispensation answers objections to Gods
  justice.

65
Act One

• Utopia

66
Utopia

• The Creation of Man
• Designed to be a moral agent.
• Mind, will, and emotions.
• Designed to be a natural scientist.
• Given the responsibility to name the animals.
  (Gen. 219)
• Given the authority of a king.
• He is to exercise dominion over nature. (Gen.
  126).

67
Utopia

• The Meaning of Man
• Called to be a worshipper.
• He is to serve and observe. (Gen. 215)
• abad to serve 227, do 15, till 9, servant 5,
  work 5, worshippers 5, service 4, dress 2, labour
  2, ear 2.
• Shamar keep 283, observe 46, heed 35, keeper
  28, preserve 21, beware 9, mark 8, watchman 8,
  wait 7, watch 7.
• How does he serve and observe?
• He is to obey the commandment of God. (Gen.
  216-17)

68
Utopia

• The Age of Innocence
• Created in a state of unconfirmed holiness.
• Truly, this only I have found That God made man
  upright, But they have sought out many schemes.
  (Eccl. 729).
• And they were both naked, the man and his wife,
  and were not ashamed. (Gen. 225).

69
Utopia

• The Age of Innocence
• The Roman poet Tacitus
• The most ancient human beings lived with no evil
  desires, without guilt or crime, and therefore
  without penalties or compulsions. Nor was there
  any need of rewards, since by the prompting of
  their own nature they followed righteous ways.
  (Heinberg, Memories and Visions of Paradise, XII)

70
Utopia

• The Age of Innocence
• The Mahabharata of India
• In the First Age there was but one religion,
  and all men were saintly therefore they were not
  required to perform religious ceremonies.
  (Heinberg, Paradise, XIII)
• NOTICE NO NEED FOR ATONEMENT

71
Utopia

• The Age of Innocence
• Chinese sage Chuang Tzu (4th Cen. B.C.)
• In the Age of Perfect Virtue they were upright
  and correct, without knowing that to be so was
  righteousness they loved one another, without
  knowing that to do so was benevolence. . . .
  (Heinberg, Paradise, XIV)

72
Utopia

• The Age of Innocence
• The testimony of reason.
• It seems evident that we are not now what we once
  were.
• Our sense of oughtness indicates an awareness of
  our own fallen ness.
• We all know something is desperately wrong!

73

• Man is Cruel

74
Man Is Cruel
X
Has Always Been Cruel
Became Cruel
God is Evil
Changed Himself
Changed by Another
75
Became Cruel
X
Changed by Another
Changed Himself
Man not Responsible
76
Became Cruel
X
Changed by Another
Changed Himself
Man not Responsible
77
Became Cruel
X
Changed by Another
Changed Himself
God is not Responsible
Man not Responsible
78
Utopia

• The Probation of Man
• Placed in a perfect environment.
• It was very good. (Gen. 131)
• Given a single, simple command.
• Do not eat of the Tree of Knowledge. (Gen.
  216-17)
• Even the Law is not difficult (Deut. 3011-13).
• It is a command to refrain.

79
Utopia

• The Fall of Man
• The temptation of Eve
• So when the woman saw that the tree was good for
  food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a
  tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its
  fruit and ate. (Gen. 36).
• The three sins.
• For all that is in the worldthe lust of the
  flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
  lifeis not of the Father but is of the world.
  (1 Jn 216).

80
Utopia

• The Fall of Man
• The temptation of Christ.
• And the devil said to Him, If You are the Son
  of God, command this stone to become bread.
  (Luke 43).
• The Lust of the Flesh

81
Utopia

• The Fall of Man
• The temptation of Christ.
• And the devil said to Him, All this authority I
  will give You, and their glory for this has been
  delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I
  wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me,
  all will be Yours. (Luke 46-7).
• The Lust of the Eyes

82
Utopia

• The Fall of Man
• The temptation of Christ
• Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the
  pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, If You
  are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from
  here. For it is written He shall give His
  angels charge over you, To keep you, and, In
  their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash
  your foot against a stone. (Luke 49).
• The Pride of Life

83
Utopia

• The Fall of Man
• The sin of Adam
• Adam made a willful choice.
• Eve was deceived but he was not.
• And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being
  deceived, fell into transgression. (1 Ti 214).

84
Utopia

• Paradise Lost
• The judgment of God.
• Death (Gen. 217).
• Banishment (Gen. 323).
• Labor (Gen. 317).
• Affliction (Gen. 318).

85

• Shame

86
Utopia

• Paradise Lost
• The gaze of God.
• Man is now exposed to the penetrating view of
  God.
• Renowned atheist Jean-Paul Sarte considered God a
  cosmic voyeur.
• He also said that Hell is other people.

87
Utopia

• Paradise Lost
• Though Man was created
• Upright, perfect, and holy.
• With responsibility and purpose
• Though Man was given
• A perfect environment
• A simple responsibility
• Man ultimately chose to disobey.

88
Utopia

• Paradise Lost
• Mans disobedience resulted in

89

• Alienation

90
Utopia

• Man is alienated
• From others.
• From the world.
• From himself.

91
Utopia

• Paradise Promised
• Man is not forgotten.
• Redemption is promised.
• So the Lord God said to the serpent Because
  you have done this, You are cursed more than all
  cattle, And more than every beast of the field
  On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat
  dust All the days of your life. And I will put
  enmity Between you and the woman, And between
  your seed and her Seed He shall bruise your
  head, And you shall bruise His heel. (Gen.
  314-15).

92
Utopia

• Conclusion
• Man is fallen.
• God has given us hope.
• Our final end will be greater than our beginning.

93
Comunicación y Gerencia

• The Meaning
• of Life

Answers 101
By Kurt Theodore Wise
94

• What is Conscience?

95
Utopia

• The Age of Innocence
• Mans Probation
• In a perfect environment
• With a single, simple command
• Mans Fall
• A perfect man
• Used a perfect gift of freedom
• To disobey

96
Utopia

• The Age of Innocence
• The judgment
• Man is cast out from the garden and given over to
  death.
• The earth is cursed and Man must labor to provide
  for himself.

97
Act Two

• Atlantis

98
Atlantis

• The Myth
• A large island nation depicted as a utopian
  commonwealth.
• It is said to have been engulfed by the ocean as
  the result of an earthquake.
• The first recorded accounts of Atlantis appear in
  two dialogues by Plato. According to these
  accounts the island was larger than Asia Minor
  and Libya combined.
• Viewed by many as a time of freedom and spiritual
  advancement.

99
Atlantis

• Man After the Fall
• Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has
  become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And
  now, lest he put out his hand and take also of
  the tree of life, and eat, and live forever
  therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden
  of Eden to till the ground from which he was
  taken. So He drove out the man and He placed
  cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a
  flaming sword which turned every way, to guard
  the way to the tree of life. (Ge 322-24)

100
Atlantis

• Man After the Fall
• Cast out of the Garden.
• Sent out to earn his own way in the world.
• Given over to death.

101
Atlantis

• Man After the Fall
• Plagued by nature (Gen. 318).
• Begetting children of sin. (Gen. 53)
• Longing for Paradise.

102
Atlantis

• Man After the Fall
• What is Man missing?
• Commandments!

103

• Without Commandments
• Man knows only to provide for himself.

104
Atlantis

• Man in the Age of Conscience
• First Response?
• Sexual intimacy (Gen. 41)
• Second Response?
• Sacrifice (Gen. 43-5)
• Third Response?

105

• Murder
• (Gen. 48)

106
Atlantis

• The Offering
• Of Cain
• Cains offering was related to the curse placed
  upon man.
• It may have been offered
• self-righteously
• dutifully
• rebelliously.
• Gods Response
• Rejected

107
Atlantis

• The Offering
• Of Able
• Ables offering has no specific referent in the
  text.
• Ables offering may have evidenced
• his obedience (dominion)
• disobedience (subrogating the curse)
• trust (blood sacrifice).
• Gods Response
• Accepted

108
Atlantis

• The Offerings
• Their significance
• Example of obedience vs. disobedience?
• Example humility vs. self righteousness?
• Example of Gods knowledge of the heart?

109

• What does the text say?

110

• It doesnt say!

111
Atlantis

• The Offerings
• God accepted
• Able
• And his offering
• God rejected
• Cain
• And his offering

112
Atlantis

• The Offerings
• The tension
• It is more than a matter of the heart
• There is some relation to the offerings
  themselves and what they represent.

113
Atlantis

• The Offerings
• The differences
• Cains offering is of the ground and thus related
  to the curse.
• It is evident that Cain was laboring under the
  curse.
• The law is also a curse, it brings death.
• For as many as are of the works of the law are
  under the curse for it is written, Cursed is
  everyone who does not continue in all things
  which are written in the book of the law, to do
  them. (Ga 310)

114
Atlantis

• The Offerings
• The differences
• Ables offering required death.
• It required no effort on Ables part to produce.
• Able benefited from the death of another.

115
Atlantis

• The Offerings
• Conclusion
• Able was accepted because he sought atonement.
• Cain was rejected because he was laboring for
  approval.
• So the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And
  why has your countenance fallen? If you do well,
  will you not be accepted? And if you do not do
  well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for
  you, but you should rule over it. (Ge 46-7)

116
Atlantis

• The Punishment of Cain
• Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your
  brother? He said, I do not know. Am I my
  brothers keeper? And He said, What have you
  done? The voice of your brothers blood cries out
  to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from
  the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive
  your brothers blood from your hand. When you
  till the ground, it shall no longer yield its
  strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you
  shall be on the earth.

117
Atlantis

• The Punishment of Cain
• And Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is
  greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven
  me out this day from the face of the ground I
  shall be hidden from Your face I shall be a
  fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will
  happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.

118
Atlantis

• The Punishment of Cain
• And the Lord said to him, Therefore, whoever
  kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him
  sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest
  anyone finding him should kill him. (Ge 49-15).

119
Atlantis

• The Punishment of Cain
• Cursed from the earth.
• His means of finding approval is removed from
  him.
• Sent out to be a fugitive on the earth.

120
Atlantis

• The Punishment of Cain
• Cains reaction
• His punishment is to great for him to bear.
• He realizes what it will mean to be cutoff from
  God.
• He realizes he will have no security against
  those who would behave as he has behaved.

121
Atlantis

• The Age of Conscience
• The elements of the age
• No commandments.
• Blood sacrifice is essential in worship.
• There is no societal regulation of behavior.
• So what is God after?

122

• The Heart

123
Atlantis

• The Age of Conscience
• What is Conscience?
• Con together
• Science to know.
• It means that there is an inward knowledge of
  right and wrong that tells us what God requires.
• We also have the voice of our own selves and the
  voice of the tempter. The conscience should
  supersede these two voices.

124
Atlantis

• The Progress of Men
• The two lines.
• Alleviating the curse.
• The Flood.

125
Atlantis

• The Two Lines
• The line of Cain
• No death is mentioned.
• They are seeking the comforts of this world.
• They traffic in pride and violence.

126
Atlantis

• The Two Lines
• The line of Seth
• They have a set time on the earth.
• Death is mentioned in every instance (except
  Enoch).
• They begin to call upon the Lord.
• They are seeking deliverance.

127
Atlantis

• The Two Lines
• The significance
• There are always two kinds of people in the
  world.
• Those who reject God seek their comfort and
  meaning in the things of this world.

128
Atlantis

• Alleviating the Curse
• Cains descendents
• Tended livestock and dwelt in tents
• Invented musical instruments
• Invented technology
• Pursued their own pleasures (polygamy).

129
Atlantis

• The Flood
• Its purpose
• To bring judgment on the wicked. (Gen. 6-7)
• To cleanse a polluted world.

130
Atlantis

• The Flood
• Its purpose
• By the Spirit He went and preached to the
  spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient,
  when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the
  days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared,
  in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved
  through water. There is also an antitype which
  now saves usbaptism (not the removal of the
  filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
  conscience toward God), through the resurrection
  of Jesus Christ. (1 Pe 319-21)

131
Atlantis

• Conclusion
• The test
• Walk in righteousness from the heart
• The result
• Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was
  great in the earth, and that every intent of the
  thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
  (Gen. 65).
• The judgment
• The flood destroyed every soul except those in
  the ark.

132
Comunicación y Gerencia

• The Meaning
• of Life

Answers 101
By Kurt Theodore Wise
133

• What is Society?

134

• Review

135
Utopia

• The Age of Innocence
• Man is placed in probation under a single, simple
  command.
• Using his gift of freedom, Man rebels against God
  and loses his state of innocence.
• God casts Man out of the Garden and gives him
  over to death.
• The earth is cursed and Man must labor to provide
  for himself.

136
Atlantis

• The Age of Conscience
• Man is cast into the world to provide for
  himself.
• He is given no specific commands and is left to
  follow his heart.
• Evil is manifested in the hearts of men.
• God judges the world by a flood.
• God delivers one man and his family.

137
Act Three

• Republic

138
Republic

• Outline
• The Flood
• After the Flood
• The Rise of Government
• The Rebellion at Babel
• The Division of Humanity

139
Republic

• The Flood
• A. God resolves to destroy the corrupt race
  (69-10).
• B. Noah builds an ark according to Gods
  instructions (614-22).
• C. The Lord commands the remnant to enter
  the ark (71-9).
• D. The flood begins (710-16).
• E. The flood prevails 150 days, the
  mountains are covered (717-24).
• F. God remembers Noah (81a).
• E1 The flood recedes for 150 days, the
  mountains are visible (81b-5).
• D1 The earth dries (86-14).
• C1 God commands the remnant to leave the ark
  (815-19).
• B1 Noah builds an altar (820).
• A1 The Lord resolves not to destroy humankind
  (821-22)

140
Republic

• The Flood
• A. God resolves to destroy the corrupt race
  (69-10).
• B. Noah builds an ark according to Gods
  instructions (614-22).
• C. The Lord commands the remnant to enter
  the ark (71-9).
• D. The flood begins (710-16).
• E. The flood prevails 150 days, the
  mountains are covered (717-24).
• F. God remembers Noah (81a).
• E1 The flood recedes for 150 days, the
  mountains are visible (81b-5).
• D1 The earth dries (86-14).
• C1 God commands the remnant to leave the ark
  (815-19).
• B1 Noah builds an altar (820).
• A1 The Lord resolves not to destroy humankind
  (821-22)

141
Republic

• The Flood
• Baptismal Typology of the Earth
• Typos seal-impression.
• A type is a divinely purposed anticipation which
  illustrates its antitype. Types can consist of
  events, objects, and persons. (Chafer, Systematic
  Theology 77)
• They are divinely inspired analogies. Typology
  does not negate the literal, historical
  understanding of the Scriptures. They are not
  allegories.

142
Republic

• The Flood
• Baptisms of the Earth
• Death. God cursed His creation and the earth
  entered into a state of corruption. (Gen. 317
  Rom. 818-22)

143
Republic

• The Flood
• Baptisms of the Earth
• Water. Having entered into death, the earth
  needed to be renewed.
• The first step in this process was water baptism,
  i.e. the Flood (Gen. 617 2 Pet. 35-6).
• Peter states that the Flood is a type of baptism
  (1 Pet. 318-22).

144
Republic

• The Flood
• Baptisms of the Earth
• Fire. At the consummation of the ages God will
  destroy the earth with fire (2 Pet. 37).
• Believers are baptized in the fire of the Holy
  Spirit (Luke 316).

145
Republic

• The Flood
• Baptisms of the Earth
• Resurrection. Believers are resurrected into new
  glorified bodies (1 Cor. 1542-43).
• The earth also experiences such a resurrection
  into a new glorified state (2 Pet. 310-13 Rev.
  211).

146
Republic

• After the Flood
• Noahs Offering
• Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of
  every clean animal and of every clean bird, and
  offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the
  Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said
  in His heart, I will never again curse the
  ground for mans sake, although the imagination
  of mans heart is evil from his youth nor will I
  again destroy every living thing as I have done.
  While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest,
  Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and
  night shall not cease. (Gen.
  820-22).

147
Republic

• After the Flood
• The commission of Noah
• So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to
  them Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
  earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you
  shall be on every beast of the earth, on every
  bird of the air, on all that move on the earth,
  and on all the fish of the sea. They are given
  into your hand. (Gen. 91-2)
• This parallels the commission to Adam.

148
Republic

• After the Flood
• Parallels to Creation
• Water covers the whole earth.
• The waters gathered into one place and dry land
  appears.
• Commanded to fill the land and subdue it.
• Nakedness is exposed and realized.
• Curses result from failure.

149
Republic

• After the Flood
• The Noahic covenant
• Every moving thing that lives shall be food for
  you. I have given you all things, even as the
  green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its
  life, that is, its blood. Surely for your
  lifeblood I will demand a reckoning from the
  hand of every beast I will require it, and from
  the hand of man. From the hand of every mans
  brother I will require the life of man. Whoever
  sheds mans blood, By man his blood shall be
  shed For in the image of God He made man.
  (Gen. 93-6).

150
Republic

• After the Flood
• The Noahic covenant
• The passage is an inclusio.
• It begins with a statement of the commission to
  Man (v.1-2) and ends with a restatement of it (v.
  7).

151
Republic

• After the Flood
• Provisions of Noahic Covenant
• As with the Abrahamic and New Covenants, the
  Noahic covenant has seven provisions.

152
Republic

• After the Flood
• Provisions of Noahic Covenant (Gen. 821-97).
• 1. No new curse on the ground.
• 2. All living things would never again be
  destroyed by water.
• 3. The seasons would be maintained.
• 4. Noah and his sons were blessed.
• 5. Animals were given to man as a source of food
• 6. Human government was instituted through
  capital punishment.
• 7. Mans fertility was blessed.

153
Republic

• After the Flood
• Sign of the Covenant
• God set the rainbow in the sky as a sign of His
  covenant with Noah and all of his descendants
  (Gen. 912-17).
• Somehow the rainbow was not visible before the
  flood.
• This may have been due to the presence of a vapor
  canopy around the earth which apparently
  inhibited the occurrence to the phenomenon.

154
Republic

• After the Flood
• The fall of Noah (920-27)
• Noah plants a vineyard and succumbs to
  drunkenness.
• Ham sees Noahs nakedness and tells his brothers.
• Shem and Japheth cover Noah.
• Noah curses Hams son Canaan to be a servant to
  Shem and Japheth.
• Shem is associated with spiritual blessing.
• Japheth is associated with material blessing.

155
Republic

• The Rise of Government
• Nimrod and the Table of Nations
• Cush begot Nimrod he began to be a mighty one on
  the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the
  Lord therefore it is said, Like Nimrod the
  mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning
  of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and
  Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he
  went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir,
  Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that
  is the principal city). (Gen. 108-12)

156
Republic

• The Tower of Babel
• The rebellion of the Nations
• Now the whole earth had one language and one
  speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed
  from the east, that they found a plain in the
  land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. (Gen.
  111-2).
• Humanity is still a whole.
• They journey Eastward into the Fertile Crescent.

157
Republic

• The Tower of Babel
• The rebellion of the Nations
• Then they said to one another, Come, let us make
  bricks and bake them thoroughly. They had brick
  for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. (Ge
  113)
• There society is built on Substitutes.

158
Republic

• The Tower of Babel
• The rebellion of the Nations
• And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a
  city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens
  let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be
  scattered abroad over the face of the whole
  earth. (Gen. 114).
• They sought reach the heavens.
• They sought a name for themselves.
• They resolved to remain together.

159
Republic

• The Tower of Babel
• The rebellion of the Nations
• But the Lord came down to see the city and the
  tower which the sons of men had built. And the
  Lord said, Indeed the people are one and they
  all have one language, and this is what they
  begin to do now nothing that they propose to do
  will be withheld from them. (Gen. 115-6)
• The Lord coming down is ironically contrasted
  with their effort to reach the heavens.

160
Republic

• The Tower of Babel
• The origin of false religion.
• Lot moved East when he separated from Abram
  (Gen. 1311).
• The idolaters in Israel practiced their idolatry
  facing the east (Ezek 816).
• Isaiah even condemned Israel for taking up with
  eastern ways because of its corruption (Isa.
  26). To this day the eastern continents are
  under a heavy bondage to false religion.

161
Republic

• The Tower of Babel
• The origin of false religion
• Babylon was the birthplace of astrology (The
  Encyclopedia of Religions, s.v. Astrology).
• Satan seeks to introduce counterfeits.

162
Republic

• The Tower of Babel
• The counterfeits of false religion
• City - Babylon the Great vs. Holy Jerusalem.
• Woman - Harlot vs. Virgin Bride.
• Trinity - Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet vs.
  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• Cosmology - Evolution vs. Creation.
• Mystery - Iniquity (2 Thess. 27) vs. Godliness
  (1 Timothy 316).

163
Republic

• The Division of Humanity
• The confusion of language
• Come, let Us go down and there confuse their
  language, that they may not understand one
  anothers speech. So the Lord scattered them
  abroad from there over the face of all the earth,
  and they ceased building the city. Therefore its
  name is called Babel, because there the Lord
  confused the language of all the earth and from
  there the Lord scattered them abroad over the
  face of all the earth. (Gen. 117-9)

164
Republic

• The Division of Humanity
• The continents divided
• To Eber were born two sons the name of one was
  Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided and
  his brothers name was Joktan. (Gen. 1025)
• palag to split
• badal to separate

165
Conclusion

• The Age of Government
• Man is given the responsibility for his fellow
  man.
• Capital punishment instituted as the highest form
  of authority.
• Man uses societal responsibility to enslave men
  and to rebel against God.
• God divides humanity to retard the development of
  sin