Theism:

1
American Thought A Walk Away From God
2
1620-1750

• God Creator, Father, Guide, Redeemer,
  Protector, Provider, and Judge
  
• God is in Control
• Personal Relationship with God
• God transforms the individual
• Bible
• Prayer
• Holy Spirit
• Treasures in Heaven

3
Puritan Literature

• William Bradford
• Of Plymouth Plantation
• Anne Bradstreet
• Upon the Burning of Our House
• Edward Taylor
• Huswifery

4
1750-1800

• God Creator - Clockmaker theory
• - He created the world, then left it to run on
  its own
  
• Natural Law God set things in motion
• God-given Reason
• God gave me a good mind, so I can trust myself
  understand natural law
  
• If I make a rational plan and work hard, I can
  make myself better

5
Cavalier Literature

• Benjamin Franklin
• The Autobiography
• Franklin wishes to become perfect and creates a
  rational plan for conquering 13 virtues in 13
  weeks.
  
• It was about this time I conceived the bold and
  arduous project of arriving at moral perfection
  (114).

6
Cavalier Literature

• Thomas Jefferson
• The Declaration of Independence
• Jefferson demonstrates his deism when writing the
  Declaration of Independence by his rationally
  presented arguments and his references to the
  laws of nature and natures God (144).
• Jefferson was vehemently against including
  phrases such as appealing to the Supreme Judge
  of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions
  and with a Firm Reliance on the Protection of
  divine Providence (Marshall 306).

7
1800-1840

• Revere a force in Nature
• Focus on the Creation rather than the Creator
• Man can learn lessons from Nature through
  Intuition
  
• Led by Emotion rather than reason

8
Romantic Literature

• William Cullen Bryant
• To a Waterfowl
• Thanatopsis

9
Romanticism Quotations

• From Thanatopsis (207-208)
• To him who in the love of Nature holds/
  Communion with her visible forms, she speaks/ A
  various language (Bryant lines 1-3).
  
• Go forth, under the open sky, and list/ To
  Natures teachings (14-15).

10
Romanticism Quotations

• From To A Waterfowl (179-180)
• There is a Power whose care/ Teaches thy way
  along that pathless coast (lines 13-14).
  
• on my heart/ Deeply has sunk the lesson thou
  the waterfowl hast given,/ And shall not soon
  depart.
  
• He who from zone to zone,/ Guides through the
  boundless sky thy certain flight,/ In the long
  way that I must tread alone,/ Will lead my steps
  aright (27-32).

11
1840-1855

• Man is divine as part of the Oversoul
  (therefore, man can trust himself)
  
• Ignore dead books (no absolute truth)
• Truth is relative to personal experience and may
  change daily
  
• Personal revelations from Nature
• (via intuition and emotion)

12
Transcendental Literature

• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Nature
• Self-Reliance

13
Transcendental Quotations

• From Nature (274-275)
• I become a transparent eyeball I am nothing I
  see all the currents of the Universal Being
  circulate through me I am part or parcel of God
  (Emerson 274).
• The greatest delight which the fields and woods
  minister is the suggestion of an occult relation
  between mand and the vegetable (275).

14
Transcendental Quotations

• From Self-Reliance (276-277)
• Trust thyself (Emerson 276).
• A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little
  mindsWith consistency a great soul has simply
  nothing to do (276)
  
• Speak what you think now in hard words and
  tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words
  again, though it contradict everything you said
  today (276).

15
1865-1915

• Transition via Civil War
• Science
• Tangible evidence indicates what is Real
• God is absent

16
1865-1915

• Darwin Evolution
• Man is the victim of Nature
• Heredity, Environment, Chance

17
Naturalistic Literature

• Stephen Crane
• The Open Boat

18
1915-1945

• Search for meaning
• Fragmentation
• The Lost Generation

19
Modern Literature

• Sherwood Anderson
• Sophistication

20
1946-

• Call off the search for meaning
• Life is meaningless
• Existence precedes essence
• The individual creates his own meaning

21
Existential Literature

• Alice Walker
• Expect Nothing
• Theodore Roethke
• The Waking
• Gwendolyn Brooks
• The Explorer

22
Late 1900s - Present Day

• No absolute truth
• Moral relativism
• Tolerance

23
Postmodernism

• Tolerance is the word of the era. In the absence
  of absolutes one must tolerate all views as
  equally valid (except those which do not allow
  for tolerance)

24
Postmodern Literature

• Christian analysis
• Ravi Zacharias
• Just Thinking
• Josh MacDowell
• Tolerance
• Charles Colson
• The Corruption of Conscience

25
(No Transcript)
26
Why We Do What We Do (Quotes from Jr. Honors stu
dents about the most important idea they learned
in the course. Each is about the term paper.)
I have furthered my writing skills this year and
can write better than I ever have been able to
before The term paper made obvious how and w
hy man has drifted away from Gods truthWorking
on the paper has given me further insight into
postmodern views and beliefs. An understanding
of these ideas then gives me a stronger
foundation in my ministry. After all, I cannot
share my beliefs without first understanding
those of others.
27
I benefit from this knowledge of truth simply
because it will allow me to carry out more
intelligent conversations regarding truth.
As we studied how each era lost sight of God,
I realized my own need to place all my trust in
God as the sole provider of truth in my life.
Truth should be found in the Holy Bible, not in
the lyrics of the music I listen to or the
beliefs of a certain celebrity. No truth is
from God!
28
After learning how God has slowly diminished in
our society, I have taken into great
consideration renewing my relationship with
himEspecially after learning the postmodernist
view of God, I have changed the way I liveMy
relationship with him has become stronger.
I started to think about my own view of truthI
realized that my view of truth was somewhat away
from absolute In a way, writing this term paper
got me to start thinking about my own
relationship with Christ and how I wanted to
improve it. I believe learning how far away our
society has walked away from God impacted me
the most.
29
All this information will have a positive impact
on my life because I can make sure that I do not
follow the path away from God and His truth. I
can choose to take the narrow road and hopefully
lead others to the truth God provides.
It makes me as a Christian think about how much
more corrupt truth may become if I do not stand
my ground. Truth has already gone from absolute
and based on God, to relative and tolerant. I
believe that after seeing this I will take a
better stand for Gods truth and my faith, and
try to turn the tide, so truth may gain its
reputation back.