{"id":311,"date":"2019-09-29T15:18:44","date_gmt":"2019-09-29T05:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311"},"modified":"2019-09-29T15:29:36","modified_gmt":"2019-09-29T05:29:36","slug":"philosophy-and-discipleship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311","title":{"rendered":"Philosophy and Discipleship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">One of the first questions I ask a Christian leader when I start working with them is <em>\u201cWhat are you trying to achieve?\u201d<\/em> When they have finished outlining their intended journey I ask another question, \u201c<em>How is it going?<\/em>\u201d Most &nbsp;leaders are trying to achieve specific outcomes without an understanding of the influences of <strong>history<\/strong>, <strong>culture and philosophy <\/strong>and so what they are trying to achieve often doesn\u2019t happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Norman Geisler combines history, culture and philosophyinto one and calls it our worldview. \u2018<em>The truth is that a worldview is like coloured glasses; it colours everything at which we look. It is a grid through which one views all of life. As such it helps form our thoughts and decisions. The tragedy is that most people do not even know what their worldview is, how they got it, and how important it is in their lives\u2019<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Because we behave as we believe, our worldview guides and informs our decisions and actions. Sometimes the lens brings clarity, and at other times it can distort reality. A seemingly rational worldview can be true, partially true, or entirely false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">This is a complex area because it is\nhere we often face the syncretisms of Christian faith\/belief with the culture\nand philosophy of a specific time period. This has been a problem in each era\nof the history of the Western church. In the Common Era (100-600) Christian\nfaith was viewed and expressed through a Platonic grid. The Medieval Era\n(600-1500) expressed faith through the Aristotelian system of philosophy. The\nReformation Era of thought was filtered through early Cartesianism\nwhile Modern Era thought has been filtered through Cartesian rationalism.\nNow we are face-to-face with the Postmodern Era of thought and the cultural\nforms it will bring to society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The use of cultural and philosophical trends as a channel\/grid for truth has always been a part of historical Christianity. The statement, <em>\u2018the message remains the same but the method of expressing the message is constantly changing\u2019<\/em> may be true, but history shows that both the message and the method combine to affect the practice or outworking of our faith and often the cultural\/philosophical method takes precedence.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-314\" width=\"536\" height=\"153\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Cultural and philosophical\ncontextualisation is essential to the mission of the Church and it has been and\nalways will be a struggle to incarnate faith into distinct periods of history.\nWhen Christianity has done this successfully in the past, it is not long before\nthat era ends and another era begins. Those who remain committed to the old\napproach subsequently freeze the style of the particular period in which it\noriginated and transfer it into the new era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Robert Webber explains the situation using the Modern Era (1750-2000) as an example: <em>\u2018Modern era evangelicals have identified with the Cartesian emphasis on    reason and the empirical method. These culturally defined evangelicals have used the modern paradigm of thought to develop a particular kind of evangelicalism encased in a culture that elevates reason and the attainment of propositional truth. They have created a culturally bound evangelicalism embedded in the modern paradigm of thought.&nbsp; <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The current dilemma for modern\nevangelicalism is that the twentieth-century cultural paradigm in which their\nevangelical faith was explained, proclaimed, and defended has come to an\nend.&nbsp; Because there is now a new cultural\nparadigm, the old wineskins are collapsing. It is not the faith that needs to\nbe changed but the paradigm or the wineskin in which Christianity is\ncommunicated.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><em>What is happening now around the world\nis a new awakening. This awakening is happening concurrently with the beginning\nof the twenty-first century.&nbsp; Some are\nresisting this change and insisting on the preservation of the old\nparadigm.&nbsp; Others are rushing to make\nalliances with the new cultural conditions without carefully considering how\nthe Christian faith, grounded in Scripture and informed by the history of the\nchurch, should be translated into a new cultural context\u2019.<\/em> <em>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">All of us come to faith with a set of\nphilosophical beliefs, some of which will inevitably clash with what Jesus\ntaught. Part of our journey as disciples of Jesus is to bring our beliefs in\nline with His beliefs instead of trying to bring what He has said into line\nwith what we believe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">To make disciples of Jesus in this\nemerging era, I believe we must be \u2018<em>grounded\nin Scripture and informed by the history of the Church\u2019<\/em> as we adjust our\npractice, rather than simply succumbing to a wholesale adoption of an emerging\nphilosophical and cultural context.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the first questions I ask a Christian leader when I start working with them is \u201cWhat are you trying to achieve?\u201d When they have finished outlining their intended journey I ask another question, \u201cHow is it going?\u201d Most &nbsp;leaders are trying to achieve specific outcomes without an understanding of the influences of history, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Philosophy and Discipleship - Discipling As You Go<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philosophy and Discipleship - Discipling As You Go\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the first questions I ask a Christian leader when I start working with them is \u201cWhat are you trying to achieve?\u201d When they have finished outlining their intended journey I ask another question, \u201cHow is it going?\u201d Most &nbsp;leaders are trying to achieve specific outcomes without an understanding of the influences of history, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Discipling As You Go\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-29T05:18:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-29T05:29:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"244\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Colin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Colin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Colin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec11c2e974200077742bbbd1020e9f45\"},\"headline\":\"Philosophy and Discipleship\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-29T05:18:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-29T05:29:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311\"},\"wordCount\":764,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311\",\"name\":\"Philosophy and Discipleship - Discipling As You Go\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-29T05:18:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-29T05:29:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec11c2e974200077742bbbd1020e9f45\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":244},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?p=311#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Philosophy and Discipleship\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Discipling As You Go\",\"description\":\"The Discipleship Journey - At the start of his ministry Jesus began the journey of discipling (John 1:35-51). He spent three years intensely working with these disciples to prepare them for what was to come. At the end of His ministry, Jesus addresses those same disciples and tells them it is now their turn to disciple (Matthew 28:18-20). Over the next 2000 years followers of Jesus wrestled with what it means to disciple as the world around them continues to change. As we enter another major historical change, we have to ask what it means to disciple in the 21st century. \u201cThe depth of discipleship in the 21st century will define the future shape of the Church\u201d\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec11c2e974200077742bbbd1020e9f45\",\"name\":\"Colin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fa90ecb2f53d6b69d6d01c1cac644a6bb529b0024ce09e7c01500a6cbd89f6b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fa90ecb2f53d6b69d6d01c1cac644a6bb529b0024ce09e7c01500a6cbd89f6b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fa90ecb2f53d6b69d6d01c1cac644a6bb529b0024ce09e7c01500a6cbd89f6b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Colin\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/disciplingasyougo.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Philosophy and Discipleship - Discipling As You Go","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Philosophy and Discipleship - Discipling As You Go","og_description":"One of the first questions I ask a Christian leader when I start working with them is \u201cWhat are you trying to achieve?\u201d When they have finished outlining their intended journey I ask another question, \u201cHow is it going?\u201d Most &nbsp;leaders are trying to achieve specific outcomes without an understanding of the influences of history, [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311","og_site_name":"Discipling As You Go","article_published_time":"2019-09-29T05:18:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-09-29T05:29:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":244,"url":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Colin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Colin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311"},"author":{"name":"Colin","@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec11c2e974200077742bbbd1020e9f45"},"headline":"Philosophy and Discipleship","datePublished":"2019-09-29T05:18:44+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-29T05:29:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311"},"wordCount":764,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg","articleSection":["Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311","url":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311","name":"Philosophy and Discipleship - Discipling As You Go","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg","datePublished":"2019-09-29T05:18:44+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-29T05:29:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec11c2e974200077742bbbd1020e9f45"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg","width":300,"height":244},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?p=311#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Philosophy and Discipleship"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/","name":"Discipling As You Go","description":"The Discipleship Journey - At the start of his ministry Jesus began the journey of discipling (John 1:35-51). He spent three years intensely working with these disciples to prepare them for what was to come. At the end of His ministry, Jesus addresses those same disciples and tells them it is now their turn to disciple (Matthew 28:18-20). Over the next 2000 years followers of Jesus wrestled with what it means to disciple as the world around them continues to change. As we enter another major historical change, we have to ask what it means to disciple in the 21st century. \u201cThe depth of discipleship in the 21st century will define the future shape of the Church\u201d","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec11c2e974200077742bbbd1020e9f45","name":"Colin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fa90ecb2f53d6b69d6d01c1cac644a6bb529b0024ce09e7c01500a6cbd89f6b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fa90ecb2f53d6b69d6d01c1cac644a6bb529b0024ce09e7c01500a6cbd89f6b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fa90ecb2f53d6b69d6d01c1cac644a6bb529b0024ce09e7c01500a6cbd89f6b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Colin"},"url":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/philosophy1-e1569733416601.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=311"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320,"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions\/320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplingasyougo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}