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Relations in Light™

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Relations in Light™

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Goal

Mapping Reality in a Pro-Creational Monotheistic Christian Framework 

Motivational Concepts

1. Relatedness as a foundational property of reality

2. Confinement to a lower story reality and it’s devastating impact produced by a naturalism, rooted in reductionist scientism, that is blinded to a unity of the upper and lower stories of reality. This produces a false dichotomy of faith and reason which Francis Schaeffer(see Escape from Reason) calls, respectively, the upper and lower stories. This constitutes a false splitting of reality. 

3.  The universe seen as a one verse universe. (The word "universe" comes from the words "uni," or one, and "verse," a song or poem, the one song occurring in all phenomena. God is the divine artist, and the universe is the continually evolving masterpiece of creation. Lower and upper stories are joined into one unified reality.

One Verse Universe (AI overview) - The phrase "universe as one verse" suggests the idea that the cosmos, with all its wonders and complexities, can be seen as a single, unified, and harmonious creation, like a single song or poem.
Here's a breakdown of the concept:
"Uni" and "Verse":The word "universe" itself, derived from Latin, combines "uni" (meaning "one") and "verse" (referring to a song or poem). This suggests the idea of a unified whole, a single, grand creation.

Precursors

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light   Genesis 1:1-3


1 In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.  John 1:1-5


20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20


No finite point has meaning without an infinite reference point.   John-Paul Sarte


Wisdom is the capacity to see relationships (H.R. Rookmaaker – The Creative Gift)


Power as such is a relational concept and requires relation (Hans Jonas)

Structure and Metanarrative

Structure

∫Logos 

reality integrated on logos

SR ~ GR 

Where SR = special revelation inspired by God through the Jewish/Christian scriptural canon providing the metanarrative and structure of reality

Where GR = general revelation of God – the universe – the cosmos

~  is relatedness between special revelation and general revelation

Result – a unified reality joining the upper and lower stories relationally


Metanarrative

A grand metanarrative is underway from Eden (Genesis/creation) to Israel begun (call of Moses through Abraham) to Israel fulfilling its call through the promised seed Jesus the Messiah (the word/logos made flesh, the faithful Israelite fulfilling Israel’s vocation to be a light to the nations, to New Heavens and New Earth (Revelation/New Creation).


Seers/knowers/imagers – human beings created in the image of God as free observers/agents/actors who are wired for logos.

Posit

The universe was created by the eternally preexistent infinite-personal trinitarian God (Elohim) as Father, Son, and Sprit in diverse unity in loving relationship (viz. one god in three persons). The universe is an analog relational creation sustained by relational power and is analogically related to the triune god. The universe is structured as an open architecture, diverse unity mutatis mutandis. It is grounded ontologically by the trinitarian God. It is a one verse universe. Unity and diversity are inseparable and together characterize and form the unified field of reality. The unified field joins the upper story and lower story. The open architecture allows significant and meaningful actors. Wired for logos, human beings are created in the image of God and uniquely equipped for observation and action. They are intended to act into general revelation consistent with special revelation. 

Analog Relational (AI overview) -
Analog relational reasoning, also known as analogical reasoning, involves identifying and mapping relationships between two or more things, using structured comparisons of mental representations to make inferences.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
Analogical reasoning is a form of inductive reasoning that relies on identifying similarities or patterns between different concepts or situations. It's a way of understanding something new by comparing it to something familiar.

Purpose

1. To assert that the eternally preexistent infinite-personal trinitarian God (Elohim) as Father, Son, and Sprit in loving relationship alone carries the ontological weight and explanatory power needed to ground the universe and give qualitative answers to more questions about the cosmos, man and the nature of man than any competing explanation. 

2. To encourage enlightenment based on a unified field of reality challenging naturalism/scientism and post modernism. 

Where Naturalism, in philosophy, is the view that the universe is governed  solely by natural laws and forces, excluding any supernatural or spiritual elements, and that scientific methods are the best (or only) way to understand reality.

Where Postmodernism is a skeptical attitude towards grand narratives and universal truths, emphasizing subjectivity, questioning established ideas, and embracing a more fragmented and diverse understanding of reality.
Skepticism and Questioning: Postmodernism challenges the idea that there are simple, objective truths or universal explanations for everything.
Subjectivity: It emphasizes the importance of individual perspectives and experiences, arguing that meaning is not inherent but is constructed by individuals.

3. To be a catalyst for imagination, creativity and enterprise across all disciplines.

4. To help one see an invitation to enact your own story onto this grand evolving tapestry!

“Child,' said the Lion, 'I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own.”

― C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia/The Horse and His Boy) 

Poem/Prayer by Francis Schaeffer

To eat, to breathe, to beget,  (loss of significance)
Is that all there is?  (insignificance, meaningless)
Chance configuration of atom against atom (modernism/scientism/naturalistic worldview)
Of little god against little god.   (postmodernism)
I cannot believe it.   
Come Christian triune God who lives.  (The Creator – Alpha and Omega)
Here am I.  (A living stone in the new temple)
Shake the world again.   (revolution aimed at at new enlightenment)   

Parenthetical comments added and not part of the original poem/prayer

Primary Shapers of Thought

Francis A. Schaeffer (Theologian/Philosopher- Escape From Reason, The God who is There, He is There and He is Not Silent and other works)

H. R. Rookmaaker (Art Historian - The Creative Gift)

Secondary Shapers of Thought

N.T. Wright ( New Testament Theologian/Ancient Historian – works in general but especially his works on new creation)

Jordan Peterson - Clinical Psychologist (especially his thinking on the subject of metanarrative and trinitarian structure in sundry podcasts)

C S Lewis - literature, philosophy/Christian apologist (Mere Christianity as well as all his non-academic books)

Dorothy Sayers – Novelist and Playwright (see The Mind of the Maker)

Esther Meek - Philosopher specializing in epistemology (see Longing to Know and other books on knowing)

John Walton – Old Testament scholar (especially his categories of order, non-order, and disorder which characterize the universe).

Musings and sundry

#1 No one or no philosophy has ever given us an answer for unity and diversity. The only answer is a relational god prior to creation.  (Francis Schaeffer)

#2 As to the quote above in precursors section from Jean Paul Sarte (i.e. no finite point has meaning without an infinite reference point). Unless and until you reach the eternally pre-existent triune God in the vertical hierarchy of meaning you are *driving pegs in mid-air. No matter how sophisticated the argument, there is no justifiable basis for meaning otherwise.

*driving pegs in mid-air is a phrase often used by Francis Schaeffer

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