Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
The Summit Lecture Series: Making Sense of Your World with John Stonestreet, Part 16

The Summit Lecture Series: Making Sense of Your World with John Stonestreet, Part 16

Last updated on: October 12, 2016 at 8:38 am by Christian Podcast Central

The Summit Lecture Series: Making Sense of Your World with John Stonestreet, Part 16 2016-10-12T08:38:40-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Summit Lecture Series Slider

To purchase the entire Summit Lecture Series, Vol. 1 on DVD, go to: summit.org.

Nihilism comes from the Greek word nihilo, which means “nothing”. Therefore it can be defined as a philosophy of “nothingism”. Some of its most popular proponents are Albert Camu, Samuel Beckett, and in a lot of ways Friedrich Nietzsche – particularly when he said:

“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”

So, where Existentialists would tell you to seize the day, Nietzsche and other Nihilists would tell you to just do whatever you want. There’s no right way to do anything in life. In fact, what happens is Nihilism takes one of two directions: One direction almost always leads to depression; the other leads to an obsession for power.

You see, if there is no meaning nor morality in life, then you might as well either stop participating or just live for power over others.

One perfect example of a Nihilistic worldview in our own history is what happened on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO. Two young men planned an attack on their fellow students for over a year. In this time, they recorded themselves spouting off Nihilistic perspectives. And, according to their worldview, they pulled off the perfect crime – They walked through the school campus, shooting people – murdering twelve students and one teacher – laughing at their victims before killing themselves.

And that’s that.

According to their worldview, when you die… you die. That’s it. Therefore, there were no consequences for their actions, nor should there be any concerns after their terrible deeds.

Another famous Nihilist, as I mentioned, was playwright Samuel Beckett. Beckett was part of the Theater of the Absurd, which expressed what happens when human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. For example, in his work Waiting for Godot, the entire first act is two guys sitting by a tree discussing why they are waiting so long for someone named Godot and the things that must be delaying him. The second act is a complete repeat of the first – word for word – emphasizing that there really is no point in life.

Another play Beckett wrote is titled “Breath”. In it, the curtain is down and the lights are lowered, when from behind the curtain, you hear an incredible scream. As the curtain opens, the stage is filled with tons and tons of garbage, and you hear a series of deep breaths. All this is followed by another ear-piercing scream. The curtain closes and that’s the end.

The entire play lasts 30 seconds.

This 30 second “work of art” depicts Beckett’s take on life: It begins with a scream, ends with a scream and all of our breaths in between them are worth nothing but a heap of garbage.

Now, as we have said many times before:

So, if we go back to our list of ideas that are vying for the hearts and minds of people across the world, Atheism connects with Scientism, Secularism and Nihilism or Hedonism depending on an individual’s take. Also, Atheism is connected to Neo-Darwinism and Socialism – the Naturalistic assumption that the world is a fixed set of resources. Since this amount of resources cannot be expanded, then everything must be divided up properly amongst the right amount of people for human sustenance. But, what happens when there aren’t enough resources to be divided, due to too many mouths to feed? This is where Socialists begin talking about population control, selective abortion and assisted suicide. Now, don’t get me wrong… I know that there are situations where overpopulation can stress an environment. But, nine times out of ten, human ingenuity eventually provides a way to overcome this stress.

However, when people try to take measures like China did to control their population, a whole brood of new consequences arise, such as an over abundance of men within a generation who cannot find wives.

You see, Socialism holds that since the world’s resources are finite and cannot grow, then everyone is entitled to an equal share of these limited resources… even if that means that either that amount is too small for the population to be sustained or the population needs to be decreased in order to match with the resource supply.

This is the stark opposite of a Market Economy. In a Market Economy, when human ingenuity, creativity, and hard work are added to the existing amount of resources, then that sum of resources will actually grow to meet the needs of even an increasing population. In other words, resources can be developed.

Now, if you look at Genesis 1:27-30,

So God created human beings[d] in his own image.

In the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.

God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. This command doesn’t sound like Socialism at all. Rather, it sounds like a Market Economy. God wants use to use our human ingenuity to make a difference in the world around us.

For more engaging and encouraging videos and podcasts, check out the E-Squared Media Network!

Summit Lecture Series

Worldview

Previous Post

October 10, 2016

The Daren Streblow Comedy Show Mini-Cast 160: Chris Rossetti & Rik Roberts

Next Post

October 11, 2016 Im Waiting 29: Doing Good vs. Leading Well with Matt Clinton

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz