Dr Owen Anderson is a professor of philosophy and religious studies at Arizona State University and an adjunct instructor at Phoenix Seminary. This is his YouTube Channel to renew interest in the basic questions of philosophy. Companion web page with more audio and video: https://drowenanderson.com. A link to his books can be found below.  It includes the series “Hiking With Anderson.”

Dr. Owen Anderson

Deuteronomy 13:1-3

Can a human become a god?  Are you already a god?

Does Genesis 3:22 teach that Adam and Eve became gods?

In the previous video on Why Study Christianity we discussed John 1 and Genesis 1. Now we turn to Romans 1.  In Romans 1:20 we are told that the eternal power and divine nature of God are clearly seen being understood from the things that are made so that unbelief is without excuse. So there are two parts here: God is known from the works of creation and the failure to so know God is without excuse. It says the invisible qualities of God are seen by the things that are made. How can they be invisible and seen?  This context clues us into the meaning and that it is not an empirical seeing. We already know empiricism is mistaken from general revelation before we come to the text. Empiricism says that knowledge is from sense data. But the senses do not get us to understanding. The text says both we see these and that they are understood. To see means to understand. An empiricist, or mystic, may take “see” to only mean by the senses. This is the ambiguity of words and the limitation on word studies. These still give us multiple possible meanings and we need to use context to understand which applies. We also bring our own presuppositions to the interpretation and these must be identified, such as empiricism. But didn’t Moses see God, and the pure in heart will see God?  We use “see” as in “I see” in the same way it is used in Romans 1:20. It is related to the same root at “mind”. To draw conclusions with the mind. Moses saw no form. No man has seen or can see God. Instead, Moses was spoken to directly not in types and shadows. Similar to what Christ said about Abraham that “he saw my day.”  So there is a sense in which we see immediately or directly when we contrast this with types and shadows but there is also the empiricist misunderstanding of “see”. We see, we understand, that God is. And understanding can be tested. We might claim to have it and not have it. Romans 1:20 combines the affirmation that we can know God with the imperative that we out to know God and the failure to do so is without excuse.

In the previous video on Why Study Christianity we discussed John 1 and Genesis 1. Now we turn to Romans 1.  In Romans 1:20 we are told that the eternal power and divine nature of God are clearly seen being understood from the things that are made so that unbelief is without excuse. So there are two parts here: God is known from the works of creation and the failure to so know God is without excuse. It says the invisible qualities of God are seen by the things that are made. How can they be invisible and seen?  This context clues us into the meaning and that it is not an empirical seeing. We already know empiricism is mistaken from general revelation before we come to the text. Empiricism says that knowledge is from sense data. But the senses do not get us to understanding. The text says both we see these and that they are understood. To see means to understand. An empiricist, or mystic, may take “see” to only mean by the senses. This is the ambiguity of words and the limitation on wor

Dr. Owen Anderson Videos

Deuteronomy 13:1-3

Does Genesis 3:22 teach that Adam and Eve became gods?

Why Study Christianity: Romans 1:20

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Dr. Owen Anderson Videos

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Deuteronomy 13:1-3

Does Genesis 3:22 teach that Adam and Eve became gods?

Why Study Christianity: Romans 1:20

Description

Group of Brands