Call To Die

Then [Jesus] said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. (Luke 9:23-24, HCSB)

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follower of Christ, husband of Abby, father of Christian, Georgia Grace, and Rory Faith, deacon at Kosmosdale Baptist Church, tutor with Scholé Christian Tradition and Scholé Academy

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

The Theology of Basic Arithmetic

Sometimes those who claim atheism/agnosticism claim that, in discussion with Christians, they want to start from a level playing field. But a level playing field is impossible, for the moment a person makes a declarative statement, his or her worldview comes into play.

This is well-illustrated by Mathematician and Theologian Vern Poythress, who writes:
It may surprise the reader to learn that not everyone agrees that "2+2=4." If with Parmenides one thinks all is one, if with Vedantic Hinduism he thinks that all plurality is illusion, "2+2=4" is an illusory statement. On the most ultimate level of being, 1+1=1. What does this imply? Even the simplest arithmetical truths can be sustained only in a world-view which acknowledges an ultimate metaphysical plurality in the world: whether Trinitarian, polytheistic, or chance-produced plurality. [Vern Poythress, "A Biblical View of Mathematics," Foundations of Christian Scholarship (Philadelphia: P&R, 1975), 86.]
Christopher Perrin notes:
For Poythress it is the Christian Trinity which preserves mathematical unity and plurality, thus sustaining the real unity and plurality in equations like "2+2=4."[Christopher A. Perrin, An Introduction to Classical Education: A Guide for Parents (Harrisburg, PA: Classical Academic Press, 2004), 38.]

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