"Brilliant deduction!"

Dr. Watson, the sidekick of Sherlock Holmes,was often found to be congratulating Holmes on his investigative detective skills by using the phrase, "Brilliant deduction!" If we wanted to be sticklers about it, we would note that what should have been said is "Brilliant induction!" Holmes and Watson were always busy gathering evidence from a crime scene and putting the pieces together to reach their conclusion as to who had committed the crime. So they were really engaged in inductive reasoning.

Remember that inductive reasoning involves examining the particulars that one has witnessed or experienced in some way, evidence that has been gathered in, and moving toward a general conclusion that may or may not be true. Depending upon the kind of evidence and the amount of evidence, the probability of a true and certain conclusion will rise or fall. Technically speaking, deductive reasoning involves moving from a general principle that is accepted as true or assumed to be true and concluding that it has application to particular instances as well. We might need to give Sherlock and Dr. Watson a break, though, because sometimes the term "deduce" is used to mean only that a conclusion has been reached through reasoning. For our purposes, we will keep the terms as we defined them in class today. Knowing the difference will help you to discern whether or not an argument and its conclusion are sound and reliable no matter how logical they may first appear.

Just for fun, I'm including the link to a Sherlock Holmes mystery that I just watched myself. It's about 30 minutes long; check with your parents and make sure you're caught up on all your homework first!
See you next week. . .Mrs. H.

Is it real?

We are continuing on with the subject of epistomology - the study of how we can know anything at all and specifically how we can know what is really real. Thank you, Sadie, for helping us to illustrate this with your homework assignment!



Remember that last week we watched a video clip in which the participants voiced their opinions on this topic. Yesterday we focused on the written transcript of that discussion entitled "Science or Revelation." Parents, you should know that the students were each given a copy of this transcript which you might find useful for continued conversations with your child. Some of the questions involved are:

• Is science the only way of knowing?
• Are empirical methods the only valid means of gaining knowledge? (At this time, we are using the term "empirical" to mean those things which can be learned by experimentation, observation and/or measurement; however, we will soon bring in another aspect of this term as it relates to personal experience).
• Is the material world, and the knowledge we can gain from it, our only source of knowledge?
• Is the scientific method the only way to determine what is real?

In the transcript, you will notice that one of the panelists tells us that reality is viewed through different windows. We know this to be true as it concerns the window of our particular worldview because this is how we interpret everything, but what we must clarify is that what many people are viewing, and clinging to, is a false sense of reality. For further illustration of this, we discussed what we might call peepholes within the bigger worldview window. Some may be viewing reality through the window of science or that of music or art or any other area of interest to the individual. Even around our small classroom table, we are all bringing something different to the 'table' of life. These differences are opportunities for us to learn from each other. We have been emphatic in pointing out that just because each of us may view different facets or aspects of reality, we are not viewing a different reality. We are not saying that we can create our own reality by choosing what is real and true for each of us as individuals (Students, remember that this is called "relativism").

Back to our transcript: the panelists in this discussion have given us glimpses into their own presuppositions, many of which are false. Francis Schaeffer says that one of our apologetics tasks is to lovingly bring unbelievers face to face with the logical conclusions of their presuppositions. We will begin learning how to do that as we tackle the homework assignment for next week. See you then. . .Mrs. H.

The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothin' but the Truth!

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothin' but the truth?" When good ole Curley is asked to take this oath before he testifies in court, he thinks he's being given a lot of double talk. In the realm of ideas, we've all felt just like Curley did from time to time, I'm sure. Unfortunately, ever since the serpent spoke in the garden, there's been no shortage of double talk. The sad fact is that falsehood never shows itself; it always wears a mask, and sifting out the truth takes work. So how do we know what is true? OK, here I go again with my childhood Sunday School songs: "How do I know? The Bible tells me so!"

In today's class, we began laying the foundation for how we know what we know by introducing the topic of epistemology--the study of knowledge. We use our God-given reasoning abilities to interpret the ways that He has revealed Himself to us. There is no enmity between reason and revelation, but as Christians we realize that reason must submit to the revelation of God.

Students, think about the video clip that we watched today. We saw some very divergent opinions about how humans can attain knowledge. Please come prepared to discuss this at next week's class.

I look forward to our next time to together. . .Mrs. H.

Roadblocks and Smokescreens

Sometimes the practice of apologetics is necessary due to intellectual roadblocks or emotional smokescreens. There are those who are opposed to Christianity because of what they consider to be issues of intellectual integrity. They feel that they cannot accept Christian belief and remain intellectually honest. One of the big ticket items here is the theory of evolution; this is a roadblock for many, and as Matthew said today, it stops them from believing. Others have issues which are more emotional in nature. They just don't want to talk about it, and so they will send up a smokescreen to change the subject or try to stump you with a question that they are really not concerned about at all. These folks may actually be the most difficult to witness to. . .it will take prayer and commitment to the relationship to figure out where the real starting point is for them. But whatever that point might be, you can be certain that it involves wrong thinking. In fact, even as believers, each of us will struggle from time to time with our own wrong thinking patterns. We often drift back into "listening to ourselves instead of preaching to ourselves." This is because sin has affected us in our whole being. It has affected us noetically, in our minds. The end result, the resultant effect is a sin-clouded mind. This is manifested in each of us in different ways, and so our apologetics must be person-sensitive. Vivian noted that this means we can't "use the same formula" for every unbeliever that we come in contact with. Yes, apologetics is sometimes necessary to pave the way the for the gospel, but we do not assume that. . .gospel first, apologetics second, always remembering I Peter 3:15 and to do so "with gentleness and respect."

Until next time when we'll try to tackle one of Harrison's questions. . .Mrs. H.

Calling All Bookworms!

Did you do much reading over the summer? If you are a true bibliophile, you might like to check out Library Thing (No worries - it just means that you love books!). At Library Thing, you can display the variety of books in your own library, recommend something that you're currently reading or even give a book review. As you list each book, you can see how many other members own it also. I have entered several of my own books but still have a lot to go. Now that school is back in full swing, I hope that you will prioritize your time so that you still have time to curl up with a good book and be transported into its pages. Enjoy your library!

Your worldview is like. . .

- your window on the world. This is the place where you view and interpret the world around you.

- your eyeglasses. You see reality through the filter of this lens. Everything and everyone that you come into contact with is viewed in this particular light.

- the foundation of your house. You don't visit it often, but you know it's there holding everything else together. . .hopefully. . .if you've built upon a firm foundation. It shapes everything else that is built upon it.

- your roadmap for life. It directs your steps. You may have a perfectly good map, but it might be leading you to an unintended destination. Your map may be incomplete for your needs. A map of Kansas will only help you for a short while on a cross-country trip, and it will be totally useless if you find yourself in a foreign country. A map is no good unless it is taking you where you need to go.

- a mental filing cabinet. It organizes all that you believe about life. As you would expect, the big files contain your ideas about all the big issues of life: God, man, the universe and beyond. The little folders hold all those connected beliefs--some as firmly-held presuppositions and others have ideas that you're not quite sure about yet.

No matter which illustration you prefer, your worldview will determine whether you will embrace or reject the new ideas that you encounter each day. I will never forget a sign that I once saw in a bookstore: "Ideas come out in a life." Ideas are not content to stay in the mind; they will eventually come to life in our attitudes and behavior. It really does matter what you believe. Everything depends upon it. We'll talk more about that next time. . . .Mrs. H.