Sociology: The Divine Imprint

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Outline
Lesson 7 – Sociology: The Divine Imprint

1. Introduction – The God of Order
   
   
   
   1. Psalm 19 – "The heavens declare the glory of God ..."
   
   
   2. Job 12 – "But ask the animals, and they will teach you ..."
   
   
   3. Listening to a chicken egg – The exquisite design and intricacy seen in a chicken egg
   
   
   4. Scriptural emphasis of order – Job 25:2, 1 Corinthians 14:33, James 3:16


2. Social Order – The Divine Imprint
   
   
   
   1. "It is not good" – Genesis 2:18 – Why was it "not good" for man to be alone?
   
   
   2. Triune structure stamped upon Social Order
      
      
      
      1. God – Father, Son, Holy Spirit
      
      
      2. Family – Husband, Wife, Children
      
      
      3. Church – Christ, Leaders, Flock
      
      
      4. Our world – Three realms – Physical, Spiritual and Social
   
   
   3. Relationships, Roles, Authority, Submission and Unity within social spheres


3. Importance of relationships
   
   
   
   1. What happened at the fall? – Relationships were severed and damaged – between God & man, man & man, and man & creation
   
   
   2. Aloneness - "It is not good for man to be alone" – Aloneness is contrary to God's nature; in all eternity, there had never been aloneness before
   
   
   3. God's design of social institutions and social laws
   
   
   4. Intimate Three – God's design for unity, intimacy, oneness - Family, Church, God and Man


4. Family & Church
   
   
   
   1. Ephesians 5 – Roles and relationships of members in these spheres – Authority, Submission, Oneness
   
   
   2. Love and Respect between husband and wife
   
   
   3. Honor between children and parents, flock and church leaders




1. Divorce – Malachi 2:16 – "I hate divorce ..."


2. Lack of respect – 1 Peter 3:7 – " ... so that nothing will hinder your prayers ..."


5. Conclusion – Pathologies of the Family

Update on Kris

Hi Friends,

As you know, we have been battling multiple skin cancers over the last few years.
They have become more complicated and frequent.

A week ago Kris had some lumps/skin cancers removed. Our doctor called us and asked
us to come back for further testing. We got results yesterday from a PET scan and the results show
that the cancer has moved internally to the lymph nodes.

Please pray for discernment and wisdom for the many decisions we need to make.
Also, please pray for David and Kyleigh.

Love,
Bruce and Kris

Week 3 - Anthropology | Who is Man?

Here's the outline from this week's topic (from mytruthproject.org):

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Outline
Lesson 3 – Anthropology: Who is man?

1. Introduction – The Problem of Evil and Who is man?
   
   
   
   1. Primary Doctrine – Who is Man? Who is God? - The answers to these two questions form the foundation of everyone's worldview
   
   
   2. The cosmic battle within – Galatians 5:16-17 – Our sinful nature is in constant conflict with God's Spirit – Romans 7:15-25, Romans 6:12, Romans 8:5-14


2. Man's Essence
   
   
   
   1. States of man
      
      
      
      1. Innocent – Genesis 1:27
      
      
      2. Fallen – Romans 5:12, Genesis 6:5
         
         
         
         1. Hell – Revelation 20:15, Hebrews 9:27
      
      
      3. Redeemed – Revelation 5:9
         
         
         
         1. Glorified – 1 Corinthians 15:42
   
   
   2. Dualistic or Monistic – Both flesh and spirit or purely material?
   
   
   3. Naturalistic Philosophy Implications – no gods or purposive forces, no foundation for ethics, no free will, no life after death, no meaning in life


3. Man's moral state and Man's needs
   
   
   
   1. Abraham Maslow – Hierarchy of Needs – man's ultimate objective is self-actualization – The Pernicious lie – getting in touch with your inner nature
   
   
   2. Basically good or sinful? – Depravity of man – Man's propensity for evil
   
   
   3. Carl Rogers - "I do not find that evil is inherent in human nature."
   
   
   4. Scriptural Truth – Put to death your earthly nature – Romans 8:13, Colossians 3:5-10


4. If evil is not inherent in man, then where does evil come from?
   
   
   
   1. Abraham Maslow - "Sick people are made by a sick culture ..."
   
   
   2. Carl Rogers – "... experience leads me to believe that it is cultural influences which are the major factor in our evil behaviors."
   
   
   3. Social institutions and authority structures are blamed for man's evil actions – provides basis for understanding the battleground over social institutions today


5. Why should "evil" bother someone with a secular worldview? – the question of evil is more difficult for them than us