The Christian View of God and the World edition by James Orr Religion Spirituality eBooks
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James Orr - (1844-1913), Scottish theologian
Born in Glasgow and educated at the university there, Orr went on to the United Presbyterian Church's college in Edinburgh. After ordination he ministered in the Scottish border town of Hawick (1874-1891). He was then appointed professor of church history in his old college, transferring in 1900 to the Glasgow college. There he taught apologetics and systematic theology-with classes augmented by the union between his church and the Free Church (a development in which he played a prominent part).
Orr was critical of established religion. "A State Church", he declared, "speaks in bonds; its guns are spiked". Ye he himself came under fire (from conservatives in the continuing Free Church for teaching a modified Calvinism and for holding a defective doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture. The allegations were open to question; from another Presbyterian church came a different assessment "Some make Christianity a doubtful thing", said the Original Secession Church magazine. "Dr. Orr made it to many a stable, imperishable, reliable thing."
Orr became one of the best-known theologians in the English-speaking world. He had four lecture tours in North America. One of his books, The Virgin Birth of Christ (1907), came out of lectures given in New York to the Bible Teachers' Training School. His many publications include The Christian View of God and the World(1893), The Progress of Dogma (1901), The Resurrection of Jesus (1908), and The Faith of a Modern Christian (1910). To many scholars he is known as the general editor of The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, a comprehensive and conservative work durable enough to have undergone a complete revision nearly seventy years after Orr's death.
The Christian View of God and the World edition by James Orr Religion Spirituality eBooks
As far as the content is concerned, James Orr is a genius. His conception of the Christian worldview and his defense of the faith bring a lot to the field of apologetics, as well as theology. My low score has nothing to do with James Orr or his lectures.My low score comes from the poor editing in creating this particular version of this classic work. It is abundantly clear that these people took a copy of Orr's work, scanned it in (OCR) and went straight to publishing. Throughout the work there are words that make no sense until you finally realize that the computer and scanner replaced the real words with what the scanner thought the word was. For example, in innumerable places, instead of where the word "the" should be, it comes out as "thin." When it should have said "other" is says "oilier." Where it should have said "not" it says "riot." And these are just the ones I could figure out. There are many other words where I cannot make out what the original word should have been. At times it is almost like reading a foreign language. A simple case of actually reading and editing could have solved this. I would highly suggest going with a completely different version of this great work, and save yourself the headache of trying to figure out what word is really supposed to be there.
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The Christian View of God and the World edition by James Orr Religion Spirituality eBooks Reviews
James Orr (1844-1913) was a Scottish Presbyterian minister and professor of church history and theology. He was an influential defender of evangelical doctrine and a contributor to The Fundamentals. [NOTE page numbers refer to the 480-page Kregel paperback edition.]
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1893 book, "I might briefly define the object of the present Lectures by saying that they aim at the exhibition, and... at the rational vindication, of what I have called ... `The Christian View of the World.' ... To some the subject I have chosen may seem unduly wide and vague... [but] it enables me to deal with Christianity in its entirety or as a system, instead of dealing with particular aspects or doctrines of it... if Christianity is to be effectually defended from the attacks made upon it, it is the comprehensive method which is rapidly becoming the more urgent. The opposition which Christianity has to encounter is no longer confined to special doctrines or to points of supposed conflict with the natural sciences---for example, the relations of Genesis and geology---but extends to the whole manner of conceiving of the world, and of man's place in it.... It is the Christian view of things in general which is being attacked, and it is by an exposition and vindication of the Christian view of things as a whole that the attack can most successfully be met." (Pg. 3-4) He adds, "the question at issue between the opponents and defenders of the Christian view of the world is at bottom the question of the supernatural..." (Pg. 10)
He states his purpose as "showing that there is a definite Christian view of things, which has a character, coherence, and unity of its own, and stands in sharp contrast with counter theories and speculations, and that this world-view has the stamp of reason and reality upon itself, and can amply justify itself at the bar of history and of experience... the Christian view of things forms a logical whole which cannot be infringed on, or accepted or rejected piecemeal, but stands or falls in its integrity..." (Pg. 16) He begins the second chapter with the statement, "It is the fundamental assumption of these Lectures that the central point in the Christian view of God and the world is the acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as a truly Divine Person---the Son of God made flesh." (Pg. 39) He suggests that "I am justified in saying that when the ground of Divine Revelation is once left behind, we have no logical halting-place short of Agnosticism; not because a theistic view of the world is unreasonable, but because a living Theism requires as its complement belief in Revelation. We have these alternatives either to revivify our Theism... in which case we are back to a supernatural view of the universe; or... to dispense with the idea of God altogether, and try to explain the world without reason, without final cause, without spiritual assumptions of any kind." (Pg. 51) He states, "To sum up, we have seen that two movements are to be discerned in history the one a downward movement leading away from Christ, and resulting from the denial of, or tampering with, His full Divinity; the other, an upward movement... [which] begins from the impossibility of the mind abiding permanently in the denial of a rational basis for the universe." (Pg. 64-65)
He argues, "Here... it is that the Christian view of God has its strength against any conception of God based on mere grounds of natural theology. It binds together, in the closest reciprocal relations, the two ideas of God and Revelation. The Christian doctrine... is much more than a doctrine of simple Theism. God, in the Christian view, is a Being who enters into the history of the world ... working in it His general and special providence... giving to man that knowledge of Himself by which he is enabled to attain the highest ends of his own existence, and to co-operate freely in the carrying out of Divine ends; above all, discovering Himself as the God of Redemption, who ... executes... His gracious purpose for the salvation of mankind." (Pg. 77) He points out, "The chief criticism I would ... make upon the design argument... is that it is too narrow... the basis for the inference that the universe has a wise and intelligent Author is far wider... It is not the marks of purpose alone which necessitate this inference, but everything which bespeaks order, plan, arrangement, harmony, beauty, rationality in the connection and system of things. It is the proof of the presence of THOUGHT in the world---whatever shape that may take." (Pg. 102)
He contends, "the Christian view of a personal and holy God, as the Author of the universe, and its moral Legislator and Ruler, is the only one in which the reason and the heart of man can permanently rest... It is not one line of evidence only which establishes the theistic position, but the concurrent force of many, starting from different and independent standpoints... At the very least these considerations show... that the Christian view of God is not Unreasonable; that it is in accordance with the highest suggestions of reason applied to the facts of existence; that there is no bar in rational thought or in science to its full acceptance." (Pg. 111)
He observes, "Man's creation, it is true, is only the starting point of a new line of evolution, but that evolution is one of moral life. So far as the teaching of evolution goes, then, man is the crown and masterpiece of this whole edifice of creation, and this also is the teaching of the Bible. I have frequently been struck with this in reading the works of Mr. [Herbert] Spencer and of other evolutionists, that none of them supposes that evolution is ever to reach a higher being than man; that whatever future development there is to be will not be development beyond humanity, but development within humanity. In this it is implied that man is the end of nature, and that the end of nature is a moral one... At the summit of nature's gradations... there stands a being fitted for the Kingdom of God." (Pg. 133-134) He says, "Materialism is the denial of moral freedom, or of freedom of any kind, and with its triumph moral life would disappear." (Pg. 149-150) He suggests, "I think, then, we may conclude that reason does create a presumption, and that a very strong one, in favour of a future life. The considerations we have urged proved the possibility of immortality, and show that the soul of man is naturally fitted for immortality... They cannot give absolute certainty... But so far as they go, they must be accepted as a powerful corroboration and confirmation, from the side of nature, of the Christian view." (Pg. 160-161)
He asserts, "The evidence which is adduced ... of the originally savage state of man is equally inconclusive. There is no reason to believe that existing savage races represent the earliest condition of mankind; rather there is evidence to show that the represent a degradation from a higher state... when we turn to the regions which tradition points to as the cradle of the race, we find great empires and civilizations which show no traces of those gradual advances from savagery which the modern theory requires, but which represent man as from the earliest period as in possession of faculties of thought and action of a high order. The theory, again, that man began with the lowest Fetishism in religion, and only gradually raised himself through Polytheism to Monotheism, finds no support from the history of religions... Another side from which the Christian view is contested... is the evidence that has been accumulated of an extreme antiquity of the human race. I am not aware that the Bible is committed to any definite date for the appearance of man on the earth... while some geologists tell us that one or two hundred thousand years are needed, others, equally well informed, declare that ten thousand years would cover all the facts at present in evidence." (Pg. 183-185) Later, he adds, "There is not a word in the Bible to indicate that in its view death entered the animal world as a consequence of the sin of man." (Pg. 197)
He states, "there is really no intermediate position in which the mind can logically rest between the admission of a truly Divine Christ and a purely humanitarian view... Why is it that we cannot rest in a conception of Christ as simply a prophet of a higher order? Or as a God-filled man in whom the Divine dwelt as it dwells in no other?... These views seem plausible; they are accepted by many; they seem at first sight to bring Christ nearer to us than on the supposition of His true-God-manhood; why cannot the mind of the Church rest in them? Must not the explanation be that... the facts of Christianity ... refuse to square with any subordinate view..." (Pg. 215) He adds, "if we are to do justice to the facts of Christianity, we must accept the supernatural view of Christ's Person, and recognize in Him the appearance of a Divine Being in humanity... this doctrine is a integral part of Christianity. If this were all, it might still be said, Rather than that this doctrine be accepted, let Christianity go! But... we are not at liberty to let Christianity go... the facts are too strong for the attempt." (Pg. 234) He also concludes, "The eschatology of Christianity springs from its character as a teleological religion...Christianity is the teleological religion par excellence... extending in its issues far beyond this little spot called earth, and touching in its influence the remotest regions of creation." (Pg. 322-323)
It is unfortunate that Orr has almost completely dropped out of the current theological discussion. Modern Christians might benefit by his systematic, learned, and balanced exposition of Christian doctrine.
Quotes from this entry with which I agree include
"He who with his whole heart believes in Jesus as the Son of God is thereby committed to much else besides. He is committed to a view of God, to a view of man, to a view of sin, to a view of Redemption, to a view of the purpose of God in creation and history, to a view of human destiny, found only in Christianity. This forms a 'Weltanschauung,' or 'Christian view of the world,' which stands in marked contrast within theories wrought out from a purely philosophical or scientific standpoint."
"Nevertheless, the ablest theology of the century will sustain me in the general assertion, that the central principle of Christianity is the Person of its Founder."
"It would be a shallow reading of history to attribute the defeat of Arianism in the early Church to the anathemas of councils, the influence of court favour, or any other accidental circumstances. It perished through its own inherent weakness."
"...the uniform teaching of Scripture is that the universe had its origin, not from the fashioning of pre-existent matter, but directly from the will and word of the Almighty....The vital thing in religion is the relation of dependence. To feel that we and our world, that our human life and all that we are and have, absolutely depend on God,--this is the primary attitude of religion."
"The Bible, as we shall immediately see, knows nothing of an abstract immortality of the soul, as the schools speak of it; nor is its Redemption a Redemption of the soul only, but of the body as well. It is a Redemption of man in his whole complex personality--body and soul together. It was in the body that Christ rose from the dead; in the body that He has ascended to heaven; in the body that He lives and reigns there for evermore. It is His promise that, if He lives, we shall live also; and this promise includes a pledge of the resurrection of the body."
Quotes which I find troubling include
"A yet greater difficulty arises when we ask, Since God purposed to create, why was creation so long delayed? Why was a whole eternity allowed to elapse before the purpose was put into execution?"
"At the same time, we need not reject the hypothesis of evolution within the limits in which science has really rendered it probable."
"No doctrine comes here more powerfully to our support than the doctrine of evolution which some suppose to be a denial of creation. Now it lies in the very thought of a developing universe that, as we trace it back through narrower and narrower circles of development, we come at last to a beginning,--to some point from which the evolution started."
Several instances of misspelled words also contributed to my rating of this particular product. My review rating shows my ambivalence regarding this entry. Acts 1711 should be kept in the mind of those who purchase and read this book.
As far as the content is concerned, James Orr is a genius. His conception of the Christian worldview and his defense of the faith bring a lot to the field of apologetics, as well as theology. My low score has nothing to do with James Orr or his lectures.
My low score comes from the poor editing in creating this particular version of this classic work. It is abundantly clear that these people took a copy of Orr's work, scanned it in (OCR) and went straight to publishing. Throughout the work there are words that make no sense until you finally realize that the computer and scanner replaced the real words with what the scanner thought the word was. For example, in innumerable places, instead of where the word "the" should be, it comes out as "thin." When it should have said "other" is says "oilier." Where it should have said "not" it says "riot." And these are just the ones I could figure out. There are many other words where I cannot make out what the original word should have been. At times it is almost like reading a foreign language. A simple case of actually reading and editing could have solved this. I would highly suggest going with a completely different version of this great work, and save yourself the headache of trying to figure out what word is really supposed to be there.
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