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Liberty University Original Monotheism: A Signal of Transcendence Challenging Naturalism and New Ageism A Thesis Project Report Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Divinity in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Ministry Department of Christian Leadership and Church Ministries by Daniel R. Cote Lynchburg, Virginia April 5, 2020 Copyright © 2020 by Daniel R. Cote All Rights Reserved ii Liberty University School of Divinity Thesis Project Approval Sheet Dr. T. Michael Christ Adjunct Faculty School of Divinity Dr. Phil Gifford Adjunct Faculty School of Divinity iii THE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY THESIS PROJECT ABSTRACT Daniel R. Cote Liberty University School of Divinity, 2020 Mentor: Dr. T. Michael Christ Where once in America, belief in Christian theism was shared by a large majority of the population, over the last 70 years belief in Christian theism has significantly eroded. From 1948 to 2018, the percent of Americans identifying as Catholic or Christians dropped from 91 percent to 67 percent, with virtually all the drop coming from protestant denominations.1 Naturalism and new ageism increasingly provide alternative means for understanding existential reality without the moral imperatives and the belief in the divine associated with Christian theism. The ironic aspect of the shifting of worldviews underway in western culture is that it continues with little regard for strong evidence for the truth of Christian theism emerging from historical, cultural, and scientific research. One reality long overlooked in this regard is the research of Wilhelm Schmidt and others, which indicates that the earliest religion of humanity is monotheism. Original monotheism is a strong indicator of the existence of a transcendent God who revealed Himself as portrayed in Genesis 1-11, thus affirming the truth of essential elements of Christian theism and the falsity of naturalism and new ageism. Original monotheism is a signal of transcendence and stands with other emerging existential realities that point to a Creator, including the fine-tuning of the universe, the origin and complexity of life, the mind and consciousness, the moral code which imbues humanity, and the growing evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. This paper concludes that the retreat from Christian theism has been hasty and ill-founded in the light of the evidence. Thesis project topic abstract length: 260 words. 1 “Religion,” Gallup, accessed September 9, 2019, https://news.gallup.com/poll/1690/religion.aspx. iv Acknowledgments I would like to thank my family for their love and support throughout this journey. I would also like to thank my Mentor, Dr. Christ, for nudging me in the direction of original monotheism. Most of all, I thank God for the opportunity to undertake and complete this program of study. v Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................1 Problem Presented .........................................................................................................................1 Original Monotheism: Evidence for the Truth of Theism .........................................................3 Belief in God in America ...............................................................................................................4 Denominational Trends ........................................................................................................5 Southern Ontario Study........................................................................................................6 Belief in the Resurrection and the Divinity of the Bible .....................................................7 Religious Trends in America ...............................................................................................8 Implications of Religious Trends In America ......................................................................9 Research Question .............................................................................................................10 Worldviews ...................................................................................................................................10 Limitations .........................................................................................................................10 Christian Theism ................................................................................................................11 Naturalism ..........................................................................................................................12 New Ageism.......................................................................................................................14 Worldviews Contrasted ......................................................................................................15 Definitions .....................................................................................................................................16 Thesis Statement ..........................................................................................................................19 Chapter 2: Conceptual Framework ...........................................................................................20 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................20 Argument for Naturalism ...................................................................................................21 Argument for Christian Theism .........................................................................................24 Argument for New Ageism ................................................................................................27 Adjudicating Worldviews ..................................................................................................30 Weighing the Evidence for Worldviews ............................................................................34 Original Monotheism .........................................................................................................34 World Religions: Liberal Theories ....................................................................................39 Apologetics ........................................................................................................................39 Theological Foundations .............................................................................................................40 Theoretical Foundations ..............................................................................................................47 The Gap in the Literature ...........................................................................................................51 Chapter 3: Original Monotheism ...............................................................................................52 Conclusions of Andrew Lang and Others ..................................................................................53 General Characteristics of the Australian High Gods ..............................................................54 Wilhelm Schmidt and the Cultural Historical Method ............................................................57 Geographic Locations of the Oldest Cultures ....................................................................58 Other Attributes Affirming Ethnological Antiquity of the Oldest Tribes ..........................59 Identification of Tribes Possessing the Oldest Culture ......................................................59 The Supreme Being of the Oldest Human Culture ...................................................................60 The Nature of the Supreme Being of the Oldest Cultures .................................................63 Names of the Supreme Being ............................................................................................64 Attributes of the Supreme Being Among the Oldest Culture ..................................................65 vi Omniscience .......................................................................................................................65 Omnibenevolence ..............................................................................................................66 Omnipotence ......................................................................................................................66 Creative Power ...................................................................................................................66 Morality..............................................................................................................................67 Views of the Afterlife ...................................................................................................................69 Worship of the Supreme Being ...................................................................................................70 Prayer, Sacrifice and Formal Ceremonies.................................................................................70 Reaction of the Critics and Response of Lang and Schmidt ....................................................72 Original Monotheism in A More Advanced Culture ................................................................82 Oracle Bone Inscriptions....................................................................................................82 The Supreme God of Ancient China ..................................................................................83
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