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#151 Expressive Individualism
#151 Expressive Individualism
Individualism is aligned with God’s design, expressive individualism is not.
Homo economicus is a Latin term that explains what happens when humans are reduced only to economic maximizers. Unfortunately, we are headed toward the eventuality at a frightening speed. It’s explained in maybe the best book I read this year, titled, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, by Carl Trueman. Throughout the book, he continually asks how a person can say, “I’m a woman trapped in a man’s body.” I’m old enough to remember when a comedian named Sid Caesar said something that silly, we would all laugh and wait for the next punchline. But Trueman helps us understand, not only why we take such an objectively untrue statement – not only seriously – but we are encouraged to HELP the person discover the woman inside the man.
Relativism
As Grandma Ginger says, “One of our grandsons claims to be Spiderman half the time, but we don’t believe him.” Then why are we forced to believe the obviously false statement, “I’m a woman trapped in a man’s body?” Because who OWNS the body determines what we can do with it. If God owns it, we ask Him. But, increasingly folks are taking only the economic, self-interested view, and are claiming they can make of their bodies whatever the economic environment demands.
It’s really the nadir of relativism, which says, “My idea – that all ideas are equal – is better than your idea.” Okay, that makes no sense, at least to a rational economic decision maker. That’s what economists assume we are. But, as Trueman writes, “When the agreed-upon rational basis for debate is gone. All that is left is emotional preference.” He explains the philosophical under-pinnings this way, “With Nietzsche we see clearly two pathologies of our present age receiving philosophical explication: the tendency to be suspicious of any claims to absolute moral truth, and a rejection of religion as distasteful.”
Look, when Abraham decided there was ONE God, the world changed, and it’s never gone back. His idea – or God’s idea – was planted into an environment of multiple gods. They still exist. I’ll do a podcast sometime where I review the book God is not One by Stephen Prothero. For brevity’s sake today, let me just summarize that the one god believers, mono-theists as they are called, started with Judiasm, which fathered the other two popular monos: Christianity and Islam. The world’s five major religions are rounded out by the two polytheist belief systems: Buddhism and Hinduism.
So what Trueman is helping us understand here, is that expressive individualism is when EACH person is their own God. Well, people have tried that since Eve. The serpent told her that God didn’t want her to eat the apple, because she would become like God. Tricky little guy, that serpent. And, he never takes a day off. He’s still encouraging people to try to become their own god. It never works, but people keep trying.
God creates, Humans Discover
This key assumption of the Christian Worldview is best explained by Albert Wolters in his rather theologically based book Creation Regained. He says that God created the world, and our job as humans is to discover his creation. He writes, “There are two kinds of law: laws of nature and norms.
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By The Christian Economist | Dave Arnott
4.9
7373 ratings
#151 Expressive Individualism
Individualism is aligned with God’s design, expressive individualism is not.
Homo economicus is a Latin term that explains what happens when humans are reduced only to economic maximizers. Unfortunately, we are headed toward the eventuality at a frightening speed. It’s explained in maybe the best book I read this year, titled, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, by Carl Trueman. Throughout the book, he continually asks how a person can say, “I’m a woman trapped in a man’s body.” I’m old enough to remember when a comedian named Sid Caesar said something that silly, we would all laugh and wait for the next punchline. But Trueman helps us understand, not only why we take such an objectively untrue statement – not only seriously – but we are encouraged to HELP the person discover the woman inside the man.
Relativism
As Grandma Ginger says, “One of our grandsons claims to be Spiderman half the time, but we don’t believe him.” Then why are we forced to believe the obviously false statement, “I’m a woman trapped in a man’s body?” Because who OWNS the body determines what we can do with it. If God owns it, we ask Him. But, increasingly folks are taking only the economic, self-interested view, and are claiming they can make of their bodies whatever the economic environment demands.
It’s really the nadir of relativism, which says, “My idea – that all ideas are equal – is better than your idea.” Okay, that makes no sense, at least to a rational economic decision maker. That’s what economists assume we are. But, as Trueman writes, “When the agreed-upon rational basis for debate is gone. All that is left is emotional preference.” He explains the philosophical under-pinnings this way, “With Nietzsche we see clearly two pathologies of our present age receiving philosophical explication: the tendency to be suspicious of any claims to absolute moral truth, and a rejection of religion as distasteful.”
Look, when Abraham decided there was ONE God, the world changed, and it’s never gone back. His idea – or God’s idea – was planted into an environment of multiple gods. They still exist. I’ll do a podcast sometime where I review the book God is not One by Stephen Prothero. For brevity’s sake today, let me just summarize that the one god believers, mono-theists as they are called, started with Judiasm, which fathered the other two popular monos: Christianity and Islam. The world’s five major religions are rounded out by the two polytheist belief systems: Buddhism and Hinduism.
So what Trueman is helping us understand here, is that expressive individualism is when EACH person is their own God. Well, people have tried that since Eve. The serpent told her that God didn’t want her to eat the apple, because she would become like God. Tricky little guy, that serpent. And, he never takes a day off. He’s still encouraging people to try to become their own god. It never works, but people keep trying.
God creates, Humans Discover
This key assumption of the Christian Worldview is best explained by Albert Wolters in his rather theologically based book Creation Regained. He says that God created the world, and our job as humans is to discover his creation. He writes, “There are two kinds of law: laws of nature and norms.