Ethos,Pathos,Logos – The Image of God

Bust of Aristotle. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek bronze original by Lysippos from 330 BC; the alabaster mantle is a modern addition. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

God created man in His image.

Aristotle identified three primary areas of influence and response that comprise the mind, heart, and soul of mankind.

He called them Ethos, Pathos, and logos.

God is sovereign and all Powerful- this is Ethos

God is the author of wisdom and is all knowing- this is Logos

God is Love and so loved the world He gave His Son – this is Pathos

The Psalms puts it this way;

Psalms 139:1-4 “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways. For there  is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.”

God knows us, understands us, comprehends us altogether because He loves us.

His pathos brought His ethos and logos to our rescue.

His pathos / love bridged the gap between us and God through Christ.

God wants our love as well.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6)

The most remarkable thing about what God requires from us is that He gave all of himself for us in Christ first.

He expressed all His ethos, pathos, and logos for our benefit through the cross.

Is God not worthy of all our love in return?

Pascal on Mankind and God

“Man would desire to be great and sees that he is little; would desire to be happy and sees that he is miserable; would desire to be perfect and sees that he is full of imperfections; would desire to be the object of the love and esteem of men, and sees that his faults merit only aversion and contempt. The embarrassment wherein he finds himself produces in him the most unjust and criminal passions imaginable, for he conceives a mortal hatred against that truth which blames him and convinces him of his faults.” ~Blaise Pascal~ (Pensees)

Talking About Homosexuality – Dr. Tim Keller

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“Acknowledge that often when this topic comes up the rhetoric gets heated – and those who represent the Christian position are not always respectful of those who disagree, nor do they have sound reasons for their position. Christians have no more or less of a right to tell other people how to live their lives than anyone else. But we all have ways we think the world should be; and we all have the right to try to contend for these views respectfully. The gospel – that we are saved only by sheer grace – should help Christians to do this without self-righteousness.

Homosexuality is not God’s original design for sexuality – sex is designed for marriage between a man and a woman. But that belief should have no impact on a church’s or a Christian’s desire to love and serve the needs and interests of all their neighbors, including gay people, people of other faiths, and so on.

Note that there is not widespread division over what the Bible says about homosexuality. All three branches of Christianity (Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant) agree – on at least four things: one, that every mention of homosexual practice in the Bible says that it is wrong; two, that it is specifically prohibited in both the Old and New Testaments; three, that it did not just reflect the prejudices of the day – it cut against the views of ancient cultures; and four, that the whole arc of the Bible begins with a heterosexual marriage (Adam and Eve) and ends with the vision of one –the wedding feast in the book of Revelation.” Tim Keller

The Starry Sky Above, and The Moral Law Within – Written On The Hearts of All Mankind

Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant        (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Two things awe me the most. The starry sky above me, and the moral law within me.”

Immanuel Kant – 18 Th.  Century philosopher

Kant’s works in mathematics were an early influence on Albert Einstein.

Influenced by Newton’s work, Kant correctly laid the theory for the formation of the universe from gaseous nebulas – in the late 1700’s !

Kant also correctly theorized that the Milky Way was composed mostly of stars like our sun.

Still, His works of philosophy and reason are seen as even greater contributions.

I find it very interesting that such a great thinker would find both creation and human conscience the two things that ,”awe,” him most.

The reason I say that is because the Bible speaks specifically to both as empirical witnesses of the existence of God.

“The Starry Sky Above Me”

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

(Romans 1:20)

“The Moral Law Within Me”

“Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)”

(Romans 2:14,15)

I believe the two immutable realities of the Moral Law Within and The Starry Sky Above are the reasons why those of use who resist them become angry so quickly and to such a severe degree.

Self Centered Pride – The Plight of All Mankind

How often have we reflected on worldview of Self Centered Pride and how it contributes to the plight of all mankind.

An  examination of selfishness in contrast to selflessness will always reveal still deeper truth.

To more fully understand pride we must go all the way back to the earliest recorded and preserved documents on Earth called the Bible.

In summary,
Lucifer and a third of the Angels where cast out of Heaven because Lucifer wanted to be ,”like the Most High”, and convinced of all the angels to follow him. (Isaiah 14)

Satan, (as he is called since the fall ), recognized self-centered pride as the weakness of mankind as well, and tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden by saying she ,”will be like God”. Mankind is cast from Paradise and God’s presence. ( Genesis 3)

Satan accused Job ,and questioned God’s justice, as recorded in the book of Job.

Satan tried to tempt Jesus for  40 days in the wilderness.  Jesus was Hungary so Satan tempted Christ to turn rocks into bread. The Devil was trying to get Our Lord to think of himself. The Devil then tempted Jesus with offering all the kingdoms of the earth to Jesus if he would only bow down and worship him,( that is, worship him like God). (Matthew 4).

The Devil also turns men’s hearts and minds away from the truth when they hear it. (Mark 4:15).

Satan will be bound and thrown into the bottomless pit, and sealed inside it for one thousand years during Christ’s Kingdom here on Earth, before the Great White Throne of Judgement. ( Revelation 20:2).

The Kingdom age ensues and every day is better than the one before with Christ himself ruling over all the Earth for one thousand years. (also known as the Millennium Age).

Then Satan will be loosed once more to tempt mankind. I think the Devil will be used for the purpose of separating true followers from those whose hearts are not with God.   The purpose is to give all men everywhere the only alternative to serving God. Pride causes us to want to serve self.  Satan will appeal to man’s self-centered pride as he did leading to his own fall and the rebellion in Heaven, and the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden. he will serve to led a rebellion so that all who are not truly following God because they love Him, will be separated from those who do serve God because they love Him. (Revelation 20:7).

Then the Great judgement Seat of Christ will take place. The books will be opened and all whose names are written in the book of Life, will be welcomed into Heaven. ( Revelation 20:11).

Jesus said,”therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before my Father in Heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him will I also deny before my Father in Heaven”. (Matthew 10:32, 33).