This is the second week in a nine-week class entitled “The Killer-Isms: A Christian Look at Lethal Philosophies.” This session looks at materialism (and to some extent, naturalism).
From Pastor Phil:
Materialism: A Working Definition
One of the problems with philosophy is that the terms mean whatever that particular writer, speaker, thinker wants them to mean. This is the case here, as well. So, let’s be up front about it and establish a working definition for each philosophy. Let’s say that “materialism” is a belief in only what is material (physical) and therefore completely denies the existence anything spiritual or supernatural.
In essence, if a materialist cannot experience something with at least one of their physical senses, then it doesn’t exist. The materialist’s focus is entirely on the “here and now” because there is no “hereafter.” We often think of materialism in terms of wanting money or possessions, and while that is not necessarily what it means to be a materialist, it is a very likely outworking of materialism.
Materialism denounces any and all notions that there is a spiritual component to life. Any experiences or inclinations to believe in the spiritual must be a result of something material: illness, caused by some sort of pathogen, that is producing hallucinations, a defect or imbalance in the brain, a chemical influence upon the brain, etc. Every feeling or thought that a Christian might attribute to God is explained away as an effect or influence of one material thing upon another.