--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Without God man has no reference point to…" description: "\"Without God man has no reference point to define himself. 20th century philosophy manifests the chaos of man seeking to understand himself as a creatur..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/845/r-c-sproul-1006_20th-century_without-god-man-has-no-reference-point-t_1348184.jpg" --- # Without God man has no reference point to define himself… ![“Without God man has no reference point to define himself. 20th century philosophy manifests the chaos of man seeking to understand himself as a creature with dignity while having no reference point for that dignity.” quote by R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/845/r-c-sproul-1006_20th-century_without-god-man-has-no-reference-point-t_1348184.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/845/r-c-sproul-1006_20th-century_without-god-man-has-no-reference-point-t_1348184.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/845/r-c-sproul-1006_20th-century_without-god-man-has-no-reference-point-t_1348184.jpg) > “Without God man has no reference point to define himself. 20th century philosophy manifests the chaos of man seeking to understand himself as a creature with dignity while having no reference point for that dignity.” [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Without a divine reference, self‑definition lacks grounding. **In simple terms:** God provides a basis for identity. Key Takeaway Seek grounding beyond self alone. Themes faith identity meaning Mood contemplative serious Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - moral decision making - personal crisis - philosophical debate Key Concepts theology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How does belief shape self‑view? - Can morality exist without God? A Different Perspective Secular frameworks can also offer meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [20th century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Atheist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheist/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Century Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century-philosophy-824274/) [Chaos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chaos/) [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) [Dignity Having](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity-having-2679310/) [Man Reference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-reference-4575482/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy Manifests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-manifests-4575481/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Seeking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeking/) [Without god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without-god/) ## Related quotes > [Without God man has no reference point to define himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/without-god-man-has-no-reference-point-to-define-himself/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [There is a lot of dignity in having the ability to confront the inconsequence of reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-esslin/there-is-a-lot-of-dignity-in-having-the-ability-to-confront-the/) [Martin Esslin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-esslin/) > [The chief business of seventeenth-century philosophy was to reckon with seventeenth-century science... the chief business of twentieth-century philosophy is to reckon with twentieth-century history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-g-collingwood/the-chief-business-of-seventeenth-century-philosophy-was-to-reckon/) [Robin G. Collingwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-g-collingwood/) > [In the 20th century philosophy of time for a great many theorists became part of science because it was time as is studied in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lane-craig/in-the-20th-century-philosophy-of-time-for-a-great-many-theorists/) [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) > [“Twentieth-century philosophy is not unique in its ability to confuse puzzles with problems.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/twentieth-century-philosophy-is-not-unique-in-its-ability-to-confuse/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [Without God upholding the universe from moment to moment, nothing could continue to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/without-god-upholding-the-universe-from-moment-to-moment-nothing/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Natural man’s sin is precisely this: He wants the benefits of God without God Himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/natural-man-s-sin-is-precisely-this-he-wants-the-benefits-of-god/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. Do not ever let anyone claim to be a true American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/it-is-impossible-to-rightly-govern-the-world-without-god-and-the/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/anarchy-evolution-faith-science-and-bad-religion-in-a-world-without/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [ “if \[God\] doesn't exist, man is the chief of the earth, of the universe. Magnificent! Only how is he going to be good without… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/if-god-doesn-t-exist-man-is-the-chief-of-the-earth-of-the-universe/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“Women who join together with each other to deny the male god who cursed their sex and to reject his demands for obedience, praise,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trista-hendren/women-who-join-together-with-each-other-to-deny-the-male-god-who/) [Trista Hendren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trista-hendren/) > [I would not have lasted a minute, literally a minute, on this Earth without God and angels by my side, because I was born.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mattie-stepanek/i-would-not-have-lasted-a-minute-literally-a-minute-on-this-earth/) [Mattie Stepanek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mattie-stepanek/) > [Imagine the world without God !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chizim/imagine-the-world-without-god/) [Chizim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chizim/) > [“There is no interaction without God with interaction with men”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/there-is-no-interaction-without-god-with-interaction-with-men/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“Hell is only loneliness, a place without play for the soul, a place without God. How could there be God in loneliness when God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/hell-is-only-loneliness-a-place-without-play-for-the-soul-a-place/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) ## More by R. C. Sproul > [We are puzzled and bewildered whenever we see suffering in this world because we have become accustomed to the mercy and the long-suffering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/we-are-puzzled-and-bewildered-whenever-we-see-suffering-in-this-world/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Evil may mar the divine image and cloud its brilliance, but it cannot destroy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/evil-may-mar-the-divine-image-and-cloud-its-brilliance-but-it-cannot/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [God's grace is not infinite. God is infinite, and God is gracious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/god-s-grace-is-not-infinite-god-is-infinite-and-god-is-gracious/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [God Himself supplies the necessary condition to come to Jesus, that's why it is 'sola gratia,' by grace alone, that we are saved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/god-himself-supplies-the-necessary-condition-to-come-to-jesus-that-s/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [If God is not sovereign, God is not God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/if-god-is-not-sovereign-god-is-not-god/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [When God says something, the argument is over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/when-god-says-something-the-argument-is-over/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [“There is no such “mother” as Mother Nature. Nature itself is powerless to produce life of any kind. In itself, nature is barren. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/there-is-no-such-mother-as-mother-nature-nature-itself-is-powerless/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Right now counts forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/right-now-counts-forever/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [The complaint that church is boring is never made by people in awe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/the-complaint-that-church-is-boring-is-never-made-by-people-in-awe/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Sin can bring pleasure, but never happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/sin-can-bring-pleasure-but-never-happiness/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [I'm afraid that in the United States of America today the prevailing doctrine of justification is not justification by faith alone. It is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/i-m-afraid-that-in-the-united-states-of-america-today-the-prevailing/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Heaven is a place where God will personally wipe away our tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/heaven-is-a-place-where-god-will-personally-wipe-away-our-tears/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [In the decade of the 1980s, a massive and comprehensive study of religion in American life was undertaken by the Gallup organization. The results…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/in-the-decade-of-the-1980s-a-massive-and-comprehensive-study-of/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [The rapture will not be secret but open and manifest. Its purpose will not be to whisk the elect away from the earth for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/the-rapture-will-not-be-secret-but-open-and-manifest-its-purpose-will/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Sometimes we behave and perform with our lives, not for God, but for an audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/sometimes-we-behave-and-perform-with-our-lives-not-for-god-but-for-an/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) [Explore all 310 R. C. Sproul quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) ## More 20th century quotes > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [I've studied the lives of the 20th century's great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-spanos/i-ve-studied-the-lives-of-the-20th-century-s-great-businessmen-and/) [Alex Spanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-spanos/) > [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/) [Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/) > [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) [Browse all 672 20th century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Without God man has no reference point to define himself. 20th century philosophy manifests the chaos of man seeking to understand himself as a creature with dignity while having no reference point for that dignity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "R. 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