James Engel summarized the belief system and the presuppositions that commonly prevail among what he calls modern man:

• God, if He exists at all, is just an impersonal moral force.
• Man basically has the capacity within himself to improve morally and make the right choices.
• Happiness consists of unlimited material acquisition.
• There really is no objective basis for right and wrong.
• The supernatural is just a figment of someone’s imagination.
• If a person lives a “good life,” the eternal destiny is assured.
• The Bible is nothing other than a book written by man.

Living Proof by Jim Peterson, NavPress, 1989, p. 198