CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW
Module 7 presents the concept of a worldview. A disciple of Jesus has a way of thinking and processing experiences in life that sees the Lord’s impact in everyday events.
Jesus often taught His followers using parables.
Module Bible Reading Assignment
John - Chapters 9 & 10
As a preface to this module, there are many different assessment questions that may determine a person’s world view.
THIS MODULE IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE ACTIONS FOLLOW BELIEFS. A PERSON’S WORLDVIEW IS BASED UPON THEIR BELIEF STRUCTURE WHICH FORMS THEIR VALUES AND DICTATES MANY OF THEIR ACTIONS.
We live in the Information Age.
T.S. Eliot said, “we should not confuse information with knowledge or knowledge with wisdom.”
Consider this question: “What is the meaning of life?”
This question must be answered through a framework containing your basic assumptions that help explain and interpret your observations in life. The answer is derived from your worldview. Your world view is a set of lenses through which a person has established a paradigm. All of us have “belief glasses.” Your answers fit within this paradigm. It is a way of looking at something.
Taken from christianacademiamagazine.com
“How is a worldview formed?”
A worldview is formed and influenced during childhood and redefined during the young adult years, making it the decision-making outlook through adulthood.
Worldviews are influenced by childhood upbringing, including family, religion, friends and location. They are also influenced and confirmed by the “outlets” one consumes. The Barna Group (a Christian Research Organization) found that “people generally adopt worldview beliefs and behaviors that they encounter in arts and entertainment vehicles, news reports, political statements made by public leaders, and through conversations and experiences with people they trust.”
Our worldview affects the way we interpret reality. Two people can view the same event and arrive at two very different meanings.
Seven (7) Cornerstones of a Biblical Worldview
God is eternal, omniscient, omnipotent and just Creator.
Humans are sinful by nature.
Jesus Christ grants forgiveness of sin and eternal life when sinners repent and profess their faith in Him alone.
The Bible is true, reliable and always relevant.
Absolute moral truth exits.
Success is defined as consistent obedience to God.
Life’s purpose is to know, love and serve God with all one’s heart, mind, strength, and soul.
Taken from George Barna’s Worldview Study
James Anderson
What is your worldview?
20 minutes
At least three questions that determine a person’s world view
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Is there a higher power in the Universe?
This question may not seem like a difficult or probing one. In fact, it can be answered with a one word response: “yes” or “no.” However, the implications are immense regarding which side of the fence you are on. If the answer is “no” then what is the ultimate authority? Who, if anyone, are you ultimately responsible to? In reality, the logical answer is that there is no one to whom the individual is responsible. Typically, this person sees themselves as completely autonomous. They must use their own reason to determine truth and meaning in this world.
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Where did our world come from?
For some, the ideas of Darwinian Evolution, Alien Seed Theories, and the Big Bang are prevalent. There is usually a reliance upon empirical data and observable facts that explain the origins of life. Many will also admit to apathy toward the answer. It’s not an important question for them to answer.
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What is the purpose of man?
This is the one that illuminates much of the inconsistencies present within people’s individual worldviews. Religious sects can’t really come to terms with this across their spectrum. Christians have trouble agreeing between the Westminster Confession’s assertion of “glorifying God and enjoying Him forever” and the megachurch seeker model that emphasizes the Great Commission as the primary purpose of man. This is most assuredly not exclusive to those who believe in a higher power. Arguably, those who do not have even more wide ranging definitions for the purpose of man. Typically, there is a humanistic aspect, although nihilism – the rejection of all moral and religious principles, even to the point of believing life is meaningless - is always there in the background. Purpose can practically range from furthering the race to removing oneself from this world in order to avoid meaninglessness. While this has the most iterations thus far, it also has the most inconsistencies as well.
A WORLD VIEW
The way we “see” the world around us.
In order for a person to be able to function in their environment, they need some form of a guiding philosophy that allows them to make sense of their world and to interact with it. All intelligent beings naturally have questions about the world and seek answers to these questions in order to live an adequate life. The set of high-level answers that a person has to the philosophical questions that are essential to life constitutes the person’s worldview.
taken from The Enlightened Worldview Project
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Sees the universe as God-created, and finds truth and knowledge in traditions, conventions, and scripture. They emphasize the group, community, and family, as well as the need for social roles and rules, law and order. They are driven by values like solidarity, security, discipline, conformity, service, and faith; and often have a sense of higher purpose or calling. They see nature as a meaningful, divinely constructed order, which they can use but also have to take care of. The great strength of this worldview is its commitment to the group, its discipline and order, and its social values.
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Sees the universe as a physical-mechanical, objective entity, and find truth and knowledge in (empirical) science, rationality, and logic. They emphasize the dignity of the individual, and point optimistically at the possibilities for (technological) progress in the future. They are driven by values like achievement, hedonism, succes, status, power, material comfort, and fun. They see nature as instrumental; a resource to be used for human purposes. The great strength of this worldview is its commitment to individual autonomy, dignity, and achievement; rationality and objectivity.
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Sees the universe as relativistic, pluralistic, and fragmented, and find truth and knowledge through subjective and qualitative modes of knowing, including art and morality. They emphasize self-expression, and are skeptical about the great (esp. modern) narratives, which they see as oppressive and in service of the powerful. They are driven by values like diversity, authenticity, imagination, inclusion, equality, and environmentalism. They see nature as an inner, subjective source. The great strength of this worldview is its sensitivity to others’ suffering and its commitment to social justice.
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Sees the universe as an evolving, spiritually meaningful whole, and they find truth and knowledge through an integration of methods and paradigms, science and spirituality. They emphasize the need for personal growth and see cultural ‘evolution’ as solution to our global challenges. They are driven by values like self-actualization, the search for truth and wisdom, and global peace and compassion. They see nature as intrinsically valuable and spiritually significant; a partner to collaborate with. The great strength of this worldview is its capacity to integrate what’s fragmented and polarised.
Impact 360 Institute 4 minutes
What’s your Worldview?
Consider a person that makes a decision to follow Christ later in life.
Does the Holy Spirit create a new worldview within the person?
Taken from
Watermark Community Church
What is a Christian Worldview?
Got Questions Ministries
GotQuestions.org
3 minutes
Elements of a Worldview
Anthropology: Refers to the history of humankind in various environments.
Ask yourself, “Who are my ancestors and what does this say about me?”
“What is the origin, nature and destiny of human beings?”
Cosmology: Studies the universe as a whole.
Ask yourself, “Why there is something instead of nothing?”
Epistemology: The study of knowledge and truth.
Attempt to answer the question, “How do we know the things we know?”
“What is truth?”
Ethics: Ethics is the forest and morals are the trees. A framework of right and wrong / good and bad.
Ask yourself, “What makes a particular action morally good or morally wrong?”
Metaphysics: A branch of philosophy that refers to basic beliefs about the nature of ultimate reality.
Ask yourself, “Do human beings have souls?” or “Does the world truly exist or is everyone in a simulation?”
Theology: The study of matters related to God.
“Who or what is God?”
“Is God involved in the life of humans?”
Teleology: A set of presuppositions that may indicate your innate purpose.
“What do you believe is the meaning of life?”
If you wish to determine a person’s worldview, ask good questions.
What does that mean? Have the person define the terms that they use.
Is that true? If so, how do you know? How do you determine truth?
What happens if your conclusion is incorrect?
“I submit that the most important issue in any person’s life is not his or her education, career, finances, family, or friendships. Rather the most important issue in any person’s life is that person’s worldview because that person’s worldview guides and directs everything else, including one’s education, career, finances, family, and friendships. Worldview is the basic cause, all else is effect or result.”
“Worldview: Definitions, History, and Importance of a Concept”
Dr. David Naugle, Professor of Philosophy - Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, Texas, USA