What is a Christian Worldview, part 1
The term worldview (Weltanschauung) first appeared in Immanuel Kant’s “Critique of Judgment” in 1790, and describes an individual’s or group’s comprehensive perspective on the nature of reality. Christian philosopher Ronald Nash writes, “A worldview contains a person’s answers to the major questions in life, almost all of which contain significant philosophical content. It is a conceptual framework, pattern, or arrangement of a person’s beliefs.” Simply put, a Christian worldview is a worldview from a biblical perspective.
Studies have shown that the Christian worldview is losing ground not only in our society at large, but also within the Christian community. According to pollster George Barna, only nine percent of Christian adults have a Christian worldview. His study also revealed that only two percent of Christian teenagers posses a Christian worldview. If we understand that one’s ethic is shaped by one’s worldview, it should come as no surprise that many Christians are not acting christianly; their worldview is determining their actions. In other words, people live what they believe.
G. K. Chesterton understood how important one’s worldview is when he wrote, “But there are some people, nevertheless—and I am one of them—who think that the most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe…. We think the question is not whether [one’s] theory of the cosmos affects matters, but whether, in the long run, anything else affects them.” Most conflicts between individuals or nations can be traced to conflicting worldviews. There are many in our society who have attempted to pronounce all worldviews correct to eliminate conflict, but this attempt has merely established another worldview—the view that all truth is relative. Even the relativists believe their view of the world is the correct view.
There are many competing worldviews in our culture. A Christian who wants to engage the culture with the truth claims of Scripture should have a good understanding of each of these worldviews: theism (Christianity, Islam, Judaism), deism, naturalism (atheism, humanism, secularism, materialism, nihilism, existentialism), pantheism (New Age, Eastern religions), polytheism, and animism. The default worldview in our culture, especially in our educational system, has become naturalism.
Every worldview differs in the way it attempts to answer certain essential questions: Is there a God? What is the nature of man? What is the nature of reality? How do we know things? What is the meaning of history? How should we behave? Some have reduced these down to four main questions every worldview seeks to answer: Were did I come from? What is the matter? What is the solution? Where am I going? The Bible answers all of these questions.
Since Christianity is a comprehensive worldview, it should affect every area of the Christian life, from jobs to ethics, from art to politics. There should be no separation in the Christian mind between the “sacred” and the “secular.” Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” It is only through Jesus that we can posses the right view of the world.
Studies have shown that the Christian worldview is losing ground not only in our society at large, but also within the Christian community. According to pollster George Barna, only nine percent of Christian adults have a Christian worldview. His study also revealed that only two percent of Christian teenagers posses a Christian worldview. If we understand that one’s ethic is shaped by one’s worldview, it should come as no surprise that many Christians are not acting christianly; their worldview is determining their actions. In other words, people live what they believe.
G. K. Chesterton understood how important one’s worldview is when he wrote, “But there are some people, nevertheless—and I am one of them—who think that the most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe…. We think the question is not whether [one’s] theory of the cosmos affects matters, but whether, in the long run, anything else affects them.” Most conflicts between individuals or nations can be traced to conflicting worldviews. There are many in our society who have attempted to pronounce all worldviews correct to eliminate conflict, but this attempt has merely established another worldview—the view that all truth is relative. Even the relativists believe their view of the world is the correct view.
There are many competing worldviews in our culture. A Christian who wants to engage the culture with the truth claims of Scripture should have a good understanding of each of these worldviews: theism (Christianity, Islam, Judaism), deism, naturalism (atheism, humanism, secularism, materialism, nihilism, existentialism), pantheism (New Age, Eastern religions), polytheism, and animism. The default worldview in our culture, especially in our educational system, has become naturalism.
Every worldview differs in the way it attempts to answer certain essential questions: Is there a God? What is the nature of man? What is the nature of reality? How do we know things? What is the meaning of history? How should we behave? Some have reduced these down to four main questions every worldview seeks to answer: Were did I come from? What is the matter? What is the solution? Where am I going? The Bible answers all of these questions.
Since Christianity is a comprehensive worldview, it should affect every area of the Christian life, from jobs to ethics, from art to politics. There should be no separation in the Christian mind between the “sacred” and the “secular.” Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” It is only through Jesus that we can posses the right view of the world.
Next week we will discuss how to analyze competing worldviews.
Labels: Christian worldview
posted on Friday, November 10, 2006 |
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