Ch 1 Bible

6 dominant worldviews

1. Christianity

2. islam

3. marxism

4. secularism

5. post-modernism

6. new spirituality

christianity

• founded on Jesus, the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament and God incarnated as a human

• God revealed Himself in nature but especially as Jesus

islam

• founded by Muhammed

• submission to God gave it its name

• Quran

New spirituality

• mix of eastern religions, paganism, and pseudoscience

• world is spiritual but not governed by God

• “conscience” we can all learn and control

secularism

• humans are center of reality and rejects God’s relevance

• claim to be nonreligious but hold their own views on cause and nature of the universe

marxism

• Karl Marx defined the history of the world as a struggle between haves (bourgeois-owners) and nots (workers-proletariat)

• communism

post modernism

• action against modernism, idea that science and human reasoning can solve mankind’s problems

• questions everything

theistic worldviews

1. Christianity

2. islam

3. new spirituality

non theistic worldviews

1. secularism

2. marxism

3. post-modernism

10 disciplines that worldviews focus

1. theology - study of God

2. philosophy - how we know what we know

3. ethics n- moral conduct/values/duties that lead to “good life”

4. biology - study of life from conception to death

5. psychology - study of soul and what makes us human

6. sociology - study of human societies/how we live in community

7. law - how we govern ourselves

8. politics - rule of city

9. economics - running the household, how to manage resources

10. history - how people thought/lived in the past

4 Tests that determine if worldview is true

1. reason: can it be stated and defended logically?

2. outer world: is there external supporting evidence?

3. inner world: does it adequately address personal experience?

4. real world: does it lead to positive or negative consequences?

separation of Christianity from other wdvs

• views on Christ, the wholly God wholly human that lived a sinless life, died for sins of whole world and arose from death to offer eternal life to all that believe

life’s bigger questions

• where did we come from

• where are we going

• what happens when we die

• what can we do to make the world a better place

• how do we life a good life

• how do we tell whats good/bad, false/true, just/unjust

how is an idea like a virus

spreads

define worldview

• a pattern of ideas, beliefs, convictions, and habits that help us make sense of God, the world, and our relationship to God and the world

fundamental ?s a wdv seeks to answer

1. why are we here

2. what does it mean to be human

3. what is the meaning of life

4. is there a difference between right and wrong

5. is there a God, if so what is He like

ideas aren’t neutral

• form beliefs/behaviors

• shape convictions/cultures

• good ideas lead to healthy societies

• bad ideas lead to decay/destruction

reactions from others when Christian worldview is shared

• verbal attack

• mocked

• intelligence is called into question

what should a Christian’s response to conflict when sharing worldview be

• not in the same manner, but address the criticism with reasonable arguments