Worldviews for Dummies

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Worldviews for Dummies

• Bridging the Many Gaps

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A Worldview is not

• Knowing the latest news around the world.
• An ability to converse on a number of subjects
  concerning global economics, political, and
  social status.
• Having missionaries in other countries give
  reports of the progress they are making spreading
  the Gospel
• These and many other examples do not describe a
  World View, but a Global Perspective.

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What is a worldview?

• A World View is a filter through which everyone
  interprets and draws conclusions about the world.
• George Barna defines the Christian Word View as
  Thinking Like Jesus

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Why is the study of worldviews important?

• Everyone has a worldview
• Every decision an individual makes in his or her
  lifetime is based on a worldview.
• The concept of a worldview is foreign to many
• It governs the very actions of every man and
  women
• It is an unavoidable component of existence

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The Danger of Neglect

• One thing the world past, present, and future
  can not deny is the effect of IDEAS on the race
  of men.
• The world men inhabit today are not ruled solely
  by those who are living, but primarily by men in
  the grave who captivated the minds of the people
  in their respective era.

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Whats the Big Idea?

• The failure to comprehend and explore the extent
  of these influential men and womens statements
  has cost nations economically, socially, and
  politically.
• One thing most be made clear those who control
  the Big Ideas are the real rulers of the world.
• Wars have not conquered nations Ideas have.
• Those men who rule from the grave are the
  greatest leaders of all time.

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The Unifying Principle

• The men who are still ruling the world from the
  grave have one thing in coming A world view in
  which they were fully conscience of. Equally one
  in which they impeccably with an abundance of
  charisma articulated to those closes to them.

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Caught in the Shuffle

• Those individuals who are unaware of this
  principle or even worse those who choose to
  ignore it will find themselves lost and confused
  in this world of ideas.

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Components of a World View

• God (Theology)
• Man (Anthropology)
• Knowledge (Epistemology)

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It all begins with God

• How an individual views God will directly effect
  the subsequent components.
• At the very core is the contemplation of Gods
  existence, but as the latter is settled is can
  become as complex as the differences Protestants
  maintain concerning the attributes of God.

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Man The Measure of all things?

• Mans view of himself is contingent upon his view
  of the existence of God or the attributes in
  which the existent God possesses
• Man Is what is for certain philosophically
  speaking man must simultaneously come to a
  knowledge of self in order to contemplate a God

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How do you know that you know what you know?

• The fundamental question addressed in the study
  of epistemology is What is Truth?
• How do we know what is Truth?
• How is truth determined?
• Is there absolute truth or is there manifold
  truths?
• Is truth situational?
• These are a few of the important questions that
  comprise the study of knowledge, again knowing
  how we know what we know is dependent upon our
  Theological, and Anthropological Views.

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Non-Christian World View

• Atheism
• Deism
• Pantheism
• The Melting Pot World View

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Atheism (No God)

• Atheism literally means the study of No God
• The Atheist believe in the non-existence of God
• Man is the supreme ruler of the universe and
  essentially good.
• Knowledge is acquired through the scientific
  method

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Deism the holy other

• Deism is the idea that God made the world as a
  watch maker makes a watch and left it to run on
  its own
• God is believed to be a far off being (the Holy
  Other) never making any type of intervention
  through miracles or communications.
• Many of the American Philosophers were Deist
  they knew that Atheism was irrational because of
  the intelligent design theory.

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Deism (cont)

• Since the world is a closed system (without
  divine intervention) man being the crown of
  creation is the Measure of all things the
  supreme being and essential good.
• Knowledge is believed to be acquired through
  scientific method and discovery of natural laws.

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Pantheism Who is not God?

• Pantheism is the worldview that All is God.
• The world is a close system and we live in a
  state of symbiosis with nature
• Man has the ability to become God by reaching a
  high state of consciousness
• Knowledge is attained and achieved through
  God-consciousness

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The Melting Pot Worldview

• The one true God is the God of the dominant
  culture. This God can be an celestial being or
  man himself.
• Man is essential good and should study all the
  religions of the world and take the best of all
  of them and develop his or her worldview.
• Knowledge is ever changing. The ability to know
  is only temporal.

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The Biblical Christian World View

• An emphasis is placed on the Biblical
• The Christian World View is based solely on the
  Word of God.
• More specifically a combination of the knowledge
  of the Old Testament and the implementation of
  New Testament principles.

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What we Believe

• God is both immanent and transcendent he is the
  creator of all things therefore he is the
  supreme and only governing authority in the
  universe.
• Man is depraved in need of salvation
• Man being depraved spiritually has inherited a
  distorted view of God. To bring this view proper
  God gave man the word of God, the source of all
  truth and knowledge.

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The Mountain-top Experience

• The Sermon on the Mount is the most comprehensive
  and complete exposition of Christian principles.
• It is the foundation of Christian ethics.
• To know the Sermon on the Mount and apply it, is
  the beginning of Thinking Like Jesus

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Evaluating Believes

• All the philosophies of the world can be very
  appealing to the individual who has no concept of
  a worldview.
• Conversely, those individuals who have accepted a
  belief of some sort without questioning it should
  be equally concerned.

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The Conflict in Making a Change

• Ephesians 611 says that we wrestle not with
  flesh and blood, but against the rulers and
  authorities of the world.
• The Ideas spoken of earlier originate from one
  place and one place only the mouth of Satan
• The non-biblical ideologies of the world have
  been kept alive by Satan.
• Remember the Garden of Eden it was a
  conflicting idea that resulted in the first sin.

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How do I develop a Biblical World View?

• Study of the Bible using proper hermeneutics
  which entails
• Commentaries
• Word Studies
• Surveys
• Bible Dictionaries
• Various creditable books concerning Bible
  doctrine
• Attend Church regularly as well as various
  classes that are offered within the Church.

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The Challenge

• Anyone who breaks one of the least of these
  commandments and teaches others to do the same
  will be call least in the kingdom of heaven, but
  whoever practices and teaches these commands will
  be called great in the kingdom of heaven. --
  Matthew 515 (?)
• THINK LIKE JESUS