Glorifying the Triune God by creatively declaring the relevancy and practicality of His timeless Word..
Worldview
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Psalm 19:1 ESV
Psalm 19:1 ESV
Worldview – What is it?
Formulas for daily decision making commonly known as the ‘rules of the road,’ describe the approach to life used by people of all cultures. These formulas consists of a number of factors. They might include a reflection of upbringing, value system of peers, structured religious instruction or numerous financial and political issues. Such a basic guidepost, whether passed on by oral tradition or in writing conveys some appearance of organization and sense to an otherwise unstable universe. These end result reference points form what is commonly described as a “worldview.” A worldview is defined by John Sire as, “a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) we hold (consciously or unconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world.” At the end of the day, whatever reasons a person has for living, how they spend their life, as well as what their decisions cost them, all originate from a worldview.
A lot of confusion is encountered when trying understand the actions and intentions of people without knowing such assumptions. The headlines of the newspaper may clearly describe people’s actions, but what the newspaper cannot do, is make clear the motivation behind their behavior. In other words, how a person behaves determines their worldview. Therefore, a full appreciation of their worldview is necessary in order to really know who people are.
You could say that a worldview is a person’s comprehensive response to the most questionable realities of life.
So, what are these questionable realities of life(worldviews)?
What is meant by final reality – God always comes up with this issue. Does final reality have a source? If God exist as a being, what is the core of his being? Is God the whole universe or just a part of it? Is God alone or one of many? Is God spirit or material? Is God a personal being or a sightless, supernatural energy supporting the depths of the universe? A worldview acts together with the primary matters of the divine, the final reality of life.
What is the purpose of world history - Any truly distinguishable purpose of life is rejected by many people today. For the materialist, all that is important is the here and now, because his appeal is to a closed universe that is at its core, physical. People are born, they live, then they die and that’s it. The mortal spiral is all there is to their dreary way of life. On the other hand, theists attach the path of history to the will of a sovereign divine personality. God’s story (His-story) is how history is viewed. Supernaturalism is the viewpoint that, to make any sense of history it, must be seen from God’s viewpoint, because doing otherwise, repeatedly exceeds the limited understanding of man. A worldview must relay the idea of final reality to the question of where history is going.
What is man? – Since time and memorial the origin and nature of man’s identity have been debated by the greatest minds. The outcome of such debates by secular minds has resulted in an intense impact on morality issues evident today. Even today the psalmist David confronts modern speculation and contemporary world views with the probing question: “what is man that you are mindful of him” Psalm 4:8 (ESV).
What are the after effects of death? – Questions about man’s identity is often attached to questions about his destiny. Death has been described in many ways by people of various cultures and religions. Eastern mysticism view death as the “terminal problem,” one of a progression of steps backwards to the causeless cause of all causes. Some often view death as the unavoidable curse of a futile existence. For others death is trip or a frightful leap into darkness. However man’s nature is viewed, it must always be associated with the issue of death.
What is the authority base for morality? - Contending methods of truth stand on opposing sources for that truth. The reason of man is the last piece of assessment that the rationalist positively appeals to. Only that which can be supported by science is accepted by the empiricist. Any final objective value system which can hold man responsible is rejected by Modern existentialists. Their argument is that prior to or separately from a person’s definite experience, truth and morality is nonexistent. One way of looking at it is that man is only bound by the facts and commitments which he is free to create for himself. The bottom line is a person’s authority base will drastically shade the worldview they develop.
Formulas for daily decision making commonly known as the ‘rules of the road,’ describe the approach to life used by people of all cultures. These formulas consists of a number of factors. They might include a reflection of upbringing, value system of peers, structured religious instruction or numerous financial and political issues. Such a basic guidepost, whether passed on by oral tradition or in writing conveys some appearance of organization and sense to an otherwise unstable universe. These end result reference points form what is commonly described as a “worldview.” A worldview is defined by John Sire as, “a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) we hold (consciously or unconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world.” At the end of the day, whatever reasons a person has for living, how they spend their life, as well as what their decisions cost them, all originate from a worldview.
A lot of confusion is encountered when trying understand the actions and intentions of people without knowing such assumptions. The headlines of the newspaper may clearly describe people’s actions, but what the newspaper cannot do, is make clear the motivation behind their behavior. In other words, how a person behaves determines their worldview. Therefore, a full appreciation of their worldview is necessary in order to really know who people are.
You could say that a worldview is a person’s comprehensive response to the most questionable realities of life.
So, what are these questionable realities of life(worldviews)?
What is meant by final reality – God always comes up with this issue. Does final reality have a source? If God exist as a being, what is the core of his being? Is God the whole universe or just a part of it? Is God alone or one of many? Is God spirit or material? Is God a personal being or a sightless, supernatural energy supporting the depths of the universe? A worldview acts together with the primary matters of the divine, the final reality of life.
What is the purpose of world history - Any truly distinguishable purpose of life is rejected by many people today. For the materialist, all that is important is the here and now, because his appeal is to a closed universe that is at its core, physical. People are born, they live, then they die and that’s it. The mortal spiral is all there is to their dreary way of life. On the other hand, theists attach the path of history to the will of a sovereign divine personality. God’s story (His-story) is how history is viewed. Supernaturalism is the viewpoint that, to make any sense of history it, must be seen from God’s viewpoint, because doing otherwise, repeatedly exceeds the limited understanding of man. A worldview must relay the idea of final reality to the question of where history is going.
What is man? – Since time and memorial the origin and nature of man’s identity have been debated by the greatest minds. The outcome of such debates by secular minds has resulted in an intense impact on morality issues evident today. Even today the psalmist David confronts modern speculation and contemporary world views with the probing question: “what is man that you are mindful of him” Psalm 4:8 (ESV).
What are the after effects of death? – Questions about man’s identity is often attached to questions about his destiny. Death has been described in many ways by people of various cultures and religions. Eastern mysticism view death as the “terminal problem,” one of a progression of steps backwards to the causeless cause of all causes. Some often view death as the unavoidable curse of a futile existence. For others death is trip or a frightful leap into darkness. However man’s nature is viewed, it must always be associated with the issue of death.
What is the authority base for morality? - Contending methods of truth stand on opposing sources for that truth. The reason of man is the last piece of assessment that the rationalist positively appeals to. Only that which can be supported by science is accepted by the empiricist. Any final objective value system which can hold man responsible is rejected by Modern existentialists. Their argument is that prior to or separately from a person’s definite experience, truth and morality is nonexistent. One way of looking at it is that man is only bound by the facts and commitments which he is free to create for himself. The bottom line is a person’s authority base will drastically shade the worldview they develop.