What is a Worldview?
The term “worldview” is going to be used extensively throughout the Themelios Project blog, so it would probably be a good idea to define it, just to clear things up. In essence, a worldview is the “lens” through which a person sees reality. That lens is made up of all sorts of answers to questions about reality, and the answers one provides will determine whether they can see reality clearly or not. Out of all the questions that could be asked concerning a worldview, there are two basic questions that must be answered: “What is the nature of God?” and “What is the nature of man?” (You can see more on these two questions in the upcoming post Two Fundamental Questions That Worldviews Must Answer.)
So who has a worldview? Everyone does. In fact, not only does everyone posses a worldview, but they are also responsible for the consequences of following it. Therefore, a good worldview brings good consequences, but a bad worldview brings bad consequences. How do you determine what a good worldview is, then? By how well it explains reality. If a worldview is able to explain the world’s reality well, then it is worth pursuing.
Understandably, the next step would be to present a list of good worldviews. It’s quite a short list, because there is only one member:
1. Christianity
Just one worldview? What about all the other options out there? Can’t they explain reality clearly? To answer this query, we need to take a look at a crucially fundamental topic that all worldviews must cover. That topic is the nature of man.
You see, every other worldview other than Christianity claims that man is basically good and can therefore achieve a higher state of being (in an afterlife, nirvana, utopia, etc.) on his own power. The Christian worldview stands alone, proclaiming that man is inherently depraved and unable to achieve goodness on his own. This worldview further explains that because man is depraved, he is doomed to eternal punishment and separation from God. However, God provides hope for all mankind through his Son, Jesus Christ, whom he sent to die in payment for man’s sin. As a result, if anyone accepts Christ as their Savior, they are freed from the eternal punishment sin requires.
So Christianity is exclusive in saying that man is inherently depraved. But is man really that bad? How about some evidence? Well, a great place to start is pretty much any news source. If you need more convincing evidence, just visit your nearest police station or prison. If even that isn’t enough, perhaps the best testimony to man’s depravity would be an honest look into our own hearts. Man is a messed up and sinful creature. That’s reality. And the Christian worldview makes sense of that reality. But the Christian worldview also provides the best hope for the world’s very real depravity. That hope is found in the redeeming work and person of Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:23)
For more information on different worldviews and worldview terminology, visit www.summit.org/resources/. At the bottom of this site there are links to a worldview dictionary, a chart depicting six major worldviews, and other helpful tools.
