There are two basic six-word questions that are of crucial importance to the foundation of any worldview. These two questions are:
1. What is the nature of God?
and
2. What is the nature of man?
So what’s so big about these two questions? Well, essentially every other assumption a person’s worldview makes will hinge on their answers. Let’s start from the top.
The first question concerning the nature of God is whether or not He exists. If a worldview claims that He does not, then you have Atheism. If He does exist, then the next question will be whether or not He is identical to or distinct from the universe. If He is identical, then you have Pantheism, which basically holds that the universe IS God. The New Age movement holds to this type of thinking. Everything – the stars, the trees, rocks, people, is God. However, if God is distinct from the universe, the next question is whether He is involved in it or not. If He is uninvolved, the result is Deism. This belief assumes that there may indeed be a God, but if there is He is simply uninvolved in the universe. If God is involved, then another question pops up: Is God incarnate in the universe or not? If He is not, the result is Unitarian Theism. The two major worldviews that have this position are Islam and Judaism. On the flip side of the question, (if God is incarnate) the result is Trinitarian Theism. This is the nature of God as defined by Biblical Christianity. God does exist, He is distinct from the universe, He is involved with it, and He is incarnate. The Westminster Larger Catechism puts it like this:
“God is a Spirit, in and of himself infinite in
being, glory, blessedness, and perfection;
all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible,
everywhere present, almighty; knowing all things,
most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”
Okay, so we’ve covered the first question. Now for the second: What is the nature of man? Well, this question has only two answers. Either man is inherently good, or he is inherently flawed. If man is inherently good, then man’s only hope is in man. There is no room for God; if man is basically good, he doesn’t need God. Man doesn’t need a savior, because there is nothing he needs salvation from. This is the position, apart from Christianity, that essentially every worldview takes. Christianity holds that man is inherently flawed. When Adam and Eve turned their backs on God and chose to chart their own course, (Genesis 3) they rejected their perfection and allowed sin to enter the world. As a result of sin’s entry,the only hope man has is through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23-24, John 3:16).
