WorldSeen

What is a "worldview"? A worldview is the perspective from which I look at and make decisions about all the areas that make up my life. A worldview is made up of all the things that I assume are true, and which seem to me to be common sense. Every person accepts certain beliefs which they cannot prove, and these beliefs will color and shape the way that we view everything else in life.

These core beliefs which influence how I see everything else deal with what I think is real, what I believe is the pupose of life, and how I gain knowledge about truth.

One helpful way to study worldviews, then, is by asking certain questions that fall into three main categories borrowed from philosophy: metaphysics (study of reality), axiology (purpose, values, and ethics), and epistemology (knowledge).

1. METAPHYSICS[reality]

[definition] The study of the nature of reality

1.1 Belief about God

[+] Does God exist?

[+] How do you describe God?

[+] Is there any kind of spirit world?

1.2 Belief about the world

[+] Is there an overall plan or order behind nature?

1.3 Belief about humanity

[+] Are human beings different from the rest of nature?

[+] Where did we come from, and where are we going?

2. AXIOLOGY
[definition] The study of values and ethics

2.1 Beliefs about purpose

[+] What is the overall purpose or meaning of humanity?

[+] What is the main purpose or highest good for each individual?

2.2 Belief about ethics?

[+] How does one decide right & wrong?

3. EPISTEMOLOGY (knowledge)
[definition] The study of the origin, nature, methods, & limits of knowledge

[+] Is it possible for humans to know truth?

[+] What are legitimate sources of truth?

These categories and questions provide the outline for the summary of each of the worldviews discussed on the linked web pages:

Atheism |
                 [+] naturalism
                 [+] marxism
                 [+] nihilism
                 [+] existentialism

Spiritualism |
                 [+] eastern spiritualism
                 [+] polytheism
                 [+] western spiritualism [new age]
                 [+] wicca
                 [+] mormonism [LDS]

Theism |
                 [+] deism
                 [+] christianity
                 [+] islam
                 [+] judaism
                 [+] theistic existentialism

HYBRIDS: As each of the main worldviews has come into contact with Christian theism, there has occurred a blending of ideas. These spin-offs don't really constitute entirely different worldviews, but a sharing of certain ideas, which sometimes become religions.

Dangers and Benefits of Worldview Thinking

There are some dangers that we risk when we begin to classify people according to their worldviews, that is, how they approach reality. On the other other hand, there are clearly some benefits in doing so. Here are some of those dangers and benefits.

	[dangers]	[benefits]
Philosophical	Enlightenment scientific thinking -- objectivity Modernist -- interpreting & manipulating the world (authoritarian, political totalitarianism, dehumanizing, ecological abuse) Privileges seeing (picturing) as the primary way to experience reality-ignoring imagination, language, creativity, intuition, empathy, emotion, faith	There is a human need for a pattern to reality: comprehensive, coherent, & practical Thinking worldviewishly can prevent Christians from naiveness, anti-intellectualism, narrowmindedness, and reducing everything to "spiritual" value. It offers a master narrative which provides a context for each event in personal life
Theological	Assumes a certain philosophical grid-e.g. what are the most important questions or needs which a worldview seeks to explain? May make revelation subject to our presupposed philosophy (Platonic, Aristotelian, rationalism, empiricism, scientism, deism, commonsense realism, evolutionism, idealism, historicism, romanticism, logical positivism, Marxism, Freudianism, existentialism, New Age spiritualism, postmodernism	Helps unify and broaden theology--e.g. mistakenly viewing creation primarily as the refutation to evolution, thinking sin has only personal effects, etc. "so that believers might be delivered from a fishbowl-sized Christianity into an oceanic perspective on the faith"
Spiritual	Tendency for enthusiasm for systems and apologetics to eclipse love for God and others Quest for coherent propositions takes the place spiritual passion and personal relationship	Offers promise for transforming the whole person Provides a foundation for making decisions according to a clearer understanding of one's purpose in life

Revised and adapted from David K. Naugle, Worldview: The History of a Concept (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002): 331-344 -- see book review below

Dr. Ray Lubeck