Introduction to “World Views”

As in water face {reflects} face, So the heart of man {reflects} man.  (Proverbs 27:19, NAS)

 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. . . (Proverbs 23:7, NAS)

There is a flow to history and culture.  This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of people.  People are unique in the inner life of the mind - what they are in their thought world determines how they act.^[1]

     What we do is rooted in what we think and imagine - our actions result from what think.  Thus,  what we believe about the makeup of our world and our place in it is vitally important at an individual and a group level.  We live and operate on the basis of what we think, believe, and imagine about the universe and human life.  Our attitudes, values, and hopes all pertain to our mental picture of reality.  Depending on what we picture in our imaginations, it can relate to reality as well as fantasy.  Optimism and pessimism are both attitudes in our imaginary picture of reality.  People who view life as meaningless, cruel, and helpless tend to be selfish toward others and self-destructive.  On the other hand, those who truly believe they are the creatures of a merciful and just Creator who holds people accountable for their actions tend to demonstrate more virtue and compassion for others.  It behooves us, then, to recognize the place of philosophy, beliefs, values, attitudes, etc. in directing our steps in life.  What we believe about where we came from, what we are, why we are here, and where we are headed will tremendously influence our view of life and how we conduct ourselves in human society.  Thus, we come to the key term in our study - worldview.

What is a “Worldview”?

    Worldviews are paradigms, perceptual frameworks, or sets of presuppositions upon which we build our understanding of the visible and invisible elements of existence.  Worldviews are ways of viewing the universe and our place in it - they provide the mental framework by which we understand our existence.  In a highly complex (multi-faceted) society, people have many elements which they must interact with and deal with in some manner - family life, public education, entertainment, occupations, politics, crime, economics, alternatives, personal beliefs/values/hopes, etc.  Cultural life is not only rooted in the dominant worldview, but it also orients life in terms of that worldview.

Our world view determines our values.  It helps us interpret the world around us.  A world view, then, provides a model of the world which guides its adherents in the world.  World views never belong to just one individual.  World views are always shared; they are communal.  Indeed, true community is possible only when people are bound together by a common way of life rooted in a shared vision of life.  When a whole society is dominated by a particular world view, a culture pattern emerges.  All the different aspects of a culture arise out of and are directed by its world view.  That is what makes these different aspects of a culture hang together - they are all guided by the same spirit.  If they are not, then we experience a kind of spiritual schizophrenia, in which one part of life is led by one spirit and another part by a different spirit.^[2]

Worldviews are essential because a worldview orients us to life and is the basis upon which we arrive at “meaning” for life.  Worldviews are always built upon numerous unproven presuppositions and assumptions, personal/shared observations, and the various ideas that are culturally encouraged or discouraged at a given time.

     Because they deal with the basic issues by which we understand and deal with life, worldviews are intensely personal and emotional.  Sadly, rather than develop a coherent and comprehensive world view with which to face life, many simply possess a random collection of numerous scraps and pieces of philosophy and religion which they have borrowed over the years from many sources.  One of the reasons that many try to avoid discussing “religion and politics” is that they know their own understanding in these areas is so limited and confused that it could never survive the experience!  When our worldview is attacked, we quite naturally feel severely threatened because our whole foundation/ matrix/grid for understanding life is under examination and we instinctively want to defend our innermost beliefs and views on the meaning of life.  For a person who seeks truth and is open to adjusting his thinking, the questioning/examination of one’s worldview is somewhat unsettling.  However, those unconcerned with ultimate truth or overly threatened by the prospect of having to admit error and restructure their view of the world will probably refuse to discuss it.  People are especially prone to fragile and superficial worldviews when they are not allowed or encouraged to consider options in their educational training.  Worldviews are like bridges in that the true test of their worth is how well they stand up to the pressures of the real world - the hard data, success, and failures. 

Why People Don’t See Things the Same Way

     When people argue about their different beliefs/opinions, they are usually expressing the different "conclusions" which their own particular worldviews have led them to.  Unfortunately, such discussions accomplish little because each person's "conclusions" seem quite reasonable to them, given their own underlying beliefs upon which they base their conclusions.  The only way to break this cycle is to focus our reasoning powers on the underlying "world view" presuppositions, rather than the conclusions that naturally follow from them.

    Often, there is a difference between “reality” (how things really are) and our “perception” of reality (how it appears to us).  A person standing between the rails of a railroad track can look in either direction and it appears that the rails become closer together in the distance and trees are smaller (right).  If this were the first time you had observed this phenomenon, you might reasonably conclude that such is the case.  However, if you were to walk in either direction, you would find that the rails continue to be the same distance apart and the distant tree is larger than you expected, regardless of how they appeared to you in your first location.  Thus, experience sometimes teaches us how to interpret physical realities somewhat differently than our immediate sensual perception of them alone might suggest.

       Our “perception” of reality is rooted in our worldview and there are a number of different worldviews around, not to speak of the many personal variations on the basic worldviews that exist.

       The differences in our worldviews contribute to the many social and cultural differences between people.  The different views that exist on abortion and spouse/child abuse are rooted in different answers to basic questions like “what is a person?” and “when does life begin?”  People tend to associate with/feel comfortable around those who hold similar views on basic issues, although what they really hold in common are the underlying presuppositions that bias them toward the same conclusions.

       The errors or incompleteness of knowledge in our worldview contributes to the constantly changing “scientific” understanding of things.  The series of cosmological paradigms which have been endorsed over the centuries (Ptolemaic, Aristotelian, Copernican, Einsteinian, Quantum) each appeared to be sound to those who embraced them, but time has a way of bringing each into question and some new observation stubbornly demands the creation of a new theoretical model of the universe.  Some questions about certain things remain valid concerns - is there a general fixity or non-fixity of species?  Is nature tending toward order or disorder? etc.  The arrogance with which some people assume their own superiority because they think they know something which previous generations were ignorant of was pointed out

Somebody once observed to the eminent philosopher Wittgenstein how stupid medieval Europeans living before the time of Copernicus must have been that they could have looked at the sky and thought that the sun was circling the earth.  Surely a modicum of astronomical good sense would have told them that the reverse was true.  Wittgenstein is said to have replied: 'I agree. But I wonder what it would have looked like if the sun had been circling the earth.'  The point is that it would look exactly the same. When we observe nature we see what we want to see, according to what we believe we know about it at the time.^[3]

        The philosophical orientation of our worldview influences our view of history, religion, human life, etc.  Does the supernatural exist or is it nature-only; are miracles and “revelation” possible?

       The way a culture thinks determines the way it will function.  The hope, values, morals, strength, social fabric, etc. of a society are intertwined with the individual & corporate worldviews that are held.  Consider the following two situations.  Why do some men mature, marry & live faithfully with one woman, work hard to support and care for their family, love and seek the welfare of their children, save money for future needs, live within the law, etc.?  On the other hand, why do some men continue to act like self-centered teenagers, avoid marriage or else constantly fight with their wife and/or divorce and remarry numerous times, have trouble keeping a job, neglect or abuse their children, blow whole paychecks on booze or gambling, loaf around, violate the law, etc.?

       The answer seems obvious - the main difference between these two groups of men is rooted in how they think, their worldview, how they view life, how they view other people, what they choose to value (selfish, short-term pleasure or the long-term well-being of others; the wild, party life or a peaceful family life), and the level of their own self-control.  These patterns tend to be passed on from generation to generation, because children tend to imitate the values of the current culture and/or imitate their parents.  Most of us learned “how to act as an adult” by watching other adults as we were growing up and choosing to imitate some and not others.  Ezekiel 18 speaks of three generations and how each observes their parents and chooses to either imitate or reject the model they saw.  We do the same thing, as we observe adults during our formative years and make decisions about what we will do in the context of current social pressures and values.  Good role models tend to reproduce in society in the same way that poor role models tend to reproduce.  “Bad company” can influence people in the wrong direction (1Cor.15:33), just as associating with the wise, following righteous examples, and focusing our minds on good things will tend to be beneficial (Pr. 13:20; Php.4:8,9). 

The Blind Men and the Elephant

        A good example of how much our perceptions are rooted in our past experiences and available information is a poem by John Godfrey Saxe, entitled “The Blind Men and the Elephant,

It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the Elephant (Though all of them were blind)

That each by observation Might satisfy his mind.

The First approached the Elephant, And happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side, At once began to bawl:

"God bless me! but the Elephant Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk, Cried, "Ho! what have we here

So very round and smooth and sharp?  To me 'tis mighty clear

This wonder of an Elephant Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal, And happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands, Thus boldy up and spake:

"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out an eager hand, And felt about the knee.

"What most this wondrous beast is like Is mighty plain," quoth he;

"'Tis clear enough the Elephant Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth who chanced to touch the ear, Said: "E'en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an Elephant Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun About the beast to grope,

Than, seizing on the swinging tail That fell within his scope,

"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong!

     The Moral:

So oft in philosophic^[4] wars, The disputants, I ween,

Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean,

And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has seen!

The Man in the Pit

     Another good illustration as to how one’s worldview and basic presuppositions determines how they see things is that involving a man who fell in a pit and was observed there by a number of people who passed by.

The empathetic person said, “I can imagine how awful it must be in that pit”

The sympathetic person said, “I know how awful it is to be in a pit”

The self-pitying person said, “you haven’t seen anything until you see the pit I was in”

The optimist said, “Things could be worse”

The pessimist said, “Things will get worse”

The objective person said, “It’s logical that someone would fall into that pit”

The physicist calculated all of the forces involved in causing him to fall into the pit

The Astrologer did up a quick horoscope and declared which planet had been in dominance at the time of his birth and had destined him to fall in the pit

The statistician calculated the odds of falling into the pit

The Newspaper reporter wanted the exclusive story on the man falling into the pit

The I.R.S. man asked if he was paying taxes on the pit

The lawyer asked if he could begin a lawsuit against whoever had left that “dangerous, but attractive” pit there for the man to fall into

The environmentalist said, “You should be sued for your involvement in this destruction of the earth’s delicate eco-system”

The New Ager offered the man some crystals to comfort him and aid him in discovering the secret mysteries of the pit

The Multi-culturalist said, “You should be proud of your ‘pit’ culture heritage, but be sure and show tolerance for all who pass by and do not share your preferences”

The Liberal Democrat said that government should do something for those who find themselves in a pit

The Republican said, “you got yourself into the pit, so you should have to get yourself out”

The Feminist said, “All men belong in a pit”

The Hippy and his Chick both saw the man in the pit and said, “Wow, cool, far-out”

The Geologist tried to determine how long it had taken for the pit to form by slow, uniform natural processes, while the Biologist theorized on the means by which life had evolved to such a high level in the pit by natural processes alone

The Pharisee said that, “Only bad people fall into a pit”

The Calvinist said, “You were pre-destined to fall into that pit”

The Fundamentalist said, “You deserve your pit”

The health & wealth charismatic said, “Just claim the promises and you’ll be out”

The televangelist promised to send him a “free ladder” for a hundred dollar donation

But Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit

Everyone Has A "World View"

     Everyone in the world has some sort of weltanschauung (Ger. a comprehensive conception of the world) or world view (a set of presuppositions held about the basic make-up of our world) by which they approach the world, mankind, and their own existence.  Every philosophical and religious system is or has its own worldview and, within each major world view, you could truly say that every individual human has their own world view as they adopt one of several alternative general systems and then also hold their own unique minor variations and combinations of ideas.

     Most of us begin with the assumption that something exists.  Without this much of a foundation, we can't even get started!  The recognition that something exists is the beginning of conscious life and has led to two branches of philosophy - metaphysics (the study of being) and epistemology (the study of knowing).^[5]  However, once we recognize that something is there, we still have not come to understand what is there or why/how it came to be there.  In pursuing the knowledge of what is there, each of us employs a worldview composed of a number of basic presuppositions.  In most cases, these presuppositions are uncritically picked up from our parents, teachers, and life experiences in the culture we live in.  Regardless of our level of education, we all hold some unproven (unprovable?) assumed premises upon which we believe, think, and reason as we attempt to "make sense" of our existence and things which happen in our world.  From the most zealous religionist to the most skeptical secularist, WE ALL HOLD SOME BASIC ASSUMPTIONS AND BELIEFS that are unproven and are matters of "faith" rather than "fact!"

The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology.  The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils. . . . Darwin's argument still persists as the favored escape of most paleontologists from the embarrassment of a record that seems to show so little of evolution . . . I wish only to point out that it was never "seen" in the rocks. . . . yet to preserve our favored account of evolution by natural selection we view  our data as so bad that we never see the very process we profess to study.^[6]

Scientists have never seen a mutation create new information, but they know it does.  They’ve never found a half-evolved fossil, but they are sure it must have existed.  They believe without question that their dating systems are accurate.  Some scientists have more faith than right-wing Fundamentalists.^[7]

The real issue is "how valid/likely are our assumptions and how well does our philosophical system handle what we encounter in the real world" (evidence, experiences, phenomena)?  A well-rounded education will acquaint a person with enough topics, evidence, and alternative answers for them to appreciate how much there is to learn and how little we really know about all there is to understand!  "Arrogance/pride" is usually the sign of a person who does not know enough about reality to be aware of how much they don't know and can't be sure of!  All fields of human learning are quite capable of adopting erroneous "dogmas" and "orthodoxies," perpetuating through their machinery, and marginalize or persecute those who raise questions about their scheme right up to time in which they are forced to admit that they have been wrong.  Secularist "science" is as ridden with traditionally "sacred" dogmas as any religious system and just as quick to persecute and ridicule anyone who does not bow down and recite the creed! 

The Importance of Understanding Worldviews

 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)

     The question could easily be expanded beyond “what will the righteous do?” to ask “what will happen to an entire civilization” when its cultural and social foundations are destroyed?  Foundational assumptions are crucial to the survival and ongoing stability of a society in the same way that they are essential to an individual’s life.  Create doubts and uncertainty about the most basic questions of life in a person’s mind and they become confused and frightened.  What happens when an entire civilization loses its philosophical and ethical moorings?  The loss of an accurate history and ethical system is as damaging to a society as is loss of memory and values to an individual.  The issue of what happens to a society that loses a grip on its cultural foundations is an ancient Biblical theme and we find that God has already spoken about the relationship of how a culture thinks, acts, and what happens to it. 

"Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.  "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you shall eat food without scarcity, in which you shall not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.  "When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.  "Beware lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; lest, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart becomes proud, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  "He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint.  "In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.  "Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.'  "But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.  "And it shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God, and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish.  (Deuteronomy 8:6-19)

Before entering the land of Canaan, YHWH warned Israel of the danger of letting material comfort lead them into a false sense of security and forgetting God’s role in their history and economic success.

       In a similar passage, Paul reminded the Romans (1:18-32) of this same process as he described how men chose to stop honoring, thanking, and acknowledging God (vv. 21,28) and then move to control the flow of information so that the secular, humanistic, and naturalistic view looks better than it deserves and the theistic view looks worse than it deserves (v. 18).  In such a climate, where there is no fixed right/wrong, everything becomes an “option” and even sexual orientation becomes confused.  When all behaviors become “viable alternatives” or “personal choices,” then what was once commonly viewed as “sinful behavior” ceases to be officially “discouraged” and the culture sinks into chaos as “enlightened leaders” reject the old world view and give sexual perversion, drug use, and even murdering one’s own children legal protection and social encouragement (v.32).

       It has been observed that, during their historical existence, cultures tend to move through a series of “plausibility structures” (accepted assumptions and preferred scenarios for viewing life).  Generally, cultures have arisen upon a theistic or supernatural worldview, which provides the culture with an explanation for history and existence, as well as a morality system supported by eternal ramifications.  As they reach their peak period of affluence and power, the worldview tends to shift away from close involvement with the gods/God and eternity to a fuzzy deism that removes God’s involvement to the original creation and makes it easier for people to justify their increasing emphasis on enjoying the worldly pleasures in the here and now.  As personal peace and affluence become the premier concerns, the culture totally drops what has come to be seen as the “old, archaic” notions of deity and embraces what is held to be a “sophisticated” philosophy of atheistic materialism, individualism, and hedonism, which further contributes to the decline of the culture by removing the supernatural foundations for morality and virtue upon which the culture arose in the first place.  From this point on, the culture disintegrates into a confusing array of special interest groups, bizarre cults, and selfish individualism.

       As a culture changes worldviews, its leaders simply exchange one type of “Scripture” for another.  In 20th century America, we have seen the writings of Moses, the Prophets, and Apostles of Jesus rejected, while the “modern” elite exalt the writings of Nietzsche, Freud, Kant, Hume, Darwin, Sagan, etc.  Rejecting the never-changing Word of God, they turn right around and place their “faith” in the ever-changing beliefs of human experts and the “sciences,” which are based on incomplete human observations and philosophical meta-narratives/paradigms.  As an example, the path one chooses on the question of the existence of God is really a crucial fork in one’s philosophical path, as the graphic below illustrates.

      One of the most serious mistakes that can be made in dealing with other systems of thought is to assume that those on any other path than yours are “stupid.”  Everyone is able to collect some arguments and evidence that seem to validate their chosen path as the correct one, while mentally minimizing or ignoring the weak points in their position.  While most people could “tidy up” their logic a bit, most of the conclusions and worldviews which people hold do follow fairly logically from the presuppositions which they adopt and it is these which should be the primary focus of attention.  Unfortunately, most of our arguments with others focus on the conclusions we hold, rather than the foundations upon which those conclusions were built.

Evaluating World Views

       First of all, let's knock off the nonsense about "all views are equal" and "everyone has their own truth" - nobody really believes that and those who claim such an approach soon reveal their dislike for certain other views and those who hold them.  Ask a liberal what he/she thinks about conservative Christians and Biblical creationism and you will see what I mean!  We may (and should) learn to tolerate people, but ideas and understanding reality are too important to throw into the "no absolutes" container.

    In late twentieth century America, those who have exalted pluralism and relativism as the premier values see any attempt to evaluate the validity and truth of the competing world views as "arrogant" (haven't they just made a judgment about "truth" that they are trying to force on the rest of us?).    These folks tell us quite absolutely that "there are no absolutes" and we are labeled troublemakers if we even entertain the possibility of absolute truth because such an approach might lead to some view being labeled as "wrong" and such a declaration might damage their delicate psyche!  Christians are becoming less and less concerned about "offending" someone - we've seen our viewpoint trashed and ridiculed for decades by these so-called "pluralism" advocates (who are really just pushing their own agenda).  The fallacy in this line of reasoning is the belief that a comfortable deception is of greater worth than a painful truth by which one might have the opportunity to change for the better.  Relativists and absolutists cannot tolerate each other for long, because their underlying approaches to life are so at odds.  Those who claim absolute truth and unchanging standards, while they may be mistaken about what is absolute/true, are at least in search of ultimate reality, while relativists (if they are really sincere) begin by assuming that there are no ultimate answers to find!  One group seeks answers, while the other seeks tolerance for everything.  One group desires the best answer, while the other seeks tolerance for all answers and equal time at the microphone for even the worst of alternatives to be "expressed."  Even though human society may become confused and timid about ultimate reality, nature still presents us with some hard realities that no amount of sophistry can eliminate - regardless of what we call it, a rose still smells the same; whether we understand it or not, gravity and centrifugal force continue to function in predictable and consistent ways; whether it is "politically correct" or not, certain types of virus and disease are still spread by sexual promiscuity regardless of how hard special interest groups lobby to have such behavior "legalized" or declared an "alternative lifestyle!"  I'm sick of encountering administrators (especially Christian administrators) who have adopted the sophistry game - they deflect concern about real problems by making it sound as though the only problem is within you - "I'm sorry you are having a problem with this."  This is part of the reason many true problems in our society (even within the Christian community) continue and seem to defy a solution - those most directly involved have become masters at avoiding dealing with TRUTH and instead concentrate on perpetuating their own agendas!

       How do we "test" the validity and value of a worldview?  To begin with, you must employ consistent and sound logic to the claims of each view with several important criteria in mind.  First of all, a worldview must show itself to be in touch with the real world and explain what it claims to explain - you can investigate the truth-claims and evidence put forward by a worldview to see if it matches with reality.  Second, the logical and philosophical coherence and consistency of the various elements of a worldview can also be examined.  If one point of a world creates a serious contradiction for some other point in that worldview, then something is probably wrong with one of the points, if not the whole system.  Third, you can apply a pragmatic test and investigate what kind of results are produced in a person's life by their world view and whether or not there is a long-term benefit for the individual and society when this world view is lived out by people.  For example, the hedonistic "Playboy" philosophy may sound good to men who want temporary sexual fun with no commitments or cost, but can such a view really be good when the long-range results are considered (women come to be seen as sexual objects to be manipulated and conquered; the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases; unwanted children and abandoned mothers; etc.)?

       When asked, many people would not really know what basic worldview they hold.  To help us determine a person's world view, James Sire suggests that we ask seven basic questions about the ultimate reality of the universe, what a human being is, what happens at death, whether there is a standard for truth, is human knowledge dependable, etc.^[8]  For those acquainted with the real world, it turns out that there are very few sound philosophical options.  As for the universe, you have only two live options - eternal, self-creating and ordering matter or an eternal and purposeful creator.  Human knowledge is either real or an illusion.  Time is either cyclical (continuous repetition) or linear (with a beginning and end).  Morality and ethics are either based on an eternal, transcendent, & unchanging standard or they are temporary, individually/culturally-defined, and situational.

Why We Need To Develop a "Christian" World View

        Why do we (Christians) need to develop a "Christian" worldview?  Simply, because Christians have been called into God’s kingdom and community, which requires a certain mindset and model for behavior and they are NOT free to "do their own thing" (Dt.12:8; Mt.7:21).  We have been called to think God's thoughts after Him and adopt His value system (Rom.12:1,2), rather than follow the ways of human culture.^[9]  Why should non-Christians adopt a Christian worldview?  Simple - it is true and will contribute to a better life for all upon this earth, as well as eternal life.  Not only are the world's values often sinful and corrupt, but they are also very unstable and are compared with the "waves" of the sea (Ephesians 4:14; James 1:6).  When worldviews harmful to individuals and society are being advocated and gaining control, non-Christians will also suffer the results.  The constant fluctuation of secular "truth" and values is demonstrated by a little article I wrote as an illustration.  I put myself in the place of an astronaut who left earth in 1950 and returned to earth in 1992, which parallels what I saw when I compared the America I saw as child and the one that was emerging in the early 1990's.

I just returned from forty years in space and am not sure I landed on planet earth.  Let me see if I have this straight!  When I went to grade school, teachers could mention “God,” read the Bible, the Gideons handed out Bibles, and very few teeneage girls became pregnant, but now the Bible is forbidden in Public School, health clinics hand out condoms, and teeneage pregnancy is common?  While I am in favor of kindness to animals, when I left people were held to be of greater value (Mt.10:31), but upon my return I find that great effort is spent to save all kinds of fish and birds and you can be fined and go to jail for messing with unborn eagles, but the U.S. Supreme Court says that humans now have a constitutional "right" to kill their own unborn children?  When I left, Jesus was still publicly allowed at his own birthday party (Christmas), but now public displays of the birth of Jesus are banned because they might "offend" the irreligious who might see them, but its now OK to publicly burn the American flag and fill movie theatres with graphic sexual acts, violence and foul language regardless of who is offended?  It would seem to me that simple logic would dictate that, to be consistent, we should either ban everything in public which might offend someone or else tell the irreligious the same thing they tell the Christians, "if you don't like, just don't watch!"  When I left, illegitimate pregnancy was shameful and discouraged, but I come back to find a pregnant and unmarried fictional TV character (Murphy Brown) embraced as a courageous national hero, while a Vice-President (Dan Quayle) who encourages the traditional family , where men share responsibility for their sexuality, is viewed as a dork?  When I left, men having sex with other men was not only morally wrong, but "unnatural," but now I return to find homosexuality touted as an "acceptable lifestyle," a lethal virus (HIV-AIDS) spreading through sexual promiscuity and illegal drug-use, and the best medical advice (abstinence and monogamy) is silenced by the "politically-correct thought police" on our major university campuses because such words "might offend" those most in danger!  I'm sure the recipients of AIDS research grants and condom manufacturers are economically pleased to have the moral answers silenced.  When I left, if you wanted "safe sex" you made a lifelong commitment and wore a wedding ring, but now we are supposed to put our confidence in latex and future medical research.  Is 2 + 2 still 4 or has that changed also?  This can't be the same planet I left, so "Beam me up, Scotty - there's no intelligent life here!"

        We need to develop a "Christian" worldview because Christianity is not simply a set of morals, but is rooted in the existence of a righteous Creator, in real historic events, and offers a complete and superior philosophical system covering human origins, purpose, and destiny.  To "accept Christ" for future salvation/eternal life and not reorient your whole philosophical perspective is like enlisting in the army and expecting to only wear the uniform when you feel like it.  The Christian worldview is built upon the presuppositions that God exists as creator, lawgiver, redeemer, & judge, has communicated with mankind through selected spokesmen (Scripture), and that every facet of life will be affected by the implications of these basics.  The apostle Paul did not believe that human culture would naturally lead people to truth, a correct conception of the God of the Bible, or to righteous living.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.  (Romans 1:18-23)

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  (1Cor.1:21)

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  (Ephesians 2:1-3)

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.  (Ephesians 4:17-19)

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.  (Titus 3:3)

    For those who have grown up in America and seen the cultural transformation that has taken place since the Second World War, there is a sense of confusion as to how things have changed so fast.  Those who were raised with the belief that the United States was a "Christian nation," and comments from the founding fathers and Supreme Court decisions as late as 1892 demonstrate that it was, have to shake their heads with confusion at the legalization of abortion on demand and jailing of Christians who oppose it, the spread of AIDS through illegal drug use and sexual promiscuity, the dramatic increase in divorce and abuse, the open promotion of homosexuality as an acceptable "alternative lifestyle," and the anti-Christian bias increasingly obvious in the media, legislation, and the courts.  How could a "Christian" nation suddenly produce so many trends that are so obviously out of line with traditional Christian values?

       Before answering that question let us reflect on a similar situation.  How could the generation of Israelites who faithfully followed Joshua in conquering the land of Canaan and swore their loyalty to YHWH (Josh.1:16-18; 24:14-24) be so quickly followed by another generation which "did not know the Lord or what He had done for Israel" and turned aside to the worship of Baal, Ashtaroth, and whatever seemed right to each individual (Judges 2:10-13; 21:25)?  How could Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome, Great Britain, and WWII United States develop such powerful and creative cultures and yet all decline in varying amounts of time?  Malcomb Muggeridge has said,

In one lifetime, I have seen a crazed Austrian proclaim the establishment of a millennial German Reich, an Italian clown claim he would restart the calendar to begin with his assumption of power, a murderous Georgian brigand acclaimed by the intellectual elite of wisdom surpassing Solomon, and military might and wealth developed in one country which could have easily surpassed the conquests of Alexander or Caesar.  Yet, all is gone with the wind -Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, the United States of World War II.^[10]

       Here, in a nutshell, is the answer - cultures thrive while they possess a commonly-understood view of life and pursue commonly-shared noble goal, but decline when "success" demolishes their common worldview and national purpose in favor of numerous "special interest groups" and individual hedonism.  While I fully believe that the Judeo-Christian system is true, even partially false religions have supplied cultures with some of the essential attitudes and concepts for living successfully.  Whenever and wherever the fear of God, self-discipline and hard work, responsible family life, concern for the public welfare, and a belief in final accountability to a moral supernatural power exist, they tend to provide strength and purpose for a culture.  When they are rejected and humans begin to deify themselves (emperor-worshipping Rome, Nazi "Aryanism," or Japanese Shinto), the decline and/or fall of that culture is virtually guaranteed!

When Worldviews Compete in a Culture

       Numerous worldviews are always present, to some degree, in any civilization.  Alongside a dominant view, there will usually be a number of minority worldviews and alternative communities.  Over the centuries, there may be an “ebb and flow” as different worldviews rise to dominance and others decline and lose their place of influence.  Various factors can be identified which contribute to the rise of one view and decline of another.  Where there is a commonly accepted worldview that dominates the others, the culture will probably be unified, strong, and healthy.  When there is a dominant worldview in a society, one of the key questions will be how those embracing the majority opinion deal with those holding minority views.^[11]  A number of different methods have appeared in history as dominant world views sought to deal with minority views - eliminating them through a purge or exile, belittlement and/or prejudice, re-education, persuasion and discussion, apathy, attempted pluralism and neutrality, or even trying to counter-balance past injustices by trying to favor minority views over a weakening majority view.

       There are those in American society today who advocate “pluralism” and “multi-culturalism” without understanding the long-term results of such a view.  While there are always some injustices under a dominant worldview, at least there will be a general harmony in such a society.  However, when a dominant worldview is rejected and society manifests a plurality of competing worldviews, problems arise.  If no worldview is dominant, then that society becomes a house divided against itself and, inevitably, it will experience cultural disintegration.  In decades past, the American ideal was that of a "melting pot," built upon a Judeo-Christian worldview, where people of different backgrounds gave up their primary loyalty to their foreign, ethnic heritage to become "Americans."  As an example, we all know something of the blacks that were enslaved by other black tribes, hauled to the coasts of Africa, and sold into American slavery in recent centuries.  After a bloody civil war to end slavery in the 1860’s, blacks were often the victims of discrimination.  In the 1960's, many black leaders in America began complaining about "segregation" and what are now admitted to be obvious inequities.  A lot of semi-racist white people (myself included) saw fire-hoses and police dogs used on black people, who were demonstrating peacefully because they wanted to be able to ride on buses, eat in restaurants, and attend colleges on the same basis as white people and we realized that “some things have got to change.”  However, after several decades of emphasizing "integration" and achieving some obvious success, we find a number of black activists discarding the progress and seeking to go back to their own "blacks only" segregated approach to life.  However, now we see ethnic differences again being exalted under the banner of “pluralism” and "multi-culturalism" at the expense of national unity.  Minorities are being encouraged, often by activists seeking to build their own power base, to purposely keep themselves somewhat separate as “hyphenated” citizens (Afro-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Italian-Americans, etc.).

       What's happening in late 20th century western culture?  The simple answer is that there has been and continues to be a shift in our commonly shared cultural worldview.  European civilization in North America, in one form or another, embraced the Judeo-Christian worldview, with its emphasis on the existence of a moral Creator, hard work, the corporate good, ultimate accountability with rewards/punishments, and the Bible as a common source of information about origins and morality.  Following the end of the Reformation Wars (1648, Peace of Westphalia), religious skepticism began to develop in the intellectual classes of Europe.  Western intellectuals have steadily moved away from the Judeo-Christian worldview, preferring the assumptions of the Enlightenment, evolution, and materialism.  The “Modern” worldview embraced an optimistic picture of inherent progress, natural transformation of chemicals into simple life and eventually all current forms, and a rejection of religion and “revelation” as the false creation of corrupt priesthoods seeking to gain control over the ignorant, superstitious masses.  From such a foundation, secularists managed to gain control of the universities, major publishing houses, and the mass media so that hostile Bible critics could attack the Bible’s literary integrity and historical accuracy with little opposition.  As naturalism and materialism became the prevailing orthodoxy upon which education was based, the results began to surface in the 1960’s, as the Bible, prayer, and discussion of God/spiritual was banned from public education by the U.S. Supreme Court (1962-3).  With the supernatural foundation and moral boundaries removed, public morality quickly gave way to the hormonal desires of America’s youth and the “New Morality” (“if it feels good, do it”) was embraced and we are still paying the individual and social bills for "Free Love."  This move was seemingly endorsed by a misunderstanding of Fletcher’s Situation Ethics and so began the mindset which has produced an explosion in unwanted pregnancies, legalized abortion, the AIDS epidemic, a dramatic increase in the number of divorces, and a militant homosexual movement.  We increasingly see ethical idiots "hit the streets" bent on "demanding their personal rights" and "doing their own thing" in society, no matter who is injured or killed in the process.

       As Christians, we are chagrined to see the ungodliness that abounds in our society, but our worldview is still quite intact - it has, simply, ceased to be popular or dominant.  Many false or non-characteristic images of Christianity are attacked in the media and vocal secularists tend to dismiss Christianity, in general, with the derisive term “fundamentalist.”  In such a climate, it is essential that Christians arm themselves intellectually for the battle before them in several ways.

       1. We must understand what worldviews are and how they function so that we can more accurately comprehend how individuals and societies (ourselves included) think and, consequently, why they act the way they do.

       2. We must understand the major alternative worldviews that exist around us and compete for the minds and hearts of people so that we can communicate with them intelligently and, if possible, build a “bridge of faith.”  We need to be people who “understand the times” (1Chronicles 12:32) that we live in.

       3. We must understand the authentic Christian faith as a complete worldview, so that our “Christianity” is not a compartmentalized, incomplete, or corrupted viewpoint.

    Authentic Christianity is still a very good thing.  Unfortunately, many people do not see much of the real thing.  Instead, they see countless fragmented groups claiming to be "Christian" and many of them are doing things that do not reflect Biblical truth or God's will.  We need to do something about this - and it starts by cleaning up our own personal act and then the mess in our churches.  When we have removed the "beams in our own eyes" (Matthew 7:3-5), then we will see clearly to help others find the way.

Notes:

A Ministry of Severn Christian Church (Severn, Maryland)

Unless otherwise noted, all material produced by Charles E. McCoy

All Scripture citations/quotations from the New American Standard Bible

Email Chuck at: chuck@severnchristian.org