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Alternatives Webster’s Dictionary (9th New Collegiate) defines alternative as “a proposition or situation offering a choice between two or more things only one of which may be chosen.”
Certainly, when it comes to worldview, religions, or philosophies by which one may view or conceive of reality, there are many alternatives. In a way this is a good thing – we have some available options already formulated for understanding the larger collection of facts/pieces or evidence/data that exist. Otherwise, we would have to start with the overwhelming amount of “stuff” to understand and try to put something together that makes sense. On the other hand, many options do not eliminate all difficulties and work, because now one must sort through the alternatives to eliminate the foolish and unlikely from the credible and then try to find the best view from among the ones worth further investigation (or determine if any are worth embracing.)
Our task here will not be an easy one, for there are many systems of thought. However, we can break them down into some useful categories as we begin our thinking. We will use the terms “religion/philosophy/worldview” rather synonymously, for all of these views attempt to do the same thing – summarize and conceptualize reality in a way that answers the basic questions of life – (1) origins/where did I come from, (2) purpose/why am I here, and (3) destiny/where am I headed. As I will comment further later on, I increasingly believe that religions/ philosophies/ worldviews are three words for what is largely the same thing – an imagined “big picture” about reality that begins with some “faith-assumptions” about ultimate reality that we then reason from and base our lifestyle upon. [see my article “Introduction to Worldviews”]
Religions tend to be “supernatural” views of reality, assuming the existence of another realm of being, one inhabited by spiritual beings that have some influence on our existence. However, “religions” can also be pretty close to being atheistic or pantheistic (God/Spiritual Beings are de-emphasized or excluded while traditional “religious” forms/traditions continue). Religions tend to be thought of as systems delivered by deity to mankind. Philosophy originates from a Greek term (philos + Sophia) and means “love of wisdom.” Philosophy tends to be humanistic – humanly devised explanations for reality, although “theism” (philosophy based on a belief in higher intelligence/power) has long been a very respectable form of philosophy. Philosophy emphasizes human thought about ultimate questions and tangible realities, with some kind of God behind it all a possible explanation. Worldviews are another way of saying the same thing – systems of ideas for understanding the world/universe and our place in it. Worldviews tend to be systems of thought based upon a particular set of assumptions from which the rest of one’s thinking is based, thus making those foundational assumptions essential targets for investigation.
My own conclusion is that there is not really much difference between religions, philosophies, and worldviews in the sense that all of these are systems of thought by which humans try to conceptualize and understand reality and their place in it. Each of them is based upon some “faith-assumptions” - James Sire (in his book, The Universe Next Door, InterVarsity Press) identifies seven questions about these issues – about non-provable foundational issues (such as “what is the ultimate reality – God or matter?”) from which the rest of one’s thinking flows. As an example of this, consider the evolution/creation issue. Creationists admit that they begin with belief in an intelligent Creator as necessary to explain the complex and patterned realities in the natural universe. On the other hand, evolutionists dogmatically insist that their view is evidence/reason-based “science,” while Creation” (or “Intelligent Design”) is a strictly religious view without evidence and faith-based. In reality, both views are based on unobserved and non-provable foundational ideas embraced by “faith.” It is true that no creationist observed saw God create the universe in six days, but it is equally true that no evolutionist observed an original compression of all matter into a space the size of sub-atomic particle that then exploded and over massive amounts of time accidentally turned into galaxies, solar systems, the planet earth and many distinct and complex living beings (the “Big Bang”) by natural processes alone! While we can all look at present configurations and processes in the observable natural universe and make guesses about the distant past, nobody actually observed the “origin” events or processes by which the universe came to have its present form and make “scientific” (based on observation & laboratory repetitions) statements about how we got here. Evolutionists can believe that the right combination of chemicals and temperature accidentally occurred in a warm little pond somewhere and non-life became alive if they want to, but this is an imaginary “faith-assumption,” for nobody has ever observed such happen in nature, nor recreated such an event under laboratory conditions. They can believe that all lifeforms gradually “evolved” from earlier forms if they wish, but the hard evidence from the fossil record does not provide any proof that any known group of liforms gradually arose from any other group. Believing things for which there is no observational hard evidence is “faith” – assurance and conviction about things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Thus, all religions, philosophies, and worldviews are systems of thought that are based on some “faith-assumptions” and then from this “faith-assumption” foundation they can begin to reason on how to explain things for which hard evidence does exist. Creationists reason from theistic philosophies (assumptions that living intelligence and power are behind natural complexity and life) about ultimate reality, while evolutionists have been encouraged to reason from atheistic assumptions rooted in philosophical materialism and naturalism (assumptions that physical matter and natural processes are the ultimate realities). Our task is to determine which explanation has the most reasonable “faith-assumptions” and then handle the most evidence in the most reasonable and believable way. Religions Ancient religions assumed supernatural beings existed and influenced human life. Many of these religious deities and systems were associated with various tribes and cultures that formulated them. Early Middle Easter religions generally held that all began with supernatural creation, early people lived much longer lives, and then there was a great flood that destroyed most life. YHWH-ism (Judeo-Christian/Biblical worldview) shared the early Middle Eastern historical framework and portrays a universal Holy Creator that promised to deal with mankind’s rebellious separation from Him by sending someone through a particular lineage, culminating in Jesus and His sacrificial death for sin and resurrection. It is my belief the Bible is giving us the Divinely-inspired (and true) completion of the story that was widespread in the Middle East. The other versions died out with the fall of the cultures that embraced them, but Biblical Judaism maintained the stories and passed them onto Christianity which is based on the belief that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah promised through the lineage of Abraham and David. Having missed Jesus as their promised Messiah, Judaism has tended to become focused upon the Jewish people themselves and their families and traditions (no without Temple, priesthood, or atonement sacrifice).
Numerous Asian religions arose in different areas. Indian Vedic Brahmanism holds that “All is One” – everything that exists is Brahman, although all of “physical reality” is also an illusion. “Salvation” involves working your way to Nirvana through the wheel of reincarnation, going through numerous reincarnations and purifying your spiritual essence by accumulating “good Karma” through each successive life. Buddhism began as an attempt to break out of the “wheel of reincarnation” via Siddharta Guatama’s (b. ca. 560 B.C.) “8-fold path.” Jainism, rejecting the existence of any supernatural beings or world Spirit, arose from the claims of one man, Vardhamana, who claimed to have achieved liberation from the “Wheel of reincarnation,” taught his beliefs (now a complex Karma system with “three Jewels) for 30 years, and then died of voluntary self-starvation. Sikhism was started by Nanak (ca. 1469-1539 A.D.) and was an attempted blending of Hindu and Islamic beliefs. Chinese religion began with concepts very similar to what is found in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, focused on a great heavenly emperor, but these eventually gave way to Confucius’ (ca. 200 B.C.) teachings about honoring family and ancestors and embracing the old traditional values. Taoism arose in China through Lao Tzu (ca. 2nd century A.D.), emphasizing the contemplation of nature, passive acceptance, mysticism, alchemy, and immorality. In Japan, Shintoism arose as the deification of the Japanese people and islands as the direct creations of the gods. Arabian tribal religions were eventually merged as Allah, the god of the Quraish tribe was given priority by Mohammed (570-632 A.D.), who claimed revelations from Allah in a cave outside Mecca and eventually gathered an army of followers and advanced his beliefs with the sword – this is Islam.
Surviving religions tend to divide into denominations because of: (1) geographic separations and local cultural mixtures, (2) individual humans that come along with their own agendas,[1] (3) reactions to the errors and agendas of others, and (4) demonic errors introduced to deceive humanity.[2] Judaism, for political and theological reasons, was divided into at least five parties in Jesus’ time (Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Herodians, Qumran Community). After the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., Judaism survived in its Pharisaic form until the 19th century, when a number of variations arose – Orthodox & Ultra-Orthodox/Hasidim, Reform, Conservative, Reconstruction, Kabbalism, and liberal/atheistic (leading evolutionary materialists, such as Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould, and Richard Lewontin are self-proclaimed atheistic Jews). Christianity gradually divided into Western/Latin and Eastern/Greek varieties by 1054 A.D. and than many Protestant denominations arose following the Great Reformation of 1520-1648 A.D. Within the larger “umbrella” of Christianity, a number of personality Cults arose from the influence of one man (Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses). Islam divided into culturally-adaptable Sunni’s, a martyr cult (Shi’a/Shiite), and the “Sufi” mystics. While all of these “variations” cannot be equally valid, any religion should be evaluated by its original teachings, not by every twist and turn of human invention that comes along later, and its best examples. Philosophies When one turns to those systems of thought that are labeled “philosophy,” it is quite proper to list “religious” philosophical systems under the category heading of “Theism” (belief in a god or gods – Greek theos). It appears that the earliest systems of thought were monotheistic (one god) and then developed into systems with multiple gods – polytheism. In these systems, god/the gods are spiritual beings separate from the physical universe that interact with the created universe and lifeforms in various ways. Deism asserts that supernatural power and intelligence were required to form the universe and life, but then this deity ceased to have any tangible involvement with creation – the natural universe was wound up like a clock and left to “run down” on its own. Thus, there are no miracles or answered prayers. Deism appears to be a philosophical “rest area” for cultures moving from theism to materialism/naturalism. Pantheism asserts that “God” equals everything that exists and is synonymous with all of existence – pantheism tends to also be philosophically monistic (only one element in reality – everything is divine).
Those hesitant to embrace atheism often adopt agnosticism, which literally means “no knowledge” and is expressed as no certainty about the existence of the supernatural. They are officially “keeping their options open” while functioning as though they were atheists. Atheism is the belief that there are no supernatural beings and it can be expressed in a number of ways. Because there must be something eternal and uncaused, many Western atheists in our time have adopted old Greek materialism, the belief that physical matter is the eternal and ultimate reality. The usual companion of materialism, to explain how matter came to have its current forms, embrace naturalism, which asserts that natural processes are the only shapers of matter into all of its forms, including life. In Western culture, the French Enlightenment (1689-1789) encouraged and justified the intellectual rejection of the Judeo-Christian view for these old Greek philosophical positions. Upon embracing the foundational assumptions (1) that only the natural realm exists, (2) that nature self-develops by its own natural laws and processes, and (3) and human study and reason is the only means to knowledge, Western intellectuals rejected the Judeo-Christian view because it asserts (1) supernatural & nature realms, (2) Edenic curse and limited natural processes, and (3) divine revelation to guide human reason – and these two sets of assumptions are in contradiction. Upon the Enlightenment foundation, the Modern Era (1789-1963) involved the retooling of all Western knowledge so that it fit/supported the “evolutionary progress paradigm (Hutton & Lyell’s uniformitarian geology, Wallace & Darwin’s biology, Hegel & Marx’s history, Freud’s psychology, German “Higher Critical” theology, etc.). It is upon this platform that atheism today is justified on the basis of “evolutionary science” (“science” gradually re-defined in terms by which materialistic and naturalistic – i.e. evolutionary progress - answers are assumed to be the only valid answers), “Constitutionally-mandated secularism” (“separation of Church and State” requires anything associated with religion be excluded from the public sector), and the presence of evil and Christian hypocrisy as reasons to dismiss God and Christianity.
Other specific variations of agnosticism and atheism would include such things as Hedonism (love of pleasure), Skepticism (doubts that there is any truth/meaning to find), Cynicism (virtues of self-control and independence are paramount and may include a fault-finding pessimistic attitude about life), Nihilism (depressed view that there is no meaning to life), Relativism (there are no absolutes, everything is relative to something else), Stoicism (apathy towards life, unfeeling is the best way to avoid sorrow), Epicureanism (enjoy a virtuous life and detached calmness for the gods are not interested in us), Modernism (everything is evolving and improving), and Post-Modernism (doubts about progress or any “big picture” story being true). Worldviews Focusing on the foundational assumptions of each view, James Sire identified several basic worldviews which summarize the basic options available to most people. These seven basic worldviews are Biblical Theism, Deism, Naturalism, Nihilism, Existentialism, Eastern Pantheistic Monism, New Age, and Post-Modernism. In Western civilization, we have seen a progression for many from Biblical Theism (God as Creator and Ruler, 313-1700 AD) to Deism (God as Creator only, 1700-1870) to Naturalism (God no longer needed as Creator, matter and natural processes only, 1870-1963) to Nihilism (there is no meaning/hope, live for yourself/the moment) and then people jump in different directions to something: escape (suicide/drunkenness/drugs), Existentialism (create your own meaning/do your own thing, man – 1960’s-70’s), Eastern Monism (the Guru’s of the 1970’s), New Age (Shirley McClain, channeling, shamanism, 1980’s), and a return to Biblical Theism (1960’s “Jesus People” to the present). For more on these views, see his excellent book, The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog, 4th Edition (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004). [1] Religious division from self-willed and appointed men with their own agendas – Matthew 24:24; Acts 20:29-30; Romans 16:17-18; 2Peter 2:1-3 [2] Demonic origin of false religions – 1Corinthians 10:20; 1Timothy 4:1-3
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
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