EDUCATION 06 – Worldviews in contrast

EDUCATION 06 - Worldviews in Contrast

Thoughts are mostly taken from Darrow Miller’s “Discipling Nations”

A basic worldview can be described by six fields with its pertinent questions:

1 METAPHYSICS                                 asking what is real

  • Is there a god?
  • What is ultimate reality?

2 COSMOLOGY                                    asking about the universe

  • What is the nature of the universe?
  • What relationship does man have with nature?

3 ONTOLOGY                                      asking where everything comes from

  • What is man?
  • Is man significant?
  • What relationship do I have with others?

4 TELEOLOGY                                      asking where everything is going

  • Is history going somewhere?
  • What is the purpose of work?
  • Is there life after death?

5 AXIOLOGY                                         asking about good and evil

  • Is there good and evil?
  • What is the nature of evil?
  • What is the nature of man? Is man good or evil?

6 EPISTEMOLOGY                              asking about truth

  • How do I know?
  • What can I know?
  • How can I know truth?

The three big worldviews – Animism, Biblical Theism and Atheism – answer these questions very differently. Here is a rough summary of how the basic questions are answered in each of these three worldviews:

1 METAPHYSICS
Is there a god?

Animism

  • “In the beginning an undivided spirit …”
  • devolution from that spirit > myriad of spirits emerge
  • life = challenge to be mastered – by appeasing spirits
  • trying not to disturb

Biblical Thinking

  • “In the beginning God …”
  • God communicates & interacts with his creation
  • God reveals himself generally (creation) and specifically (Jesus)
  • God acts

Atheism

  • “In the beginning nature …”
  • Nature is only reality
  • Whether there is a god is not knowable (agnostic)
  • There is no god (atheism)
  • no need for a god
  • anything not measurable is not real

Modern Church

  • “In the beginning God …’
  • but now creation is under evil’s dominion
  • Split of sacred and secular
  • God is God over the spiritual realm only
  • the world is doomed
What is ultimate reality?

Animism

  • ultimate reality is spiritual
  • ultimate purpose is spiritual enlightenment
  • man is only a part of the universe, not an agent of change, a cancer
  • no development, devolution
  • no purpose nor meaning nor future

Biblical Theism

  • ultimate reality is a personal infinite God
  • ultimate purpose is to know God and to be like him
  • purpose marred by sin but restored through Jesus
  • Humans in God’s likeness are stewards of creation and developers

Atheism

  • ultimate reality is physical
  • ultimate purpose is self
  • universe = machine with man at its center, mechanical, impersonal
  • evolution / development
  • humans escaping god-superstition by science
  • no purpose nor meaning nor future
2 COSMOLOGY
What is the nature of the universe?

Animism

  • spiritual world is more real & important than physical world
  • universe is divine, run by capricious spiritual forces
  • not run by natural law
  • world is a god to worship
  • limited good

Biblical Theism

  • physical and spiritual world are real and good
  • Both are open to God’s and human intervention
  • Man’s stewardship over physical world = worthy job
  • run by understandable natural law yet open to God
  • positive sum: development

Atheism

  • nature is all there is and ever will be
  • no beginning, no end
  • nature is a closed system, closed to divine intervention
  • run by natural law only
  • limited resources
  • zero sum: distribution (my gain = your loss)

Modern Church

  • the physical world is real but under God’s wrath
  • resources are limited
  • world is running down
  • world will be abolished and neither redeemed not re-created
What is man’s relationship with nature?

Animism

  • man worships the universe
  • the universe is inhabited by spirits and superior to man
  • humans are one thing only in the universe, a parasitic pathogen, a cancer
  • humans heal as they surrender their delusional individuality
  • human life is not sacred, but the total universe is
  • trying not to disturb

Biblical Theism

  • humans are made in the image of God
  • man is a spiritual & physical being
  • man has real choice & real power
  • man is given stewardship over creation to develop it
  • man is given authority and held accountable
  • command to innovate

Atheism

  • man is superior to nature
  • man consumes nature
  • no accountability
  • man is a consumers, a mouth to feed
  • man is no different from animals
  • zero sum: your gain is my loss
  • limited resources
3 ONTOLOGY
What is man?

Animism

  • Man is a spirit
  • man is not fully real nor important
  • man has no true power to choose or bring change

Biblical Theism

  • man is a mind
  • man is crown of creation
  • man is in God’s image
  • man is rational, relational and moral
  • man is powerful to choose and to bring change

Atheism

  • Man is a mouth
  • man is a consumer
  • man is a product of nature
  • man is determined
  • man is rational and not accountable to morals
Is man significant?

Animism

  • man is not significant, the universe is

Biblical Theism

  • man is significant, God’s Son died for man

Atheism

  • man is alone significant
  • competition of man and man
What relationship do I have with others?

Animism

  • conformity
  • the individual is not significant, the total is
  • self-depreciation
  • dependent
  • group rights
  • economic equality

Biblical Theism

  • community
  • the individual and the community are significant
  • self-interest <=> service
  • interdependent
  • personal responsibility
  • equality before God & law

Atheism

  • individualism
  • the individual alone is important
  • selfishness
  • independent
  • individual rights
  • maximum personal freedom

4 TELEOLOGY

Is history going somewhere?

Animism

  • cycle of reincarnation
  • no real development
  • no real change nor choice
  • fatalism
  • coming from nowhere, going nowhere

Biblical Theism

  • time is linear
  • time is moving forward to a goal
  • God fulfills his purpose in history
  • clear origin and goal
  • hope and assurance

Atheism

  • time and resources are running out
  • seek pleasure now!
  • no eternity, no life after death
  • accidental origin, going to the grave

Modern Church

  • time is running out
  • Jesus will rapture us away
  • this world will be destroyed
  • no future or hope or mandate for world
  • escape to a spiritual heaven
What is the purpose of work?

Animism

  • Work is a burden, a curse
  • Work is consequence of my spirit imprisoned in body
  • I work to survive, but work has no real value
  • Why work for an unreal and unimportant world?
  • Work by casts

Biblical Theism

  • Work is a command of God
  • Work is not a punishment, not a curse
  • I work to glorify God, to bless others & to provide
  • This world is worth my work
  • co-work with God’s purpose
  • all type of work is valuable

Atheism

  • Work is necessary to obtain the life I want
  • Work is a means to an end, honored as efficient tool
  • I work to consume
  • humans are producers & consumers only
  • self-focused

Modern Church

  • This world is not worth my work
  • Work is a secular occupation, a needed thing while on earth
  • Work is separate from God
  • I tithe my salary, that’s all
Is there life after death?

Animism

  • endless cycles of reincarnation, possibly dissolution

Biblical Theism

  • promise of eternal life
  • promise of a total bodily resurrection
  • promise of a total restoration of creation (both physical and spiritual)

Atheism

  • death is the final reality and destiny
  • no eternal life
  • nothing will remain

Modern Church

  • Jesus gives eternal life
  • my spirit will escape to a spiritual heaven
  • who would want a bodily resurrection?

5 AXIOLOGY

Is there good and evil?

Animism

  • it’s all the same
  • arbitrary gods with inscrutable whims
  • good and evil are fused, complete each other
  • do not fight evil but arrange yourself with evil
  • to fight evil > more suffering

Biblical Theism

  • absolute truth exists
  • God reveals moral law by revelation and by creation
  • humans have conscience and free will, they are more than animals
  • man’s obedience reduces the dominion of evil

Atheism

  • moral relativism
  • the world is amoral
  • ethics are situational and basically a majority vote
  • The question is not: is it right? But does it feel good? does it work?
  • man has no serious moral purpose
What is the nature of evil?

Animism

  • evil is real
  • evil is powerful
  • evil is ‘out there’, not so much in men and in my choices
  • evil has to be ‘managed’ by appeasement

Biblical Theism

  • evil is real
  • evil is limited and finite
  • man can choose to do evil or to yield to God

Atheism

  • there is no real evil
  • there is no real explanation for the great injustices and atrocities committed by man

Modern Church

  • evil is real
  • evil is powerful
  • this world is evil
What is the nature of man? Is man good or evil?

Animism

  • man is not really evil
  • man lives in an evil universe

Biblical Theism

  • man is made in God’s image but has chosen evil
  • man has dignity as a image of God but man is also depraved and capable of great evil

Atheism

  • man is not evil
  • there is no evil
  • there is no morality

6 EPISTEMOLOGY

How do I know?

Animism

  • I know by mysticism, by spiritual enlightenment
  • the universe is not reasonable but capricious
  • there are no laws to discover
    there is nothing to know
  • no real change or development possible

Biblical Theism

  • I know by God’s revelation and by my reason
  • God is rational, logical, has reasons for his actions
  • man (in God’s image) can understand his words and works (creation)
  • orderliness of universe and mind > science is possible

Atheism

  • I know by empirical testing
  • I know by reason
  • man’s reason is the ultimate measure of reality
  • man defines truth

Modern Church

  • I know by God’s revelation & spiritual experiences
  • The physical world is not really reasonable
  • God can be partially known, but not by reason
What can I know?

Animism

  • truth is hidden, unknowable > man is ignorant
  • the universe is mysterious, unknowable, irrational
  • randomness, arbitrariness, luck
  • ignorance is a virtue
  • fatalism

Biblical Theism

  • objective truth exists because God exists > man can know
  • truth is knowable because God revealed it by his words and works (creation)
  • Man is finite > man can’t know exhaustively but he can know truly
  • absolute truth, wisdom and freedom are based on God’s character

Atheism

  • truth is relative > no absolute morals > immorality
  • man is the basis for knowledge = rationalism
  • many men > many truths > truth is relative
  • no objective standard

Modern Church

  • truth is experiential
  • understanding comes through a blind leap of faith
  • unless I spiritually experience something (God), it (he) is not real
EDUCATION