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