A Worldview in Three Parts

I've posted in the past about how influential the work of Nancy Pearcey has been for me intellectually, spiritually and philosophically.  Her clear thinking, rational but very firmly Christian approach has given me tremendous clarity regarding how I view the world and how I am able to understand the perspectives of others.  Dr Pearcey breaks down all worldviews into 3 beliefs which, strung together, make up a cohesive worldview (or not cohesive, if the individual holds beliefs which are actually discordant).  The beliefs are:  how did the world originate; what is wrong with the world; what must be done to fix the world.  Whether consciously held or not, these views are present for each person as they sort through problems and make value judgements.

For my own edification, I've composed a handful of grids outlining worldviews as I observe them.  I've mentally started doing this when I read articles as it helps me more clearly understand a "gut" response I might have--agreement or dissent--and therefore be able to more clearly articulate my opinions on an issue.  Writing this out has been rewarding and is something I will likely revisit.

Below is my own worldview as a Christian.  It is based upon scriptural affirmations as well as the affirmations of the church--via hymns and creeds--throughout time.  I believe that many fellow Christians would largely agree with this tripart statement of a Christian worldview:

A Worldview in Three Parts:  Christianity
The Origin of the World	What is Wrong with the World	How to Fix the World
God created the world and everything in it by the power of His Word and out of His divine love and creative energy.  He created mankind in His own image and called the sum-total of all creation “very good.”  All creation remains under God’s control but He has called mankind to be His image-bearers within and stewards of His Creation, to “be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth.”	By willful disobedience to God’s command and rejection of God’s divine authority, Adam and Eve sinned against God and brought the consequent curse of death and mortality into creation.  All of the formerly perfect creation is now fallen, corrupted by sin—broken, breaking, falling apart, discordant, lacking harmony, full of pain, suffering, disease and death.  Creation still retains the shadow of perfection it originally held, but it is not as God originally intended and He will not leave it in this state forever.	God so loved the world and all of His creation that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for sin, to reconcile mankind and all of creation back to Himself.  Christ lived a perfect life and died an innocent death to redeem the world; all who receive His completed work in faith will receive forgiveness and eternal salvation. Creation continues in its fallen state, but God has promised an ultimate redemption where the will be a new heaven and a new earth.  In the “now-not yet” time of the present, His people are empowered by His Spirit to live in faith, to love others and to continue to steward all of creation while making disciples of all people, teaching and baptizing them in His Triune Name.

 

Someone may be a Christian but hold a muddled or personally unclear version of this worldview.  In particular, they may hold to evolution as the answer to "how did the world originate."  Atheistic evolution as the origin story for the world is the default for nearly all of science and has permeated the worldview of most of the developed world.  I struggled with this myself, reading (well, listening to) a handful of books written by well-respected scientists who were devout Christians who held to a belief in evolution (a theistic version) or an intelligent design theory.  The immediate result of that self-study was to be undecided, to hold loosely to both-neither--the evidence for evolution of some kind does seem compelling, but the evidence for intelligent design equally compelling.  Ultimately, while I still hold loosely, I tend toward intelligent design but will choose in my own mind and heart to articulate my beliefs about the origins of the world in terms of Creation by a Personal Creator. I espouse this belief in a Creator and in the Created world because, in large part, it is the only way to have a complete, un-fractured Worldview.  Holding to an impersonal theory of evolution creates a rift in this three-fold philosophy:  without a Creator God, why on earth would He "Love the World" enough to send His Son?   

Another way that Christians may hold a muddled--or at least differently nuanced--worldview than that depicted above, would be if the "how to fix the world" section also contained distinct requirements for human contribution.  I agree that we are called upon to be Christ's witnesses to the world, to be a fragrant offering to those who are perishing and to make disciples of all people.  I agree that we are called to a walk worthy of our calling, to live lives of righteousness and peace which witness to our faith.  But to tie human actions and human righteousness to the fixing of the world, as if sufficient human activity is required in addition to the work of Christ to redeem the world, is a false gospel.  It places the burden back on humanity and not clearly within the--infinitely more capable--hands of God.  

Additionally, in ethical discussions and musings, I began summarizing my worldview as a "The Lord is my Shepherd" worldview--which I believe is a Judeo-Christian worldview, one which therefore rejects a degree of personal autonomy when it comes to certain decisions, specifically decisions about life and death.  That is, because I hold a "Lord is my Shepherd" worldview, I am not free to choose euthanasia to end my own life--my life belongs to my Shepherd, not to myself.  I am a parent and have God-given authority over my children, but that authority has boundaries because I am only an under-shepherd to the Lord my Shepherd. Ditto with the authority I have at work.  Without an acknowledgment of the Lord as my Shepherd and as the God Who created the universe, I become--humanity becomes--the ultimate "decider."  And what that devolves into is, the ultimate "decider" is the one who is able to impose his or her own will upon others, by means of power or persuasion or deceit.  Because the Lord is the ultimate Shepherd of all, I cannot use these means over my fellow sheep.  As an under-shepherd accountable to my Good Shepherd, the One who is also the Creator, I have a different framework for moral decisions and for actions.  Once clearly articulated and if authentically adhered to, this worldview will give consistency and predictability to the decisions I make.  

Scripture says that the "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", and describes Godly wisdom as a source of success and salvation.  I believe that the Christian worldview--that God created the world and created mankind in His image; that the world fell into sin with Adam and Eve's sin and continues to be corrupted and broken; but that God redeemed the world through the atoning death of Christ Jesus--is the definition of Godly Wisdom, a wisdom that brings salvation.  Certainly, saving faith in the person and works of Jesus Christ is where our salvation resides; but holding to a cohesive worldview places that faith on a solid foundation and gives a strong framework for life, decision making and service to others. 

A clearly articulated and consistently adhered to worldview will give internal and external consistency to thoughts, decision, and actions.  I've written before about the fictional anti-super-hero Thanos, whom I believe is extremely compelling because he consistently and selflessly adheres to his worldview.  By way of example, I put Thanos' worldview--as I understand it--in the same grid as the one above.

A Worldview in Three Parts:  Thanos
The Origin of the World	What is Wrong with the World	How to Fix the World
Unclear; likely some deistic-mythic origin story, in which the world is created by divine whim, started on a course and then left largely to its own devices.  Humankind/sentient life exists as only one aspect of the universal creation, with no special significance other than intellect and resourceful drive to accumulate and to attain power.	Through the intense drive to accumulate, through constant need for food, shelter and other resources, and by the drive to attain power and resources, sentient life is crippling the universe and causing the suffering of a significant portion of all life through privation and violence.	Someone (Thanos) must selflessly, relentlessly accumulate the resources necessary by which half of all sentient life will be quickly, painlessly and humanely annihilated.    The end result will be a redistribution of now generous resources, the end of competition and an age of plenty and peace.

This particular post was triggered by an article (a headline actually; I only just read the article but the headline was so fascinating) from The Atlantic, where they discuss another article portraying the number of species which have become extinct.  The Atlantic article parses the math and explains how the original news is not as bad as was portrayed....but the ultimate message is that humanity is really wreaking havoc on mother Earth. This article, the message it portrayed and the worldview which I feel it reflected, is fairly common in the developed world, at least from my observations in America.  So based on this article and others like it--and conversations with friends and colleagues, news programs on the radio and TV--I composed this tripart worldview summary.

A Worldview in Three Parts: secular society, the media and science
The Origin of the World	What is Wrong with the World	How to Fix the World
The world evolved over millions of years to its present state.  No divine creator is espoused, but “nature” is given deistic characteristics.  The improbable complexity of organisms as they presently exist (interrelated systems and organs; sexual reproduction, etc.) is explained by the influence of “nature” causing success in the process of evolution.  Human beings are only one part of the evolved world: relative newcomers, ultimate predators, top-of-the-food-chain, humans are only viewed as one type of animal. Where “nature” is more fully “deified”, the Earth is given a female gender and afforded characteristics such as innate purity.  Human activities which constrain, modify or subdue “nature” and “Mother Earth” are viewed as “unnatural” and labeled as evil and destructive.	Humankind is destroying the Earth. Human beings—highly evolved predators with a drive to power and security—are destroying the rest of the natural world through unbridled, selfish, consumer-based activities. Other species of animals are going extinct; natural resources are being depleted; garbage and waste are polluting the planet.	The activities of human beings must be constrained—by laws, by force, by shame-based societal pressure—to preserve the Earth by reducing pollution, preserving animal species and minimizing the use of natural resources.  If human suffering results from these constraints, that is secondary to the desire to preserve the Earth.  Human population control—through whatever means can be made societally acceptable—is highly desirable.

I think another major worldview espoused in the modern media specifically relates to "social justice" of a style that is strident, unpredictable and which often seems--at its heart--bigoted and unfair.  This is not a social justice model that a Christian could espouse, because it does not rest on the foundation of the goodness of God's creation and of humanity having been created in the image of God.  Instead, human beings are mere animals and--depending upon the pragmatism of the "deciders", the scarcity or abundance of a people-group, and their desirability--certain people can be valued over others, or others valued less.

A Worldview in Three Parts: extremist social justice/bigotry
The Origin of the World	What is Wrong with the World	How to Fix the World
The world evolved over millions of years to its present state.  No divine creator is espoused.   Human beings are only one part of the evolved world.  Humans are only viewed as one type of animal.	Certain types of human beings are destroying the Earth, ruining opportunities or stealing the success of other human beings. Different subsets of humanity (by race or location or other distinctions) are viewed as having lesser value. This might look like bigotry toward “Jews” or “blacks” or “aborigines,” or "white male privilege" or "unborn fetuses." It has taken various forms throughout human history.	The activities of these specific human beings must be constrained—by laws, by force, by shame-based societal pressure. Population control—through whatever means can be made societally acceptable—is highly desirable.

Lord save us from worldviews which devalue lives made in the image of God and which place the entire burden of saving the world onto humanity.  It is an impossible paradox--human beings are seen as only animals, not sacred nor holy, but simultaneously must by their own power and might save the world. No wonder there is a frenetic desperation present in these movements, as the odds for success rest upon the very weak backs of the human beings blamed for the problem.  Any worldview lacking the gospel--that God reconciled the world to Himself through Christ as the way of "fixing the world"--will by necessity be one of panicked despair, blame, Pharisaical judgements and impossible standards.

1) What is your personal worldview?  How would you complete a grid such as the ones above?  

2) Is there discord or is there coherence to your worldview?  Have you adopted certain views or accepted certain decisions that are actually in opposition to the worldview you believe you hold?  Or do you find that your opinions and actions are largely consistent with your worldview?

3) Prayerfully consider your worldview, that God would bless your mind and heart and align them with His Word and His Will.  Pray for wisdom to apply a Godly worldview consistently and with integrity.  Praise God for His completed work of salvation in Christ, that even if your words and actions are not always wise or good, He has already accomplished the "fixing" of the world.