1. A world view is the foundational belief system upon which one’s entire
understanding of the “big picture” of all existence, and the more
immediate “small picture” one’s personal existence, is based.
i. It is the answer to “why” things happen, exist (or not exist)
ii. It answers “where” things come from and “where” they go.
iii. It is the motivation for one to act and not act.
iv. It is the motivation for one to believe and not believe.
v. It is the underlying reason for emotional response: i.e. fear, peace, etc.
2. EVERYONE has a world view, but not everyone is aware of the one they hold.
i. a person may claim to believe (trust in) God but never acknowledge Him
in times of crisis or in times of great prosperity.
ii. conversely, a person may claim to be atheistic, but yet will cry out to
God in a time of great distress (foxhole system)
3. What is your world view?
i. Where did everything come from?
ii. Why does good and/or bad things happen to people? to you?
iii. Why is there evil in the world and how does it get solved?
iv. Why do you do good things for people? bad things to people?
v. Do you believe everything you hear? see? why or why not?
vi. How do you respond to times of great distress? great success?
B. 1. At the core of all world views, is the ultimate categorization of God/Not God.
2. A Humanist might answer the above questions as follows
i. The Universe has been eternal OR the Universe sprang into being
spontaneously (Big Bang)
ii. Good and bad is the result of either nature or nurturing, most probably
nurturing. People are basically good and if given the proper modeling, teaching, information, apart from religion and superstition, will make the proper choices. In essence, good and bad is the result of good and bad choices which is the result of good or bad modeling
iii. Man is basically good, evil will be reduced as man is educated that he
must allow others the same freedom of choice that he enjoys.
iv. We do good things for other people because it is the right thing to do
and it makes the world a better place. Lack of knowledge, lack of
respect for the human being. Bad modeling are causes for personal
shortcomings, but on the whole very little bad or evil is ever done by a true humanist who understands the principles of respect.
v. We believe what we hear if it is from the perspective of a person who
sees man as the center of the universe and not God. If it is from a Theist perspective, it is rejected outright because religion is detrimental to human advancement. We do not believe everything
we see in that many supposed eyewitnesses to “miracles” are nothing more than optical illusions, yet-unexplained phenomena, or worse, the deception of a charlatan. (However, we still claim that the Christian god is false because we can’t see him or have not seen him. We’re funny that way)
vi. In times of great distress, we trust in ourselves personally or designated
organizations and governmental institutions that have been created by man to address the difficulty (i.e. hospitals, FEMA, etc.). We are also willing to seek the support of (or be a support to) friends and family. We are NOT, however, inclined in any way to trust in an unseen deity or a religious organization that does so. Religion and unseen deities are nothing more than a crutch for the weak.
In times of great success, we just chalk it up to the fact that a
person does not need a god or gods or some religion to be successful. Since we are in control of our own destiny, we have only ourselves to thank for our success. It is the result of our own hard work not that of any “benevolent deity”
3. A Christian theist might answer the questions in the following way:
i. Everything comes from the Creator of the Universe, known as God, it
was all created “the seen from the unseen” through the person of His Son Jesus Christ.
ii. Good happens to people because of the grace of God. We believe that
every good thing proceeds from “Father of Lights”. Personal comfort and happiness are wholly separate things from “good”. Sometimes a thing can be ‘good’ for us but yet “uncomfortable” or even “painful”. At other times a thing that is evil can be quite “comfortable” and “feel good” to a Christian even though it is overtly or covertly harmful to another individual. Christians are careful to keep the concept of “good” separate from the concepts
of “personal comfort and happiness”. We believe that “bad things”
happen sometimes as a result of a person’s choices but at other
times as a result of living in a world that is “fallen” which means
that it is not functioning according to the original plan of God and
as a result of the original sin of Adam, sickness, pain, suffering,
and death were all introduced to a perfect environment and
perpetuate until the time that they are ultimately dealt with by His
Son Jesus.
iii. Why is there evil in the world and how does it get solved?
The presence of evil is as a result of the events described above,
also as a result of an enemy described to us by the Holy Spirit (in the Bible) as the ‘accuser’ satan, ‘slanderer’ the devil, or the enemy of our souls that accuses us night and day to God. All sources of evil: Satan, the Fallen World, and man’s fleshly nature, will be dealt with at the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There is no contradiction (as is supposed by the atheist) of the simultaneous existence of an “All loving God” who would want to do away with evil, an “All Powerful God” who could do away with evil, and the presence of evil. What the atheist has failed to grasp is the understanding that an all-powerful, all-loving God may have already chosen to deal with evil over a specified time. And the current temporary existence of evil is actually serving a higher purpose in God’s plan.
iv. A Christian does good things for people because the God that created
us has done great things for us. He loved us while we didn’t care about (or even hated) Him. The Eternal Son suffered and died to pay the eternal cost of our sins against the Eternal Father. He then asks of us to love one another as He has loved us. To love those that hate us and spitefully use us. Loving them involves doing good for them. We do bad things on occasion because God tells us that we still have the task of putting to death our “old sin nature” which “grows corrupt”. This is a contention that will continue throughout the Christian’s life. He or she is not perfect, but are
being perfected and with maturity, the acts of “badness” will decrease (hopefully sooner than later).
v. We do not believe everything we hear or see but rather, we weigh
everything according to the Word of God. We also pray for wisdom and discernment from The Holy Spirit when faced with a situation that requires knowledge of truth and warning of error. Our eyes can deceive us, so we walk by faith that our God will guide our steps. There is a way that seems right to a man but in the
end it leads to death-Proverbs 14:12
vi. How do you respond to times of great distress? great success?
