Biblical Worldview Overview

Recognize Dr. Albert Mohler in his great influence on the teachings of this lesson.

Introduction: The Truman Show, The Sixth Sense

When you understand that Truman is living in a world created as a film studio and all his life and interactions are with actors playing their parts, it influences how you interpret everything.

It creates a sense of false intimacy with his friends and family.

It helps you interpret the need for certain fears in order to keep Truman contained.

In the Sixth Sense, consider that once you know the shocking truth at the end of the movie, you want to watch it again, because you are going to interpret all the details completely differently due to your new knowledge of reality.

In the same way, that is what a worldview does.

Our worldview shapes how we interpret and respond to everything in our lives.

We live in a moment where very fundamental questions are being answered in profoundly different ways based on people’s worldviews.

And for a society becoming more and more post-Christian, we Christians are running into more fundamental worldview differences everyday.

When you see a great clash in our society between everything from politics, abortion, gender, race, religion, family structures, moral codes, proper use of technologies, these are all clashes of worldviews, how we see and interpret everything around us.

A worldview is our comprehensive understanding of the world and reality we live in.

Our worldview will be defined by something.

As thinking beings, humans naturally develop patterns of understanding the world that influence our perceptions of reality, morality, and life's big questions.

In today's post-Christian culture, Christians face a pressing need to understand and articulate their worldview, anchored in God's truth.

As people who proclaim “Jesus is Lord,” we mean that Jesus is sovereign over all things, including our worldview.

In our society, there is no longer consensus on the basics of what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil.

So, followers of Jesus must know what they believe and why they believe it.

Today's society sees a clash of diverse perspectives on crucial issues.

Christians are urged to cultivate a distinctly Christian worldview, remaining faithful to God's word amidst differing ideologies, thereby enabling them to engage thoughtfully and effectively with the world around them.

Think about the profound influence our worldview has on our beliefs, values, and interactions with others. The challenge lies not only in understanding our own worldview but also in engaging thoughtfully and lovingly with those who hold differing perspectives.

A biblical worldview is our comprehensive understanding of the world and reality we live in based on God’s Word.

The biblical worldview addresses four pivotal questions:

1. Why there is something rather than nothing?

2. What has gone wrong with the world?

3. What we should do now?

4. Where is history is headed?

It begins with the acknowledgment of God as the creator of all things, emphasizing that everything exists for His glory.

The Christian understanding of sin and its pervasive impact on all aspects of life sets it apart from other worldviews, offering the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the ultimate hope.

Finally, the Christian worldview looks forward to the Kingdom of Christ, affirming both the significance of this age and the promise of ultimate satisfaction in the age to come.

The Christian worldview isn’t just philosophical musings; they shape how we understand our purpose, our issues, our hope, and our future.

Embracing a Christian worldview means anchoring our lives in the sovereign Creator, acknowledging the reality of sin, placing our hope in Christ, and anticipating the ultimate fulfillment of God's kingdom.

Genesis 1:1 ESV

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Acts 17:28 ESV

28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Revelation 22:20 ESV

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

A secular worldview is a comprehensive understanding of the world and reality we live in based on human ascription.

The Christian worldview, rooted in belief in a sovereign Creator, contrasts sharply with secular views that deny God's existence, leading to different understandings of human dignity and purpose.

Without a creator God, humans ascribe their own meaning and purpose as they seek to answer the fundamental questions:

1. Why there is something rather than nothing?

2. What has gone wrong with the world?

3. What we should do now?

4. Where is history is headed?

Secular explanations for societal issues always fall short, ranging from economic theories to therapeutic solutions.

One of the reasons they fall short is that they lack a consistent foundation.

This foundational difference highlights the profound impact of our beliefs on shaping perspectives and guiding solutions to life's challenges.

The pervasive influence of rival worldviews challenges us to reflect on the origins of our beliefs and their implications for shaping a meaningful and coherent worldview.

Psalm 10:4 ESV

4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

Proverbs 16:25 ESV

25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Daniel 4:30 ESV

30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

Romans 1:18–23 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Ephesians 4:11–14 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Colossians 2:8 ESV

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

2 Timothy 4:1–4 ESV

1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

I titled the class “Against The Current: Current Topics from a Biblical Worldview” because a class on biblical worldview could cover anything and everything.

But, what I want to do in this class is teach on some secular worldviews that deal with a lot of the most pressing topics in our culture today, and then teach how to see those same topics from a biblical worldview.

I want to show you how current topics in our culture such as politics, race, social justice, gender, and sexuality are rooted in Secular Worldviews such as radical individualism, Marxism, and postmodernism in order to help you understand the theological and worldview implications and how to apply a biblical worldview to these same issues.

All of the -isms in our world today contain some truth in them.

That’s why they are popular and appealing to people.

But, the biblical worldview allows us to address the truthful realities in a comprehensively helpful and hopeful way under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Scripture.