What is a Worldview? - New

Main idea: As a Christian, we must think hard about Jesus Christ in order to know him, to defend our faith and to make Christ known in this world.

What is a Worldview?

A Worldview is a conceptual lens (pair of glasses) through which we see, understand, and interpret the world and our place within it.

German - Welt = World + Anschuung = view or outlook - Immanuel Kant - in describing an individual sensory perception of the world

German philosophy 18-19th century

The roots of Worldview is in Philosophy.

What do you think of when you hear the word philosophy?

Thinking hard about something

Philosophy is a way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society.

“Everybody operates upon a philosophy of life, a worldview that defines for them the way the world works and how they know things and how they ought to behave. So Philosophy is ultimately a practical reality for all of us. In this sense, everyone is a philosopher; some are just more aware of it than others.” - Brian Godawa (Intro to Christian Worldview -ICW)

How Does a Worldview Work?

A Worldview Must Answer Life’s Big Questions?

Our Nature, This world, The problem, the solution?????

Who Am I? - origin - identity

Accident - collected matter - cosmic evolutionary accident.... or

or

Am I Created in the Image of a Creator with intentionality and meaning, value

Why am I here?

Weather - Power -consumption - comfort - I decide

To do what I was designed and destined to do - My creator decides.

What is wrong with this World?

a better environment, Lack information, lack education - lack gov, lack the means...outside of myself

I am - I am bent toward undermining my own greater good and the good of others. - I don’t do what I am designed to do.

How can what is wrong be made right?

Nothing after this so live it up or do the best you can

God has a plan to fix the problem in me and bring me back into right relationship with Him and empower me to do what I was created to do.

God will one day bring absolute justice to bear on this world and to every individual.

A Worldview has either Stories and/or Propositions

"The Christian story provides us with a set of lenses, not something to look at but to look through." - Lesslie Newbig

Breakout session -1

Starting point God: Natural & special or Man is the starting point

Creator - Man - Who am I & Why am I Here

Fall/Sin - What is wrong with this world

God’s view of Sin & Mans responsibility for sin

Redemption - How can what is wrong be made right - God invades the natural to redeem us, to bring us back to God - to make things right relationally

Glorification - Is this all there is? What the point? When will what is wrong be made right

How can I test my Christian worldview?

The Tests of Truth

First and foremost, truth is objective and absolute.

What true is true for all people at all times, in all places, whether you know it or not, believe it or not, and like it or not. (70)

Relativism about truth simply cannot hold up under rational scrutiny. (71)

Relativism about truth simply cannot hold up under rational scrutiny. (71)

No absolute truth! Is that True?

Three test: Correspondence, coherence, & pragmatism

Correspondence: Holds that something is true if and only if it corresponds to the way things actually are in the real world.

Example: There is no absolute truth - Test it! Is this consistent with the real world

Getting on a plane - going to the doctor

A 2 liter of water - how do I know its 2 liters. How can I test it? Standard of weights and measures that all 2 liter are measured against.

Coherence: A belief is true if and only if it coheres with other beliefs one holds. It must fit with what one already holds to be true

Grade in school: An “A” is between 93-100 - That the grading standard

You take a test and get two answers wrong, get your paper back and you get a “C”

That’s wrong . Teacher -I have my own grading standard.

How can you prove she does not really believe that? Let her try it when she takes her paycheck to the bank or goes to the store.

What she live at the grcery store must be consistent with how she acts as a teacher.

Example - consistency - Tell a Lie about your friend but then next week she lies about you and you say thats wrong.

Pragmatism: Whatever works or whatever is fruitful is true.

Example: Can a doctor live out his postmodern beliefs on truth when he prescribes medicine?

Evolution: no God - no designer for us - we are here by accident with no purpose unless we give ourselves on. At death is lights out. no future life no justice in the next life. no reward death is meaningless

Question: How can one life with hope and purpose? if theres no purpose in my beginning or my end, can I really live in joy in my middle.

The Test of Logic: Laws of Logic

Laws of Logic

The law of non-contradiction: Something cant be "A" and "non-A" at the same and in the same way

Example: An red apple on our teacher’s desk can’t be both be an apple and a non-apple (peach)

1+1 =2 & 1+1=3

Matter has always existed and matter had a beginning

Matter is an effect without a cause

Proposition: There is no absolute truth. Test that proposition?

The law of gravity is it absolutely true

The law of identity: something is what it is.

If look like a red apple because it is a red apple

If the universe looks created, finetuned, irreducibly complex is it logical to reason it was created?

The law of the excluded middle: Any proposition must either be true or false.

There is not apple/peach there’s no middle of the road in the test for truth

Truth cant be sometimes absolute and sometimes relative

Ex: Sexuality - I identify sometimes as a man and sometimes as a woman - Test that proposition

Most people have never examined their worldview and it is entirely possible they are embracing logical contradictions. (ICW,81)

Example: Every effect has a cause. True or False?

"The Christian story provides us with a set of lenses, not something to look at but to look through." - Lesslie Newbig

Starting point God: Natural & special or Man is the starting point

Creator - Man - Who am I & Why am I Here

Fall/Sin - What is wrong with this world

God’s view of Sin & Mans responsibility for sin

Redemption - How can what is wrong be made right - God invades the natural to redeem us, to bring us back to God - to make things right relationally

Glorification - Is this all there is? What the point? When will what is wrong be made right

So What?

What is my Worldview important?

- This life is important

- Knowing God is important

What have I embraced that is inconsistent with a Christian Worldview?

Do I know the story of the Bible?

The goal of studying what you believe is to know Christ and to make Him known to others.

- Lead other to know the Lord is our mission

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.