When I was a Christian, I was taught that a Biblical worldview was very important, even crucial to living a good life and making the right decisions. Being raised Christian, educated well in the Scriptures, and fully believing what I was taught, a Biblical worldview was all I knew. Any alternate worldview was not an option. Reviews of non-Christian worldviews are written by Christian’s, using a Christian, Biblical lens. They are obviously biased by the beliefs of the Christian. As I studied in Bible School, Bible studies, homeschooling curriculum, and hearing sermons and teaching we were warned against any worldly views. We were taught to be very wary of other religions, humanism, atheism, agnosticism and any man made worldviews.
Phrases like the following are used to describes those without the correct biblical worldview. Notice the harsh and unfair judgment of a large group of people, including those of other faiths and no faith.
-man is supreme
-self-centred desires
-open rebellion against God
-no real meaning to life
-self-serving
-human wisdom
-built on a lie
-no truth
-amorality
-situation ethics
-man becomes his own god
-authority of self
Negative words describe anyone who doesn’t believe the right biblical teaching. Any non-Christian’s are judged harshly as without morals, values or capable of meaningful goodness.
If this was, in fact, true, imagine the world. There are an estimated 660 million evangelical Christian’s as of 2020 (https://evangelicalfocus.com/print/5119/660-million-evangelicals-in-the-world). The world population in 2020 was 7.8 billion people. Imagine if only 8.5% of the world were decent, kind, moral people and all the rest self-serving, self-centred, amoral people with no meaningful purpose. Thankfully, that isn’t the reality! The world is messed up, but 91.5% of the world aren't all evil, selfish and causing the problem.
Let’s look at the Biblical worldview. It is described by Dr. George Barna of the Cultural Research Center in the following way. He lists seven essential cornerstones of the Biblical worldview.
They are:
An orthodox, biblical understanding of God.
All human beings are sinful by nature; every choice we make has moral considerations and consequences.
Knowing Jesus Christ is the only means to salvation, through our confession of sin and reliance on His forgiveness.
The entire Bible is true, reliable, and relevant, making it the best moral guide for every person, in all situations.
Absolute moral truth exists—and those truths are defined by God, described in the Bible, and are unchanging across time and cultures.
The ultimate purpose of human life is to know, love, and serve God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul.
Success on earth is best understood as consistent obedience to God—in thoughts, words, and actions.
Our worldview shapes our behaviour, beliefs and values. It is encompassing of all of life. It helps define how we look at science, politics, psychology, relationships, our purpose and daily life decisions. Though we don’t often stop and think about it, our worldview affects our decision making.
Barna said. “Since worldview is our decision-making filter, a person who has a weak foundation will be characterized by a life that is a constant struggle.”
He explained, “For people who put these seven commitments together as a foundation for their decision-making, these guidelines are both powerful and transformative. Rather than experiencing life as a continual surprise and a daunting challenge, they give us the strength and confidence to make solid decisions each time.”
Are the Biblical foundations he listed the only or right way to have a worldview that helps you make healthy and good decisions? You know me well enough by now to know I don’t believe they do.
I decided this week to write what my worldview as a humanist/atheist/agnostic/godless (however I might be labeled) person might look like. Then you can imagine what the other 7.14 billion people may actually be like. I will use Barna’s 7 cornerstones as basis for my list.
A caring, loving and compassionate view of humanity.
All humans have value and are equal and worthy of respect. Humans have potential for good or evil.
Many people are wounded and traumatized and we can help each other heal from our pain and shame.
We can find wisdom and knowledge by listening to each other and learning from our traditions, beliefs, writings and experiences.
We can seek understanding to help us make choices that are compassionate and loving towards ourselves, our world and others.
Life is full of beauty and wonder, joys and laughter as well as grief, struggles and pain. We are guaranteed this life only and can live it to the fullest.
We keep learning and growing, being curious about ourselves, our world and others and sharing life as best we can.
I'm sure this list can be improved, but when you have a worldview that includes love, compassion, and a nonjudgmental attitude, life can be amazing! People are amazing! There is still hard stuff, but we get through it. We help each other. We make the best decisions we can using our values, love and compassion. And sometimes, we make the wrong decisions. Barna says those without the Biblical worldview experience life is “a continual surprise and daunting challenge” as if that is a negative and only for non-Christians. But surprises can be good or bad and challenges, though daunting, are part of life. We usually get through them. We learn. We grow. And we move on, making some good and some not so good decisions, all of the current 8.1 billion of us living in 2024.
What’s your worldview?
Val Martens
Mar. 22, 2024
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