The Christian Worldview
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Romans 12:1 - 2 "Therefore, brothers, I urge you by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your
cultured rational. (2) And do not be conformed to this world; but be transformed by the renewal of
your understanding, so that you may experience what is the good will of God,
pleasant and perfect.
What is a worldview?
What is a worldview? As the word itself suggests, a worldview is a vision
general of the world. It is not about a physical vision of the world, but rather a vision more
philosophical, a global perspective on everything that exists and matters to us.
A person's worldview represents their most fundamental beliefs and what they assume.
about the universe in which he/she lives. It reflects how he/she would respond to the "big questions" of the
human existence: fundamental questions about who we are and what we are, where we come from
we come, why we are here, where we are going (if we are going anywhere), the
meaning and purpose of life, the nature of life that exists after death,
and what a good life is here and now. Few people think about these things with
depth, and even less do they have firm answers to these questions, but the
the worldview of a person will at least incline them towards certain types of responses, and the
will distance from others.
There are various worldviews, among which we can see [1]:
Naturalism: there is no God; human beings are just evolved animals;
the universe is a closed physical system.
Postmodernism: there are no objective truths or moral standards;
"Reality" is, ultimately, a social human construction.
Pantheism: God is the totality of reality; thus, we are all divine.
nature.
Pluralism: the different religions of the world represent perspectives
equally valid regarding the ultimate reality; there are many valid paths towards
the salvation.
Islam: there is only one God, and He has no son; God has revealed His will for all
people through their last prophet, Muhammad, and his eternal word, the Quran.
Therapeutic moralistic deism: God only wants us to be happy and kind to
other people; He intervenes in our affairs only when we call upon him to
help us.
1
Each of these worldviews is contained in what we understand as the
"world". This whole set of ideas and beliefs that go against the will of God, but
not just as a mere rebellion, or simple disobedience, but as a way of understanding, of
Understanding everything around us is flawed from its conception.
Does Christianity have its own worldview? The answer is yes, it does.
Where do we learn about her? Through the Word of God.
The Christian worldview corresponds to a global perspective based on what God has given us.
has revealed through the Bible.
Creation
God is the only source of all created order, both of matter and spirit. He is the
creator of material things. He has provided structure and order to the world. The laws
of physical nature, of morality, of justice, of politics, of economics, of the
Aesthetics, the logic are laws that God has placed, that God has created.
When we go to Genesis 1, God gave 3 commands to human beings:
Spiritual mandate: It speaks of the communion relationship of Adam and Eve with God.
Vertical relationship.
- Social mandate: "Be fruitful and multiply." Build families, churches, schools.
cities, governments. Relate to each other. Cultivate life in society. This is part of the
creation. It is part of the mandates that God gave us as a society.
Cultural mandate: "Fill the earth and subdue it." That is, cultivate the garden,
garden, create culture. Take advantage of the natural world. Plant seeds, build
bridges, composing music, cultivating art, developing the business, the industry.
Mastering creation.
When God gave these commandments to Adam and Eve, the idea is that the human being has been
call to continue the creative work of God, with His creative work, using the good
God's material creation to do things that honor God. This is the first point.
Important in a biblical worldview: God is the creator of all things
Creational structures, any creational aspect, such as something that
Involving a social relationship like the government, for example, is something that God already conceived.
That's why it gave the social mandate, which is, in principle, a good thing. However, it can
being led towards evil, which is related to what comes next.
2
Fall
The fall affected all of creation (Romans 8). All of creation has been affected.
for the fall, for our sin, for our rebellion. But the fall does not annul the good
Creation of God (1 Timothy, foods are good because God created them, the fall does not
He canceled the creation). The fact that we live in a fallen creation does not mean that being
a fallen human cannot discover isolated segments of genuine knowledge, because
God continues to act in His creation through His grace. His grace acts upon all the
spheres, in all their creation. God is holding up his creation second by second.
We can find God's grace even in the works of fallen humanity. We can
to identify aspects of God's good creation even in people who oppose Him,
that cultivate art, music (for example, classical music). We can recognize as
Christians, for the common grace of God is working there.
It must be remembered that human beings were created in the image of God. Although, the fall
It affected the image of God in us, it did not annul it.
So, these two ideas: Common grace and the image of God in us, confer to him
dignity to all cultural activities of human beings.
However, the fall does not diminish our responsibility for the tasks we must carry out.
as God's creation. We must love our neighbor, seek their well-being through
our social relationships. We must seek the good of others and the glory of God to
through what we do culturally, in our free time, in studies, in the
work, when we exercise, etc.
However, the fall of humanity, its continual rebellion, and the sin that dominates us,
contaminates and deforms
Redemption
Redemption in Christ is as comprehensive as Creation and the Fall. That is why, in the
In the New Testament, redemption is called Recreation or New creation. Christ redeems.
ALL the universe. That is why the New Testament tells us that, through Christ, God...
dear reconcile all things.
Colossians 1:20 And through him to reconcile all things to himself, making peace
by the blood of his cross, so it is on earth as it is
is in the heavens.
Jesus, then, is not just a redeemer who gives us a ticket to go to heaven to escape from
earthly world that is already so corrupt that we have to escape from it, but it is
a redeemer who comes to illuminate and give meaning to all of reality. Jesus is the means by which
that all that has been created is reclaimed, restoring our original responsibilities. Therefore
3
Thus, Christ did not come just so that we would be Sunday Christians, but to give us
meaning to ALL our reality.
When one is redeemed, the entire perspective of reality is built upon reality.
builds on the truth that God revealed Himself to us through His Word, and to
Through her, we can now see all things clearly.
Where do we draw the line with sin? The line between good and evil does not consist of
separate the parts of creation. Nothing that God has created can be intrinsically
bad. Rather, the line between good and evil crosses our hearts.
Rom 14:14 I know, and am convinced in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself
is unclean (but to him who thinks something is unclean,
for him it is filthy.
Recognizing sin consists of being able to compare and contrast the character of God, revealed in
his word, with the human heart.
James Anderson, 2017, What is a worldview? [online]
No text provided for translation.
September 26, 2019
