The Christian World View

by Courtnee Aubain

In Living at the Crossroads, by Goheen and Bartholomew, the Biblical World view is analyzed and then paralled to the world views that have shaped out culture today. They show how Christian beliefs have been put aside and emphasis has been placed on the power of humanity and the earth rather than God. They do offer, however, ways to live out the Biblical World view in today's secular society.

The Biblical World View

According to Goheen and Bartholomew, a world view "expresses a set of beliefs that are foundational and formative for human thinking and life." Basically it is the story through which we see the world and base all of our decisions off of throughout our life. As Christians we should live our lives based off of a Christian world view. The story through which we live our lives is the Gospel. A Biblical world view encompasses Creation, sin, God as our father, salvation and eternal life. We live through the idea that God has present and has control over all aspects of our lives. He is in our lives personally and also has complete "sovereignty over it." The Gospel is at the center of it and highlights the fact that we are in "restoration" as Christians and are in progress moving back towards the inherently good creation that God planned. We have a specific power over our lives and recognize Him as our Lord.

Modernism - The Worldly World View

Modernity was developed out of the Biblical World view in structure including ideas progress, restoration and rebirth. This however, moved in to secularism and away from God as the creator and purpose of live. It was now all about humanity therefore acquiring the name "confessional humanism" in which reason can explain everything human and nonhuman. The modernist view of earth was that humanity was separate from God, the nonhuman world (nature) was separate from God and had its own machine like way of operating, and lastly the human world would become dominant over the nature. The purpose of mankind became not to be stewards of each other for God's mission, but to pretty much master and control the physical planet. Faith became rooted in other things besides God to create modernsism:

• progress 
• reason
• technology 
• a rationally ordered social world 

Living through the Biblical World View Today

The Christian world view is definitel present in today's society, but it take dedicaiton and commitment in our lives as Christians to live it in such a secular world. There is a definite elephant in the room between the Christian world view and secularism, but ignoring it and assimilating into society is not the way to address it. There will be persecution even today as we live out the Biblical world view, but one way Bartholomew and Goheen suggest going about this life style is not to simply write off other's beliefs and say thats wrong, this is right. It is important to look at a culture, see how the Biblical view fits there and then recognize where it has gone down in the wrong direction. There is always a place for the Christian story to fit in and it is our mission to find it where ever we are. 

Here are a few prominent areas in life that we can implement the Biblical world view:

1. Business - it is good and has biblical principles, but is easily misdirected dow the wrong path - find the loop hole
2. Politics - respect government, do not be a slave to it. Jesus is our only Lord 
3. Sports, Competition, Art & Creativity - these are all gifts to us given by God and he loves us to use them. We must first recognize our gifts and talents then concsiously find ways that they can glorify him in society.
4. Scholarship - Goheen and Bartholomew state "Christian scholars should work to uproot theories from their idolatrous soil, and replant them in the soil of the Gospel"
5. Education - Though it is being banned from school, teach in a way that is different from the secular way and offer a new light to replenish the one that is being taken away