Definition of Terms: Worldview (Part 11)
Excerpt from, “From social justice warrior to Gospel-centered servant of God: An educator’s reflection on critical theory and Christianity” (Linkletter, 2021).
A worldview is the set of beliefs about fundamental aspects of reality that ground and influence all one’s perceiving, thinking, knowing, and doing.
It is a total ordering system, extending from cosmology (origin stories) as the first principles - which informs our ontology (the study of being), epistemology (the nature of knowledge), axiology (the study of values) and practices (M. Etherington, personal communication, December 9, 2021).
When a worldview is thought of as a set of principles, ideas, propositions, and claims which influence how we see the world it can reduce a person to merely a thinking thing that holds ideas - neglects our soul (Smith, 2009, p. 32).
However, it is my personal understanding that my worldview does consist of principles, ideas, propositions and claims which influence how I understand the world, AND it is my relationship with God, my daily obedience to God and desire to gain more understanding of God through his scriptures, which welcomes the Holy Spirit to guide my actions as a disciple desiring the kingdom of God (Smith, 2009, p. 19).
In the remainder of this paper, I will use my biblical worldview to reflect on critical theory.
The following doctrines are essential my biblical worldview:
1) God is triune; He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14, Matthew 28:19). Mark Jones (2017) expounds this understanding of the trinity by writing: “The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. But God is one, and this one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We cannot deny this doctrine of the Trinity. We must hold to the unity of the divine essence as well as the distinction of persons (p. 22).
2) The second doctrine is the incarnation. I believe that in “Christ there is one person who possesses two natures” (Moreland & Craig, 2003, p. 613). John 1:14 (ESV) reads: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Stephen Charnock (2010) beautifully explained the mystery of Christ’s incarnation when he wrote:
What a wonder what two natures infinitely distant should be more intimately united than anything in the world…That the same person should have both a glory and a grief; and infinite joy in the Deity, and inexpressible sorrow in the humanity; that a God upon a throne should be an infant in a cradle; the thundering Creator be a weeping babe and a suffering man; [the incarnation astonishes] men upon earth, and angels in heaven. (2:150)
3) And the final doctrine is that Christianity is exclusive because there is no salvation apart from Christ (Acts 4:12). Andy Steiger (2015) explains exclusivity is not simply Christianity being exclusive, but rather, truth itself is exclusive.
“By its very nature, truth excludes everything false…Simply disagreeing with that statement proves the point: even the person who says “there is not truth” seems to believe that it’s true that there is no truth! You just can’t get away from it—truth is exclusive and every religion claims to be true” (Steiger, 2015, p. 80).
Salvation is through Christ alone because “Jesus, specifically through his death on the cross, saves people from God’s judgment and, thus, provides the way for followers to have a right relationship with God through faith” (Steiger, 2015, p. 79).
Rebecca
References
Charnock, Stephen. (2010). Works. Banner of Truth.
Jones, Mark. (2017). God is: A devotional guide to the attributes of God. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway.
Moreland, J. P., & Craig, W. L. (2003). Philosophical foundations for a Christian worldview. InterVarsity Press.
Smith, James K. A. (2009). Desiring the kingdom: Worship, worldview, and cultural formation. vGrand Rapids: Baker Academic.
Steiger, Andy. (2015). Thinking? Answering life’s five biggest questions. Apologetics Canada Publishing.