Analysis of the Four Worlds: Healing the Mind in Judaist Thinking

The issue of evil in the world raises questions with which everyone wrestles. Pain and suffering come into everyone’s life to some degree or another. Trying to find meaning and purpose in the midst of suffering, whether our own or someone else’s, is difficult regardless of what worldview one holds. How individuals and societies deal with this issue will have important implications for those individuals as well as to the whole of society.

The topic of the image of God is one essential to every human being because it will shape the way in which each individual will look at his or her life. A part of every human’s life is his or her vocation, which will also be changed by the view he or she holds about the image of God. The image of God is the footprint that God left in humans and in no other being in His creation, and it must shape the way in which everyone will look at his or her job.

Judaism is the religion and culture of the Jewish people. The word “Judaism” derives from the Greek Ioudaismos, a term first used in the Intertestamental Period by Greek-speaking Jews to distinguish their religion from Hellenism. The unifying principles of Judaism are an identity by covenant with God as His “chosen

The dynamic nature of Judaism offers a successful living religion as a result of its strongly withheld characteristics. Through essential characteristics such as central beliefs, sacred texts, writings, ethical teachings and rituals and ceremonies, Judaism offers a dynamic nature and liveable religion that connects an individual and society with its roots. The way this living religion advances and grows is because of its dynamic characteristics as a whole. Importantly, these characteristics combined form the true nature of the religion rather than separately.

The IMF oversees the exchange rate of currencies and encourages the free convertibility of any currency into another nation’s form of currency. A Biblical Worldview component should be added to the IMF for the purpose of instilling absolute truths to prevent cultural subjectivity and corruption. Having Biblical worldview added as a component provides an authority for absolute truth to be derived from. Absolute truth would be determined through the authority of God and His word. Having God as a standard for morality would help to prevent corruption arising from subjectivity determined by power-alliances and bribery.

Everyone has a Worldview. “A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.” (1) Some have a Biblical Worldview. A Biblical Worldview is founded on the word of God. It is how a Christian views the world. Both belief systems are equally important to each individual, but there are differences in the way they view the natural world, human identity, human relationships, and culture.

A biblical worldview should influence the way I think about, treat, and speak to others on a daily basis because I do not want to go around and degrade everyone that comes into sight. I should always treat others with the upmost respect even if I do not get treated with respect by that individual. I should not always judge others on how they look, speak, or act because I would not like it if someone came up to me and started pointing out every flaw that I had. Matthew 7:12 states “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Therefore, individuals need to be more mindful of their words and actions because an individual can really hurt someone mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Throughout this class we have discussed the different worldviews that an individual may have. This class has taught me that a worldview is how an individual understands the world and their place in it. “A worldview consist of what a person believes to be real and true, what a person values, how a person makes decisions, and what forms a person’s desires, longings, and goals” (Fuller, Lecture One). An individual’s worldview is the motivating force behind their every emotion, decision, and action. A worldview is what helps an individual make sense of life and this world. A worldview will provide answers for many different questions in life. A few of the questions that a worldview helps answer are questions of origin, human dilemma, hope, and destiny.

Christians form a worldview from many places, including on the internet, in the workplace, at school, from family members and friends, “these worldviews find their way behind the church doors” mixed in with Christian thoughts, and sometimes thought of as Christian beliefs (Wilkens & Sanford, 2009, pp.18). God’s word should be the only answer to a Godly worldview. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome disclose to the world, his views of the natural world, human identity, human relationships, and culture.

The popular author Chaim Potok struggled throughout his life with the sacred (Jewish religion and tradition) and the secular world. Potok suggested four possible responses for a person who faces confrontation with the sacred thought system and the secular thought system. First, the lockout response: a person escapes the conflict by erecting impenetrable barriers between the sacred and the secular and then remains in just one system. Second, compartmentalization: a person creates separate categories of thought that coexist in what he called a “tenuous peace.” Third, complete fusion: a person takes down all walls and allows the sacred and secular cultures to freely mix with each other, perhaps leading to a “radically new seminal culture.”

Around the world many religious practices incorporate mind altering methods as a means to heighten their awareness or achieve a closer connection to a divine presence. The Sufi sect of Islam achieves spiritual enlightenment by using ritualistic devotional practices and recitations of religious readings from the Quran. Native American tribes of the Plains introduced the usage of peyote in their ceremonies to help induce consciousness altering effects to commune with the spirits, and those who practice Buddhism evoke meditation as a way to free the mind from distractions and achieve a state of oneness with the world. Regardless of which method used all have in common the goal of entering a mind altering state to achieve spiritual growth.

This paper will delve into a greater understanding of the following questions. What is the meaning of Worldview? What is meant by each of the four primary aspects of the Biblical worldview: creation, the fall, redemption and restoration? How does free enterprise comport with or reject creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration? How does socialism comport with or reject creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration? How does progressivism support or reject Biblical Worldview?

Judaism is practiced by almost half of the country and is one of the oldest and biggest monistic religions. The laws they follow come from the Torah which comes straight from the Hebrew bible. This paper will consist of Jewish traditions regarding food preferences and avoidances, death/dying, communication, and grieving.

This paper will provide a hypothetical discussion of how each of the four “worldviews” (post-positivism, constructivism, advocacy/participatory, and pragmatism) might apply to the proposed study. It will refer to the topic paper developed during the class RSH9101B (Research Topic, Problem, Purpose, and Questions) with the assistance of Dr. Kenneth Gossett, class mentor. The portion of the Topic Paper to be used will be the problem statement, which will provide the foundation for this discussion and completion of this assignment. This discussion ultimately will lead to the strengthening of this research and the understanding for the need of better researches to help today’s virtual organizations.

The controversial nature of the subject of Sufism becomes evident when one realizes that this short introduction already reveals a viewpoint which the Sufi would strongly disagree with. For, if the Sufi spiritual quest is to be viewed