Christian Worldview

The word worldview means how an individual view the world around them. A worldview is a complete system of how we perceive the world and process it. According to Waddell (2014), “a worldview is a foundational set of assumptions to which one commits that serves as a framework for understanding and interpreting reality and deeply shapes one’s behavior.” The worldview of an individual is usually influenced by the person’s cultural background, life experiences, and upbringing. The Christian worldview is under the board umbrella of theism, which is “a worldview that entails belief in the existence of at least one personal and intelligent divine being” (Cosgrove, 2006). A person of a Christian worldview itself is someone who believes in the teaching of Jesus Christ and believes God created the world and everything in it. This paper would attempt to summarize and analyze the essential elements of the Christian worldview describing God, Humanity, Jesus, and Restoration. The writer will also reflect on his own worldview.

Throughout the ages, the Christian worldview has been one of the most popular and substantive religions in the world. There are many topics within the Christian worldview and have an impact on millions of lives today. From the strong belief in God and Jesus Christ, from the standpoints of human nature and restoration, to the benefits of the Christian faith as well as the influence on a Christian’s behavior. The Christian worldview has proven to be a successful religion when it comes to personal faith and worship. There is many key components within the Christian worldview that has been many topics within our world today.

Everyone has a worldview, whether we know it or not. Worldview is the way a person makes sense of the world, life and reality. For example: I view the glass as half full, but you might view the glass as half empty. We both see the glass but we do not agree on how to view it. Our worldview is formed by our education, family beliefs, the culture we live in, and media we are exposed to. For many of us our surrounding culture influences our worldview and we have never had to think about why we believe what we believe and we wouldn’t be able to defend our beliefs to others.

A worldview is the way a person views and interprets the world around them. Life experiences and spiritual influences play a part in forming one’s worldview. A person’s worldview helps them to determine beliefs on creation, humanity, morals and what happens after death. According to Waddell, (2014) “Worldviews are also like lenses found in eyeglasses that serve as the means through which a person sees the world.” (para. 43) In this paper, the main components of the Christian worldview will be discussed, to include God, humanity, Jesus, restoration and analysis of Christian Faith as well as a reflection of my own beliefs.

| * Read Introduction and chapters 1, 2, 3, and 6 (pp. 13-42 and 64-74) in the textbook, Foundations of Christian Thought: Faith, Learning, and the Christian Worldview. * Lecture: What is a Worldview? How is a Christian Worldview Distinctive?

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.

A worldview is one’s views and beliefs about the world and reality that impact how we think, live our lives, and perceive the world. “People have their own private worldviews with values and beliefs that have been shaped by culture, education, experiences, and relationships” (“Lecture 1,” 2015). There are many worldviews and outlooks in the world, but we are mainly focusing on the Christian worldview. In this paper, I will summarize and analyze the Christian worldview and describe their beliefs with regard to God, Humanity, Jesus, and the Restoration while reflecting on my own beliefs.

My personal Christian worldview is full of heavy doses of God, and plenty of drizzles of the Bible, and it was born from a combination of how I was raised, my life experiences, and my assumptions. This worldview is heavily involved as I bring up my children to love God, and do my best to be a good wife to my husband. Most of all, this combination has filled my heart and soul with the conclusion that God is my all!

From what I know, Planet Earth consists of seven continents. Collectively, those seven continents are home to approximately seven billion humans. And each human has their own unique worldview. Defined as, the bias or presumption a person holds as a result of the environment, culture, or faith they live in, worldview influences how everyone responds to life’s pertinent questions. (A Christian Worldview?) Throughout this paper, I intend to give a description of my own worldview, answering what I believe about God, creation, humankind, epistemology, and ethics. Whilst comparing my worldview to that of O. Henry's illustrated in the short story "The Ransom of Red Chief".

Our worldview allows us to see into the world at such an angle that it coincides with our beliefs, therefore affecting how we think and live. Whether one falls under an atheistic, pantheistic, or theistic worldview, they are guided in their life choices depending on the beliefs of their worldview. Throughout this paper, I will summarize the elements of a Christian Worldview such as God, Humanity, Jesus, and Restoration; I will then analyze questions one might have about the Christian Worldview, and finally I will reflect on my worldview.

world−what it is, why it is and how it operates. Within a person’s mind [a worldview]

A Christian worldview is based on ideas and beliefs in which a group or culture interprets the world and interacts with it. Most Christians believe in God and Jesus and try to live according to the teachings of the Bible, however as we have seen throughout the themes in this course that all Christians do not all practice them in the same way. This paper will cover the themes of (The Holy Trinity, Jesus Speaking into Chaos and The Widow, the Orphan, and the Alien: Caring for the Oppressed).

Within the works of both Abraham Heschel and Paul Tillich, there is a main focus on what faith is and what the components of faith are. The books Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion and Dynamics of Faith, written by Heschel and Tillich respectively, both share a common ideology about the faith expressed by man in relation to the divine. However, there are a few points of contention within their beliefs that cause the reader to realize that though they may seem to have the same thoughts about faith at a cursory glance, they are not completely the same. These deviations emphasize the difference in their development of faith, and how their fundamental views of the divine are the cause of this variance. By bringing attention to these differences,

How can we deconstruct our assumptions so that we can be able to tell the difference between worldview and biblical principles? Paul Hiebert gives the answer in The Flaw of the Excluded Middle. This article seeks to teach and establish an analytical framework for the reader. Since Hiebert is a westerner with a westerner's worldview, he engages the uneasiness that he was exposed to while a missionary to Indians, who have a different worldview. Westerners sometimes have a religious system of how to think or rationale argument. However, in other worldviews, there is a middle and a need for a holistic, theological

In this view, God is the source and author of saving experiences for the “sick minded” – those who need comfort and assurance. In James’ book, the Varieties, he recognizes the side of human nature that need’s God for both “healthy minded” and “sick minded.” This need is for not only challenges and action, but also comfort and peace.