Discovering Your Worldview Essay

Every human being has a worldview whether they are aware of it or not. Although the notion of a worldview might appear basic in nature, the word itself simply meaning how one views the world around them, worldviews are much more complex and far reaching. A worldviews development occurs over the course of a lifetime, shaped by the complex and unique experiences of an individual and the sum of family traditions, religious beliefs and cultural histories. It is an all-encompassing interpretation of reality that plays a central and defining role in our attitudes and concepts about life. While worldviews are formed based on the answers to fundamental questions about human existence, they simultaneously shape

As individuals on this earth, it is common to seek answers to questions which pertain to the origin of life. While some believe in a major scientific occurrence or some spiritual influence brought forth this world. Some may have no care in the matter, yet a large part of the world’s population has a belief based off the teachings and principles of Christianity. The purpose of this paper is to further explain the Christian worldview and many of its key factors such as God, Jesus Christ and the influence they have in the life of humanity.

2 Part I According to (Merriam-Webster, n.d.), worldview is defined as a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint. This definition implies that the way an individual view the world may be due to a variety of factors such as their culture, ethnicity, and/or religion. For Christians, our worldview is shaped by the Holy Bible. Often, this book

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.

Worldview is your perspective on events and issues. Developing a perspective takes reflection on what you read, learn, and experience firsthand. One might expect to find influences from parents, siblings, teachers, friends, acquaintances, the clergy, co-workers, etc., in an individual’s worldview. Worldview can also be formed by family’s economic status, level of education, racial or ethnic background, and their expectations. Overall, all these factors are a piece of an individual’s worldview.

A worldview is a mental model of reality. It is the idea and attitudes towards the world, life, and us as individuals. Each individual has their own unique worldview. People acquire a worldview by how they go through life, it may change or even stay the same. How they grew up, life situations, values, religion, and attitudes are factors that may affect one’s worldview. There are many questions that can make up one’s worldview. How should we act? What gives life purpose? Where did we come from? These are some of many questions that can help define someone’s worldview. The book The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson, brings up many worldviews. The characters in the book go on a journey to figure out their worldview. Which I think this is the best way to build someone’s worldview.

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.

Worldviews vary from person to person and faith to faith, resulting in everyone seeing the world through their own assumptions and beliefs. Out of the many worldviews discussed in the text, Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity, and in class three stood out to me for comparison. These three worldviews consist of Naturalism, Pantheism and Polytheism. Worldviews, although not always correct, are how people see the world and reflect on our expectations about life. Differences can be seen in beliefs such as if they believe in a spiritual world, a material world, or both. Worldview’s purposes are to explain the purpose of man and the world. All three worldviews attribute the problems in the world to different aspects based on their beliefs and have diverse notions of how to resolve the world problems. Although a few similarities can be found among these world views, there are multiple differences found.

The sixth question simply asks if there is purpose to life. I answered that I believed that everyone on this planet is put here for a certain purpose that God wants us to fulfill. It could be simple as learning important lessons or maybe to lead people to greater goals and higher enlightenment. This is tied into the Christian worldview because God sent Jesus down to Earth to die for our sins so we should be able to complete our purpose God has put in front of us.

A worldview is not determined simply by a single factor, value, belief or view. It can be described as a collection of beliefs a person has about his or her life and the world around. This worldview can include aspects such as a consistent decision making process, an idea of what is right or wrong, and also who or what authority do I respect and follow. This view can modified constantly by factors including experiences that a person might face, a changing environment, and different values. There are many different types of worldviews and perspectives people have about the world that help to shape who

John also reveals Christ’s identity, “In the beginning the Word (logos) already existed. He was with God, and he was God…He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life itself was in him and this life gives light to everyone.” (John 1:1, 3-4)

Today’s society consists of many worldviews. Most people tend to pull beliefs from different religions, but often stick to one main worldview. A worldview to me is the gathering of beliefs that shape what we do on a daily basis and forms our overall view on life. When I look at my beliefs critically, I am able to see my worldview and see how it compares to different worldviews, but also how it compares mainly to the Christian Worldview.

What is a worldview? How does it influence our daily lives? A worldview is how we see reality. It influences the way we live our lives. It influences the way we interact with each other. A worldview is a belief system of who we are, why we are here, and what our destiny is.

Through out history, as man progressed from a primitive animal to a "human being" capable of thought and reason, mankind has had to throw questions about the meaning of our own existence to ourselves. Out of those trail of thoughts appeared religion, art, and philosophy, the fundamental process of questioning about existence. Who we are, how we came to be, where we are going, what the most ideal state is....... All these questions had to be asked and if not given a definite answer, then at least given some idea as to how to begin to search for, as humans probed deeper and deeper into the riddle that we were all born into.

A question that has gnawed at my soul since before I can remember is what makes us, and why are we here. Our universe exists to challenge us. It gives us a feeling of emptiness in our stomach when we realize the vast, vastness of it is incomprehensible. That most of the galaxy in which we reside can never be seen or felt by the human species. It makes us question our existence, the idea that we came from nothing exists beyond the realm of our imagination. However, the idea that we came from something only leaves us with more questions.