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CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW I. Why an understanding of world view is
important to apologetics. A. World view entails the sum total of
propositions a person believes. 1. It is common for believers to regard
Christianity as merely a collection of life-changing truths rather
than as a total conceptual system.
(Christianity is a total world and life view, biblical theism is a total
system.)[1] 2. Definitions of world view by several
authors: a.) James Sire, “A world view is a set of
presuppositions (or assumptions) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world.”[2] b.) Phillips and Brown state, “A world view is . . . an explanation and
interpretation of the world and second, an application of this view to life.”[3]
c.) Walsh and Middleton explain a world view as follows: “A world view
provides a model of the world which guides its adherents in the world.”[4]
d.) James Orr, the 19th century
church historian, said that a world view encompasses the widest view which the mind can take of things in the effort to grasp them together as a whole (the whole is viewed from the standpoint of some particular philosophy or theology). A
developed world view supplies answers to questions of origin, purpose, and destiny.[5]
B. Presuppositions play a vital role in world view. 1. Central to one’s thought forms (or noetic structure) are beliefs that are presupposed without support from other beliefs,
or arguments, or evidence.
These presuppositions are taken upon
faith.[6]
2. Such presuppositions or assumptions are
necessary in order to think at all. (When we think, we simply take some things
for granted. Even scientists in order to do science, make
certain important assumptions:
1.) They make ethical assumptions (honesty is good, even
vital in research). 2.) They make metaphysical assumptions (the universe is regular, nature
is uniform). 3.) They make epistemological assumptions
(knowledge is possible,
there is a real correspondence between physical phenomena and the
human mind).[7] 3. The assumptions one makes
that are most important to world view are in philosophy and
religion. The reason for this is that philosophical and religious assumptions “put us on a set of tracks” that lead to certain inevitable destinations.[8] a.) People are never neutral with regard
to God. They either worship Him as
Creator and Lord or they reject the rightful claims He has upon His
creatures. b.) Apart from the sovereign grace of God,
anti-theistic assumptions that shape a person’s world view will inevitably lead
that person to the philosophical “destination” of hardened unbelief. c.) According to Romans 1:18-32, people reject
Christianity under the influence of non-rational factors. The ultimate commitments of their hearts find
expression in the studious suppression of God’s truth. (The presuppositional apologist will
“dig” below the surface to uncover the unbeliever’s irrational presuppositions)[9] II. The major elements of a world view. A. There are certain commonalities when
speaking of world views. 1.
Each world view has an ultimate reference point (or authoritative
vantage point). 2.
In a world where the law of non-contradiction is universal, two contradicting statements cannot
both be true. (This is most obvious to the believer, but in a
culture that is increasingly relativistic, it is a needed
reminder. It is of special importance when dealing with the internal
inconsistencies of the natural man’s world view.)[10] 3. In order to reason
at all, every person presupposes certain things to be true without
absolute proof. 4.
Only one world view mirrors reality.
Like a key to a complex lock, one world view fits the
lock (with its unique combination of slots and tumblers). Only the Christian world view opens the locked barrier that separates
experience from truth and reality.[11]
B. The elements that make up a person’s
world view can be broken down into five categories. 1.
THEOLOGY – What
does the person believe about the existence of God? What is God’s relationship with nature? Is God personal? Can He be known? If so, how may He be known? What are God’s attributes? 2.
METAPHYSICS –
What is the nature of ultimate reality?
What is God’s relation to the universe?
Is the universe sustained by God or is it self-existent? Is the universe created? Is the universe co-eternal with God? Is the universe mechanistic, solely
material, non-purposeful, closed? 3.
EPISTEMOLOGY –
Is knowledge about the world possible?
Can man trust his senses? Does
man’s abstract reason correspond with the physical universe so that meaning is
possible? Is all truth relative and none absolute? What is the proper role of reason? Can God reveal Himself?
Has God infallibly revealed Himself?
What is the ultimate authority in the realm of knowledge? What is the source of man’s innate ideas? 4.
ETHICS – Are
moral laws the same for all people? Are
moral laws to be discerned by investigation?
Are moral laws constructed by human beings? Is there an absolute source external to humans? (Do morals transcend culture, history, and
individual boundaries?) Are morals
always changing? 5.
ANTHROPOLOGY –
Are humans “pawns” controlled by deterministic forces? Is man material only, or does he have a
soul? Does man’s existence end at death
or is there an afterlife? Is there a
heaven and a hell where individuals are conscious and physically present?[12]
III. The unbeliever’s world view is like a
fortress that “locks out” the
truth of the Gospel. A. In order to gain access to the heart
of the unbeliever, the apologist must “war” with the ideas that
shield the heart from the truth.[13] 1.
The exhortation
to apologists in 2 Corinthians 10:5, 6 reveals our approach to blinding error.
We are to “take captive” – that is to defeat it by means of exposing its
falsehood. The apologist’s task is to
“blow holes” in the fortress of lies so that the heart can be exposed to the
light of the truth.[14]
2.
The apologist
wages an offensive against the ideas that are raised against the knowledge of God. The apologist knows that Satan holds people behind fortress wall by means of lies and
deception. The “spirit of this age” is
energized by Satan. It manifests itself
in world views that give the unbeliever a “grid of understanding.” By means of the “grid” the unbeliever rejects
the gospel because he does not relate to it as a true idea.[15] 3.
The goal of the
apologist is to identify “the spirit of this age” so that he may engage in ideological
warfare. The apologist, according to 2 Corinthians 10:5, 6, is proactive; he challenges the confidence
people have placed in their “grid of understanding.”[16] 4.
The apologist’s
ultimate goal is not simply to “win” the ideological argument, but to commend the Savior as the only One in whom
the sinner may rest for salvation, knowledge, personal relationships and life.[17]
B. The apologist uses a method of
argumentation that does not grant legitimacy to the assumptions
inherent in the unbeliever’s world view. (Cornelius Van Til summarizes this apologetic method in a statement known as “My Credo.” The following is a condensed paraphrase of Van Til’s own summary.) 1.
Our principle
of apologetics is consistent with that of theology; we affirm the self-attesting, self-explanatory
Christ of Scripture. 2. We refrain from making an
appeal to “common notions” upon which believer and unbeliever agree. Instead we challenge the non-Christian’s principle of rational autonomy. We set the natural man’s autonomous view of himself against the Christian principle that man’s knowledge is dependent upon God’s
knowledge as revealed by the
Person and by the Spirit of Christ. 3. The claim that Christianity alone is
reasonable for men to hold. Any other position than that of Christianity is irrational. We argue therefore by presupposition. We contest the very
principles of the opponent’s position.
Unless the truth of Christianity
is presupposed, there is no possibility of proving
anything at all. “The actual
state of affairs as preached by Christianity
is the necessary foundation of ‘proof’ itself.” 4. The apologist preaches with
the understanding that the sinner is alienated from God and
seeks estrangement from Him. The apologist knows that the acceptance of Christ is dependent upon the Holy Spirit who, in the
presence of inescapably clear evidence, opens the eyes of
the sinner so that he sees things as they truly are. 5. We present the message and
evidence of the Christian position
knowing that, because man is
what the Scriptures say he is, the non-Christian will be able to understand, in an intellectual sense, the issues involved.
Thus, we will, to a large extent, be telling the unbeliever what he “already knows” but seeks to suppress.[18] IV. The Christian world view. A. God is Creator. He created the universe in six days out of nothing (ex nihilo). 1. The universe is not
self-existent, eternal, or self- explanatory. 2.
There is a
Creator-creature distinction. Humans
are made in the image of God. The fate of
every person depends upon the relationship he has with God.[19] 3.
God is
infallible. God is the source of all
truth, knowledge and ethics. God is self-aware,
personal, holy, knowable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. 4.
God is
Sovereign Lord of everything that exists.
He owns everything and He has absolute over all reality.[20] God sustains all things, He sovereignly
decrees the course of history.[21]
5.
God’s creation
of the universe reveals His mighty attributes.
The universe discloses God day by day. B. Mankind fell into sin soon after creation. 1. Wickedness and evil are not
the product of a chaotic, chance universe. Evil is present in the world because of
man’s fall into sin. The fall of Adam brought sin, guilt and
death to the whole human race. Because of Adam’s representation of the
human race, everyone who is born
is born with a sinful nature.[22] 2. Adam were created good. They were created in God’s image. They were rational, moral
beings who could communicate, love and be creative. They were commanded by God to populate the earth and conserve it for
future generations. Adam and Eve’s fall into sin literally
happened in human history. The biblical
authors, under divine
inspiration, attested to the historicity of
the fall.[23]
3. The greatest tragedy of the
fall is separation from God. The fall produced the consequence of
man’s spiritual death and loss of fellowship with God. Human sin is a declaration of rebellion against God (and His law).[24] 4. The loss of fellowship with
God produces spiritual death which leads to physical death and
ultimately eternal suffering in hell (Rom 6:23; Mark 8:12). C. In God’s sight, sin is the universal
condition of the human race. 1. All men are born spiritually
dead. If a person dies in that unsaved state, he will be
cast into outer darkness (Matt 25:30). 2. Unsaved, spiritually dead
sinners are so judged because they have sinned against an
infinite and holy God. Sinners are transgressors of God’s
law. They have enmity in their hearts toward God and His law (Rom
8:7; 1 Jn 3:4-6).[25] 3. A person in a state of
spiritual deadness is blind to the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him. He cannot know them, because they are
spiritually discerned (1 Cor 2:14). 4. If a person fails to
understand the doctrine of sin, Christianity will not make sense. No man comes to an understanding of his spiritual condition before
God apart from God’s self-revelation, the Scriptures. D. God sent His only begotten Son to
die for all those who would believe upon Jesus Christ. 1. Christ offers man eternal
hope. Mankind’s state is hopeless from the standpoint of human
resources, for all are under ethical guilt and are enslaved
to wicked behavior.[26] 2. The most important,
significant and loving act in history is the life, suffering, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. As the Messiah, promised in the
Scriptures, His sinless life and atoning death is the foundation
of man’s salvation.[27] 3. Sinners are totally unable
to propitiate God’s wrath.[28] They cannot, by religion or
philosophy or good works construct a place of protection from God’s
wrath. 5.
The
righteousness of Christ’s Person and work is imputed to the believing sinner so that in God’s sight he is “clothed with the
righteousness of God.” The favor,
position, and status that the believer possesses before God is by divine
donation. God’s declaration of “forgiven and
righteous” concerning the believing sinner is grounded upon the
righteous life and substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. 6.
Jesus Christ is
the perfect Savior. He is fully God and
fully man. The sins of those who would
believe upon Him were laid upon Him (imputed to Him). The punishment sinners justly deserve was transferred to Jesus
Christ (Gal 3:13; 2 Cor 5:21). 7.
God who
authoritatively revealed Himself in Scripture has sent His Holy Spirit to
regenerate and sanctify His people.[29] The Holy Spirit brings the gift of faith
enabling the sinner to understand and believe the gospel and flee to Christ for
salvation. 8.
The believer’s
ultimate joy is to be in heaven with Christ.
Carl F. H. Henry sums up the crowning work of the Holy Spirit in His use
of the Word of God, “Scripture itself is given so that the Holy Spirit may etch
God’s Word upon the hearts of His followers in ongoing sanctification that
anticipates the believer’s final, unerring conformity to the image of Jesus
Christ, God’s incarnate Word.”[30] E. The Day of the Lord brings this present age to its consummation. 1. Christ’s return from heaven
to earth will be as the glorious, triumphant, all-powerful,
King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 19:16). 2.
Jesus will sit
as Judge of every person who has ever lived (Rom 14:10-12). He will pronounce the destiny of every
person. 3.
In order to have a proper understanding of
the present, one must have a proper understanding of the future (Phil 2:9-11;
Acts 17:30, 31). If a person really
understood the future, he would submit to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (John
3:36). F. The believer’s
world view flows from God’s ultimate authority, the Scriptures. Our world view is not formed in a “revelational vacuum.”[31] 1. Christianity’s touchstone proposition cast
in one sentence is, “Humans and the universe in which they
reside are the creation of God who has revealed
Himself authoritatively in Scripture.”[32] 2. It is unfair to separate God
from His self-disclosure. The Lord speaks to man with an absolute authority. The idea of Scriptures cannot be separated
from the message of Scripture.[33] 3. When the apologist clearly
and plainly sets forth the Christian world view, it is incumbent upon him to
stress that all other world views are not only
irrational, but logically incompatible with Christianity. [1] Ronald H. Nash, Faith & Reason, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1988), pp. 21-25. [2] Jerry Solomon, World Views, (http://www.probe.org/docs/w-views.htlm), p. 1. [3] Ibid. [4] Ibid. [5] Rick Wade, World Views (Part II), (http://www.probe.org/docs/w-view2.htlm), p. 1. [6] Ronald H. Nash, Faith & Reason, p. 26. [7] Ibid., p. 27. [8] Ibid., p. 28. [9] Ibid., p. 29. [10] Jerry Solomon, World Views, p. 2.- [11] Ibid., p. 2. [12] Ronald H. Nash, Faith & Reason, 30-32. [13] Jim Leffel, The New Challenge in Christian Apologetics, (From a presentation to the Faculty of Cornell University, April 1999), p. 2. [14] Ibid. [15] Ibid., p. 3. [16] Ibid., p. 4. [17] S. Joel Garver, A Primer on Presuppositionalism, (http://www.lasalle.edu/~garver/presup.htm), p. 4. [18] Cornelius Van Til, “My Credo” Jerusalem and Athens, E. R. Geehan, ed. (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 1971), p. 21. [19] Ronald H. Nash, Faith & Reason, p. 35. [20] Brian Schwertley, A Summary of the Christian Worldview, (http://www.reformed.com/pub/wrldview.htm), p. 1. [21] Greg L. Bahnsen, A Critique of the Evidentialist Apologetical Method of John Warwick Montgomery, p., 9. [22] Brian Schwertley, p. 2. [23] Ibid. [24] Ibid., p. 3. [25] Ibid. [26] Ibid. p. 4. [27] Ibid., p. 5. [28] Greg L. Bahnsen, p. 9. [29] Ibid. [30] David A. Noebel, Understanding the Times, (Colorado Springs: Assoc. of Christian Schools and Summit Ministries, 1995), p. 49. [31] Ronald H. Nash, p. 47. [32] Ibid. [33] Greg L. Bahnsen, Van Til’s Apologetic, p. 551. |
