Worldview Finder: Exclusivity
March 13, 2024 at 4:00 pm | Posted in Worldview Finder | 2 CommentsTags: Acts 4, coexist, exclusivity of Christ, exclusivity of Christianity, Isaiah 43, Isaiah 44, John 14, Matthew 7, Proverbs 18, worldview
The Christian worldview looks to the Bible to establish that right and wrong, good and evil, are real. The opposing view, Nihilism, is a logically inconsistent system which denies the reality of shared experience and perceptions, as well as the existence of human conscience and innate knowledge of morality. Christians acknowledge God and His Word as the answer to the “by what standard” question concerning morality. But some people think that this leaves open the possibility that there may be other standards which seem to contradict God and His Word, but are just as valid. After all, doesn’t the Bible itself say:
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Matthew 7:1-2
What if the Bible is the right standard for Christians, but another religious tome such as the Koran is the right standard for someone else? Does one or the other have to be wrong? Can’t we just “COEXIST?” Like the blindfolded man unknowingly performing a tactile examination of an elephant, having never seen or heard of one before, and thinking that the trunk is a snake, the side is a wall, the tail is a rope, and the tusk is a spear, couldn’t objective truth and morality just be the subjective misperception of each person’s separate experiences, opinions, and preferences? And doesn’t the Bible itself caution us against jumping to conclusions before taking into account our neighbor’s contradictory viewpoint?
He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
Proverbs 18:17
The problem with the sort of reasoning that would support the idea of subjective, relative, or personal-viewpoint-dependent morality has been previously addressed when dealing with the Biblical Christian worldview’s insistence and confirmation of objective truth. And the problem is really highlighted in the popular bumper sticker attempt at virtue signaling known as “COEXIST.”
The reality is that the groups represented in the “COEXIST” paradigm make exclusive and contradictory claims that can’t “just get along” – and at least one of them wants to kill a couple of the others!
The idea that contradictory religious beliefs can be true for different people at the same time is known as Pluralism. Although some people do “experience” the same things in different ways, or give them different names (like misidentified anatomical parts of an elephant), this does not mean that contradictory religious beliefs can both be objectively true. A British “football” player who challenges an American football player to a game might be very upset when the American suddenly tackles him, but the problem is not that they had contradictory but equally true views of football. The problem is that they did not have the same understanding of technical terms. And, like the Pluralist who finds it offensive to hear someone claim this one religion is the only true one, we must carefully notice who is really being arrogant, divisive, and intolerant here: the faithful religious person who interprets his own belief system as exclusively objectively true? Or the outsider who claims everybody (but him) is deceived or mistaken and only he can see the elephant?
A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.
Proverbs 18:2
Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isaiah 43:10
Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Isaiah 44:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
Worldview Finder: Morality
February 7, 2024 at 3:49 pm | Posted in good and bad, Worldview Finder | 2 CommentsTags: 1 Kings 3, 1 Timothy 4, 2 Corinthians 5, Isaiah 5, Leviticus 27, Mark 10, Proverbs 17, Psalm 143, Psalm 73, Romans 7
After understanding that objective truth exists, and that some truth can truly be known, the next step in identifying or clarifying your worldview is to determine whether you believe that there are objective categories for good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness, justice and injustice.
We are not talking here about mere personal preferences, although we do call some things “good” or “bad” based on tastes or preferences. Some things may be thought of as “amoral.” They don’t have any objective “worth” or “value” or “merit” other than what we subjectively assign to them, but the question we are asking here seeks to know whether you view some things or some acts or some ideas or some beings as INTRINSICALLY good or evil.
The Bible resolves this question. We like to say that God is “good.” A popular slogan among Christians is: “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.”
Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
Psalm 73:1
But what does it mean in this context to say that “God is good?” Psalm 73:1 is talking about His beneficence or benevolence: His attribute of being kind and gracious and even loving toward others. This kind of “good” means doing good TO someone in the sense that they perceive what He is doing to them to be a help or a benefit.
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
I Timothy 4:4
If “every creature” of God is “good,” does this mean that Hitler and Osama Bin Laden were good? Or that Satan is good? Or that you and I, apart from God’s grace, are inherently morally good? No it doesn’t. In fact, we not only need to be forgiven for our SINS – we need to be forgiven for being SINNERS. Good, in the context of I Timothy 4:4, means that food – even if it might not be the healthiest or the cleanest – and even if was condemned as religiously or ceremonially unclean under the Old Covenant – and even if it might have been used in some pagan ritual before being sold in the market – is made “good to eat” (sanctified, made clean) by the Word of God and prayer.
So, we see that God – and some things – can be said to be subjectively “good” in their benefits or their actions. God is good, though, in another sense. He is INTRINSICALLY good, as an immutable attribute, in His nature.
Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
Psalm 143:10
This is the goodness that goes beyond mere kindness and benevolence. It is goodness in the sense of righteousness and holiness and perfection of moral character.
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
Mark 10:18
This is part of Jesus’s discussion with the so-called rich young ruler, and the topic is not who does charity and who is nice to his neighbors. It is who or what is moral goodness. Keeping the commandments of God (if anyone could do it) would demonstrate someone was “good,” because they are God’s commandments, and they come from the essence of God Himself, so this question is not talking about “good” in the way we talk about “good”-tasting food. It is talking about “goodness” in the moral sense.
A popular holiday song says, “You’d better be good for ‘goodness’s sake,’” but there’s no being called “Goodness,” so you can’t do anything for its sake. Jesus was good for God the Father’s sake and for His own sake.
Now, if we believe that God is good – truly good in and of Himself – it stands to reason that, yes, we do believe there is at least SOMETHING in the universe that is good and therefore is not evil, but let’s determine if the Bible describes this belief in terms of a worldview.
Consider Solomon’s prayer for wisdom – the wisdom to rule people in a way that would be pleasing to God:
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
I Kings 3:9
Solomon, taking on the responsibility of an earthly judge, knew he needed the wisdom of the Heavenly Judge, and judges are supposed to do justice: reward or vindicate righteousness and punish evil. They are supposed to look at actions and make moral evaluations based on a true standard of what’s good and what’s bad. Even the Old Testament ceremonial laws made distinctions based on a standard:
And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.
Leviticus 27:12
The standard was: according to God’s Word.
So, the Bible clearly takes the worldview-position that God is inherently good AND that He sets the standard for determining what is good and bad.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
II Corinthians 5:10
While things may be morally neutral, actions are not – according to God’s standard (which goes beyond the action itself to the thoughts behind it, the attitude of the heart about it, and motivation for it). Ever since the appearance of the serpent in the Garden of Eden this aspect of a Biblical worldview – objective right and wrong/good and evil – has been opposed by an alternate worldview: Nihilism.
Nihilism is the idea that “right” and “wrong” are amorphous or relative or subjective, which really means that they are non-existent. It is a worldview which denies the existence of morality, and says that nothing really matters. Because sinful human beings are so prone to adopt it and espouse it – and to try to (disastrously) live as though it were true – the Bible frequently addresses it. It is impossible to consistently believe that no actions have more or less moral value than others.
Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.
Proverbs 17:13
He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.
Proverbs 17:15
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Romans 7:21
Worldview Finder: Knowing the Truth
December 27, 2023 at 4:40 pm | Posted in Worldview Finder | 2 CommentsTags: Biblical Christian worldview, Biblical worldview, Christian worldview, Hebrews 10, John 1, John 16, John 17, John 8, Psalm 119, Zechariah 8
After determining that there IS such a thing as absolute, objective truth, the next inquiry in clarifying your worldview is to ask whether truth can be KNOWN. Logic and reason and shared perception do exist, and they can be trusted. In other words, some things are objectively and absolutely true and can be known.
The philosopher Descartes is known for positing, “Cogito, ergo sum” (translated “I think, therefore I am.”) This directly contradicts the worldview of those who are skeptical about whether truth can even be known. It makes no sense to doubt about whether we exist, when we are right here existing and doing the doubting!
When you drive up to a traffic signal at an intersection, both shared common experience and logic tell us that it makes sense that, if the drivers going north and south are seeing a red light, then the drivers going east and west are seeing a green light at the same time. Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that this system was designed by someone who had thought about it, and that the intention behind it was to help drivers, not hurt them. We can’t technically see the colors “green” and “red” through the eyes of other drivers, but everyone generally agrees that we all know what the colors green and red look like.
Of course, this doesn’t rule out the possibility of someone being mistaken, but it does mean that some things can be known with a logical, reasonable, and shared degree of certainty.
The Bible supports this view of knowledge: that truth is something that can be known.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
Jesus was full of truth, and He dwelt here in this world, among people who have been documented as seeing His glory. One of the things He came to do was reveal truth. He believed and taught and demonstrated that truth can be known by human beings. This is the chief way we come to know truth: it is revealed. Not that much truth (if any) is innate within us when we come into the world, and if it is by revelation, then the revelation can be increased and we can know more and more truth and become more and more certain that we are believing/knowing the truth.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31-32
Truth is something into which we are sometimes guided. Revelation isn’t always announced as such when it is revealed: “THIS IS A REVELATION OF THE TRUTH.” Truth is always truth, but truth can become known and believed without suspending our powers of investigation (logic, reason, shared perception).
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
John 16:13
Not only CAN truth be known, but it is extremely, eternally important that we do know the truth. Jesus prayed:
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
John 17:17
Just like there is an opposing worldview to objective truth (relativism), there is also an opposing view to the worldview in which truth can be known: Skepticism. Skepticism is the view that there may be some objectively true things, but we can’t really even know if there are or not, nor can we really know which claims and apparent reality are really true.
This view has the same inconsistency as Relativism, because if you can’t know whether anything is true or not, how can you know whether you know if anything is true or not? The attraction of a worldview in which truth can’t be known is that it allows a virtue-signaling of humility, and it champions “doubt” as a sign of intelligence. The Skeptic says, “How arrogant that you think you can know truth! Who are you to say our universe isn’t really a molecule in a giant’s thumbnail in a whole other universe? Who are you to say we aren’t lying in a vat of saltwater and chemicals with the government playing a program in our brainwashed consciousness?”
Of course, this is not really humility. In fact it is, hypocritically, just the opposite. It is the view that only a select few really realize that we don’t actually exist, and everyone else is just a dupe for reasonably and rationally observing our environment and thinking we have the ability to think. A faithful Skeptic would walk off the edge of a building in order to show that gravity is just a hallucinatory construct.
In the same way that how we view the world when it comes to truth has implications for our spiritual lives, so does how we view the knowledge question.
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Hebrews 10:26
If we can’t know what sin even is, how can we be accountable for it? Pretending something doesn’t exist does not make it go away. God revealing the truth about our sin is one of the greatest evidences of His love for us.
Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
Psalm 119:60
Knowing the truth makes us aware of consequences. This is the real humility – recognizing that truth is something we can know, and knowing that truth is something that will last.
These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
Zechariah 8:16
We would not be able to proclaim the truth if we could not recognize what it is, and society would, of necessity, fall into chaos, since justice (which is based on knowing the truth) could not be done.
This idea of justice brings us into the next inquiry in clarifying our worldview, which we will look at next time.
Worldview Finder: Truth
November 20, 2023 at 4:06 pm | Posted in Worldview Finder | 7 CommentsTags: 2 Peter 1, Biblical Christian worldview, Biblical worldview, Christian worldview, Deuteronomy 32, Ecclesiastes 3, John 18, John 6, Proverbs 14
At the risk of being overly simplistic, your worldview is how you view the world. It is the lens through which you make sense of the big questions in life. It determines how you comprehend, understand, and answer life’s biggest or most fundamental questions, such as: Who am I? How did I get here? Where am I going (both in this life and after it)? Do I have any purpose, and if so, what is it?
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Are you aware of your worldview, and are you able to articulate it? Do you think of it as personal to you, or do you share it with others? Can you identify it, or clarify it? I believe that we are called to think about and ask ourselves these questions.
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
II Peter 1:3
The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.
Proverbs 14:8
A good place to start when seeking to identify or clarify your worldview is to ask, “What is truth?“
37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
John 18:37-38
A Biblical Christian worldview acknowledges that there is such a thing as objective truth.
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
Deuteronomy 32:4
A Biblical Christian worldview is one where objective truth is acknowledged. The alternative viewpoint is sometimes called Relativism. Relativism holds that truth is subjective, but it is a worldview that immediately collapses into its own inconsistency. The statement, “There is no such thing as objective truth,” would not itself be true in a relativistic worldview, and this view can only be a form of absurdity or delusion. It is impossible to consistently and logically support the idea of Relativism.
However, despite the obvious inconsistency, Relativism is integral to many people’s worldview in our day and age. Whether they have thought through its implications or not, they espouse it, and they do so under two main categories, one of which is Subjectivism (or subjective relativism). This is the view that what is true for you might not be true for me. A Christian asks a subjective relativist, “Is Jesus the only Way to Heaven?” and the relativist response is, “For you He is, but not for me.” This is the idea that a person’s opinions, preferences, feelings, and lived experiences can somehow shape reality. There is even a pseudo-Christian version of subjective relativism: “God said it, and I believe it, and that makes it true.” In fact, what God says is true whether anyone believes it or not.
The more outright non-Christian version of subjective relativism maintains that all people should be treated equally unless they feel oppressed or underprivileged, and then the way to treat them “equally” is to treat them better. This is the idea behind microagressions and the demands of germophobes: people should ignore or deny reality if it helps others feel better or helps them continue their delusions.
Christians are susceptible to falling for this ruse because of God’s commandments (and our regenerated natures) which prompt us to kindness. Kindness is actually great if it is based on truth, but if it lapses into an inferior version called “niceness” it can get us in a great deal of trouble.
The other sub-form of Relativism is cultural relativism (sometimes called “groupthink”). This is evident when a Relativist admits that one person’s preferences can’t forge or determine reality, but claims that society’s or culture’s majority preference can. This is the dark side of democracy, which works well as a form of government in general, but is hopeless as a worldview.
Once again, there is a pseudo-Christian version of cultural relativism which argues that what was declared by God to be true in one part of the Bible (typically the Old Testament) is no longer true in the New Testament (or at least not today).
19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. 20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Ecclesiastes 3:19-20
Contrast those Old Testament verses with this verse from the New Testament:
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:40
It appears that Solomon, from his earthly, limited point of view, dictated that Old Testament saints were soulless like animals, and would not be resurrected from the earth, whereas John in his Gospel quotes Jesus’s seemingly-contradictory revelation. This is easily resolved, though, when we understand that, in the first case, the Bible records Solomon saying what was in his heart and expressing emotional feelings concerning his observations of the human life cycle. The New Testament interprets and enlightens the Old by showing us that the reality of biological death is overcome by eternal life in Christ.
Non-Christian cultural relativism is evident in statements like, “Trust the science,” as though a “consensus of experts” could never be wrong, when history has shown time and again just how wrong the “experts” have been.
The Deep End 
Worldview Finder: The True Story
April 9, 2024 at 3:23 pm | Posted in Worldview Finder | 2 CommentsTags: Bible stories, Biblical Christian worldview, Biblical storytelling, Biblical walking, Biblical worldview, Christian worldview, commentary on Galatians, Galatians 5, story, Sunday School lessons on Galatians
Because the Biblical Christian worldview is the exclusively correct and true worldview, we must not cave in to the temptation to read the Bible like a mere daily devotional, or like a fortune cookie. The Bible has a narrative. It describes the history of the world (especially redemptive history).
Most little kids go through a stage when they love to ask “why.” As adults, we should not get exasperated when they do this. The “whys” lead us into the narrative of the story of “why” we are here and how we got here and where we are going. Jesus often taught by telling stories (parables). Storytelling and story-loving are signs of mental health.
Our worldview is grounded in the ultimate story, so, while it is good to have creeds and confessions and systematic theologies, it is just as important to have Bible stories (as long as they are tied into – and not divorced from – the big Bible story).
The Biblical Christian worldview says that the Big Story is still being written, and WE ARE IN IT. Christians are not like the adherents of other religions. Even though we are “religious,” and, admittedly, like non-Christians, we all believe something, our beliefs are based on logic and reason, and we’re staking our eternal lives on what we believe and know.
As Christians, we need to apply our worldview, to make it meaningful o make it meaningful to others (like a good story), not so we can simply “coexist,” but so we can (spiritually and intellectually) fight and win, and so we can try to make sure that people know that our worldview doesn’t leave any wiggle room for the validity of those other worldviews.
Our worldview “walks” – and it walks differently:
Galatians 5:16-26 (emphasis added)