You hear it all the time – “You Christians are too exclusive. You don’t have the corner on religion; there are other ways to God.” What about the exclusive claims of Christianity – there is only one way to God? Is it correct, or do many roads lead to God?
A little background: From the 4th century through the 18th century, the philosophy or worldview of Theism dominated the thinking of Western Civilization. This was the Christian worldview with God at its center as Creator and Sovereign Lord, with Jesus Christ at its heart as being the only Savior, God’s Son, and the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, the absolute truth.
But then came the period known as the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. Science and technology made tremendous gains. The Scientific process and the predominance of reason came to the forefront. Man was unlimited, or so they concluded, and could do anything and explain anything in our universe. Suddenly God was shoved aside and man became the center of the universe. Science was going to save the world, and human reasoning became the authority. Jesus Christ and the Word of God--the Bible--were explained away and watered down, becoming little more than relics of years gone by. Thus, emerged the modernistic worldview that has dominated the thinking of the western world for the last 100 to 150 years. With this new worldview came a new view about supernatural occurrences. What had been an “open” system now became a “closed” system. Let me explain: When Christianity dominated the thinking of mankind, the idea that God could intervene in the world with miracles and supernatural acts was generally accepted. No one seemed to question that our system of natural laws could be impacted by God who worked outside the system. Thus the system of natural law was an “open” system that could be “interfered with” by God at any time.
With the coming of the modernistic viewpoint that humanity was the center of the universe, God was limited in what He could do. Miracles no longer were possible. The laws of nature certainly couldn’t be set aside by God to allow for miraculous events. This, this world system was deemed a “closed” system that could not be acted upon from outside.
It is interesting to note that after 150 years or so of modernism, man hasn’t saved the world. Disease still runs rampant, wars and killings are wreaking havoc on our world, people still hate, people still live in poverty, and people still are searching for something to fill the void in their life.
Because of this we have seen the rise of a third worldview in the last 40 or 50 years called post-modernism or nihilism that simply says that meaning can’t be found, there are no answers, there are no black and white issues, no areas of life where truth is equally true for all people. We now have a generation of drifters because real truth, real meaning, real absolutes cannot be found. Or so it would seem.
The result of all this is that we now have a three-prong spirit that is indicative of the times in which we live: Religious relativism, Tolerance, and Philosophical pluralism that believes there are absolutely no absolutes.
This is the world in which we live – you see these three tenets of the post-modern worldview on every TV talk show, in every Hollywood movie, in most songs played on the radio, in TV show after TV show. You see it in the biased coverage by the news media. You hear it in the political arena. Our society is permeated by relativism, tolerance, and pluralism. And according to God’s Word, these three are all myths, they’re all wrong.
Proverbs 14:12 (NASB) – “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
In this week’s blog, let’s look at the first tenet of post-modernism: religious relativism. At its most simplistic form, religious relativism is this: One religion can be true for one person or culture, but is not necessarily true for another. According to this viewpoint, we all worship the same god; we just refer to him (or her) by different names. As one religious scholar put it, “It is as though God is on the top of a mountain and all of us are merely climbing up different sides, yet headed for the same destination.” In this philosophy, no religion, therefore, is universally or exclusively true.
In an interview in July of 1998, the Right Rev. William E. Swing, Episcopal Bishop of California said this: “The question is can we stand the generosity of God in that he reveals himself to other people in the world through other symbols and through other stories?”
I immediately take note of Rev. Swing’s suggestion that historical events of incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection are merely symbols and mythological stories.
Bishop Swing continued: “I do believe that one can get to God by many ways. Nevertheless, when one gets to God, I believe that nothing about the Divine is contradicted by Jesus Christ.”
Or how about another post-modern portrayal by a Roman Catholic Sister Joan Chittister who said, “The question is whether or not Jesus is the only revelation of the love and presence and mind of God. The question is not, ‘Is Jesus the Way?’ The question is whether Jesus is the only way. And the answer to that must, in the end, have something to do with the justice of God.
“If Jesus . . . is the only way to heaven, then what are we to think about the other 80% of the world that is non-Catholic or even non-Christian? In fact, what are we to believe about God? Are we to believe that God created all these people in order to condemn them? Or are the things that are “true” in other religions, also salvific [able to save]?
“Why did the Jesus who said, “I am the Way,” not add, “and there is no other”?
Could it possibly be that Sister Joan missed the last part of John 14:6 – “No one comes to the Father but through Me”? Sounds pretty exclusive to me!
So, how did our world, and many leaders in churches all across America, arrive at such twisted thinking?
A large part of this thinking comes from the modernistic worldview or the worldview of naturalism. The philosophy of Naturalism believe that nature (the material and the laws that govern its existence) is all there is. There is no force beyond nature, no supernatural, no God. This truly is a “closed” system. Therefore, God is merely a figment of our imagination.
So, here’s the logic – If there is no supernatural world, i.e. God, and if all religions of the world actually find their source in the minds of men, then they are all equally useless. Therefore, it makes no difference which religion one chooses.
According to great thinkers like Karl Marx and Jesse Ventura (a little humor there!) – all religions are crutches created by weak-minded people who need help coping with the cruel world.
So you see, the person who believes in God, whether the god of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, is merely constructing his or her own reality. Therefore, it doesn’t really matter which religion you choose. They are all make-believe!
So, how do we respond?
First, realize that this is illogical. Law of logic that states that something cannot be both A and non-A at the same time and in the same way. Something cannot be dairy and non-dairy at the same time, or fattening or non-fattening at the same time.
Let’s suppose you call a friend and say, “Man, you ought to hear our preacher, Sam Crouch. He’s great!”
“Did you say, Sam Crouch?”
“Yes, Sam Crouch.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. Your pastor is THE Sam Crouch.”
Yes, Sam Crouch.
“Sam Crouch – that 7 foot black basketball player from North Carolina?”
Now, there are two responses you could give at this point. -- “No, that’s not the Sam Crouch who is our preacher; you must be talking about some other guy.”
Or, you might reply, “Well, that’s your interpretation of who he is!”
No one in their right mind would view this second response as valid; or would they? This is exactly the problem with religious relativism. In our world today, we have two groups – Muslims and Christians – who cannot talk about God in terms that are mutually exclusive and still conclude that they are talking about the same thing.
The Islamic religious says that Jesus is merely a prophet and not God. Christianity believes that Jesus is God in the flesh. Such thinking cannot be equally valid. One is right and one is wrong. They can’t both be right. That’s nonsense.
And not only is such thinking nonsense, it is also offensive. And it ignores the facts – Islam claims to be the only true religion. Christianity claims to be the only way to eternal life.
What does God’s word say?
Isaiah 43:10-11 (NASB) – "You are My witnesses," declares the Lord, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. 11 "I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me.”
Acts 4:12 (NLT) – “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Call Christianity exclusive or intolerant if you like. But the fact remains – only one viewpoint can stand. My choice is with God and His unchanging Word that last forever! We tackle the next myth of post-modernism, tolerance, in our next blog.
Pastor Sam
Pastor Sam
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Where are we and how did we get there? Part 2
As we mentioned in the previous blog (part 1), American culture today can be characterized as post-modern – no absolutes, no divine authority such as God, and in reality, no hope. This life is all there is and you are your own god. Because today’s society presents little hope and is perceived as outdated and wrong, post-modernism carried to the extreme would seek to destroy the current social order. Tragically, post-modernism talks very little about what it would replace the current social order with.
Obviously this prevailing philosophy in our day and time has created an America where morality, order, adherence to rules, regulations, and our government structure are taboo. As a result we are experiencing a rapid increase in the decay of society as we know.
This present-day philosophy of “post-modernism” is nothing new as was modernism when it was in vogue. These approaches to life have been around for centuries. In fact, Paul the Apostle dealt with similar world views in his day and time. One such philosophy in particular surfaced in the church at Colossae in late 50s or early 60s A.D. Note what Paul said:
Colossians 2:8 (NLT) – “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.”
In Paul’s day, “philosophy had everything to do with theories about God and the world and the meaning of human life. Today we would call it a “worldview.” Paul said the “worldview” or “philosophy” beginning to show itself in the city of Colossae was in reality “empty and deceptive.”
This false world view that Paul addressed had incorporated Jewish elements and a Greek false teaching called Gnosticism. Gnosticism basically involved very strict following of rituals and dietary laws. It also involved angel worship. Gnosticism involved seeking to find salvation through acquisition of special knowledge. Gnosticism took away from the personhood of Christ by either saying that he didn’t really come in the flesh or that he wasn’t really God. This worldview eliminated God as the Creator and said that creation was done by some lesser angelic beings.
Paul told them that this philosophy or worldview was hollow and deceptive. And the same thoughts hold true for the world-views of modernism and post-modernism today. Not only are they empty of meaning – dead end streets--but they are also full of danger – streets that lead to death.
Paul told the Colossians that there were three things about the philosophy creeping into the church in Colossae that are equally true today.
1. This false philosophy was human in origin. In verse 8 Paul said that they come from human thinking. – It was a made-up philosophy. I can’t think of anything more appropriate to describe today’s prevailing world view. If life and its meaning is not authored by God and recorded for us in Holy Scripture, then we have to make up our own meaning. We answer the questions of life with our own ideas.
Where did we come from? If not God, then what – we create some theory called evolution which is not scientific and is contradictory to the very laws of nature that we see at work around us.
Why are we here? If we can’t find meaning in a personal relationship with God, we talk then either about the fact that we’re here to make a difference in the lives of our fellow man, or we say there is no meaning at all to life. That is the bottom line on post-modernism.
You can understand how such an approach is futile. If we don’t have an authoritative word from God and if God doesn’t exist, then what’s the purpose to life and where are we heading? Life really can be seen as meaningless.
2. Paul indicated that this philosophy was elementary in nature. This false world of Gnosticism chose to substitute something else for God. Again in verse 8 this philosophy is “from the spiritual powers of this world.” He is talking about lesser beings that took the place of God in creation and even in the path to salvation.
There is absolutely no doubt that today’s philosophies of modernism and post-modernism have substituted for God – with the results that they are inferior in their ability to answer the important questions of life. Who am I, how did I get here, what’s going to happen to me in the future, what is meaningful, what is right and wrong, what is real, and so forth.
Because the current worldviews or philosophies are inferior, people who espouse them still remain empty and searching. Only the real thing will satisfy – a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Any other approach leaves a person dissatisfied.
3. Finally, Paul called the philosophy of his day and time, “non-Christian.” It was not “from Christ.”
Gnosticism eliminated Christ and the salvation that He secured on the cross. The philosophies of today also eliminate Christ and the need for Christ. They water Him down by trying to analyze Him as a man and strip Him of His godhood. They view the salvation He offers as only one of many ways to meaning and purpose in life. The current philosophies of modernism and most especially, post-modernism, represent a very empty, deceptive, and even dangerous approach to life.
Look at it this way. If I wanted to give you advice on the most important aspects of life including how to ensure that you live forever, there are two ways I could do that – I could write you a number of letters or essays giving you the advice. Or I could visit you face to face to share the information with you.
Both of those approaches are precisely what God has done – He has given us a written revelation – the Bible, and He has visited with us face-to-face – in Jesus Christ. In the Bible, and in Jesus Christ, we have the correct and true answers to the fundamental questions of life.
Why, then, do people reject the Christian world view that centers in God and His son, Jesus Christ? Why have they chosen to substitute a worldview of their own creation that is by far inferior to God’s viewpoint? Why are they so quick to declare that God is dead, the Bible is irrelevant and out-of-date, or that Jesus wasn’t divine or that His salvation is unnecessary?
Here’s the bottom line –we want to be our own God. This is the essence of the humanistic worldview prevalent for the last 125 years. If we can water down, or eliminate God, we can be our own master. If the guidebook says this is the way to play the game, and we really want to make up our own rules, we have two choices – we can decide to change our attitude and actions and play by the rules, or we can throw away or change the rule book and do it our way.
Therefore, if I can eliminate God and His Word, pushing God from the center of my world, if I can play down Jesus Christ or declare that He never existed or never claimed to be God, then I am no longer accountable for my actions. I can do as I choose. Anything goes and I am not in danger of any kind of punishment or eternal death.
This is the American culture today. When you come to see that the perspective of our world has changed and God is no longer around and His laws are no longer relevant, then you can understand the turmoil that our country is in today.
To be continued!
Obviously this prevailing philosophy in our day and time has created an America where morality, order, adherence to rules, regulations, and our government structure are taboo. As a result we are experiencing a rapid increase in the decay of society as we know.
This present-day philosophy of “post-modernism” is nothing new as was modernism when it was in vogue. These approaches to life have been around for centuries. In fact, Paul the Apostle dealt with similar world views in his day and time. One such philosophy in particular surfaced in the church at Colossae in late 50s or early 60s A.D. Note what Paul said:
Colossians 2:8 (NLT) – “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.”
In Paul’s day, “philosophy had everything to do with theories about God and the world and the meaning of human life. Today we would call it a “worldview.” Paul said the “worldview” or “philosophy” beginning to show itself in the city of Colossae was in reality “empty and deceptive.”
This false world view that Paul addressed had incorporated Jewish elements and a Greek false teaching called Gnosticism. Gnosticism basically involved very strict following of rituals and dietary laws. It also involved angel worship. Gnosticism involved seeking to find salvation through acquisition of special knowledge. Gnosticism took away from the personhood of Christ by either saying that he didn’t really come in the flesh or that he wasn’t really God. This worldview eliminated God as the Creator and said that creation was done by some lesser angelic beings.
Paul told them that this philosophy or worldview was hollow and deceptive. And the same thoughts hold true for the world-views of modernism and post-modernism today. Not only are they empty of meaning – dead end streets--but they are also full of danger – streets that lead to death.
Paul told the Colossians that there were three things about the philosophy creeping into the church in Colossae that are equally true today.
1. This false philosophy was human in origin. In verse 8 Paul said that they come from human thinking. – It was a made-up philosophy. I can’t think of anything more appropriate to describe today’s prevailing world view. If life and its meaning is not authored by God and recorded for us in Holy Scripture, then we have to make up our own meaning. We answer the questions of life with our own ideas.
Where did we come from? If not God, then what – we create some theory called evolution which is not scientific and is contradictory to the very laws of nature that we see at work around us.
Why are we here? If we can’t find meaning in a personal relationship with God, we talk then either about the fact that we’re here to make a difference in the lives of our fellow man, or we say there is no meaning at all to life. That is the bottom line on post-modernism.
You can understand how such an approach is futile. If we don’t have an authoritative word from God and if God doesn’t exist, then what’s the purpose to life and where are we heading? Life really can be seen as meaningless.
2. Paul indicated that this philosophy was elementary in nature. This false world of Gnosticism chose to substitute something else for God. Again in verse 8 this philosophy is “from the spiritual powers of this world.” He is talking about lesser beings that took the place of God in creation and even in the path to salvation.
There is absolutely no doubt that today’s philosophies of modernism and post-modernism have substituted for God – with the results that they are inferior in their ability to answer the important questions of life. Who am I, how did I get here, what’s going to happen to me in the future, what is meaningful, what is right and wrong, what is real, and so forth.
Because the current worldviews or philosophies are inferior, people who espouse them still remain empty and searching. Only the real thing will satisfy – a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Any other approach leaves a person dissatisfied.
3. Finally, Paul called the philosophy of his day and time, “non-Christian.” It was not “from Christ.”
Gnosticism eliminated Christ and the salvation that He secured on the cross. The philosophies of today also eliminate Christ and the need for Christ. They water Him down by trying to analyze Him as a man and strip Him of His godhood. They view the salvation He offers as only one of many ways to meaning and purpose in life. The current philosophies of modernism and most especially, post-modernism, represent a very empty, deceptive, and even dangerous approach to life.
Look at it this way. If I wanted to give you advice on the most important aspects of life including how to ensure that you live forever, there are two ways I could do that – I could write you a number of letters or essays giving you the advice. Or I could visit you face to face to share the information with you.
Both of those approaches are precisely what God has done – He has given us a written revelation – the Bible, and He has visited with us face-to-face – in Jesus Christ. In the Bible, and in Jesus Christ, we have the correct and true answers to the fundamental questions of life.
Why, then, do people reject the Christian world view that centers in God and His son, Jesus Christ? Why have they chosen to substitute a worldview of their own creation that is by far inferior to God’s viewpoint? Why are they so quick to declare that God is dead, the Bible is irrelevant and out-of-date, or that Jesus wasn’t divine or that His salvation is unnecessary?
Here’s the bottom line –we want to be our own God. This is the essence of the humanistic worldview prevalent for the last 125 years. If we can water down, or eliminate God, we can be our own master. If the guidebook says this is the way to play the game, and we really want to make up our own rules, we have two choices – we can decide to change our attitude and actions and play by the rules, or we can throw away or change the rule book and do it our way.
Therefore, if I can eliminate God and His Word, pushing God from the center of my world, if I can play down Jesus Christ or declare that He never existed or never claimed to be God, then I am no longer accountable for my actions. I can do as I choose. Anything goes and I am not in danger of any kind of punishment or eternal death.
This is the American culture today. When you come to see that the perspective of our world has changed and God is no longer around and His laws are no longer relevant, then you can understand the turmoil that our country is in today.
To be continued!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Where are we and how did we get there? Part 1
So, where are we and how did we get there? And more importantly, how do we respond? I’m talking about the state of Christianity in America. Over the next few blogs I want to take a hard and fast look at religious understanding in our nation.
You will be interested to know that according to a January 31, 2003 news story from CNN America has 2,630 religions and is still counting. This includes everything from 116 Catholic denominations, and over 100 Pentecostal groups. We have 8 religious groups that practice drug use, 22 that believe in UFO’s and 12 mail-order religions. Three groups include vampires in their doctrine.
Beyond that – for the last several decades we have been facing direct challenges to the practice of Christianity in America. No more prayer in schools, a challenge to remove “under God” from the pledge of allegiance, and the removal of displays of 10 commandments in many court houses across our land. Nativity scenes are taboo, although you can display a Jewish menorah, Islamic crescent, and so forth. But not Christian symbols. Students can study the Koran or the teachings of Buddha in a history class but can’t study the Bible as history.
We continue to face multiple challenges to our Christian moral values – open pornography – filth and lewdness on TV and movie screens, rap music and other forms of pop music that leave little to the imagination. Don’t forget gay rights and same-sex marriages. Drug and alcohol abuse is rampant. Morality is defined by your own personal tastes.
As Christians we are being attacked from every angle. What has happened that it has now become unacceptable to be a Christian or to speak of Christianity as a valuable part of our society?
Well, it’s a matter of perspective. Take a look at the picture below. I’m sure you’ve seen this drawing before. As you look at the picture, what do you see?
Some see an old lady while others see a young lady. It really depends on your viewpoint, your perspective.
Everybody in America today has a set of presuppositions or assumptions or perspectives called a worldview. A worldview is a set of informal beliefs about the world in which we live.
A more technical definition of worldview would read like this: an explanation and understanding of the world in which we live that will include such things as an interpretation of the origin of the world, our purpose here on earth, and the destiny that awaits us.
The key here is to realize that our behavior—the way we act—arises directly from our worldview. How we view the world in which we live goes a long way in determining how we live out our lives.
A world view will attempt to answer these relevant questions:
1. Who are we? I mean, what are we really?
2. Where did we come from? How did the world come to exist? Questions of origin.
3. Where are we going? What is our ultimate destiny? What happens after we die?
4. What is good and bad, right or wrong? What is of value?
5. What is the real meaning of life? What is it all about? Why am I here?
6. What is true, what is false? What is really real?
7. How should we act or behave in our lives?
People have sought to answer these questions in a multitude of ways, but let’s look at just three world views that have dominated the scene throughout the last 2000 years.
Christian Worldview – this has been the viewpoint that dominated the history of Western Civilization from around the 4th century A.D. until about the 17th or 18th centuries. This is the view that is centered in God. God exists, He created the world and the universe in which we live, He is in control of history, He is intimately involved in our lives, and He has a perfect plan for every person who has ever lived. Scripture is the authority for what we know about life and our purpose and ultimate destiny in life. This theistic, God-centered, viewpoint served as the prevailing viewpoint for centuries.
Modernism or the naturalistic viewpoint - Around the time of the Renaissance, the 16th and 17th centuries, a shift in the general worldview began. Humanity became increasingly important. Culminating in the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, people began to think in terms of humanity’s unlimited ability to take care of himself/herself and solve all problems. Science and technology became king. Mankind replaced God as the center of the universe. Initially God was pushed to the side, but later God was declared dead and dropped from the picture altogether. We didn’t need God to explain how the world was formed – we had Darwin and the theory of evolution to explain it. We didn’t need the supernatural, because we could fix it ourselves. We didn’t need the Scriptures as our authority because we could reason things out for ourselves using the scientific process. Human reason became the authority to which we turned.
Suddenly, we began to live in a universe where man was god and God was dead and everything about Jesus Christ and the Bible could be analyzed or explained away using scientific reasoning. This is where we found ourselves throughout the late 19th and all of the 20th century. Is it any wonder then that our society continues to push Christianity out of the way. We don’t need Christianity anymore—we’ve got it figured out all by ourselves and we can take care of ourselves—we don’t need God or His Savior Jesus Christ. This is the worldview of modernism or naturalism.
Postmodernism or nihilism – Let’s define the terms: Post-modern – the era after modernism. Nihilism – a word with several meanings, all of which describe the current perspective of many in our world. The word can mean an extreme form of skepticism that denies all existence. It is also a doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. Nihilism includes rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to denounce all previous theories of morality or religious belief. For some, nihilism includes the belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement.
The seeds of this philosophy or world view began in the 60s with anything-goes permissiveness. Interesting to note, however, that the post-modern worldview hums with the presence of the supernatural – but not a supernatural God. Instead God has been substituted with angels, spirits, and even demons. Post-modernism teaches that there is no inherent meaning to life, we are not responsible to others, but only to trying to find self-fulfillment for ourselves. There is no authority other than intuition and feelings. I do what I feel like doing, whether you think it is right or it’s wrong. In postmodernism there are no moral absolutes.
This, my friends, is where America finds itself today. So, how did we get here? Check for subsequent blogs as we explore the slips on the slippery slope that led us to this point.
You will be interested to know that according to a January 31, 2003 news story from CNN America has 2,630 religions and is still counting. This includes everything from 116 Catholic denominations, and over 100 Pentecostal groups. We have 8 religious groups that practice drug use, 22 that believe in UFO’s and 12 mail-order religions. Three groups include vampires in their doctrine.
Beyond that – for the last several decades we have been facing direct challenges to the practice of Christianity in America. No more prayer in schools, a challenge to remove “under God” from the pledge of allegiance, and the removal of displays of 10 commandments in many court houses across our land. Nativity scenes are taboo, although you can display a Jewish menorah, Islamic crescent, and so forth. But not Christian symbols. Students can study the Koran or the teachings of Buddha in a history class but can’t study the Bible as history.
We continue to face multiple challenges to our Christian moral values – open pornography – filth and lewdness on TV and movie screens, rap music and other forms of pop music that leave little to the imagination. Don’t forget gay rights and same-sex marriages. Drug and alcohol abuse is rampant. Morality is defined by your own personal tastes.
As Christians we are being attacked from every angle. What has happened that it has now become unacceptable to be a Christian or to speak of Christianity as a valuable part of our society?
Well, it’s a matter of perspective. Take a look at the picture below. I’m sure you’ve seen this drawing before. As you look at the picture, what do you see?
Some see an old lady while others see a young lady. It really depends on your viewpoint, your perspective.
Everybody in America today has a set of presuppositions or assumptions or perspectives called a worldview. A worldview is a set of informal beliefs about the world in which we live.
A more technical definition of worldview would read like this: an explanation and understanding of the world in which we live that will include such things as an interpretation of the origin of the world, our purpose here on earth, and the destiny that awaits us.
The key here is to realize that our behavior—the way we act—arises directly from our worldview. How we view the world in which we live goes a long way in determining how we live out our lives.
A world view will attempt to answer these relevant questions:
1. Who are we? I mean, what are we really?
2. Where did we come from? How did the world come to exist? Questions of origin.
3. Where are we going? What is our ultimate destiny? What happens after we die?
4. What is good and bad, right or wrong? What is of value?
5. What is the real meaning of life? What is it all about? Why am I here?
6. What is true, what is false? What is really real?
7. How should we act or behave in our lives?
People have sought to answer these questions in a multitude of ways, but let’s look at just three world views that have dominated the scene throughout the last 2000 years.
Christian Worldview – this has been the viewpoint that dominated the history of Western Civilization from around the 4th century A.D. until about the 17th or 18th centuries. This is the view that is centered in God. God exists, He created the world and the universe in which we live, He is in control of history, He is intimately involved in our lives, and He has a perfect plan for every person who has ever lived. Scripture is the authority for what we know about life and our purpose and ultimate destiny in life. This theistic, God-centered, viewpoint served as the prevailing viewpoint for centuries.
Modernism or the naturalistic viewpoint - Around the time of the Renaissance, the 16th and 17th centuries, a shift in the general worldview began. Humanity became increasingly important. Culminating in the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, people began to think in terms of humanity’s unlimited ability to take care of himself/herself and solve all problems. Science and technology became king. Mankind replaced God as the center of the universe. Initially God was pushed to the side, but later God was declared dead and dropped from the picture altogether. We didn’t need God to explain how the world was formed – we had Darwin and the theory of evolution to explain it. We didn’t need the supernatural, because we could fix it ourselves. We didn’t need the Scriptures as our authority because we could reason things out for ourselves using the scientific process. Human reason became the authority to which we turned.
Suddenly, we began to live in a universe where man was god and God was dead and everything about Jesus Christ and the Bible could be analyzed or explained away using scientific reasoning. This is where we found ourselves throughout the late 19th and all of the 20th century. Is it any wonder then that our society continues to push Christianity out of the way. We don’t need Christianity anymore—we’ve got it figured out all by ourselves and we can take care of ourselves—we don’t need God or His Savior Jesus Christ. This is the worldview of modernism or naturalism.
Postmodernism or nihilism – Let’s define the terms: Post-modern – the era after modernism. Nihilism – a word with several meanings, all of which describe the current perspective of many in our world. The word can mean an extreme form of skepticism that denies all existence. It is also a doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. Nihilism includes rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to denounce all previous theories of morality or religious belief. For some, nihilism includes the belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement.
The seeds of this philosophy or world view began in the 60s with anything-goes permissiveness. Interesting to note, however, that the post-modern worldview hums with the presence of the supernatural – but not a supernatural God. Instead God has been substituted with angels, spirits, and even demons. Post-modernism teaches that there is no inherent meaning to life, we are not responsible to others, but only to trying to find self-fulfillment for ourselves. There is no authority other than intuition and feelings. I do what I feel like doing, whether you think it is right or it’s wrong. In postmodernism there are no moral absolutes.
This, my friends, is where America finds itself today. So, how did we get here? Check for subsequent blogs as we explore the slips on the slippery slope that led us to this point.
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