VERITAS
"Building a Christian Worldview"
By Craig Branch
April 2001

Jesus said to the multitudes, "The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe…” Then the Scriptures tell us that “as a result many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him any more. So Jesus said to the twelve, 'You do not want to go away also, do you?'"

And then Peter responded with a most profound and pertinent statement, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God" (John 6:63-69).

In this our second issue of Radix, we are building on the theme of the first issue, "Understanding the Times," with the theme of "Building a Christian Worldview." Perhaps you have heard or read writers and speakers using the term "worldview" and have a vague perception of its meaning. If you have interacted with leaders in the area of apologetics, you certainly have heard this term.

A worldview is the way in which one defines all of reality--all of what is, in all its component parts and their interconnectedness or relationship with one another. Andrew Hoffecker defines worldview as,

Underlying all that we think, say, or do are basic assumptions that form what we call a “worldview.” A person's worldview is the collection of all his presuppositions or convictions about reality, which present his total outlook on life. Nobody is without such fundamental beliefs, yet many people go through life unaware of their presuppositions. Operating at the unconscious level, their presuppositions remain unidentified and unexamined. The result is that people generally fail to recognize how their world views govern every dimension of their lives.[1]

David Noebel of Summit Ministry describes worldview as referring "to any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement, or religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world, and man's relations to God and the world."[2] He goes on to point out that a worldview encompasses ten disciplines which are theology, philosophy, ethics, biology, psychology, sociology, law, politics, economics, and history.

The following articles in Radix will give you a better understanding of a Christian worldview in these areas, laying out God's revealed truth and how then we should live. As Francis Schaeffer reminded us,

As Christians we are not only to know the right worldview, the world view that tells us the truth of what is, but consciously to act upon that worldview so as to influence society in all its parts and facets across the whole spectrum of life, as much as we can to the extent of our individual and collective ability.[3]

Sadly few Christians have understood the issues regarding the battle we are in. Too few have been educated and motivated to engage the vain and hostile philosophies that are destroying people and our world. It is a battle of cosmic proportions--a life and death struggle over the minds and souls of people for all eternity.

The apologetic value should be clear. We are called to be vessels of truth--to both defend it and display it. But first we must abide in the One who is the Truth for apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:4-5). Jesus also says, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:31-32).

Chuck Colson, in his important new book, How Now Shall We Live?, writes, "The church's singular failure in recent decades has been the failure to see Christianity as a life system, or worldview, that governs every area of existance.” He goes on to say that

our failure to see Christianity as a comprehensive framework of truth has crippled our efforts to have a redemptive effect on the surrounding culture. At its most fundamental level, the so-called culture war is a clash of belief systems…Only when we see this can we effectively evangelize a post-Christian culture, bringing God's righteousness to bear in the world around us.[4]

Failing to understand Christian truth holistically results not only in not being able to adequately defend our faith to our neighbors, but it impedes us from recognizing or responding to the many life issues, questions, and challenges which bombard us and our children. We are not as able to organize our lives, and instead we allow our choices to be shaped by the world around us.

Current research demonstrates that the Christian Community is seriously anemic. For example, George Barna's research (www.barna.org) indicates that less than 50% of the "born again" Christian community have read through the New Testament completely and even less have read the whole Bible. Also, only 21% of "born-again" Christians are actively involved in a discipleship process. The result is that 56% of that population are not certain of the existence of absolute truth. And quite alarmingly the findings are 91% among "born-again" teenagers!

This research demonstrates that far too many Christians have compartmentalized their understanding and experience of the Christian faith. Less than 10% of believers utilize a biblical worldview as the basis for decision-making or behavior. Christians are almost as likely to buy a lottery ticket as a non-Christian. When surveyed about life goals and habits the "born-again" Christian community did not look much different from the non-believers. Only 8% tithe, and "living a comfortable lifestyle", and "having good physical health", ranked higher than "having a close personal relationship with God." Less than 20% had any specific measurable goals related to their personal spiritual development.

Why has this happened? Francis Schaeffer lectured us on this almost 20 years ago, and his largely unheeded prophetic exhortation continues to ring true:

Here is the great evangelical disaster--the failure of the evangelical world to stand for truth as truth. There is only one word for this--namely accommodation: the evangelical church as accommodated to the world spirit of this age. First there has been accommodation on Scripture, so that many who call themselves evangelicals hold a weakened view of the Bible and no longer affirm the truth of all the Bible teaches-- truth not only in religious matters, but in areas of science and history and morality"[5]

Schaeffer was referring mainly to the theological liberals which still heavily populate the visible church's pews and pulpits, but it also applies to conservatives who have compartmentalized their understanding and application of Christianity into an anti-intellectual, insipid pietism. A lack of serious attention to the study of the Bible, especially from a holistic worldview perspective, has impoverished the Christian and robbed him of much of his inheritance as well as contributing to the marginalization of the Church.

While Christians have become gradually disturbed over permissiveness, pornography, the public schools, the new age movement, cults, breakdown of the family, abortion, homosexuality (yet without equal concerns over consumerism and materialism), we have not seen the totality. That is, that each of these things is a part, a symptom, of a much larger problem. We have failed to see that all of this has come about due to a shift in worldview--that is, through a fundamental change in the overall way people think and view the world and life as a whole.

This is understandable for the unbeliever as he has no reference point but his own limited and fallen nature. For the Christian it is imperative that he resist the false dichotomy of the secular and sacred, realizing that true spirituality covers all of reality and that there is an entire worldview to engage.

Christianity is not just a series of truths but Truth in all matters. And the holding of that Truth intellectually, and then living out that Truth in an often inadequate way can bring forth not only certain bad personal results, but also bad societal and cultural results. Yet Christianity claims that the Bible explains the world in which we live (worldview), the origin and meaning of man's existence, and the basis for knowledge for all dimensions of society. Ideas have consequences in the way we live both in our personal lives and collectively in the culture. Apologetics has an integral place in the interconnections of philosophy, historical/Biblical/systematic theology, hermeneutics (rules of Bible interpretation) evangelism, ethics, and spiritual formation.

The Bible tells us to "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ" (Col. 2:8). Romans 12:1-2 emphasizes the need to holistically commit to Christ, and in that relationship to be transformed into our true nature in contrast to being pressed into the mold of the humanistic philosophies and patterns of the world. That requires a Christian worldview.

The most repeated and significant New Testament word for “world” is kosmos. It has several meanings: order, arrangement, and system. Another important dimension are the passages referring to human society as a system warped by sin. Jesus commands us to be in the world (to live redemptively in the fallen system), but to not be of that world. Instead we are to be sanctified in the truth, His word being that truth (Jn. 17:15-17).

We are to know that the world represents the systematic expression of human sin in human cultures. We are to defend the faith (Jude 3), and to do warfare against every human philosophy raised up against the true knowledge of God, taking every thought captive (discernment) to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:3-5; Heb. 5:12-14).

Let us heed the voice of God through Paul, "We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the true knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the true knowledge of God, strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might" (Col. 1:9-11). Hoffecker says it well,

Faced with the myriad of facts, experiences, ideas, and feelings that make up our awareness of reality, how do we make sense out of the world in which we live?…Attempts to discern order among the seeming chaos of our experience reflect a yearning to understand the world and man's place in it…Confronting these issues is more than a curriculum requirement--it is a prerequisite to consciously living out one's faith both privately and publicly. At stake is the survival of individual and social values that have given meaning and purpose to Western culture for centuries.[6]

The following articles in this issue of Radix can help close the gap between our wading in the shallows and our swimming in the deeper waters of our true calling. The Apologetics Resource Center's own Steve Cowan begins with a lucid exposition of a worldview, especially a Christian worldview. Steve expounds on the implications and applications of our worldview as it bears on our private and public life.

Next Dale R. Bowne and John D. Currid give a crucial theological study of the foundation of the Christian worldview in “Biblical Society: A Covenantal Society.” Bowne and Currid summarize their important article this way, "Both the old and new covenants provide social ideals to direct all the practical affairs of daily existence, whether government, economics, home and family matters, or ethical issues. All human relationships come under consideration in the divine-human covenant…What does it mean to be a citizen of God's kingdom while also being citizens of a national community? These are the kinds of questions that persist and require that we understand the biblical view of society as dynamic."

Next is Ervin Duggan's article titled "The Living Church". Building on David Wells’ article in our last issue, Duggan sets forth three arguments: "First, American culture is in decline and chaos because it has become unmoored from two noble traditions, one religious, one secular. Second, many Christian Churches, and many individual Christians, are responding to this cultural decline and chaos is disastrously ham-handed ways. And third, most importantly, the situation presents an exciting opportunity for Christians to do their work on earth more gently, shrewdly, and effectively."

And last we present Paul Cleveland's, "Do we Have the Right to be Treated Graciously?" Dr. Cleveland, economics professor at Birmingham Southern College, explores the Biblical role of government in displaying mercy and justice in society.

Be sure to take advantage of the book reviews and recommended books for your spiritual enrichment. Also pursue our list of free information packets and call us to provide an apologetics resource for you as you pursue your calling in redemptive engagement. And finally, we urge you to pray Col. 4:6 daily and see what God will do in and through you as you move in the center of His will.

[1] Building a Christian World View, Vol. 1: God, Man, and Knowledge, ed. W. Andrew Hoffecker (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1986), ix.

[2] David Nobels, Understanding the Times,

[3] Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live? (Westchester, Ill.: Crossway, 1976), 256.

[4] Charles Colson, How Now Shall We Live (Tyndale House, 1999), xii.

[5] Francis A. Schaeffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster (Westchester, Ill.: Crossway, 1984), 37.

[6] Hoffecker, Building a Christian World View, ix.

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