My Worldview: A Start

What is a worldview? 

A worldview is a person’s core attitudes, beliefs, and values. A worldview is a conceptual framework of our foundational beliefs through which we can filter all ideas, keeping or tossing them as we decide. We can either assimilate them into our worldview; or, if it is warranted, we can adjust our worldview to fit the new truth(s) that we have learned. We can also reject them.

In this post, I will begin to build my written worldview statement by answering some questions asked of us in Chapter 2 of Homeschool Psych (Dr. Tim Rice, D.Min., LPC).

What do you believe about God? 

I believe God is the One and Only God, triune (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). I believe He created everything and sustains everything. I believe that He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and omnipresent.  I believe His character is perfect and that, whatever He is, He is without limit (forgiving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, merciful, just, light, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, etc.). I believe He made us and, when man fell into sin, He provided a Way to restore us through the sacrifice of His Son. I believe He is our loving Father, has and will provide for our every need, and is our life. I believe His grace saved me and is working in me to bring my behavior into alignment with the new creation that He has made me to be since my salvation.

What do you believe about the nature of Mankind? 

I believe that, due to Adam and Eve’s disobedience, Mankind is born into sin, spiritually dead. He has a sinful nature that requires death as payment for his sin. Unless man is redeemed by Christ through repentance and belief in Him and is granted spiritual and eternal life, he will die in his sin and go to hell.

What do you believe about moral absolutes? 

I believe there are moral absolutes. I believe those absolutes are decided by God, not by man. I believe the Holy Word of God explains what God’s moral expectations are and that He expects obedience to them. I believe that those who are unredeemed will have eternal consequences for their disobedience to those God-ordained moral absolutes. I believe that every person will have earthly consequences for the same disobediences. I believe that Jesus came to save us and give us life to the full and that following God’s moral absolutes and all His ways leads to the experiencing of an abundant life because He is wise about the best way to live. 

What do you think causes mental pain and suffering? 

I believe our own wrongdoing or sin or rebellion against God’s moral absolutes results in earthly consequences (mental pain and suffering) and often eternal consequences (suffering in hell). Simply put, we make poor and, frequently, evil choices. I also believe mankind has an enemy who delights in orchestrating events in our lives that cause mental, emotional, and physical pain and suffering. For believers, he would see us in pain and suffering to keep us from being effective in ministering to and winning souls for Christ. For unbelievers, he hopes to keep people from accepting God’s free offer of salvation to all who repent and believe in the finished work of His Son on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, so that they will not accept God’s grace and will spend eternity in hell. (He hates God and wants to hit Him where it hurts the most. So, he goes after His most prized creation, His beloved children.) I believe that same enemy has servants in the realm of humanity who also enjoy causing others mental, emotional, and physical pain and suffering. In addition to all this, I believe some mental/emotional pain and suffering can be due to chemical imbalances in the brain that affect the way a person thinks, feels, and, therefore, acts. In these cases, it may be necessary for a person to take medication to correct this imbalance.

I believe God, in His sovereignty and grace, uses pain and suffering, no matter its origin, to grow our character and make us more like Jesus, while He also goes about working everything out for our good and His glory.

Describe the faith/science dichotomy. Do you believe there is a dichotomy between science and a Christian worldview? Explain your answer.

A)      The faith/science dichotomy is the argument that faith and science are diametrically opposed fields of study, with completely differing worldviews and have no active bearing upon one another. In other words, the Bible and science are enemies.

B)      I believe that there is no dichotomy between true faith and true science. God created all things. He fashioned this world and keeps it going. He knows exactly how it works because it is His invention. He is the designer. The Bible is all true and is His gift to us. It  explains how He operates as well as giving many clues about how the world He made operates.  Therefore, if I interpret His Word correctly and if the science is correct in its interpretation of the object being studied, there will be an agreement between the two.