What is a worldview
A worldview is a picture of reality that completely unifies a person’s understanding of life. It determines how an individual organizes apparently scattered facts, events and experiences of this life into categories of thoughts, judgements and lifestyle. It is a framework from which people approach big questions about primary reality, the universe and human beings. A worldview has an immense influence in our life. Our worldview defines every aspect of reality for us and prescribe our relationship with them as individuals, groups or communities.

The Christian worldview
The Christian worldview is a biblical picture of reality that stretches from eternity to eternity. Christians understand all reality in the light of God and His self-disclosure in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as written in the Bible. This framework serves as the mental grid through which we process every idea, event and phenomenon in life. Four sequential themes that are captured in this picture are creation, disobedience, reconciliation and restoration.

Creation
At a specific point in eternity which we understand as the beginning,  God created the universe, human beings and all things. God gave human beings a dignified position in relation to  all other creation. He placed human beings in charge of all other creation. He endowed human beings with special attributes so that  we can live in harmony with His divine purposes. These attributes include intellect, emotion and capacities for communication, moral distinction, obedience and relationship with God and other people.  Collectively, these divine imprints  prepare human beings to live in the dignity that God confers on us.

Disobedience
The perfect  original created order was thrown into disarray by an act of willful disobedience on the part of the first two human beings, Adam and Eve. From this original human rebellion against God, sin spread to all creation. Consequently the harmony between God and all creation was fundamentally disrupted. All human problems are direct consequences of this original sin. In our daily lives, we are inclined towards lifestyles that contradict and demean our original human dignity. We develop distorted views of our origin, our past, our present and our future. Our social institutions are equally disorganized by sin. We pursue systems of culture, politics, economics and education that  are not in harmony with God’s perfect design.

An effect of this original rebellion is particularly evident in our reckless and misdirected use of rationality. Our error-prone mind continually unleashes irrationalities in every branch of knowledge. Yet in the place of  autonomous omniscience promised by our natural intellect, scholars, and indeed all human beings, remain perpetually embarrassed by the sheer scale of the unknowable.

All creation is daily afflicted by the results of sin and the choices that we make as individuals, communities and nations. As a  consequence of the original sin, our life on earth in this phase of eternity is capped with the tragedy of death, and for many, with a horrific prospect of continuing eternity as enemies of God.

Reconciliation
In this fallen state, human beings are doomed and incapable of finding their way back to God. In His mercy, God designed a  plan to reverse the consequences of sin and bring us back to Himself. God offered Himself in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to sort out the mess caused by Adam and Eve, our common ancestors.

This redemption plan in Christ Jesu reverses the catastrophic effects of sin in all creation. Jesus Christ opened the door for us to return to a right relationship with God. In Christ, humanity has the way back to God. Many people all over the world choose to receive this good news and pledge their allegiance to Jesus Christ. Many others choose to reject Him. They remain alienated from God.

This reconciliation phase of eternity is stamped with God’s patience. It is not His wish that any individual should remain  in the tragedy of the Fall. The offer for every person to be reconciled to God through Christ remains valid. However, in God’s plan, this period of grace will not last forever. It must end for the divine work programme  to be fully implemented.

Restoration
God created us as eternal and immortal beings. Life here on earth is not the end of it all. There is going to be a grand completion of God’s plan for this phase of eternity. The conflict between our fallen humanity and the redeemed nature will not remain forever.  God will restore the full glory that humanity lost through sin. In His appointed time, God will bring this redemption phase to a close in order for our victory over sin and Satan to be fully celebrated.

Conclusion
The Christian worldview is the true intellectual basis for your studies as a believer. Only the Christian worldview makes logical sense of the past, explains the present and refocuses the future in a single truth claim. The process of intellectual maturity for you as a Christian student involves a continuous discovery of how all questions and answers about life fit into the biblical Christian worldview.

Knowledge of the Christian worldview helps you to detect direct and subtle attacks on your faith in any subject. It  gives you focus, boldness and confidence. When you are thoroughly familiar with the Christian worldview, you can easily handle all attacks against your faith in the classroom.

Tom Th.

See related topics: Encountering non-Christian worldviews in your courses: Part 1: Naturalism  and  Part 2: Postmodernism.