Lecture

 3.2
TM

Worldview  as  a  Concept

Andy Bannister

Everybody has a worldview… Your worldview generates the basic assumptions that you Notes
bring to the questions of life, to the decisions you make, to the opinions you form, and to
the conclusions you draw.

Basic  questions  about  reality

Origin- where did I come from? What does it mean to be human?

Meaning- is there purpose to life?

Morality – how should I live? Is there an objective right and wrong?

Destiny – where ultimately am I headed?

Addressing  worldviews

Put competing worldviews to the test

-­‐   How does it answer those basic questions?

-­‐   Internally consistent?

-­‐   Correspond to reality?

-­‐   Is it livable?  

Choosing a worldview

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ideologies… which worldview you choose could have profound consequences

Looking at two major competing worldviews: Atheism and Islam

“Contrast  is  the  mother  of  clarity.”1  –  Os  Guinness

Lecture 3.2 Worldview as a Concept Andy Bannister 1

Origins Notes
Atheism: only materialism exists – no god, no spiritual, no supernatural
-­‐   Cause: We don’t know.

-­‐   Gravity itself caused it from nothing…

 “Spontaneous  creation  is  the  reason  there  is  something  

rather  than  nothing;  why  the  universe  exists,  why  we  exist.    
It  is  not  necessary  to  invoke  God  to  light  the  blue  touch  
paper  to  set  the  universe  going.”2  –  Stephen  Hawking

-­‐   Humans are merely physical – no soul, no spirit

Islam: universe created from nothing by an all powerful creator

-­‐   But God is ultimately unknowable

“Attempting  to  explain  mental  activity  in  terms  of  physical  activity  is  
circular,  because  science  itself  depends  on  mental  activity.”3  –  Rupert  
Sheldrake

“The  religious  impulse,  the  quest  for  meaning  that  transcends  the  
restricted  space  of  empirical  existence  in  this  world,  has  been  a  
perennial  feature  of  humanity.”4  –  Peter  Berger

Meaning

Atheism

-­‐   No meaning. “There is no such thing as a why question.”

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-­‐   One day it all will end

DzǥŽ›‘–Š‡ϐ‹”ˆ‘—†ƒ–‹‘‘ˆ—›‹‡Ž†‹‰†‡•’ƒ‹”ǡ…ƒ–Š‡•‘—Žǯ•
habitation  henceforth  be  safely  built.”5  –  Bertrand  Russell

Islam

-­‐   God gave the universe meaning and purpose

-­‐   Obey God – good deeds outweigh our bad deeds

Christianity

-­‐   Glorify God and come to know him. Relationship is our very
purpose – the meaning of life.

Lecture 3.2 Worldview as a Concept Andy Bannister 2

Morality   Notes
Atheism

-­‐   Struggled with naturalistic morality. Some say it doesn’t exist.

“The  universe  we  observe  has  precisely  the  properties  we  

should  expect  if  there  is,  at  bottom,  no  design,  no  purpose,  no  
evil  and  no  good,  nothing  but  blind,  pitiless  indifference.”6  –  
Richard  Dawkins

-­‐   Michael Ruse and Edward O. Wilson: Morality is an illusion

“Pure,  practical  reason,  even  with  a  good  knowledge  of  the  

facts,  will  not  take  you  to  morality.”7  –  Kai  Nielsen

Islam

-­‐   God has commanded right and wrong – will of Allah. But we
can’t ask why. Both of them fail to be satisfactory.

We all seem to have a very real experience of morality.

In Islam Allah’s commands are arbitrary – not objectively good

Christianity

-­‐   God is goodness itself.

Destiny

Atheism – Death and then… nothing.

Islam – Heaven and Hell exist, but humans remain always uncertain.

Christianity

Revelation  21
Heaven  is  about  the  whole  of  reality  being  transformed.    The  Bible  
speaks  of  new  heavens,  a  new  earth,  and  that  those  who  trusted  
Christ  will  be  resurrected,  with  new  bodies.    God  and  humankind  
will  once  again  be  in  close  relationship…  We  shall  see  face  to  face.  

Lecture 3.2 Worldview as a Concept Andy Bannister 3

 Most  people  don’t  need  a  what  –  a  philosophical  answer  –  most  of  us  are   Notes
actually  looking  for  a  WHO.

The impact of Jesus’ claims and identity

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Meaning – There is a purpose in life.

Morality ¯.IWYWHMHWSQIXLMRKXS½\XLIIZMPMRXLILYQERLIEVX

Destiny – At the resurrection God is beginning to remake all of creation

2 Timothy 1:12

DzŠ”‹•–‹ƒ‹–›ǥ‹ˆˆƒŽ•‡ǡ‹•‘ˆ‘‹’‘”–ƒ…‡ǡƒ†ǡ‹ˆ–”—‡ǡ‘ˆ‹ϐ‹‹–‡‹’‘”–ƒ…‡Ǥ
The  only  thing  it  cannot  be  is  moderately  important.”8  –  C.  S.  Lewis  

Dz–‹•ǯ–•‹’Ž›–Šƒ––Š‡‰‘•’‡Ž‘ˆ ‡•—•‘ˆˆ‡”•—•ƒ”‡Ž‹‰‹‘—•‘’–‹‘™Š‹…Š
…ƒ‘—–†‘‘–Š‡””‡Ž‹‰‹‘—•‘’–‹‘•ǡ–Šƒ–…ƒϐ‹ŽŽ‘”‡‡ˆˆ‡…–‹˜‡Ž›–Š‡•Ž‘–
labeled  religion  on  a  cultural  and  social  smorgasbord.    The  Gospel  of  
‡•—•’‘‹–•—•ƒ†‹†‡‡†‹–—”‰‡•—•–‘„‡ƒ––Š‡Ž‡ƒ†‹‰‡†‰‡‘ˆ–Š‡
whole  culture,  articulating  in  story  and  music  and  art  and  philosophy  and  
education  and  poetry  and  politics  and  theology  a  worldview  which  will  
mount  the  historically  rooted  Christian  challenge  to  both  modernity  and  
post-­‐modernity,  leading  the  way  into  the  post-­‐postmodern  world  with  joy  
and  humor  and  gentleness  and  good  judgment  and  true  wisdom…And  if  the  

‘•’‡Ž‘ˆ ‡•—•‹•‘––Š‡‡›–‘–Š‹•–ƒ•ǡ–Š‡™Šƒ–‹•ǫdz9  –  N.  T.  Wright

(Endnotes)
1    Os  Guinness,  Š‡ƒŽŽǣ ‹†‹‰ƒ† —Žϔ‹ŽŽ‹‰–Š‡‡–”ƒŽ—”’‘•‡‘ˆ‘—”‹ˆ‡  (Nashville:  W  Publishing  
Group,  2003),  viii.

2    Stephen  Hawking  and  Leonard  Mlodinow,  The  Grand  Design  (New  York:  Bantam  Books,  2010),  180.

3    Rupert  Sheldrake,  Morphic  Resonance:  The  Nature  of  Formative  Causation  (Rochester,  VT:  Inner  
Traditions  and  Bear  &  Co.,  2009),  15.

4    Peter  L.  Berger,  “The  Desecularization  of  the  World:  A  Global  Overview,”  in  The  Desecularization  of  
–Š‡‘”Ž†ǣ‡•—”‰‡–‡Ž‹‰‹‘ƒ†‘”Ž†‘Ž‹–‹…•ǡed.  Peter  L.  Berger  (Grand  Rapids:  Wm.  B.  Eerdmans  
Publishing,  1999),  13.

ͷ ‡”–”ƒ†—••‡ŽŽǡDz ”‡‡ƒǯ•‘”•Š‹’ǡdz‹Why  I  Am  Not  a  Christian,  ed.  P.  Edwards  (New  York:  Simon  
&  Schuster,  1957),  p.  107.

6    Richard  Dawkins,  River  Out  of  Eden  (London:  Weidenfeld  &  Nicolson,  1995),  133.

͹ ƒ‹‹‡Ž•‘ǡDzŠ›Š‘—Ž†‡‘”ƒŽǫdz‡”‹…ƒŠ‹Ž‘•‘’Š‹…ƒŽ—ƒ”–‡”Ž›  21  (1984):  90.

8    C.S.  Lewis,  God  in  the  Dock,  ed.  Walter  Hooper  (Grand  Rapids:  Wm.  B.  Eerdmans  Publishing  Co.,  1970),  
101.

9    N.  T.  Wright,  The  Challenge  of  Jesus  (Downers  Grove,  Ill.:  InterVarsity  Press,  1999),  196.

Lecture 3.2 Worldview as a Concept Andy Bannister 4