John Fischer's thoughts on worldview...
My opinion on Relevant magazine has changed quite frequently; after reading a friend's, I decided to begin subscribing even though sometimes I wish I had not. While I am not aligned with many of the perspectives the magazine represents, I do glean truth from some points. And I am constantly examining what I read through scripture and through my personal Christian worldview...ahem...
John Fischer has written some, to the more conservative Christian, quite challenging articles. His words, dependent upon interpretation of his statements, are loaded with the implications of postmodern philosophies. Fischer writes on worldview in the January/February issue of Relevant:
"If our worldview is informed by the Bible (which we believe is truth), it is necessary that we agree with other worldviews because they could not exist if they didn't account for at least some of the truth. Put another way: The Bible agrees with the way things are. Other worldviews must also agree to some extent with the way things are, or else they would be alien to our lives and our culture. To a point, a proper Christian worldview should be comfortable around other worldviews and also be open to where another point of view can inform ours.
As Christians, we need to abandon the concept that we are right and everyone else is wrong. It is simply not true, and it drives a wedge between us and those to whom Christ has sent us. We need to be able to find areas of agreement with other worldviews and also be open to where another point of view can inform ours."
I don't know how to interpret Fischer's words. I do not personally know him. However, I believe the core of these statements to be damaging to a true Biblical Christian worldview. Is it not true that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing? Are we not told repeatedly in the Bible that the messenger of God's truth carries an offensive word and we will meet opposition? This is the danger I mean when I see Lee's mission statement which says "All truth is God's truth, no matter where it's found." This statement must be further clarified if we are to uphold a Biblical worldview.
More to come... what do you think of Fischer's perspective? I was hoping the article would be at www.relevantmagazine.org yet it is not. However, Sigur Ros is featured on their site right now.... wow.... how relevant is too relevant?
the task.... to define my personal worldview
(a paper I wrote on my personal worldview... I will be adding to the thoughts of this paper as the course moves along...)
Understanding what a worldview is, yet not knowing how to begin to describe my own, I went to the faithful Webster’s for help; the dictionary defines worldview as both “the overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world” and “a collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.” In pondering my own set of beliefs and perspective on the world, it seems to me only natural to return to the place of the initial shaping of my view on life… the home. One’s immediate family plays an important role in the shaping of a person’s worldview.
All of my life I have listened to my mother answer the phone with the phrase “Jesus is Lord!” At first I thought it was normal; when I learned it was not how every other mom answered the phone I was mortified and asked her to stop. Many people have called our home and, believing that they have dialed the wrong number, they hang up. This phrase is at the core of my mother’s worldview and, even on a very practical level, governs everything she does. Growing up in a home where Jesus as Lord was unabashedly proclaimed and the truth of the Bible was taught, my worldview was shaped through this set of beliefs.
I have many beliefs which influence the way in which I view the world. To break it down to the bare essentials, I believe that there exists a God. I believe that Jesus Christ, as the son of God and therefore deity, actually took on human flesh to die for the sins of the world. At the center of my beliefs about God is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The root of my beliefs is found in the Bible, which I believe to be the true will of God. The essential question of one’s worldview are two questions: “What do you view as truth?” and “How does one come to know the truth?”
Even further at the center of this worldview is the truth which exists concretely, stands alone, and governs the universe. In the closing paragraph of Lee University’s mission statement, there lays a statement loaded with implications; “truth is truth, wherever it is found.” While I am in agreement with this statement, I feel that further specification should be made in order to defend Truth. There are universal truths. For example, I may be able to glean wisdom from a Hindu’s practices and beliefs; but the ‘truth’ I find there is lacking unless it leads to the knowledge that, apart from Christ, a religion is leading to eternity without God. To further illustrate my point, I turn to C.S. Lewis. In his fictional work The Great Divorce, Lewis allows us to hear dialogue of two characters’ discussion on truth:
“For me there is no such thing as a final answer. The free wind of inquiry must always
continue to blow through the mind, must it not? ‘Prove all things’…to travel hopefully is
better than to arrive.” to which the other responds, “If that were true, and known to be
true, how could anyone travel hopefully? There would be nothing to hope for.”
A popular phrase in our present culture has become “I am comfortable with questions as answers.” While I would never deny that there are many questions with which we cannot form definite answers (‘now I know in part; then I shall know fully’, I Cor. 3:12), and to try to form answers to some questions would be overstepping our boundaries as finite beings, I do cling tightly to the truth I know to be revealed through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. Yet the truth is messy and not easily packaged into a nice little gift-wrapped box. To attempt to do so would deny that God seeks us out and reaches different people in different ways.
I believe in a God-centered theology as truth; that all men were created to glorify God forever. But the very real truth which is in Scripture is that men cannot come to know their Savior through nature; they must hear the truth of the gospel. At the very center of my worldview is that those who are apart from Christ are perishing, and therefore I will answer the call to make disciples. This is the main truth which governs the Christian worldview with which I live.
an introduction....
My intent is to use this blog as both a place for personal reflection in my own writing style in order to share my journey with you , a memoir if you will, as well as a portion of a cummulative project for my Capstone course at Lee University which involves the integration of faith and learning (as a Spanish major, this course is more specifically called Linguistics & Faith).
I will post usually once or twice per week in response to readings from the course as well as other materials I come across in regards to the concept of "worldview" and what my personal worldview is. As I attempt to define my personal worldview as well as my mission statement, This blog may also include from time to time my joys and frustrations of student teaching as well as my struggle to discern what to do after graduation from Lee in May.
Because so much of learning is dialogue, I welcome your comments!
