During no other time in history have people had as much access to information as today. Digital tools like Google and AI answer questions instantly, and social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube allow people to share their opinions and beliefs widely and freely. This fast-paced, information-guzzling world makes it increasingly difficult to know what is real and true. For example, should people trust the opinions of people whose videos social media algorithms serve up? Can people believe the answers AI spits out don’t have bias? Is it wise to rely on social media influencers, especially non-believers, to interpret the Bible for us?
Growing up in an information-fueled generation has benefits. It also has drawbacks. On the one hand, studying and learning can be done with ease and efficiency. On the other hand, not all information comes from trusted sources. That’s why it’s imperative to have critical thinking and discernment skills to determine what is from God and what is not. The Worldview Prepared Curriculum helps kids to do that.
Critical thinking skills and discernment are similar, but also different. They are similar in that they both involve evaluating ideas and making judgments or conclusions about them. They differ in that critical thinking skills help evaluate ideas and make decisions about them based on objective or fact-based, logical assumptions and reasoning. For Christians, the Bible is our guide for objective truth and the facts about reality. To exercise critical thinking skills, we evaluate ideas by comparing them logically to what the Bible says. Discernment, however, is the ability to make wise assessments and judgments with clarity and insight about whether something is biblical or not. To have discernment, a Christian must have a knowledge and understanding of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
To filter through ideas on your social media feeds and AI search responses, or to even consider the ideas of friends and neighbors, a Christian needs to think biblically about them through the lens of a Biblical Worldview using critical thinking and discernment skills. An easy and effective way to do this is by using our four worldview questions to answer details about a particular worldview and then compare and contrast the answers to the Biblical Worldview answers. This requires critical thinking skills. When you see these various worldview ideas in your social media or news feeds, you will use discernment to quickly determine if they are biblical or not.
WHAT IS THE NATURALISM WORLDVIEW?
Naturalism is the worldview of science. Whether through a microscope or a telescope, this worldview is about what can be physically seen. Think black holes and galaxies, the trees and the mountains, or the human cell and DNA. Whether vast or nanosized, if it can be seen, it’s real, according to this worldview.
The Science Worldview, or Naturalism, based solely on logical thought and reason, excludes any possibility of a spiritual world or supernatural being. Believers of this worldview are, by definition, atheists since they don’t believe in God or even the chance there could be one. As such, this science-focused worldview, at times, includes a lot of guesswork and speculation to develop its scientific theories.
Science is the religion for this worldview. It only focuses on what can be detected in our universe: space, time, matter, and energy. With the theory of the Big Bang explosion (aka a cosmic accident) sending matter and energy expanding in all directions, this worldview, without any concrete evidence, proposes that some of that matter eventually evolved into man over the course of billions of years.
For the Naturalism Worldview, a cosmic accident answers the first worldview question, “Who or what created the world, including humans, and why are we here?”
According to the authors of Making Sense of Your World, since this worldview suggests the universe was accidentally created and there is no purpose behind creation, many followers of Naturalism either live:
- Hedonistic lives, meaning they pursue pleasure and self-indulgence, or they
- Create meaning in their lives by activating around causes related to the earth,
That is why many proponents of this worldview focus on oceans and climate—because in this belief system, the earth is the most important thing. It is the only reason they believe life exists since they don’t believe in a Creator who created and sustains the earth and humankind.
The Biblical Worldview Perspective:
The most fundamental difference between the Biblical and the Naturalism Worldviews is on the topic of Creation, specifically the first worldview question of who or what created the world and humans. Since proponents of Naturalism don’t believe in a divine Creator, essentially, they believe there is no real purpose or meaning in our existence so everything is up to individual’s control or response, or natural occurrences. Whereas, the Bible is clear that creation (the universe, nature, trees, humans, animals) is evidence of a Creator. The Bible says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
WHAT IS THE TRANSCENDENTAL WORLDVIEW?
Transcendentalism is just as hard to spell as it is to say. That’s why we’ll call it the Spirituality Worldview for now. This worldview shows up in a lot of ways in our culture today. From fortune tellers, tarot cards, voodoo, and Ouija boards to intense meditation and manifestations to spirit animals, these practices focus on non-biblical ideas of seeing and altering the future, contacting the spirit world, emptying the mind, and more. Whether it’s the darker side of the Spirituality Worldview or the more contemplative side of the movement, they all have common core beliefs, which is why they are sorted into this worldview.
In many ways, this worldview is the opposite of the Science Worldview (aka Naturalism). Instead of logic and reason, it focuses on emotions, feelings, and the inner self. The supernatural or spiritual world is more real in this worldview than the natural one that we can see, and life is a journey to figure out the enlightened path to inner awareness, healing, and connection.
According to the authors of Making Sense of Your World, everything’s connected in this Spirituality Worldview, including people, animals, and nature. It’s one extensive universal network where all of us are one. The universe is supreme and often thought of like God, so thanking the universe has become popular. Energy, vibrations, and chakras are common vocabulary, especially for New Agers, and are an immediate flag to identify this belief system.
Self-realization is the goal and divinity is found within for this worldview…just look inside yourself, empty your mind, and the answers will appear, which answers our third worldview question, “what can we do to make the world better and fix what evil has messed up?”
For this worldview, eternity happens through reincarnation, and the purpose of life is to constantly evolve spiritually in the natural world to reach more spiritual awareness and enlightenment, especially for popular religions that fall under this worldview, including Buddhism and Hinduism. This worldview has a continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
A common social cause of this worldview is animal rights because they believe in the oneness found in all living things including nature, humans, and animals. New Age, Wicca, and many Native American religious beliefs also fall into this Worldview.
The Biblical Worldview Perspective:
A primary difference between the Biblical & Transcendentalism Worldview is the topic of Redemption, which is part three of the Biblical Worldview. The Transcendentalism Worldview is ultimately focused on one’s self for inner healing, peace, and enlightenment, which is also considered a self-fulfilling salvation. The Biblical Worldview tells us; however, that only Jesus can offer salvation through His shed blood on the cross because humans are sinful and incapable of saving themselves from sin. Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
WHAT IS THE POSTMODERN WORLDVIEW?
The Postmodern Worldview can also be referred to as the Social Justice Worldview. As the name implies, this worldview is post (after) the modern era, which was the era of science, facts, and evidence, and the time when the Naturalism Worldview was most common in culture. The Postmodern Worldview has now emerged in our culture as a driving force and is one of the most prominent worldview’s shaping people’s belief systems.
Since our culture is in the postmodern era, there’s less focus on facts and more focus on people’s perspectives, biases, experiences, and feelings. Rather than focusing on the natural or supernatural world to understand life, this worldview is concerned with society and, most specifically, the impact of power structures in society.
This perspective holds the belief that these power structures have led to the oppression, or unjust treatment, of certain groups of people, which answers our second worldview question for the Postmodern Worldview, “Why does evil exist, and what is considered evil?”
In this worldview, according to the authors of Making Sense of Your World, truth does not have an objective standard (i.e., true for everyone) because each person determines their truth based on their culture, family dynamics, religion, socio-economic status, where they grew up, etc. In other words, truth is considered subjective.
Incorporating the ideas of Critical Theory, which focuses on the effects of power dynamics on a society, this worldview hyper-focuses on the evils of injustice and oppression, and the power structures believed to cause it. In this belief system, the world consists of those in power (aka the oppressors) and those who do not have power (aka the oppressed). From this perspective, people in power constructed, or built up, society in a certain way, known as social constructs. The only way to overturn those power structures and social constructs (think gender and the justice system) is to deconstruct or tear them down in society. In other words, it is necessary to break down the systems created by power structures, typically considered to be the “patriarchy,” which is defined as a male-dominated society.
This worldview exclusively concerns itself with creating social justice, or what it considers fairness and equal rights, for what it deems as minority or marginalized communities spanning race, LGBTQ+, women, and socio-economic status. They rally around issues surrounding these communities, like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
The Biblical Worldview Perspective:
The easiest way to identify the differences between the Biblical Worldview and the Postmodern one is through the topic of evil and redemption, which are covered under the Fall and Redemption as part of the Biblical Worldview. The postmodern worldview suggests that the only evil in the world is that those with power oppress those without power, and to make things right, or redeem society, we must change the power dynamic so that those without power gain power over those with power. Whereas the Biblical Worldview says that evil in the world is based on sin, and that to overcome sin we must have a Savior, Jesus Christ. When true Biblical oppression does occur, like treating some unfairly purposefully, it would be considered a sin because all people are made in the image of God and this goes against God’s design. The remedy is repentance, forgiveness, and making the change to treat people fairly.
WHAT IS THE THEISM WORLDVIEW?
The overarching worldview of Christians, Jews, and Muslims can be referred to as the Submitted Worldview, or to use the more technical term, Theism. This worldview hinges on the belief that there is a God who is personal and accessible, according to the authors of Making Sense of Your World.
God created the world and humankind as finite beings who had a beginning and did not evolve, which answers our first worldview question, “Who or what created the world, including humans?
God has authority over all, and our role is to obey and worship Him. In this worldview, people only live once, and God’s judgment determines each person’s eternity at death. Followers of this worldview believe in both the supernatural and the natural, the invisible and the visible.
Since this worldview holds that God is the Creator of human life, the typical social cause of this belief system is human rights. It is why, for example, Christians have always been at the forefront of issues like ending abortion and human trafficking.
The Biblical Worldview Perspective:
Just because the Biblical Worldview fits much of the parameters of the overarching Theism Worldview, it does not mean they are synonymous. Let’s learn their primary difference.
The Biblical (Christian) Worldview and other religions that fall under the Theism Worldview diverge at one critical point of the Biblical Worldview: Redemption. If the religion does not hinge on Jesus Christ being Lord & Savior, fully God and fully human, who was raised from the dead and whose blood atones for the sins of all those who believe and follow, then it does not align with Christianity.
While there are major world religions that fall under the Theism Worldview, like Judaism and Islam, it’s important to recognize that none but Christianity hold to the foundational biblical truth that Jesus is Lord and Savior. “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)
