Everyone has some type of worldview, but Christians are to hold a biblical worldview, which means that every decision and action should be shaped by the Truth that was from the beginning—Jesus Christ. The question to consider is not whether you have a worldview, but rather, is your worldview true? If Christians don’t use discernment, we can allow popular worldviews to confuse us. BJU Press is committed to upholding a biblical worldview in education. We also want to help you, as a homeschool parent or educator, understand different worldviews so you can help shape a biblical worldview in your children and make informed decisions about the curriculum you use.
what is a worldview?
A worldview is a set of core beliefs, assumptions, and values that emerge from a narrative about the world and produce individual and group actions that shape human culture. This worldview definition can be divided into three parts: core beliefs, a master story, and action. every worldview you evaluate will contain these elements.
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origin: worldview comes from the German word weltanshauung. welt means “world” and anschauung means “point of view”, “opinion”, or “perception”.
what is a biblical worldview?
a biblical worldview (or a christian worldview) is a worldview based on the unchanging word of god. Since God is the creator of everything in heaven and earth, he is the standard for truth. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and immutable.
the bible contains the words of god, and god is the truth. therefore, we can trust what he says (John 17:17). 2 Timothy 3:16 states that “all scripture is inspired by God.” Inspiration means that God “breathed it out.” the holy spirit guided and directed humans to write and preserve their words through scriptures.
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A biblical worldview is not just a theoretical idea. A biblical worldview changes the way we respond to major events in the world. how do you respond to a natural disaster? how do you respond to traffic? what do you do if your fast food order is wrong? how do you respond to a terrorist attack? what is our response to political turmoil? someone with a biblical worldview is going to respond to these events through the lens of scripture. While others may see their worldview shaken after a disaster, a Christian will respond with confidence in the wisdom of God, confidence in the future return of Christ, and zeal to spread the gospel.
Christians don’t rely on a biblical worldview only when important events happen. A biblical worldview informs how Christians prioritize their time and money, respond to leadership, raise their children, and respond to hurtful words and comments. God’s word is a guide for all life.
other examples of worldviews
- Secular worldview: A secular worldview teaches that beliefs are a matter of personal preference, not absolute truth. truth in a secular worldview comes from reason and science.
- scientific worldview (scientific naturalism): Our biblical worldview textbook defines a scientific worldview as “a worldview which holds that there is nothing but natural elements, principles, and relationships of the kind studied by the natural sciences (p 307).”
- postmodern worldview: postmodernism believes that there is no absolute truth. personal truth is determined by your upbringing and culture. believes that the truth is only used to repress and oppress the less powerful.
why is a biblical worldview important?
A biblical worldview is important because it is the only true worldview. If we reject the word of God, we do not see the world as it really is. think of a worldview as a pair of glasses. If you have broken or discolored lenses or the wrong prescription, you won’t see the world properly. A biblical worldview shows you the world as its creator intended. we would love to be able to see the world with perfect vision, but because of sin, our vision is distorted. Using a biblical worldview corrects our vision and helps us see the world through the theme of God’s redemption.
a biblical worldview versus a Christian worldview
When people discuss a Christian worldview, they often mean a biblical worldview. however, the characteristics of a Christian worldview may not be biblical at times. The biblical term to describe a worldview means that the philosophy is consistent with the scriptures and can be tested by the scriptures. In discussing these two terms, Christian can describe the Christian religion, its branches, and all of its denominations, not necessarily individual believers who are followers of Christ. Human actions and human organizations may or may not align with what the Bible teaches. Since we believe that the Bible is the ultimate authority—always—we prefer to use the term biblical worldview in our curriculum rather than Christian worldview. we want to make it clear that our worldview must be based on scripture and not tradition. while tradition may be important and useful, it is not our authority.
what does worldview mean in religion?
everyone has a worldview, whether religious or not. however, a religious person’s worldview is easier to see and describe, so religious people can be more open about their worldview. for example, those who are deists, theists, or pantheists have aligned themselves with a set of beliefs or a group of people who think the same way. many non-religious or secular people do not believe they have a worldview. but even if someone thinks all beliefs or opinions are valid, that’s their worldview!
how to determine your worldview
Your beliefs, actions, and worldview define your worldview. here are some questions to ask when defining your worldview:
- what are your basic beliefs?
- this is what we call the head and heart system. your world view affects how you think about things. why do you think murder is wrong? Why is kindness important? what happens after this life? your worldview is what determines your answers to these questions.
- a worldview is not just intellectual, it also influences your feelings and desires. That you love? what are you passionate about? our heart can tell us a lot about our worldview. but hearts, or emotions, can make a worldview inconsistent, wrong, and sometimes perverse.
- A person’s worldview also determines how he interprets the past, present, and future. A worldview tells the story of where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. this master story can also be called a metanarrative. How we tell stories matters, and how we view the world’s big story determines which stories we value and, more importantly, the stories we tell our children.
- The way we see the world also affects the way we live. people’s actions are not isolated from what they believe. When talking about worldviews, it can be easy to focus on the high-level intellectual aspects, but if a worldview doesn’t change the way we live, do we really believe the worldview we affirm? beliefs always impact our actions.
culture and biblical worldview
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as we try to understand our own world view, we will find ourselves influenced by other people. These influences are part of our culture. culture is the way a group collectively perceives the world. culture unites us with others, and while it influences us, we can also influence it. but we must beware of external influences that do not align with the scriptures.
culture is not a bad thing; God I believe it! As we teach our children, we must teach them to see the world through the lens of God’s word. God created a good world. but sin entered the scene and as a result our hearts are crooked and turned away from god. The good news is that God redeemed us through his son! one day god will come again and rule the whole world. Until then, the culture will bear the marks of sin.
develop a biblical worldview
There are two main approaches to teaching a biblical worldview. The first approach presents evidence to convince people to change their worldview and encourages them to follow the evidence wherever it leads. however, we do not believe that this is the approach the Bible takes. belief helps us interpret the evidence, not the other way around. This second approach to teaching worldview is to put the Bible first. If you look at God’s word through the eyes of faith, you will begin to see life through a biblical worldview.
how to help your children think biblically
- starts at a young age! find age-appropriate resources that address issues your children are currently facing.
- teach them that scripture impacts every area of life. it’s easy to adopt the secular mindset that math and science have nothing to do with a biblical worldview. But the reality is that God’s Word impacts every area of our lives!
- As a parent or guardian, live your faith and beliefs in front of them. lead by example!
- find a community of like-minded believers who reinforce the biblical worldview you teach at home.
- give your children opportunities to practice living a biblical worldview. Doing practical applications for each subject shows children that God cares about math, grammar, and science.
- writing skills allow them to communicate well and clearly and show love and support. example: you could have your children write a letter to a homeless person in your church.
- mathematics skills teach children to solve problems and help them serve others . Example:You could use a lesson on fractions to bake cookies for a neighbor.
- Science teaches children to glorify God and reflect on his creation. example: Get a butterfly kit and watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly to show how amazing God’s creation is.
- Reading helps children understand other cultures and love other people better. example: Read stories from other cultures to show your children the beauty and diversity of humanity.
biblical worldview curriculum
A homeschool curriculum that teaches a biblical worldview can be a great support to you! At BJU Press, every textbook we create is based on a biblical worldview as its foundation. The biblical worldview is not something that can be simply labeled as a verse or an analogy: the Bible must be integrated into the learning. Whatever subject we teach, we want students to not only know what God says about it, but also apply the truth to their own lives.
While all of our courses teach from a Biblical Worldview, two of our Biblical courses are designed to teach students all of the Biblical principles and foundations that lead to a Biblical Worldview: Basics for a Biblical Worldview and a Biblical Worldview. our biblical curriculum is designed to first give students a knowledge of the scriptures and then give them the tools to live a biblical worldview.
It’s important to help children evaluate worldviews and discern lies from truth, but our biblical worldview curriculum isn’t focused simply on tearing down false worldviews. We don’t want children to simply know the arguments against postmodernism, scientific naturalism, or secularism; we want them to know what they believe and why they believe it. we want them to know the scriptures.
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