Transcript What is a worldview?

Age of Faith
God governed the universe.
“Knowledge was divine light
infused into man by God.”
-Augustine
Age of Reason
Knowledge not of divine origin, discovered
naturally
Natural law works without God
The idea of a spiritual universe is replaced
by the idea of the world as a machine
Worldview as glasses . . .
 Pair of glasses that filters what you see
 Some elements are in focus
 Some elements are blurry
 Some disappear completely
What is a
worldview?
Religious
Nonreligious
Religious
 Allows or embraces supernatural concepts of
the general order of existence
 Important throughout recorded history
 Universal spirit, god, deity
 Established moral order that can be known
 People have duty to follow moral dictates
 Human conduct has significance beyond death
Nonreligious
 In general, a nonreligious worldview is
absent supernatural interpretations.
 A nonreligious framework for human living
is void of any divine entity or deity’s
involvement in human life or of
considerations of existence after
death. Perspectives on morality are
naturalistic.
www.teachingaboutreligion.org
“A worldview consists of basic
assumptions and images that
provide a more or less coherent
though not necessarily accurate,
way of thinking about the world.” . . .
More than culture . . .
 A.F.C. Wallace (1970) noted, “ A
worldview is the very skeleton of
concrete cognitive assumptions on which
the flesh of customary behavior is hung.”
Developing a worldview
 Takes shape over time
 Based upon experiences and
surroundings
 Family has powerful influence in
formative years
 Media has growing influence in present
culture