Transcript COSMOVISION

Haitian Culture
vs
Biblical Worldview
The Cultural Onion
(Donald Smith)
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Behavioural
Authority
Experience
The “Core”
The Cultural Onion
Behavior
The Twelve Languages of Culture:
Verbal
Written
Numeric
Pictorial
Artifactual
Audio
Kinesic
Optical
Tactile
Spatial
Temporal
Olfactory
Authority
The Cultural Onion
Ideologies
FORMAL Ideological Authorities :
Bible, Constitution, Creeds
Social structures
Compulsory Structures: governments
Voluntary Structures: clubs, churches
Peer Relations
Interpersonal Networks
Framework for physical survival
The cultural Onion
Experience
Historical
Environmental
Personal
The Core of Culture
 Determines
layers
the shape of the outer
 The heart and essence
Also called World view,
Core beliefs,
Themes
 Reproductive
of the culture.
The Core
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The core is invisible, hidden beneath
layers of defense
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The core is highly resistant to change
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The core changes very slowly,
measured in decades and generations
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The “open window” is through
personal experience.
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It is only by personally experiencing
God Himself in Christ,
that we can gain a new core,
(a new heart). 2 Cor 5:17; Rom: 12:2; Gal 5:16
The nature of a Worldview
The way one sees life and the world in
general.
 The set of beliefs adopted by someone on
the most fundamental questions of life.
 A mental structure allowing a person to
organize his/her basic beliefs.
 A map of life (The big picture).
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Why is Worldview important?
Ideas govern the world. We live within
systems.
 Beliefs come before behavior.
 One’s thinking significantly influence
his/her behavior.
 Teaching and Preaching must address the
fundamental questions.
 The call of the Bible to the renewing of the
mind (Rom 12:2)
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The elements in the development
of a worldview
• Religious Education/ or lack of
Family
 School
 Language
 Culture
 Social status/ economic status
 Personal Experience
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Big questions
a worldview has to address
Ultimate Reality
 Reality outside of
self
 Knowledge
 Origin
 Identity
 Place/“location”
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Morality
 Values
 Human Condition
 Solution
 History
 Destiny
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Major components
Concept of God
 Concept of réalité externe***
 Theory of knowledge
 Theory of values
 Concept of human nature
 Sense of history
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Christian theism
God: infinite, personal, perfect,
transcendent
 World: creation ex nihilo, real, dependent
 Knowledge: discovery, revelation
 Ethics: universal, objective, prescriptive,
based on God’s character
 Human: Imago Dei, rational, moral
 History: linear, designed by God
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