What is a "Christian worldview"?

[M30USA]

This is an open-ended question. I just saw the phrase "Christian worldview" used on television and it got me thinking. We tend to immediately make certain assumptions about a "Christian worldview" without even realizing it. So let's get specific. Can it mean something DIFFERENT to every Christisan? If not, then what are the criteria?

[HokeyReligions]

It means something different to everyone. Generalized its faith that Jesus was Christ the song of God. Thats my tame on it anyway.

 

I used to think that all Catholic churces were the same and that their services were almost identical. I remember making a comment that it would be comforting to know that anywhere you go in the world you could get the same Mass or service. Then someone on this board taught me a lot about Catholicism and I realized how narrow my views were. That made me think even more about all "Christ-based" religions and faiths. Because there are so many views - even within a single church - I don't see how there could be one single "Christian world view"

[HokeyReligions]

I don't like the auto spell on this phone.

 

I meant SON of God. And my TAKE on it..

[pie2]

I would say that each Christian has a different "worldview". Not to mention the countless denominations that have minor or major differences.

 

But there must be some things we can all agree on .

 

Like, maybe:

 

• There's a God.
  
• There's an afterlife.
  
• We sin.
  
• Jesus is holy and died for our sins.
  
• We must repent of our sins.
  
• If God really loves us, he will makes us financially prosperous. (heehee...j/k M30 )
  

[Esoteric Elf]

Jesus was Christ the song of God.

Beautiful misspelling. I like it. Sounds prosodic and metaphoric as opposed to prosaic.

[M30USA]

Beautiful misspelling. I like it. Sounds prosodic and metaphoric as opposed to prosaic.

 

Sounds like the "song of the Lamb" from Revelation:

 

"Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations..."

 

BTW, this section of verses proves that God is a musician, literally. It says that the saints played the song of the Lamb with harps. The harps were "given to them by God". That verse always struck me.

Edited May 31, 2013 by M30USA

[TheFinalWord]

This is an open-ended question. I just saw the phrase "Christian worldview" used on television and it got me thinking. We tend to immediately make certain assumptions about a "Christian worldview" without even realizing it. So let's get specific. Can it mean something DIFFERENT to every Christisan? If not, then what are the criteria?

 

The filter(s) we apply to reality. Paradigm, axioms...

 

The foundation should be the bible; however, growing in the Lord occurs through didactic as well as experiential learning (the Word is living and active and the Holy Spirit is a counselor).

 

So, yes, I believe it can mean something different b/c people have differing life experiences, gifts/talents/competencies, and levels of faith.

 

Cool thread BTW M30

[M30USA]

I would say that each Christian has a different "worldview". Not to mention the countless denominations that have minor or major differences.

 

But there must be some things we can all agree on .

 

Like, maybe:

 

• There's a God.
  
• There's an afterlife.
  
• We sin.
  
• Jesus is holy and died for our sins.
  
• We must repent of our sins.
  
• If God really loves us, he will makes us financially prosperous. (heehee...j/k M30 )
  

 

LOL!

 

Okay I will be dead honest. I started to read that last bullet and was just about to shake my head...until I saw you were joking. I've been pinned, figured out. Why do I even bother posting anymore?

[pie2]

So, yes, I believe it can mean something different b/c people have differing life experiences, gifts/talents/competencies, and levels of faith.

 

Cool thread BTW M30

 

Yes! I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if even in heaven we'll all have our own views and experiences. Maybe all things will be revealed to us, but God will be the one and only who can have a truly singular "worldview". I mean, maybe he can view everything in an omniscient way, while we'll always have limited views based on our own experiences?

 

:)

 

I agree (though I'm not making much sense, lol), cool thread .

[pie2]

I've been pinned, figured out.

 

Lol, hardly! (well, sometimes )

[TheFinalWord]

Yes! I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if even in heaven we'll all have our own views and experiences. Maybe all things will be revealed to us, but God will be the one and only who can have a truly singular "worldview". I mean, maybe he can view everything in an omniscient way, while we'll always have limited views based on our own experiences?

 

:)

 

I agree (though I'm not making much sense, lol), cool thread .

 

That would be cool!

 

It's possible! You're making sense lol trying to imagine heaven is like trying to imagine a color you've never seen before. It's difficult lol But having had a taste of the tangible presence of God a few times in my life, I understand when Paul said:

 

I know a man (Paul was being humble , it was him after being stoned in Lystra) in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

[pureinheart]

This is an open-ended question. I just saw the phrase "Christian worldview" used on television and it got me thinking. We tend to immediately make certain assumptions about a "Christian worldview" without even realizing it. So let's get specific. Can it mean something DIFFERENT to every Christisan? If not, then what are the criteria?

 

Hey M30, this doesn't compute:D are there different words that could be used? I have comprehension issues ...lol

[Feelin Frisky]

It means nothing definitively. They are those who think Jesus Christ is a god to be worshipped (which I don't). There are those who think Jesus Christ was a man to be emulated (which I do). And there are mobs who'll kick the shi+ out of you if you don't believe whatever they do that involves the name Christianity which makes up much of the American variety of Christian world view.

[pureinheart]

It means nothing definitively. They are those who think Jesus Christ is a god to be worshipped (which I don't). There are those who think Jesus Christ was a man to be emulated (which I do). And there are mobs who'll kick the shi+ out of you if you don't believe whatever they do that involves the name Christianity which makes up much of the American variety of Christian world view.

 

Hey Frisky, what does the term Christian Worldview mean though...there is a mind block here. Does it mean what the world thinks about Christianity?

[Feelin Frisky]

Hey Frisky, what does the term Christian Worldview mean though...there is a mind block here. Does it mean what the world thinks about Christianity?

 

 

It's subjective my dear. Each person who has one has their own spin. I gave a prevalent one first in my first post but that's only a view about Christ. Then I gave one that I have which other people do--many of whom think of themselves as "real Christians" because they don't pray to Christ or anything else but instead try to be similarly courageous and forgiving (no miracles necessary just always knowing the right thing and never yielding to a mob. And then there's the joking one I said at the end characterized by when Cheley Wright's pastor told her when she was so afraid of coming out as gay to the Nashiville country music audience that she made all her money from and I quote "Cheley, there are no meaner people than people who are mean for Jesus" which he said to console her in her documentary about her life as a country star who dared come out as gay. And unfortunately that kind of "Christian world view" is very prevalent in America--they treat gay folk as people who have made disgusting choices that they set themselves up as judges and punishers for rather than just accepting that some people are born that way. She was completely abandoned by Nashville and all the Bible thumpers and never got work there again. She is married to a girl now and lives in NY where she's pretty safe and can be who she is without someone throwing eggs at her. Understand hun? I just tried to use her as a metaphor but how people who define themselves as Christians all see the world through the lens of their own upbringing and who they are--damning or loving, judging and hating or accepting and tolerating if not forgiving. There's no way I could speak for everyone.

[pureinheart]

It's subjective my dear. Each person who has one has their own spin. I gave a prevalent one first in my first post but that's only a view about Christ. Then I gave one that I have which other people do--many of whom think of themselves as "real Christians" because they don't pray to Christ or anything else but instead try to be similarly courageous and forgiving (no miracles necessary just always knowing the right thing and never yielding to a mob. And then there's the joking one I said at the end characterized by when Cheley Wright's pastor told her when she was so afraid of coming out as gay to the Nashiville country music audience that she made all her money from and I quote "Cheley, there are no meaner people than people who are mean for Jesus" which he said to console her in her documentary about her life as a country star who dared come out as gay. And unfortunately that kind of "Christian world view" is very prevalent in America--they treat gay folk as people who have made disgusting choices that they set themselves up as judges and punishers for rather than just accepting that some people are born that way. She was completely abandoned by Nashville and all the Bible thumpers and never got work there again. She is married to a girl now and lives in NY where she's pretty safe and can be who she is without someone throwing eggs at her. Understand hun? I just tried to use her as a metaphor but how people who define themselves as Christians all see the world through the lens of their own upbringing and who they are--damning or loving, judging and hating or accepting and tolerating if not forgiving. There's no way I could speak for everyone.

 

(((((((hugs)))))))) Frisky, you're a doll!

 

Ok, sometimes it takes a particular wording to "get it":D

 

Just speaking for me- I'm not sure what my Christian Worldview is.

 

There's the rose-colored view, then there is the reality...meaning I want everyone to get along, not fight, etc., but there is a world at conflict.

 

Using your metaphor, which is excellent I might add, back in the day a bunch of us hitchhiked to Hollywood on Sunset Blvd, and there was some men dressed as women, this was "different". Then we all got together at my friends cabin and saying to my friend that a particular guy was cute- her response was, "he'd rather have Stanley than you", I cracked up and said, "ok"...it was "different". Not different in the form of malice, but different as some of my family dye their hair and they look like snow cones..lol...here's a better one- when you run into someone with a different accent, you notice it, it stands out AS your accent will stand out to them. It's not going to make a difference either way in the grand scheme of things, you know?

 

The guy who would have rather had "Stanley" was a very close friend (he passed recently). IMO what it all boils down to, is you have a person in front of you, a real person that is alive and breathing, who has feelings and has red blood the same as I do in their veins. Many people dissed me because of my "affiliations", beliefs or whatever- basically I was hated for who I was at the time. Is that right? No. As a "person" I was hated, not the "thing" I did or didn't do.

 

Ok, this is where the confusion took place early on. I couldn't tell the difference from what was my responsibility and what wasn't, and was told in words or actions, "it's your fault, you are responsible" ...so then took everything as "my" responsibility and it turned into playing God of sorts, with major burn outs.

 

This is what is being worked on in the present.

 

So, as you can see thre is not a set worldview yet, just treat others the way you (you in general) would like to be treated.

 

Does this make sense Frisky?

[commmitted_guy]

This is an open-ended question. I just saw the phrase "Christian worldview" used on television and it got me thinking. We tend to immediately make certain assumptions about a "Christian worldview" without even realizing it. So let's get specific. Can it mean something DIFFERENT to every Christisan? If not, then what are the criteria?

 

Yes, every belief is specific to the individual. Even in the most rigid denomination you will find worshipers who disagree on something.

 

For me the term "Christian Worldview" means what I understand the Bible teaches about the world: Christ's kingdom is in the process of coming to Earth. I believe that sin has broken our world but that through his death on the cross and victory of his resurrection that love wins out in the end.

 

I really appreciate the way you worded that question in how it applies to the individual. If someone claims to be a Christian they need to read their Bible and determine what it means to them, not just spout off what their denomination says is their doctrine.

[Robert Z]

I think you are all missing a lot of key points. It says a lot about a person when they are willing to essentially bet their life on a leap of faith with nothing but anecdotes as evidence for this belief.

 

Having been immersed in the scientific community for many years, I have noticed a clear distinction between the types of people who can make a leap of faith, and those who can't even begin to understand such a philosophy.

 

One side considers the other irrational and prone to fantasy, and the other side considers the first narrow minded, pompous, or perhaps even evil.

 

So the very fact that a person can believe in any religion says a lot about their worldview. It says a lot about how they weight evidence and approach life in the most fundamental ways.

Edited June 1, 2013 by Robert Z

[M30USA]

I think you are all missing a lot of key points. It says a lot about a person when they are willing to essentially bet their life on a leap of faith with nothing but anecdotes as evidence for this belief.

 

Having been immersed in the scientific community for many years, I have noticed a clear distinction between the types of people who can make a leap of faith, and those who can't even begin to understand such a philosophy.

 

One side considers the other irrational and prone to fantasy, and the other side considers the first narrow minded, pompous, or perhaps even evil.

 

So the very fact that a person can believe in any religion says a lot about their worldview. It says a lot about how they weight evidence and approach life in the most fundamental ways.

 

So what are you saying? That all people who hold religious views are necessarily fantasy-prone?

 

I see my faith as like plotting a "best fit line graph". You start seeing patterns in life, various points which all seem to be fitting in a line. After a while, based mostly on observation and partly on assumption, you decide to draw a line through all the points and can make educated assumptions about where the other points will be. Now, should you determine your assumption was incorrect, then definitely adjust your "best fit line graph". Heck, being religious doesnt mean you ignore facts. I'd quote CS Lewis here but I think everyone knows his quote on this subject.

[Eve]

This is an open-ended question. I just saw the phrase "Christian worldview" used on television and it got me thinking. We tend to immediately make certain assumptions about a "Christian worldview" without even realizing it. So let's get specific. Can it mean something DIFFERENT to every Christisan? If not, then what are the criteria?

 

I would say there are two distinct Christian world views. Both depend primarily on the level of insight sought and received by the individual. One is carnal/group based and has little (even nothing) to do directly with God. The other is based on a challenge, a leading or a blessing that is over a persons life. The difference lays (for me) within how aware the individual is of the reasons why they have come to the faith and how honest they truly are within their seeking.

 

So saying I think we can pass through both versions and still have our eyes on God!

 

Personally I rest on identifying who are for me and God and not against us. I strongly feel that we are given a circuit of helpers and those who we are supposed to help and this a valuable part of our journey towards approaching the topic, praise, worship, acknowledgement and eventually becoming a channel of our Lord... but I do not believe any of us have it totally right but Jesus.

 

I think the main hinderance between the world views is the over coming of a form of petulance, which to me seems to be a corrupted part of the self. Some are happy in such a state though and so do not even begin the journey to find the cure.

 

Take care,

Eve x

[M30USA]

One is carnal/group based and has little (even nothing) to do directly with God. The other is based on a challenge, a leading or a blessing that is over a persons life.

 

I agree.

 

And it amazes me how some (I would say most) churches teach Scrupture in a way which trivializes the Spirit while amplifying the physical/flesh.

 

For example, they interpret all references to "abundance" and "life" as referring to the physical world: health, wealth, prosperity. Yet they fail to comprehend that Jesus and Paul always referred to it from a spiritual standpoint. How do we know this? How do we know it's beyond interpretation? Because Paul even wrote in Galatians 6:7-8 that sowing seed to please the flesh results in destruction, while sowing seed to please the Spirit results in life (specifically eternal life).

[TaxAHCruel]

This is an open-ended question. I just saw the phrase "Christian worldview" used on television and it got me thinking. We tend to immediately make certain assumptions about a "Christian worldview" without even realizing it. So let's get specific. Can it mean something DIFFERENT to every Christisan? If not, then what are the criteria?

 

The World Christian Encyclopedia recognizes well over 33,000 branches and sects to Christianity. As such I do not think there really is any kind of "Christian Worldview".

 

What you saw on television was likely just another example of what we see all too often with religion which is that often one person or small group of people will presume THEIR brand of Christianity is "True Christianity " and that their interpretations and world views are the correct one. They would then speak of the "Christian Worldview" as if it was universal when in fact they are just talking about themselves.

 

One user for example in the thread said that belief in god is universal to Christianity. Or a belief in the after life, sin and so forth. But this is also not a safe assumption. Many people who study the life of the Nazarene and incorporate his moral teachings into their own life - while dismissing entirely the supernatural nonsense such as gods and after lives - would also often readily identify as "Christian".

 

After all I can not personally think of one single _useful_ thing Christ is purported to have said that requires that you for one second subscribe to the notion that he was anything but an entirely normal human being and moral philosopher.

[Eve]

I agree.

 

And it amazes me how some (I would say most) churches teach Scrupture in a way which trivializes the Spirit while amplifying the physical/flesh.

 

For example, they interpret all references to "abundance" and "life" as referring to the physical world: health, wealth, prosperity. Yet they fail to comprehend that Jesus and Paul always referred to it from a spiritual standpoint. How do we know this? How do we know it's beyond interpretation? Because Paul even wrote in Galatians 6:7-8 that sowing seed to please the flesh results in destruction, while sowing seed to please the Spirit results in life (specifically eternal life).

 

I do believe that God provides and this can be plentiful but the mark of faith (proper) is that the one who is seeking God seeks wisdom before riches with all their heart, soul and mind. Well, that has been my prayer since coming to the Lord. I would rather be poor than have riches and lead a life which is ungodly.

 

The flaw I can see (if one is not careful) is that by focusing on riches first, having a repentent heart can be either fake or not even broached fully. Then people focus on what they think they can do (works of the flesh) and basically end up chasing people, rather than serving God. Personal and work based relationships seem to be where this is played out mostly.

 

So (to me) a Christian world view is one where God remains central regardless of the transition stages as one comes to know The Holy Spirit and what His influence looks like in the earth, in our hearts and in our interactions with others. Key point being that a Christian world view should not really be a means to create corporate principles but rather a duel unfolding of the spirit in the soul and in the earth.

 

Hence I think different Churches can end up focusing on different transition stages but really this is a personal affair not automatically given by coming to the faith. Being a pentacostal this is not something I have personally come across as I understand the importance of repentance, baptism and a living fatih but I can see how this can occur, especially in Churches which preach a doctrine which is not Biblical.

 

.. but I am not bothered. People will tell you that their way is right within or outside of a Church building. Best to stick with Jesus and the prophets and let their living influence be the guide methinks. That is a Christian world view (proper). The rest is hedonism, white priviledge, capitalism and some other dodgy stuff, the root of which is money, money, money...

 

Take care,

Eve x

[M30USA]

I do believe that God provides and this can be plentiful but the mark of faith (proper) is that the one who is seeking God seeks wisdom before riches with all their heart, soul and mind.

 

And does this line up with Scripture?

 

Ding, ding, ding! Yes it does, Bob!

 

"Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold." (Proverbs 3:13, 14 NIV)