-
Lesson OneWhat Are the Major Worldviews?3 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson TwoQuestions a Worldview Seeks To Answer - Part I3 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson ThreeQuestions a Worldview Seeks To Answer - Part II3 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson FourDistinctives of a Biblical Worldview3 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson FiveWhich Worldview Will You Choose?3 Activities1 Assessment
-
Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 504
Discussion Questions
-
List a television show, a book, a friend’s opinion, or some other source that illustrates each of the six worldviews listed. Example: Deism—Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the moon, indicated on a NASA form that he was a deist.
-
1. Monotheism— Billy Graham believed in The Trinity–one God, Son and Holy Spirit. He believed in the teachings of the Bible.
2. Deism— Thomas Jefferson believed in God, but felt that God set up the world to operate on its own without God’s intervention.
3. Naturalism– Charles Darwin believed in evolution of the species without input from God.
4. Nihilism— I don’t have a specific TV show that exemplifies this worldview but any of the current soap operas seem to fit the bill. The characters seem to follow no objective truths but act as they feel like.
5. Existentialism— The actor James Dean always seemed to have the philosophy that life is meaningless. His movies illustrate this philosophy.
6. Pantheism— My college roommate was a Buddhist and felt that God is spirit and that we shouldn’t pray for ourselves but for the entire universe. -
Monotheism – The Bible refers to the existence of one true God.
Deism- Thomas Jefferson, the second president of the United States, was a believer of Deism.
Naturalism – Clint Eastwood, a world renown Actor, is a believer in Naturalism
Nihilism – Friedrich Nietzsche was an outspoken Nihilist
Existentialism- Nicola Abbagnano was an Italian Existential philosopher
Pantheism – Albert Einstein is a famous pantheist. -
Monotheism is shown throughout the Holy Bible and continually discussed within my church during service and Bible study. I teach that there is only One True God to my students in our school using the Bible as our primary source.
Deism was displayed by Abraham Lincoln. He began life as a Baptist and often read the Bible but told many close to him to take the Bible with reason and the rest on faith if you want to live and die a happier and better man. Lincoln never joined a church during his adult life but did say he would never vote for an enemy of religion.
Naturalism is easily seen when watching anything featuring Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy”. He states emphatically that man comes from the dust of the stars and science is the basis of truth “not an ancient book that has been translated into English”.
Nihilism is displayed by Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men, when he said, “The point is there ain’t no point.” I had to do some research for this one, as I avoid opinions like this; I am an optimist, not a pessimist.
Existentialism – I have never been a fan of Woody Allen but much of his work is based on existential beliefs of self-awareness. He is not apologetic for his lifestyle or work, and often states that he is happy with it even if it causes others’ problems or pain. Quote “If God exists, I hope he has a good excuse.”
Pantheism – Albert Einstein was very open about his being a pantheist but did not consider himself to be an extremist as some accused him. He did believe that having a “personal God” was a child-like idea. Quote ” I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.”
-
Monotheism – the Bible describes the work of a divine Creator.
Deism – Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of our nation, was a Deist.
Naturalism – Emile Zola is commonly noted as the key figure in the beginning of the naturalistic thought: That only natural laws are the forces that keep the world in order.
Nihilism – Friedrich Nietzsche is the father of Nihilism, the belief that nothing can be known or understood. There is no foundation of knowledge or communication.
Existentialism – Sarte is most known for this philosophy. A mostly Godless worldview that views human existence as only what is carved out by each person. There’s no proof of a God or purpose of creation.
Pantheism – The Avatar movie
-
Deism: Many of my friends who consider themselves “intellectuals” chose to be deist. Many of them actually work or associate with Christians, talking about God, creationism and, usually, taking care of God’s world. Sometimes I find them easier to talk with than other Christians because they see the need of taking care of a God-given world for which we are totally responsible.
Naturalism: the battle I have with this group is that I have a science degree from the university, and I do believe in science. I tell them “I believe in science because I believe God created everything – says so in the Bible. It seems that being a nurse just makes it harder to talk to them because they are sold out to science and all things “naturally occurring” and I have studied the human body and spirit in light of God’s creation. It isn’t even a stretch for me to say “And who do you think made all this awesome stuff?”
Nihilism: What was Nietzsche’s theory?
Nietzsche claimed the exemplary human being must craft his/her own identity through self-realization and do so without relying on anything transcending that life—such as God or a soul.
There is no god, there is no heaven or hell so make yourself who you want to be and forget the religious side of it.
Existentialism: I love this quote about existentialism. “I took a test in Existentialism. I left all the answers blank and got 100.” Woody Allen
Well, there you have it. I have a good friend who is an existentialist and if you can pin him down on anything – good luck.
Pantheism: I have two good friends (among others) who are pantheistic. One of them told me years ago when I asked where she would go when she died she said “I don’t know. I will just become a part of the Universe – a part of god you know because we all make up god and the universe. We don’t really have individual personalities at all.”
Monotheism: Jesus, the Christ said, “I am the truth, the life and the way and NO ONE can come to the Father except by me.” I’ll stick with this one.
-
Of the six worldviews listed, which two are most alike? Which two are the most dissimilar? Explain.
-
Monotheism and Pantheism are somewhat the same because they both recognize a source of authority as basis.
monotheism and Nihilism to me are very dissimilar.
-
Judaism and Christianity are most alike.
-
Monotheism and Nihilism are the least alike to me. The first with absolute Truth from God and the other where there is no truth and positive objectives. I think the two that are similar are Nihilism and Existentialism because they both lead to lack of truth and objective meaning.
-
Nihilism and Monotheism seem to be the most dissimilar, as nihilism rejects any form of truth and authority, and monotheism absolutely includes that.
The two most alike are monotheism and deism because both include God as a creator.
-
Monotheism and deism both acknowledge one god.