Christian Apologetics

Engaging young minds to think about worldviews

What are some major worldviews?

A person's worldview typically falls into one of the following basic categories:

1. Naturalism (that is, nature is all there is; nothing is supernatural). E.g., atheism, humanism, secularism.

2. Pantheism (that is, all of nature is divine). E.g., Hinduism, New Age.

3. Theism (that is, a supernatural reality exists apart from the natural world). E.g., Judaism, Christianity, Islam.

The above categories are broad, and each finds expression in various subcategories. ​In the West, unless the child is nurtured in an orthodox Christian environment, the worldview ultimately embraced by a growing child may likely be naturalism. However, I contend it is not naturalism but theism (specifically Biblical theism), that answers the four worldview questions most coherently and cogently.

But you may wonder, "why is having a worldview important at all?"; "Why should I even think about my worldview or examine it?" Well, a worldview is quite simply how a person looks at reality. It is how a person understands his existence and how he interprets his life's experiences. In this sense, everyone has a worldview because it is quite impossible for anyone not to have a certain perspective of life and interpretation of reality. Everyone has a worldview; everyone formulates for himself a worldview, and he does so throughout his life either deliberately or unconsciously. No one is exempted. As John Stonestreet once said, "The question isn't whether we have a worldview. The question is which worldview has us."** Here then is our million-dollar question: "do we have the correct worldview?" "Will the worldview of our children be the correct one that will help them navigate through the vicissitudes of life?

At this point, you may ask, "is there such a thing as a correct worldview?"

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** John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle, "A Practical Guide to Culture", David C. Cook, Colorado Springs, 2017