Christian Apologetics
Engaging young minds to think about worldviews
Is there only one correct worldview?
Is there only one worldview that is true and all the others are false? Is it not arrogant and narrow-minded for a person to claim that his or her worldview is THE only worldview that is true? Shouldn't it be the case that all worldviews are true, and that no single worldview can claim to be exclusively true? Or should we say there is no such thing as a true worldview?
I hold the position that there exists one worldview, and only one, that can be true. Let's say, if I ask a class of twenty students what 2 + 3 equal to, and although it is possible that the twenty different answers given by each of the students are all false, there exists nonetheless one answer, and only one, that can be accepted as true. Likewise in this sense, there is one worldview, and only one, that can be accepted as true.
But how do we determine which worldview is true (or false)? Is there a method or criterion that can help us evaluate the degree of truth or falsehood in a particular worldview? I am aware that some worldviews may be nearer to the truth than others. So, is there a way to test the validity of any worldview?
I think so, and I will simply call this a "test for consistency in a worldview." Every worldview attempts to answer the four questions of life (at the very least). If the answer used to address one of the questions does not "contradict" any of the answers used to address the other questions, then we may say the worldview has passed the "test for consistency." *
* Abdu Murray has pointed out that our answers to all these questions must cohere and be consistent. Thus, "any worldview worth believing should also be internally consistent as it answers these questions. In other words, a worldview's answers to one set of questions (say, answers to questions about human origins) should not contradict its answers to another set of questions (say, questions about meaning and purpose)". Abdu Murray, "Grand Central Questions", IVP Press, Ilinois, 2014.