Christian worldview (also calledbiblical worldview) refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which aChristian individual, group or culture interprets the world and interacts with it. Variousdenominations of Christianity have differingworldviews on some issues based on biblical interpretation, but many thematic elements are commonly agreed-upon within the Christian worldview.[1]
Different denominations of Christianity have varying worldviews. There are varieties of particulars within the Christian worldview, and disputes of the meaning of concepts in a Christian worldview. Certain thematic elements are common within the Christian worldview. For instance,Northrop Frye indicated as the central clusters of the system of metaphors in the Bible – mountain, garden, and cave. A similar thematic representation of Christian worldview in the Reformed tradition has been formulated asCreation,Fall,Redemption andConsummation.
The symbolic termChristian worldview has been called a "defining marker ofAmerican evangelical culture."[3]
The U.S. use of the termworldview in Christian rhetoric can be traced to theevangelicalReformed philosopherH. Evan Runner ofCalvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[dubious –discuss] Runner used the term in his evangelical Reformed community in North America, promoting the worldview concept from a philosophical concept to a synonym fordoctrine.
Key people and literary works within Protestant evangelicalism
Gordon H. Clark.A Christian View of Men and Things: An Introduction to Philosophy. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans (1951); reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker (1981).
David Naugle,Worldview: A History of the Concept. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans (2002)
Nancy Pearcey,Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books (2004)
Nancy Pearcey,Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning Broadman and Homan Publishing Group (2010),ISBN978-1-4336-6927-9
James Sire,The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press (1997)
Ninian Smart,Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Belief (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000)
Albert M. Wolters,Creation Regained: Biblical Basics For A Reformational Worldview. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans (1985).
Leslie Stevenson,David L. Haberman, "Ten Theories of Human Nature" Oxford University Press (2004) – book examines each one of four points—the nature of the universe, the nature of humanity, the diagnosis of the ills of humanity, and the proposed cure for these problems. Good introduction to where main worldviews originate and how to begin to think about them in context of human nature.
