This episode looks at the concept of a Christian worldview or philosophy of life through several propositions, culled from James Sire’s classic book, The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalogue. These are the statements.

1. God is infinite and personal (triune), transcendent and immanent, omniscient, sovereign and good (Exodus 3:14; Matthew 28:18-20).

2. God created the cosmos ex nihilo with a uniformity of cause and effect in an open system (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-2).

3. Human beings are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and thus possess personality, self-transcendence, intelligence, morality, gregariousness and creative.

4. Human beings can know both the world around them and God himself because God has built into them the capacity to do so and because he takes an active role in communicating with them (Genesis 1-2; Psalm 8).

5. Human beings were created good, but through the Fall the image of God became defaced, though not so ruined as not to be capable of restoration; through the work of Christ, God redeemed humanity and began the process of restoring people to goodness, though any given person may choose to reject that redemption (John 3:1-18; Romans 5:1-8).

6. For each person death is either the gate to life with God and his people or the gate to eternal separation (hell) from the only thing that will ultimately fulfill human aspirations. See Matthew 25:31-46.

7. Ethics is transcendent and is based on the character of God as good (holy and loving). Exodus 20:1-8; Matthew 22:37-40.

8. History is linear, a meaningful sequence of events leading to the fulfillment of God’s purposes in history (1 Corinthians 15).

Touchstone proposition for the Christian worldview: “The universe (originally good, now fallen and awaiting its divine restoration) is created by the Triune God, who has revealed himself in nature, conscience, Scripture, and through the Incarnation for the purpose of salvation and judgment that God might be glorified in all things.”

Further Resources:

1. DouglasGroothuis.com.
2. Douglas Groothuis, “The Christian Worldview,” Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, 2nd ed. (InterVarsity Academic, 2022).
3. Ronald Nash, Worldviews in Conflict (Zondervan Academic, 1992).
4. Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth (Crossway, 2005).
5. James Sire, The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalogue (InterVarsity Press, 2020).

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