Worldview

Brief Descriptions and Examples

Worldview

Examples

THEISM - Belief in a personal Supreme Being who created the Universe

but is not part of the Universe. The Supreme Being bestowed dignity on
us at Creation and seeks to relate with us. This would be analogous to a
painter and a painting. The Supreme Being is like the painter, and the
Supreme Being's Creation is like the painting. The Supreme Being made
the painting, and the Supreme Being's attributes are expressed in it, but
the Supreme Being is not the painting. In other words, the Supreme
Being made all. Theism is depicted as Supreme Being holding together
the Universe. Major sets of worldview claims are Christianity or
Messianic Fulfillment, Judaism, and Islam. Christian or Messianic
Fulfillment Theism influenced Western thinking for centuries.

LOVE: In Tanakh Judaism and Christian

or Messianic Fulfillment Theism, we can
love because we were created in the
image of a loving Supreme Being.

MURDER: In Tanakh Judaism and
Christian or Messianic Fulfillment
Theism, murder is wrong because it
violates Supreme Being's moral
command, revealed by Supreme Being's
writings and on our conscience.

DEISM - After the scientific revolution, scientists saw many things

could be explained by natural causes. Consequently, the Supreme
Being's role in dealing with people and the Universe seemed to be less
significant. However, deists did not eliminate the Supreme Being
altogether. The Supreme Being was there but the Supreme Being was,
for the most part, irrelevant. Deism is therefore the philosophical
bridge from theism to naturalism.

LOVE: Same as theism.

MURDER: Is wrong because it violates
the "natural order."

NATURALISM - By the 19th Century, naturalism influenced

intellectuals who, in their excitement over the "reliability" of science,
decided all things could be explained by natural causes; the Supreme
Being was therefore deemed irrelevant and non-existent. The initial
euphoria over the grand promise of science to explain all has since
worn off as people realize the limits of science in answering core
questions about humanity, such as questions about love, evil, morality,
and so on.

LOVE: Is really just a fancy description

of the human instinct to propagate its
species.

MURDER: Is deemed "wrong" by
societies because people recognize it is
in their own evolutionary survival
interests to do so.

NIHILISM - The "logical conclusion" of and powerful critique of

naturalism. If there is no Supreme Being, and all things are merely the
products of natural forces, then a human being is really no better than a
snail or even a boulder. The only difference being our molecules are
arranged differently as a result of a random and directionless
evolutionary process. In that case, life has no purpose; concepts like
love, morality, and justice are meaningless. Needless to say, this view is
gloomy and unlivable.

LOVE: Is meaningless as a term that

describes anything more than having
sex to propagate the species.
MURDER: Also a meaningless moral
term; society may deem it "wrong" to
kill in one case but may decide in
another case that it is permissible, such
as in former National Socialist or Nazi
Germany and former atheistic Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics.

EXISTENTIALISM - The attempt to rise above the gloom of nihilism

and restore meaning and purpose to life. The existentialist does not
oppose naturalism but rather seeks to go beyond it by saying human
beings are unique as they can and should develop meaning for
themselves. Note the subtle but important contrast with theism: Both
identify meaning, morality, value, and so on, but while the theist looks
to a Supreme Being for an absolute standard, the existentialist looks to
self alone. Herein lies the great philosophical problem of this
worldview: If all of us are deciding for ourselves what is right, wrong,
valuable...then what happens when we disagree? There is no ultimate
standard and we then become lost in relativism.

LOVE: A concept developed by each

individual in his/her attempt to add
some meaning to an otherwise
meaningless existence.

MURDER: Is "wrong" if the individual
decides it is wrong. Most people just
happen to decide it is wrong because
they do not want to be murdered.

Continued on the back of this sheet.

Worldview Brief Descriptions and Examples

Worldview

Examples

ATHEISM - No belief in any type of Supreme Being. To follow the

analogy of a painting, what looks like a painting has always existed and
no one painted it. In other words, no Supreme Being at all. Atheism is
depicted as nothing but the Universe. Worldview claims in this
category are religious humanism, naturalism, nihilism, and
existentialism.

LOVE: Same as naturalism, nihilism,

and existentialism.
MURDER: Same as naturalism, nihilism,
and existentialism.

MONISM / NEW AGE - The New Age Movement is basically an Eastern

worldview of pantheistic monism adapted to Western thinking. New
Age thinking seems to be gaining greater acceptance as people tire of
the spiritual emptiness of atheistic and related worldviews but refuse
to return to their theistic roots. Among other things, this worldview
elevates nature and denies theistic claims of a personal Supreme Being
who created us, asserting instead we are all 'divine.' Proponents of this
view claim its concepts defy explanation and simply need to be
"experienced" rather than comprehended. In saying so, New Age
advocates try to avoid the criticism that their worldview is filled with
inconsistencies and is often incomprehensible.

All distinctions and categories,

including moral categories, will
ultimately disappear as we realize our
oneness with all things; therefore little
attention are given to moral questions
such as love and murder since this
would promote the "illusion" of such
distinctions. Love, however, might well
be redefined in terms of "cosmic
harmony" and murder as the taking of
any life, human or otherwise.

PANTHEISM - Belief in an impersonal Supreme Being that literally is

the Universe. So, rather than making the painting, a pantheist believe
the Supreme Being is the painting. A pantheist believe the Supreme
Being is everything that exists: Supreme Being is the grass; Supreme
Being is the sky; Supreme Being is the tree; Supreme Being is this
website; Supreme Being is you; Supreme Being is me; and so on. In
other words, the Supreme Being is all. Pantheism is depicted as
Supreme Being in the Universe. Major sets of Eastern worldview claims
are Hinduism, some forms of Zen Buddhism, and many forms of the
"New Age."

Same as Monism / New Age.

AGNOSTICISM - Uncertain about the question of Supreme Being.

Uncertain.

Sources:

An anonymous sourced World View in brief and Examples document found at allsaintspetersham.org.au/
salt/xm2y/segments/game_details/World_View_Descriptions.pdf.
Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek's book titled I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL:
Crossway, 2004) under the heading of "What Kind of God?" on pages 22 and 23.