Christian worldview refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which a Christian individual, group or culture interprets the world and interacts with it. Various denominations of Christianity have differing worldviews on some issues based on biblical interpretation, but many thematic elements are commonly agreed-upon within the Christian worldview. A common theme is the distrust of secular authority.
Definition
According to Leo Apostel, a worldview is an ontology, or a descriptive model of the world. It should comprise these six elements:
An etiology. A constructed world-view should contain an account of its own "building blocks," its origins and construction.
Differing Christian worldviews
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 as Creation, Fall, Redemption and Consummation.
Worldview vs. doctrine
The U.S. use of the term "worldview" in Christian rhetoric can be traced to the evangelicalReformed philosopher H. Evan Runner of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Runner used the term in his evangelical Reformed community in North America, promoting the worldview concept from a philosophical concept to a synonym for "doctrine."
Key people and literary works within Protestant evangelicalism
William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland. Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview. IVP Academic.
Gordon H. Clark. A Christian View of Men and Things: An Introduction to Philosophy. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans ; reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.
Herman Dooyeweerd. A New Critique of Theoretical Thought. Jordan Station, Ont.: Paideia Press
Carl F.H. Henry. God, Revelation, and Authority. Waco, TX: Word.
Abraham Kuyper. Lectures on Calvinism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans
Arthur F. Holmes, All Truth Is God's Truth. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
David Naugle, Worldview: A History of the Concept. Grand Rapids, MI:Eerdmans
Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books
Nancy Pearcey, Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning ,
Quine, David . Cornerstone Curriculum Project
James Sire, The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press
Ninian Smart, Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Belief
Albert M. Wolters, Creation Regained: Biblical Basics For A Reformational Worldview. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Leslie Stevenson, David L. Haberman, "Ten Theories of Human Nature" Oxford University Press - 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.
