What Is a World View? (Definition)

A World View is a "filter" or "prism" through which we evaluate and make decisions about our world, our reality base, and for those of a more scientific persuasion, an "algorhythm" which allows us to "process" information.

The important thing to recognize, is that everyone has a "World View" irrespective of whether they realize it or not. For a variety of fairly complicated reasons which we will not go into here, (but are discussed in detail elsewhere on this site), there are really only 2 World Views with variations on those.

Some writers divide the subject into 3 basic divisions, but for our purposes, 2 will suffice. The two basic world views are THEISM and NON-THEISM (Atheism, Agnosticism, Skepticism). Because of a concept we borrow from philosophy, specifically from "First Principles", called The Law of the Excluded Middle, there exist only 2 options, either a supreme being (God) exists, or does not exist, no others are possible. Hence, the world view which teaches that God exists is called Theism, the world view which denies this, is called Non-Theism, most commonly referred to in contemporary culture as Naturalism, Materialism, or Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism.

While it is true that these Non-Theistic "isms" are not exactly synonymous, they all have a Non-Theistic basis in common which places them at odds with Theism. On this web site, we will often use the terms Naturalism and Atheism interchangeably, to refer to the most popular (reigning) world view among the media, academia, and the entertainment/political complex of the "Western" industrialized nations. A form of Theism and in some authors view, a form of Atheism, (that is a form of non-monotheism) is Transcendentalism, of which many variations exist, some common ones are: Pantheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, New-Age etc. More background information can be found elsewhere on this site with respect to other forms of MonoTheism such as Judaism, and Islam as well as other non-monotheistic religions.

Over the past several thousand years, thinkers have constructed formal arguments to address the issue of whether a Supreme Being exists, and by extension, the reasonableness of the Christian World View in particular. Arguments in favor have tended to be of 4 or 5 basic types, and many have been improved over the past half century in light of new scientific and philosophical data. Details of these arguments in support of the existence of a supreme being can be found elsewhere on this site.

Most of these arguments are based on Reason, or the findings of Science (General Revelation), particularly when applied to the concept of a Supreme Being, although some also support the God of the Bible, including Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Other data from special revelation (Holy Scripture, in the form of the Bible) not only establish the existence of a Supreme Being, but establish that being as a "Triune" entity in Unity, the so-called Trinitarian God of the Bible, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that is 3 whos in 1 what.

Much of the material on this web site will involve a detailed look at the supporting data from General and Special Revelation, up through and including contemporary material from Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Archeology, Geology, Astronomy, Anthropology, Philosophy of Religion, and Theology. The scriptural (Special Revelatory) evidence for the existence of God the Father, the very real existence of Jesus Christ, (the Son of God in the physical form of Jesus of Nazareth), and the existence of the third person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Ghost, is (practically speaking) indisputable (beyond a reasonable doubt), based on a complete review of both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

The extra biblical (Historical) evidence for Jesus Christ in addition to the Biblical evidence establishes beyond any reasonable doubt that Jesus Christ did exist in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, (a form of hybrid God/man), in fact his authenticity as a "real" person is better established than any other character in antiquity. This will be covered in more depth later. Suffice it to say that in order to have confidence that our faith in Jesus Christ is well-placed, it is important to "know" from the basis of facts and reason, that what we "believe" on the basis of our faith, is reasonable. It is much better to have an account of the hope that is in us as the apostle Peter says in 1 Peter, 3: 15, than to testify to a "blind" faith for which we have no reason, particularly when it comes to testifying to our faith and evangelizing to others. It is our hope that those who "hunger" for that knowledge will be blessed by what they find on this web site.

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