Defining Worldviews

Who wants to pay homage to a god that’s dead? How about trying to follow a myriad of gods? Or, even better, serve yourself as god?

Throughout history man's common answer to these questions has been yes. Yes to following Satan’s same-old lies. But because God chose a special people, because mankind has at times replied with a no, history took on some interesting twists and turns. Those twists and turns were results of choices-choices that were intertwined with worldviews.


What is a worldview? A worldview is a set of glasses that determine how you perceive the world around you. These glasses are shaped by religion, education, and culture.

Worldviews can be divided into four basic categories: monotheism, pantheism, atheism, and polytheism. Answers to the question, “Where did we come from and who are we?1” give a helpful glimpse into these different worldviews.


Monotheism, belief in one God, includes Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Christians and Jews believe that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.2” We believe in a God who is Sovereign-constantly ruling over His creation. He is holy and expects His creation to walk in His example, upholding His righteousness.

This part of God’s creation that He expects so much from is man. Man was created in God’s image for His pleasure, glorification, and fellowship. God understands and loves His creation. He, the star-breather, He-the Sovereign Lord, the map-maker of history, is concerned with every individual created.


Pantheists believe god is an impersonal, divine force to seek out. It’s a universal force, so god is in everything: you are god, I’m god, my favorite flowers are god, and your dog is god. History is cyclical, there is no beginning or end. “Where did we come from?” is inapplicable. Unless you’re referring to their previous lives, Eastern mystics, Hindus, and New Age followers have no concept of history. The Romantics of the nineteenth century and some Native American religions were also pantheistic.


Atheists believe that no god exists, although in reality they serve themselves. They rely on evolution as a crutch. Many atheists worship science while still denying allegiance to any faith. According to them, we came from a primordial soup that eventually evolved into something like me and you. Since we humans are the highest evolved species, we are the standard, the ultimate power. But that standard may vary. Grandpa Soup didn’t tell us what’s right and what’s wrong, so we can determine that for ourselves.


Polytheism, belief in multiple gods, includes ancient pagan religions and animist religions still followed by “primitive” societies. The deities worshiped usually have divided sovereignty over jurisdictions such as natural forces, animals, agriculture, fertility, etc… The myths portray them as impersonal, unpredictable, and finite. Some of the gods were created and destroyed by other gods. Man was usually created for utilitarian purposes. The gods sin constantly and yet hold man to some standard of morality.

These are the gods that Abraham’s culture worshiped, the gods of Egypt that were challenged by the ten plagues, and the gods of Greece and Rome that the early Church fought against. Today the Church fights against “god as a force,” “no god,” and “me god.” The fight is just as serious. It’s a fight based on choices and worldviews. It’s another one of those twists and turns of history.

Endnotes:

1 In How Now Shall We Live?, Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey provide this set of questions for studying worldviews:
“1. Where did we come from and who are we?
2. What has gone wrong with the world?
3. What can we do to fix it?”
Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey, How Now Shall We Live? Student Edition (Nashville: LifeWay, 2000), 12.

2 Genesis 1:1, The Holy Bible