Worldviews Comparison

Experience the convenience of having this amazing Bible Study Tool at your fingertips—wherever you go! Plus, you can read, search, enlarge, and print the pamphlet right off your computer. This comparison of worldviews helps you know what you believe and why. A worldview is the "big picture" view of the world, one that attempts to answer all the big questions of life: What is real? If there is a God, what is God's nature? What is a human being? How can we know what is right or wrong? This chart compares 8 worldviews: •Atheism - There is no God •Pantheism - God is all. •Pan-En-theism - God is in all •Deism - God is a distant creator •Finite God-ism - There is a God, but he is limited •Polytheism - There are many gods •Monotheism - There is only god •Biblical Christianity - There is only one Triune god Questions compared: •Is there a God? •What is Real? •Where Did What's Real Come From? •What is a Human Being? •Are Humans Basically Good or Evil? How bad is the flaw? •Is it Possible to Know Anything at All? •How Do We Know What is Right and Wrong? •What is Truth? •What is Evil? •Where do laws come from? •What Happens After Death? •Can Miracles Happen? •What is the Meaning of Human History? •How Do We Get to Know God? Author Alex McFarland, M.A., is the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, NC. Worldviews Comparison

The nine essays in this volume, written by leading international scholars in New Testament studies, examine in new depth the method of comparison so frequently deployed in the study of the New Testament. They raise and reflect on deep questions on the possibility and validity of such comparative exercise, on the methods that are most effective and intellectually defensible, on the purpose of such comparison, and on the perils and pitfalls in such exercises. Addressing these questions at both a theoretical, hermeneutical level, and through case-studies of actual examples, the book provides a much needed and up-to-date methodological resource for the numerous comparative projects spawned by New Testament studies throughout the world.

In the past, changes in behavior and in belief have been leading indicators for missionaries that Christian conversion had occurred. But these alone--or even together--are insufficient for a gospel understanding of conversion. For effective biblical mission, Paul G. Hiebert argues, we must add a third element: a change in worldview. Here he offers a comprehensive study of worldview--its philosophy, its history, its characteristics, and the means for understanding it. He then provides a detailed analysis of several worldviews that missionaries must engage today, addressing the impact of each on Christianity and mission. A biblical worldview is outlined for comparison. Finally, Hiebert argues for gospel ministry that seeks to transform people's worldviews and offers suggestions for how to do so.

Debates about the existence of God persist but remain at an impasse between opposing answers. God at the Crossroads of Worldviews reframes the debate from a new perspective, characterizing the way these positions have been defined and defended not as wrong, per se, but rather as odd or awkward. Paul Chung begins with a general survey of the philosophical debate regarding the existence of God, particularly as the first cause, and how this involves a bewildering array of often-incommensurable positions that differ on the meaning of key concepts, criteria of justification, and even on where to start the discussion. According to Chung, these positions are in fact arguments both from and against larger, more comprehensive intellectual positions, which in turn comprise a set of rival "worldviews." Moreover, there is no neutral rationality completely independent of these worldviews and capable of resolving complex intellectual questions, such as that of the existence of God. Building from Alasdair MacIntyre's writings on rival intellectual traditions, Chung proposes that to argue about God, we must first stand at the "crossroads" of the different intellectual journeys of the particular rival worldviews in the debate, and that the "discovery" of such a crossroad itself constitutes an argument about the existence of God. Chung argues that this is what Thomas Aquinas accomplished in his Five Ways, which are often misunderstood as simple "proofs." From such crossroads, the debate may proceed toward a more fruitful exploration of the question of God's existence. Chung sketches out one such crossroad by suggesting ways in which Christianity and scientific naturalism can begin a mutual dialogue from a different direction. God at the Crossroads of Worldviews will be read by philosophers of religion, advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and theologians and general readers interested in the new atheism debates.

One of those rare questions in philosophy that is not only technically recalcitrant but also engages the hearts and minds of the broad community is the so-called 'problem of evil': how can the existence of an absolutely perfect God be reconciled with the existence of suffering and evil? This problem has exercised the finest minds across the centuries, from ancient to modern times. In contemporary philosophy, however, the debate has petrified into a select number of entrenched and defensive strategies. This volume opens the way for a wholesale reconsideration of the problem of evil. Eight prominent philosophers of religion have been invited to engage in critical but friendly dialogue, and to develop and contest both traditional and relatively unorthodox approaches. What emerges from these exchanges is a diversity of fruitful and innovative ways of thinking about God and evil, proving that the problem of evil is far from exhausted.

This book is an introduction to philosophy of religion from the perspective of a religiously pluralistic culture. It deals with introductory questions such as whether we can we understand, compare, and judge the insights of others and the ways in which people can speak and think about God. It introduces the classical themes of philosophy of religion - immanent and transcendent ideas of God and (im)personality; transcendence, good, and evil; religion, morality and society - using a distinction between cosmic, acosmic and theistic ideas of the divine. This introduction helps us discover differences and commonalities and thus helps further an emphatic and critical dialogue. This book explores how comparative theology and philosophy of religion can move beyond the dead-end roads of relativism and exclusivism.

Conceiving of Christianity as a "worldview" has been one of the most significant events in the church in the last 150 years. In this new book David Naugle provides the best discussion yet of the history and contemporary use of worldview as a totalizing approach to faith and life. This informative volume first locates the origin of worldview in the writings of Immanuel Kant and surveys the rapid proliferation of its use throughout the English-speaking world. Naugle then provides the first study ever undertaken of the insights of major Western philosophers on the subject of worldview and offers an original examination of the role this concept has played in the natural and social sciences. Finally, Naugle gives the concept biblical and theological grounding, exploring the unique ways that worldview has been used in the Evangelical, Orthodox, and Catholic traditions. This clear presentation of the concept of worldview will be valuable to a wide range of readers.