Jordan Childs

Ways of Knowing
Oct 10, 2014
Short Essay: My world viewing
Jigsaw Puzzle
A view of life... an articulated system of philosophy a set of presuppositions. These are
all classifications of world viewings. World viewings can have multiple definitions, it all
depends on the persons knowledge, intuition, revelation, stimuli, and response to the reality
around them. World viewings are inevitable, it is what we are, what we do, and how we see
things. Our world viewing determines the type of person we might be based off of our morals,
judgement, and reasoning. With how important world viewings are few people actually put real
thought into it, causing a lot of contradiction and confusion. Epistemology, Metaphysics,
Cosmology, Teleology, Theology, Anthropology, and Axiology are all give us a way to help
define our world viewings.
After putting a lot of thought into my world viewings I found that these categories all had
one common interest and that was God. Which leads me to Theology (beliefs about the existence
and nature of God.) People will debate on whether there is a God or not, but to me God does
exist. He is the one and only God that no other false idols can compare to. His nature is different
from any person or thing, he is full of love, patience, forgiveness, and compassion. He is the
creator of all material things. Only God could create a world so beautiful, complicated, and
detailed that scientist are still in awe over it after hundreds of years. With creating the world God
also created man. He created us so that we would have a loving relationship with him to enjoy
the things that he has made for us. The Theology of God in my eyes is real.

My belief in God also answer questions about Cosmology (beliefs about the origins and
nature of the universe, life, and especially Man.) Like I have stated before I believe in God a
Supernatural Creator has made the earth and man. We are God's workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.(Ephesians 2:10).
The bible gives me all the proof I need that he created the world. In the bible the book of Genesis
1:1-31 gives me that proof.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form
and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep waters...And God said, Let there be
light, and there was light...separated...from the darkness...Let there be an expanse in the
midst of the waters Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one
place, and let the dry land appear...Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed,
and fruit trees bearing fruit Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and
let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens...Let the earth bring forth
living creatures according to their kindslivestock and creeping things and beasts of the
earth according to their kinds...Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over
the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth. (Genesis 1:1-31)
Only God could speak the world into motion.
But what is man? Whats his place? Anthropology (beliefs about the nature and purpose
of Man in general and, oneself in particular) will help pick apart those questions. First off what is
man? Man is a creation of God as explained in Genesis God created man in his own image, in
the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.(Genesis 1:27) He created
man to serve him and live freely in the world he made for us. As Christians we are mans Moral
Agents if we truly have the love of God in our hearts this is easy because our actions represent
our faith, but if we do not choose to be faithful God does not control us. He gives us free choice
to do what we want freely, but we also have to keep in mind those actions could lead to
consequences. All men make human mistakes and that does not make us bad, everyone sins
thats why God gave his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.

When talking about man and where he comes from we also wonder about where reality
comes in. Metaphysics is beliefs about the ultimate nature of reality. There are two types of
people, those who believe that the universe is only made of energy, matter, and information
nothing else outside that realm. They are the philosophical naturalist. Along with naturalists
there are idealists who believe that science and God can co-exist together. I fall more along those
lines. I believe that God is a Supernatural spirit of nature that created the universe with all the
matter, energy, and information. This belief gives me a sense of truth to the world. If I ever doubt
what might be true or real I can rely on the bible and God for the facts. Some might say that
doesnt give a real truth, but God is my Authority who tells me what is right or wrong. God is
the greatest source of knowledge.
Epistemology is beliefs about the nature and sources of knowledge. But what is
knowledge? Is it just pure information, the state of the brain, or a manifestation of the cosmic
mind? I believe it is a mixture of everything. God being my Authority figure gives me a
certainty to have confidence in my thoughts and actions.
The question that everyone wants answered the most has the most confusion. What is my
purpose? From person to person that Teleology (beliefs about purpose) might be different. The
universe could simple just be there with no goals or desires, everything just does what it wants. I
believe that God created the universe with a purpose and a plan. He knows the past, present, and
the future. He has known what was going to happen before we were given life in the womb. The
purpose of everything is to walk with God everyday and he will take care of the rest.
The last study which is probably the most confusing is Axiology beliefs about the nature
of value, what is good and bad, what is right and wrong. Value is a hard word to define its
something that all people somehow understand without really defining the word. Value is a
fulfillment of some type of desire. Values also come from some type of morals. I believe that
people put their moral values first before anything else, then use their non-morals for the great or
good of society. Peoples values are more subjective and relative. Peoples values will differ from
person to person constantly changing. For me my values come from God the highest good of all.
It comes from the intimate relationship I have with God that gives me that knowledge. God just
simply wants us to love and obey him and then everything will even out.

After taking a step back and looking at all of my beliefs. I have realized that everything
revolves around my christianity, faith, and God. My jigsaw puzzle of beliefs would fit nicely
together and clearly portray what my worldview is. I hope that my worldviews were clearly put
across. God is my Theology, Cosmology, Anthropology, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Teleology,
and Axiology. He is my creator, hope, faith, father, and life. "For the LORD your God is the God
of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God. (Deuteronomy
10:17)

Word Count: 1307

Work cited
What Is God's Plan for Me? (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2014.
20 Bible verses about Awesome God. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2014.
13 Bible Verses about God Creating The World. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2014.