Kendell Hall

Comparative Political Economics

Rutherford
1/27/15
Worldviews and Their Beliefs
There are many different types of worldviews that exist in the world that we live in. A
worldview is defined as how you see whats around you, what you believe to be true, and the
thought process that defines how you think. For example, a worldview is like a pyramid. At the
bottom, are our base instincts, things we were born with. Next up is what our parents/schools
teach, after that at the very top is what we glean from the word and learn ourselves. From
Christianity to Islam, Cosmic Humanism to Postmodernism, these ways of thinking and belief
systems define who we are as people. Not only do they define us as people, but they define our
ways of life as well. People who follow Islam are on a tight schedule with their strict prayer
times. Christianity is looser in this sense, but still requires prayer. Marxist-Leninists throw out
the entire idea of a deity altogether! No matter what, a person has to have some way of thinking
that they follow; some way of life that defines who they are.
The Christian worldview is based on love. For God so loved the world that He gave his
only begotten Son1. Not only is Christianity based on love, but also on the Bible which is
believed to be the Word of God spoken to and recorded by a chosen group of believers. Christian
theology affirms theism which is the belief in a supernatural God. However, Christianity believes
1 John 3:16, NKJV

in a specific type of theism known as trinitarian theism which is The belief in one God who
exists as three separate persons Father, Son, and Spirit.2. What makes this belief special
though is the importance in the relationship between God and follower. When it comes to
philosophy, Christians believe in the idea of supernaturalism which means that God intervenes in
the course of natural law. Along with supernaturalism, Christian philosophy is based on the faith
that what the Bible says is true. Ethically, Christianity is grounded in the character of God.
Because of their monotheistic view, God is the only one who can logically set moral absolutes
which is the thought that the same ethical standard exists for all individuals no matter what.
Biologically, Christians believe in creationism. Creationism is the idea that God created
everything in seven days all by hand. Christianity, however is not the only worldview out there.
The Islamic worldview, when viewed from the surface, is very similar to the Christian
worldview. Islam and Christianity both believe in a theistic theology, however while Christianity
has a trinitarian theism, Islam has a Unitarian theism. A Unitarian theism is one in which there is
only one God, and in the case of Islam, that God is Allah. Just like Christianitys Bible, Islam has
a governing book that was given to them by God through man. The Quran in Islamic belief is
the literal word of Allah through Muhammad, His prophet. Not only, however, does Islam have
the Quran, but it also has the Haddith which is the teachings, rulings, and actions of
Muhammad, and the Sunna which is a collection of Muhammads exemplary actions. Another
way that Christianity and Islam coincide is in the area of philosophy in that they both have a
philosophical belief in supernaturalism. The same can be said of Islamic ethics and biology as
well.
2 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays
CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 47:Text Box
1

The Secular Humanist worldview is one that is very different from Islam and Christianity.
Secular Humanism, unlike the last two worldviews, completely ignores the reality of God.
Theologically, Secular Humanists are scientific atheists meaning that they believe there is not a
supernatural God. Secular Humanists also believe in humanism which is the thought that
humanity is higher than any other beings and truth and knowledge are gained because of science
and human reason. Secular Humanists follow a set of three manifestos titled Humanist Manifesto
I, Humanist Manifesto II, and Humanist Manifesto III that lay out the world view.
Philosophically, secular humanists believe in naturalism also known as materialism which is
the philosophical belief that reality is composed solely of matter and that all phenomena can be
explained in terms of natural causes.3 Not only naturalism, but cosmology plays a role in Secular
Humanistic philosophy. Cosmology is defined as the philosophical study of the universe,
especially its origin. Basically, it means that the universe came by accident and is the only thing
out there (i.e. there is no heaven). This follows with other beliefs in that they believe there is no
supernatural God, so who could have created everything else? Evolution can only work on the
dimension that it started in, so there is no other way if there is no God that anything could
have been created. Ethically, Secular Humanists believe in moral relativism which is the belief
that morals are relative to the individual and the situation.4 Biology for Secular Humanists
follows the theory of Neo-Darwinian Evolution which states that new species arise from natural

3 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays

CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 101
4 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays
CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 101

selection over vast periods of time on chance genetic mutations in reproductively isolated
populations.5
The Marxist-Leninist worldview is a very interesting one. It is founded on the teachings of Marx,
Lenin. Engels, and Mao. It follows scientific atheism for its theology which means they believe
that they themselves are god. Philosophically though, they contradict themselves slightly.
Marxist-Leninists lay claim to the idea of godlessness. Most of the attributes that Christians use
to describe God, Marxist-Leninists use to describe dialectical matter. They also believe that what
we see in nature is all that exists, and there is nothing beyond what we can see. They follow
dialectical materialism which states that the dialectic says that in everything there is a thesis
(the way things are) and an antithesis (an opposition to the way things are), which must
inevitably clash. The result of the struggle and merging that comes from the clash is the
synthesis, which becomes the thesis. This new thesis will eventually attract another antithesis,
and produce a new synthesis.6 The proletariat morality dominates the ethical views of MarxistLeninists. The proletariat morality is defined as the ethical belief that whatever advances the
proletariat and the cause of communism is morally good and whatever hinders the proletariat or
communism is morally evil.7 Biologically, Marxist-Leninists believe in punctuated evolution.

5 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays

CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 183
6 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays
CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 109
7 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays
CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 147

Punctuated evolution is the theory of evolution that proposes that evolutionary changes occur
over a relatively quick period of time, followed by periods of little to no evolutionary change.8
Cosmic Humanists are the oddballs out from the group. They follow the teachings of MacLaine,
Spangler, Chopra, and Walsch. They differ from Islam, Christianity, and any other secular
worldviews in that they embrace neither theism nor atheism. Cosmic Humanists profess
pantheism which is the belief that everything is God and God is everything. Three things play
into the philosophy of Cosmic Humanists: Non-Naturalism, epistemology, and ontology. NonNaturalism is basically the idea that everything is a part of God and in essence, spiritual. The
things that we can see and feel are only a manifestation of spirit, and all matter will melt away
when universal consciousness is achieved.9 Epistemologically they believe in getting in touch
with your higher self, and ontologically to them God is the essence of existence, the life force
within all things.10 Cosmic Humanists share their ethical views with Marxist-Leninists in that
they believe in moral relativism. Cosmic Evolution the progression of collective humanity
toward an age of higher consciousness11 - dominates their biological views.
Postmodernists are people who follow the teachings of Nietzsche, Foucault, Derrida, and Rorty.
They profess atheism and religious pluralism (the idea that one must be tolerant of all religious
8 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays
CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 191
9 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays
CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 114
10 Dean C. Halverson, Crystal Clear; Understanding and Reaching New Agers
(Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1990), 91
11 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays
CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 196

beliefs because no one religion can be true). Philosophically, postmodernists believe in antirealism or the belief that reality is subjectively constructed by human thought.12 Cultural
Relativism is a high belief ethically for post modernists. Cultural relativism is the belief that truth
and morals are relative to ones culture.13 Like Marxist-Leninists and Cosmic Humanists,
Postmodernists lay claim to a belief in cultural relativism.
All in all, Christianity is the way to go as far as worldviews are concerned. Yes, Cosmic
Humanism sounds fun philosophically, Marx-Lenininism has a very self gratifying philosophy,
and so on and so forth, but truthfully, Christianity is the most logical belief. No matter what, God
will always be my personal Lord, Jesus my Savior, and the Holy Spirit my Guide. Nothing is
ever going to change that.

12 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays

CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 121
13 David A Noebel, Understanding the Times: The Collision of Todays
CompetingWorldviews (Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2006), 157