How Do We Determine Our Worldview.
There are six components that help to determine worldview. The following questions correspond to each component. Answering each of the following questions for yourself will help you begin thinking about your own worldview:
1. What Is Ultimate Reality?
Does reality consist basically of physical matter and energy, as the atheists believe? Is reality an impersonal spiritual entity that dominates the universe and to which all humans must endeavor to attain unity with, as the pantheists assert, or is there a personal and relational, all-powerful, and sovereign God who exists everywhere, but is separate from the physical world he created, as believed by Christians and other theists?
2. What Is the Nature of the Universe?
This is similar to the question above but focuses strictly on what one believes about the natural world. Is the universe strictly physical and yet eternal in one form or another? Is it merely an illusion intended as a battleground for us to work toward enlightenment, or was the universe created by God and far more complex than can be detected by scientists, consisting of both a physical and a spiritual realm?
3. What Is a Human Being?
Is a human basically a biological machine, just a higher level of animal? Is a human a type of god with powers to reach perfection, or is a human an off-the-charts creature designed in the image of God with an eternal spirit like his and similar abilities to reason, seek moral purity, communicate on a high level, create for beauty, and love even those who cannot love in return? Is death the end of existence, or is there a soul that lives on? Does that soul return in another life, or does it return to God and await judgment?
4. What Is Knowledge?
Is there such a thing as absolute truth, or is truth relative? Is true knowledge only that which may be acquired and understood through scientific means, or is there also knowledge that only may be acquired by revelation from God? Should you only trust your senses, or should you explore the spiritual realm and seek knowledge from God?
5. What Is Your Basis of Ethics?
How do you know right from wrong? Is morality learned, or is it designed into our conscience? Is there a set of absolute moral standards given by God, or is morality relative, a matter of culture, and what is acceptable to a society?
6. What the Purpose of Your Existence?
Is human life as you know it merely the result of some amazing cosmic accident, or is there an underlying meaning to history, a purpose toward which time will culminate? Does life have meaning and purpose for individuals, or is it simply whatever one makes it? Did the Creator design his children with a purpose? If so, what might that be?
How Do We Test Our Worldview?
Everyone (not only religious people) forms his or her worldview on the basis of faith (assumptions and presuppositions) and reason. So we must ask ourselves “how reasonable or consistent is our worldview?” Are there any contradictions that are apparent? Testing a worldview is critical because at the end of the day, most people want to make sure that they have truebeliefs about the world. The following tests are just some ways of determining whether or not a particular worldview is true. Consider only three basic tests summarized here:
1. The Coherence Test checks the internal consistency of a worldview to see if one’s specific values and beliefs contradict any other beliefs within the worldview.
2. The Correspondence Test examines how well a worldview corresponds to reality. It evaluates evidences and experiences to see if the worldview matches with what one perceives in the real world.
3. The Practical Test evaluates a worldview’s livability. Does the worldview bring satisfaction as one faces life’s challenges, or is it found to be lacking?
