Espresso Roast: Worldview in Focus
From the beginning, this blog has been about worldview analysis. If you look back to the very first post, I mentioned that my goal was to look at all aspects of life and discover truth wherever I could find it. Sometimes that means pointing out negative aspects of truth, such as the consequences of ill-advised life-choices, ethical delimmas, public policy decisions, etc., while other times it involves discovering positive aspects of truth. This has much to do with developing a worldview. It is nothing "mystic" or necessarily academic, since everybody and their great uncle Marvin has a worldview whether they know it or not (Uncle Marvin probably doesn't). It is, for a Christian, basic discipleship.
We hear the term a lot these days, but don't always understand what it involves. The term "worldview" has been described as being, in the most simplistic and obvious terms, how one views the world. In his book, Worldviews in Conflict, philosopher Ronald Nash defines a worldview as being "a set of beliefs about the most important issues in life." He expands on that idea by explaining that a worldview is "a conceptual scheme by which we consciously or unconsciously place or fit everything we believe and by which we interpret and judge reality." It is, in summary, the eyeglasses through which we see the world. Depending on the "prescription" or strength of our lenses, we may each see or judge the actions and activities of the world differently. I have addressed this several times throughout the history of this blog (if you are interested in past posts regarding this subject, you can use the Espresso Roast Google search feature at the top of this column to type in "worldview").
In Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey explains the term as "a mental map that tells us how to navigate the world." She goes on to explain that a worldview must answer the major questions in life: Who are we? Where did we come from? What is the purpose of life? Only worldviews that can adequately and comprehensively answer these questions can qualify as a legitimate worldview.
I have always tried to approach everything posted on this blog from a biblical worldview. Sometimes I've been more successful than others and, of course, there are times for the interesting or absurd or the items that just make us laugh...or at least smile (though even those could be analyzed for their worldview perspectives). Nevertheless, the more conscious we are of our own worldviews, the more prepared we are to grow as individuals and make better and more informed decisions.
All that to say that as Espresso Roast continues to evolve, you will be seeing greater emphasis on worldview analysis (for a good example, read this post from last December). I will be making more concerted efforts to address the worldview motivations that can be found behind stories, events, movies, books, etc. and attempt to provide a biblical worldview perspective when appropriate. Sometimes it will be more explicit than at other times.
Why am I making such a big deal about this? To put it simply, if we are living life based on faulty, untested, or undeveloped worldviews, we will constantly be making poor decisions and judgments about life, in general, and our own lives, in particular. To illustrate, Nancy Pearcey points out in Total Truth that the reason so many teenagers who grew up attending church go off to college and abandon their faith is because they were not adequately taught how to develop a biblical worldview; a worldview that allows them to look at every aspect of life, including politics, religion, the arts, etc. and weigh them on their merits. When introduced to radical new ideas, they do not have the conceptual structure to help them deal with false claims.
Frankly, we tend to compartmentalize our lives to such a degree that our core values don't always direct (or at least influence) our thoughts and actions. To correct this takes conscious effort and discipline. It is my desire that Espresso Roast can encourage you in that process. Along the way, I plan on specifically addressing certain aspects of Pearcey's book that are especially helpful. If you have read it or are planning on reading it (which I strongly encourage you to do), I welcome your comments and insights as well.
In many ways, this will mean little or no changes to the content of Espresso Roast. As I've said, I've done this to some degree all along. If anything, it will serve as the guiding force and motivation behind the emphasis of my posts which will serve to further develop my own, biblical worldview (worldview practice, if you will). If you, the reader, understand this, then perhaps you can more consciously focus on what motivates you and what your guiding principles are, which will hopefully result in further development and refinement of your own worldview.
We hear the term a lot these days, but don't always understand what it involves. The term "worldview" has been described as being, in the most simplistic and obvious terms, how one views the world. In his book, Worldviews in Conflict, philosopher Ronald Nash defines a worldview as being "a set of beliefs about the most important issues in life." He expands on that idea by explaining that a worldview is "a conceptual scheme by which we consciously or unconsciously place or fit everything we believe and by which we interpret and judge reality." It is, in summary, the eyeglasses through which we see the world. Depending on the "prescription" or strength of our lenses, we may each see or judge the actions and activities of the world differently. I have addressed this several times throughout the history of this blog (if you are interested in past posts regarding this subject, you can use the Espresso Roast Google search feature at the top of this column to type in "worldview").
In Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey explains the term as "a mental map that tells us how to navigate the world." She goes on to explain that a worldview must answer the major questions in life: Who are we? Where did we come from? What is the purpose of life? Only worldviews that can adequately and comprehensively answer these questions can qualify as a legitimate worldview.
I have always tried to approach everything posted on this blog from a biblical worldview. Sometimes I've been more successful than others and, of course, there are times for the interesting or absurd or the items that just make us laugh...or at least smile (though even those could be analyzed for their worldview perspectives). Nevertheless, the more conscious we are of our own worldviews, the more prepared we are to grow as individuals and make better and more informed decisions.
All that to say that as Espresso Roast continues to evolve, you will be seeing greater emphasis on worldview analysis (for a good example, read this post from last December). I will be making more concerted efforts to address the worldview motivations that can be found behind stories, events, movies, books, etc. and attempt to provide a biblical worldview perspective when appropriate. Sometimes it will be more explicit than at other times.
Why am I making such a big deal about this? To put it simply, if we are living life based on faulty, untested, or undeveloped worldviews, we will constantly be making poor decisions and judgments about life, in general, and our own lives, in particular. To illustrate, Nancy Pearcey points out in Total Truth that the reason so many teenagers who grew up attending church go off to college and abandon their faith is because they were not adequately taught how to develop a biblical worldview; a worldview that allows them to look at every aspect of life, including politics, religion, the arts, etc. and weigh them on their merits. When introduced to radical new ideas, they do not have the conceptual structure to help them deal with false claims.
Frankly, we tend to compartmentalize our lives to such a degree that our core values don't always direct (or at least influence) our thoughts and actions. To correct this takes conscious effort and discipline. It is my desire that Espresso Roast can encourage you in that process. Along the way, I plan on specifically addressing certain aspects of Pearcey's book that are especially helpful. If you have read it or are planning on reading it (which I strongly encourage you to do), I welcome your comments and insights as well.
In many ways, this will mean little or no changes to the content of Espresso Roast. As I've said, I've done this to some degree all along. If anything, it will serve as the guiding force and motivation behind the emphasis of my posts which will serve to further develop my own, biblical worldview (worldview practice, if you will). If you, the reader, understand this, then perhaps you can more consciously focus on what motivates you and what your guiding principles are, which will hopefully result in further development and refinement of your own worldview.
Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 7/19/2005 06:45:00 PM
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4 Comments:
It sounds like Nancy Pearcy's book is doing quite well with you!
I've not read her book (yet), but I have arranged a small group with the "How Now Shall We Live" study authored by Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcy. Absolutely top-notch stuff, in my opinion. I'm excited to see how it reaches the group -- a normally very reserved, very compartmentalized, internal, church group!
Good choice on both titles. As I said, Pearcey is very comprehensive in her approach to worldview studies. I bet the group study will be very good. Let me know how it goes.
My pastor preached six sermons after reading Total Truth. I am going to read it. It my take me a while since it is a very deep book. I will have to read a line five or six times before I get it.
That's OK, Michael. Take your time...it's worth it.
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