BY TIM TYLER

I am a big proponent of teaching believers a Christian worldview especially since so many coming to faith have been indoctrinated by a secular worldview though public education. A worldview is a frame of reference used by a person to establish their belief system. Therefore a Christian worldview establishes an ethic from a Christian perspective. That’s why my ears perked up when I heard the necessity of a Christian worldview in the ”Writing for Christian Scholarship” lecture. You wouldn’t think a Christian worldview would need to be detailed at the graduate level of a Christian seminary. But unfortunately it is necessary because the term “Christian” no longer means that same as “being Biblical.” Christianity is in conflict over the very components that compose a Biblical worldview. The traditional Christian worldview outlined is as follows:

1. · God – creator, sustainer, controller of the universe, love, redemption, judgment
2. · Jesus Christ – Savior, Lord
3. · Holy Spirit – empower
4. · Scripture – authority, concept of truth
5. · O.T. The fall, the hope
6. · N.T. The Christ, atonement, Lord of all

A 2009 Barna research poll surveyed the following statistics concerning American Christianity:

1. God –only 78% of the 1,871 self-described Christians agree that God is “all-powerful,all-knowing Creator of the universe.” while 22% consider other non-Biblical definitions.
2. Jesus Christ – Only 46% of Christians agreed that Jesus lived a sinless life,while 22% believed Jesus did sin during His life. The rest had varying opinions.
3. The Holy Spirit – Only 25% of Christians believe the Holy Spirit is a third person of the Godhead. 38% declare that the Holy Spirit is “a symbol of God’s power or presence but is not a living entity.” While 20% agreed somewhat with that statement and the rest were unsure.
4. The Wordof God – According to a 2011 Gallop poll 3 out of 10 American Christians say that theBible is the literal word of God. The other 7 out of 10 say the Bible was inspired by God but is not to be taken as God’s word.
5. The additional essentials ; the fall of mankind;The redemption of Creation through the Cross, and the restoration of all things at Christ’s return were equally diverse in responses.

So what is the cause of such a contradiction between the Scriptures and the followers of Jesus? I believe it is the pulpit. Pastors and Church leaders are not instructing their flocks in sound doctrine. Why? Seminaries and institutions that teach the pastors are failing in an orthodox Biblical worldview. Liberal theology has wreaked havoc in the church. Therefore it is absolutely necessary to have a more assertive effort in Orthodox Biblical teaching on the scholastic level to train pastors to exegete and teach a worldview that is Biblically sound. This is obviously why it shows up in a webinar class on Christian Scholarship. The seminaries must train up the leaders of the Christian community to conform to a Biblical worldview. Maybe with a strong resurgence of Biblical instruction a Christian Worldview will become Biblical once again.

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This blog article was originally written as part of the course “Writing for Christian Scholarship,” at Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary. You can audit the course or talk to us about starting your own journey at Trinity today by filling out the evaluation form to the right of this article. 

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Article Notes