It's not that I don't believe there is a valid Biblical Worldview. I'm just skeptical of most everything I've seen that is called a "biblical worldview." More often than not, what is proffered as "biblical" is merely someone's personal worldview with some bible verses attached. Take the latest version to sweep American churches, "The Truth Project." Although there were certainly parts of it that were very good, it was very hard to distinguish the worldview it presented from the platform of the Republican party.
The question we have to wrestle with when it comes to worldviews is why the "biblical" worldview of a Christian who is a Democrat (emphasizing social justice and creation care) can differ so much with the "biblical" view of a Christian who is a Republican. Would the "biblical" worldview of a Christian in Uganda look the same as a Christian in the U.S.? How about a believer in the 14th century? If the answer to each of these is "no", we need to think through how, and in what way, any of these can be considered "biblical."
What I have found is that most of the views expounded with the adjective "biblical", such as biblical communication, biblical counseling, biblical dating, and biblical finance, are merely the views of a particular author or group pushing their own agenda. Calling their views "biblical" is not only an attempt to legitimize the view, but also inadvertantly implies that embracing the bible as truth requires embracing one interpretation of it.
Maybe there is a biblical worldview. However, it is so difficult to keep our cultural, ethnic and political biases from influencing the formulation of such a view, that we will never have one that all Christians agree upon.
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Great post Marlin. Those are some good questions to think through. I think it requires an honesty with the things we bring to the table whenever we take a stance on something.
ReplyDeleteI agree, there was a lot of good content in the Truth Project series. That series works in the American context. I wonder how well the "biblical worldview" pushed in The Truth Project would jive in other cultures.
Perhaps in Asia the series would have been called "The Honor Project." Or in Latin America it could have been called "The Relationship Project." The Truth Project works for us because Americans value truth.
It's tough to divorce yourself from your upbringing and environment.