WORLDVIEW UNDER EXAMINATION

This entry wraps up the worldview series I began for teens and their adult mentors.

You may wish to review other worldview articles in the News Coach blog: the redemptive narrative which undergirds the Christian worldview, a look at the major questions and prevailing worldviews in operation in our world, and an essay on the major monotheistic religions through the lens of Advent.

Encouraging Inquiry

From an educational standpoint, we study worldview for the same reasons we study history and scripture: Worldview thinking provides perspective, clarity, and wisdom regarding current events and world conflicts, both physical and ideological.

Answers alone will not cultivate good thinkers, citizens, and leaders in today’s world. While we need good content for cutting our teeth and shaping our appetites, if we supply content without good tools, we risk training kids to be sponges. The alternative: We train them to examine the world with a well-trained, inquiring mind. 

Good questions allow us to test both ourselves and the material in front of us.

Think about it this way: In order to prove his knowledge at the end of a semester, or a course of study, a student takes an exam. A well-devised examination does not simply require him to regurgitate what he has learned. It requires him to apply his knowledge to real world scenarios.

A well-devised examination does not simply require a student to regurgitate what he or she has learned. It requires that student to apply what they have learned to real world scenarios.

A Surgeon's Gentle Scrutiny

In the case of a physician, mere memorization will not suffice. A pre-med student will one day face a real person with a real illness. The practitioner cannot just spout memorized facts. She must engage: examine her patient, look past the symptoms, ask her patient (and herself) questions to solve the medical puzzle. Beyond this, she must engage with an appropriate bedside manner. 

It's not merely a test, it's an opportunity for tenderness.

The news is a lot like those manifesting symptoms, but it hints at something beyond, providing insight into the core beliefs of a culture or nation. We ask worldview questions to probe those core beliefs and discern what informs individuals’ actions in the world, and to understand the bigger picture. As with the medical professional in my metaphor, examining the world allows us to know where we might bring words of life and healing to communities as well as to individuals.

Worldview questions reveal matters of life and death.

What are the root beliefs at the heart of the conflicts we observe in the world? Where do we see these worldview perspectives lived out by their adherents?

Discerning Problems and Solutions

The handy “problem/solution” chart below is based on Stephen Prothero’s work in his book God Is Not One. The provocative title for his accessible text reminds us: Not all worldviews or world religions are cut from the same cloth. They are rivals, not allies. 

Prothero applies a concise, systematic approach to how world religions answer ultimate questions, useful to us as we explore the worldviews at war in God's World.

* I have used Prothero's model to create a simple "problem/solution" for these.

Ultimate Questions and Media

Human beings have disparate answers to the ultimate questions. Habituate your children or students to gently questioning their own and others’ thinking. One of the easiest places to practice: Have them examine the media they observe.

• What does the author state as the problem?
• What does he or she claim is the solution to this problem?
• Through a biblical perspective, what can we affirm and what should we gently challenge?
• How does this help us respond and engage a world desperate for good news of life, hope, and healing in our unrivaled Great Physician?

Questions? Comments? I love to hear from you! Email newscoach@wng.org.

Image credits: Top, courtesy of Pixabay; inset, courtesy of Unsplash.