Keegan Smith

Theology
Mr. Farley
September 21, 2009

Worldviews
Think about the big questions. How was the world created? What is humanity’s
purpose? What happens in death? These are tough questions, right? However, everyone has
some opinion to each one of these questions that makes them individual and unique in
thought. These opinions are compiled in their worldview. Now, these questions may be
familiar to most people, but the term worldview may not. A worldview, quite literally, is the
way each person sees the world. It is the way beliefs and perspectives become mashed into a
way of living. By taking a glimpse at a worldview, one can see the deepest expression of self, of
one’s identity.
But since there are so many different opinions in the world on top of the fact that
everyone has their own identity, wouldn’t there be millions of worldviews? The answer is of
course. There are indeed millions of worldviews, but most tend to fall one of under five
categories or groupings of worldviews. These groupings consist of Deism, Pantheism,
Optimistic Naturalism, Pessimistic Naturalism, and, possibly the largest grouping, Christian
Theism. Though these worldviews may just sound like a bunch of long, complex words followed
by the suffix –ism, in fact, they are different in many ways. For example, Christian Theism is a
worldview based upon the existence of God, while both of the Naturalism worldviews are
based upon a world with no god. How can Christian Theism, possibly the most common
worldview, differ from another worldview this much? Actually, this one divergence in beliefs is
just the beginning of where the worldviews differ.
Christian Theism is both similar and different to every other worldview in many ways.
The first and most similar worldview to Christian Theism is Deism. Deism is a worldview
created in the 1600s as a reaction to the turmoil of the time. Being a time of exploration and
travel, the 1600s unveiled many new religions that people had never known before. These new
religions forced people to rethink what they believed. As a result, the population longed for
commonality among all religions; beliefs that everyone shared. Also, religious debate and wars
because of these debates persuaded people from believing in Catholicism or Protestantism.
This led to a separation of ideas from the Christian Theism worldview.
Because Deists wanted to be different than Christian Theists, they took the Christian
God and stripped him to his roots. This is Deism and Christian Theism’s greatest similarity. Yet,
the Deistic God is also the greatest difference between the two worldviews. According to
Deists, God is impersonal. So much of the Christian faith is based upon a personal God; a God
that is always there. When this God becomes impersonal, He (for the sake of giving God a
gender) loses His claim to the Trinity. How can God be Father, son, and Holy Spirit if God has no
part in worldly life? He would not and could not have sent His son to save us if there was no
interplay between the realms of natural and supernatural as Deists believe. The only way to
truly see God, according to Deists, was through the study of nature. Christian Theists believe
prayer and moral life could bring out God in all people, showing yet another divergence in
beliefs. Also, because this god is impersonal, the Spirit would no longer exist because God
would have no control over inspiration, or even the afterlife. The point of a Christian life is to
eventually find glory in the afterlife of heaven with God, but this cannot be so if God had
nothing to do with the world after he created it as Deists believe. Though both worldviews
believe that God exists and that he created the world, the worldviews differ on how he spent
his time after creation. Sin, in particular, was especially affected by the thought of an
impersonal God. Man’s greatest fault is separation from God through sin. Deists believed that
God was completely separate from man and the only sin was to violate a natural law.
The second biggest similarity between the worldviews is also another major difference.
Because Deism was created during the time of the scientific revolution, people began to
emphasize rationality over the supernatural. Instead of looking to prayer and God to solve their
problems, people sought to find the solutions to their problems themselves. This self-help
method led to an emphasis of intelligence, conscience, and rationality, all things that Christian
Theists believed were important. However, this scientific thinking forced Deists to reject all
religious tradition and divine scripture. The Bible was especially mocked for including God in
the daily lives of men and the supernatural events that surrounded them.
Though both worldviews are based out of important ideas and compelling arguments.
Christian Theism is the more inviting of the two worldviews. Yes, an emphasis on rational
thinking is important, but if there is no glorification after life, what is the point? If God has no
part in the world, then what is the point in believing in Him? There is no compromise in looking
at one’s worldview. There are many religions in the world, but taking points from each in an
attempt to find unity and similarity is just not the way to create a worldview worth living. To
choose between a worldview with a God who is there for His people and a worldview where
the God has nothing to do with the people is no choice at all. People long for companionship
and relationship. To always have a personal God watching and being a friend when no one else
will is a bargain too good to pass up.
Moving away from religions with a transcendent God, Pantheism is next on the list.
Pantheism is a prominent worldview throughout East Asia. Countries such as China, India, and
Japan have adopted this worldview through the religious traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and
Taoism. Unlike the single being of God found in Christian Theism and Deism, Pantheists believe
that God and the world are one. Put simply, God is immanent, but not transcendent. This idea
might be a bit confusing, but it will be simplified with further explanation. According to
Pantheistic beliefs, god and the earth are one. Everything is divine and symbolic of unity that is
god. Anything apart from this unity is said to be illusory and ignorant.
This worldview is similar to Christian Theism in only a handful of ways. First, both
believe in an immanent God that stresses the divinity of all things. This divinity is present in
Christian Theism through the creation of humans in the image and likeness of God. However
many similarities the two gods have on paper, this same immanent god of Pantheism is nothing
like the immanent God of Christian Theism. In fact, the god found in Pantheism is not even a
supernatural being of sorts, but rather the life force of everything on the planet. This god
cannot be prayed to or asked for forgiveness. This god is not loving or your friend. Merely this
god is an energy that stays with you throughout life persuading you to seek an inner peace and
outer unity. The God of Christian Theism is more of a father, friend, and protector that looks
over the world through the turmoil and strife just to save humanity at its darkest of hours.
The second major similarity between Pantheism and Christian Theism is the sense of
morality found in Christian teachings and Pantheistic karma. Karma is the “law of
consequences”. It is the standard by which humans are judged at the end of their life. One can
build up good karma by living a moral life and by finding unity with god. This is similar to
Christian Theism in a sense that humans are judged by how fulfilled their relationship is with
God and how each person lived his or her life. In Christian Theism, a moral life and complete
relationship with God will lead someone to Heaven and eternal life. Pantheism believes that
morality and unity will lead to reincarnation to a higher cast of society, and thus a better next
life. This is where the two worldviews differ. The afterlife of Christian Theism is a goal that
every person strives for during his or her life. Each and every person seeks eternal life in
Heaven alongside God. However, Pantheists believe that with death comes life in the sense
that persons will literally be reborn into a different body depending on how one lived their life.
If one lived a fulfilling life unified with god, he or she will be reborn into a better life, and vice-
versa for an unfulfilled, illusory lifestyle. Christian Theists believe in life after death in a
completely different way than the Pantheist teachings proclaim. This is why the two
worldviews are so different.
After comparing these two worldviews, Christian Theism is still the most persuasive
worldview because of the lack of contradictions. How can a distinction from unity be illusory
when every person has their own personality and identity? In this sense, there can be no
individuals, but merely a collective society of identical clones who act as one being. How is that
possible? Also, if any distinction is straying from unity, how can karma be the token to a better
reincarnation? If one distinguishes between right and wrong, he or she is straying from the
unity that includes necessary goods and evils. It is all so confusing, right? Christian Theism
sticks to rather basic teachings that a relationship with God and a moral life will lead to the
perfect afterlife that is Heaven. This is a simple goal for any person to understand.
Naturalism is the third worldview that will be compared with Christian Theism. Since
there are two different worldviews within Naturalism, Optimistic Naturalism will be explained
first. The Naturalistic views were brought about first by the introduction of a new scientific
thinking in the world, evolution. As Charles Darwin began to become popular and his theories
less criticized, Deism began to shift into a new level of skepticism and atheism. No longer was
God impersonal and transcendent, but now nonexistent. People began to think that the world
had always existed and that humans had evolved over millions of years of growth and
development. Also, the Bible became even more disputed as historians questioned the validity
of the author’s statements. Historians started to preach that the Bible was written by
unreliable sources and thus the history of Christian Theism must have been fraud. The universe
had no purpose according to Naturalism but to support an everlasting ecosystem. Nothing is
eternal and human beings are annihilated at death.
This is where the two Naturalistic views begin to diverge. Optimistic Naturalism states
that humans have purpose based on what each person made his or purpose out to be. Also,
the optimistic side of Naturalism states that morality and human dignity are a major part of life.
This is where Optimistic Naturalism and Christian Theism compare in the slightest. Though
Optimistic Naturalism denies every part of Christian teachings, Christian morality is still highly
stressed. This seems odd, for Christian morality has purpose while the morality found in
Optimistic Naturalism does not. For Christians, a moral life means favor with God, and thus a
chance at eternal salvation in Heaven. However, Optimistic Naturalists are annihilated at death
so the thoughts of a moral life seem rather pointless. Another slight similarity between the two
worldviews is the emphasis placed on human superiority and human freedom. According to
Christian Theism, God gave everyone the right to choose the life they want to live. This
freedom is also stressed in Optimistic Naturalism and is one of the reasons this type of
Naturalism places humans above other living creatures. Both worldviews place humans above
other living creatures in the sense that humans have the freedom to do as they please and the
morality to do the right actions when tested.
As each worldview is compared with Christian Theism, a stronger and stronger case is
made for the reason of Christianity popularity. Optimistic Naturalism, though it has optimistic
in the name, is nothing near a positive, encouraging worldview. The simple fact the humans
have nothing to strive for after life is enough to turn away the most devout of atheists. The
contradictory points of morality and the lack of afterlife bring too many questions to mind. Put
rather bluntly, this worldview is depressing. And to think this is the optimistic side of
Naturalism.
Pessimistic Naturalism is similar to Optimistic Naturalism, just a bit dialed up the
depressing meter. According to Pessimistic Naturalism, humans are worthless, purposeless,
and frankly, non-intelligent. Because humans evolved just as everything else on the planet,
they are no better than anything else. Humans are equivalent to a frog or a fly. It is a harsh
worldview, right? To make it just as cheerful, the Pessimists established humans as selfish
beings who claim to have knowledge just to gain power. Humans, in other words, are worse
than other creatures because of our lust to gain the upper hand through learning. Also, human
reason cannot be trusted, for people only have a finite perspective on the larger picture, and
thus cannot see the actual truth.
Christian Theism and Pessimistic Naturalism are possibly opposites on the worldview
spectrum. Because of this, the two worldviews have no similarities and host a multitude of
differences that cannot possibly be described in one paragraph, let alone a lifetime. From
creation, to human existence, and finally to the afterlife, the two worldviews differ on every
possible aspect of beliefs.
At this point, there is no longer a need to explain the persuasiveness of each worldview.
Christian Theism is undoubtedly the most cohesive, inviting, and sensible choice of all of the
worldviews, especially when compared to Pessimistic Naturalism. Honestly, only the darkest
and depressed souls must fall under the faithful few to follow the beliefs of this ghastly
worldview. To have no purpose, no sense of worth, and no morality is demoralizing and
downright frightening. This goes for both of the Naturalistic worldviews. Neither one of the
two Naturalistic worldviews are enticing enough to believe at heart. The thought of no afterlife
immediately puts the two Naturalism worldviews under the other three. Reincarnation is
another cycle that is just too complex to understand, let alone seek to advance in. And finally,
the impersonal God established in Deism is not the supernatural being that I want looking after
my friends and family. To have a friend, father, and protector looking over my loved ones and I
at all times is a feeling that is indescribable. I would choose Christian Theism again and again if I
had the chance.