Last week I broached the topic of foundational principles, those that undergird our world view. These are things that you may take for granted, that you assume. But not everybody has the same foundations, and some people don't even think about what their foundations are.
Those who aren't aware of their own foundations are susceptible to deception and distraction. They are like Eve, who was willing to exchange worldviews to get what she wanted. She was invited to accept the premise that God lies to His people, and it cost us dearly!
Some of us don't even realise that we have incompatible assumptions behind the way we approach the world. These are revealed most spectacularly when we realise we have to choose between two things we thought could co-exist.
Before we delve into Christian foundations, lets briefly review some alternative foundations we might come across.
One common foundation is "the individual is supreme," on which is laid the basecourse "the individual has a right to pleasure/happiness," then "causing sadness to the individual is wrong", followed by "stopping me from doing something I want to do causes me to be sad". Therefore we end up with "I should be able to do what I want if it doesn't hurt anybody." This also leads to: "It's oppression if you try to prevent me from doing what I want".
Another popular foundation is "all that exists is physical matter", which leads to "therefore there is no transcendent meaning to life, right and wrong are societal constructs with no true foundation, so each person is free to do whatever they like because there is no intrinsic meaning or purpose to anything." Or something like that.
Both of these systems of thought ultimately start as if they were hovering in mid air. Their foundation is not really a foundation.
By what standard should the individual be held up a supreme? By what standard do you judge matter to be the only thing that exists?
The Christian worldview, by contrast, starts outside itself. It starts with an Unmoved Mover and Uncaused Causer. One outside the system.
It starts with One who is, One who has always is.
(Yes, the grammar of that last line was intentional).
Moses once asked this One for His name. A name is basically the quintessential element that identifies us, and this One reveals himself as "I AM WHO I AM” (Ex 3:14).
He is the eternally existent.
The Alpha and Omega, beginning and end.
The One who was and is and is to come.
He is our foundation. There is nothing that precedes Him, or comes after Him.
If there is an eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing God, he must be the foundation of everything. Our worldview foundation goes a little something like this:
God is,
God knows all,
God reveals knowledge (truth),
We can have true knowledge if God gives it to us.
Thus, our worldview is not founded on perception or self exultation, but on revealed knowledge from outside us. Everything that we believe, every moral, every standard that we have is in some way connected to the revealed Truth of God. So in every sphere of life, what we believe and why we believe it will somewhere rest on the principle of "Because God said so!"
Now although this is sufficient for an answer to any question, God very kindly does not leave us in the dark - He has given us reason and He has revealed His reasons on a very many topics. Usually there is a clear logic as to why things are the way they are, including why evil is evil and good is good.
Given that our God is eternal and unchanging, this means the truth the He reveals is also eternal and unchanging. When the non-Christian worldviews of the day change around us, we should be unsurprised, because it is not based on unchanging truth. And we don't need to worry, it is a sturdy foundation - one that has stood the test of time, and will continue to stand.
As we live in the day to day world, we often have to make the connection between our changing context, and the eternal truths we are founded on. The principles we have will put us in good stead to face whatever comes next.
Some of those principles include
God's Image in Humanity
God's Created Order
God's Character
God's Providence
God's Plan
God's Redemption
On that last one, it is great to remember in an discussion about foundational elements to our worldview that Truth himself has become incarnate in Jesus Christ who is the Way to Life. Truth is not just an abstract concept, but he is foundational to reality and the only hope for humanity to find the truly good life. If Jesus is Truth, all other answers are mis-truths and deception.
Immoveable Foundations
Last week I broached the topic of foundational principles, those that undergird our world view. These are things that you may take for granted, that you assume. But not everybody has the same foundations, and some people don't even think about what their foundations are.
Those who aren't aware of their own foundations are susceptible to deception and distraction. They are like Eve, who was willing to exchange worldviews to get what she wanted. She was invited to accept the premise that God lies to His people, and it cost us dearly!
Some of us don't even realise that we have incompatible assumptions behind the way we approach the world. These are revealed most spectacularly when we realise we have to choose between two things we thought could co-exist.
Before we delve into Christian foundations, lets briefly review some alternative foundations we might come across.
One common foundation is "the individual is supreme," on which is laid the basecourse "the individual has a right to pleasure/happiness," then "causing sadness to the individual is wrong", followed by "stopping me from doing something I want to do causes me to be sad". Therefore we end up with "I should be able to do what I want if it doesn't hurt anybody." This also leads to: "It's oppression if you try to prevent me from doing what I want".
Another popular foundation is "all that exists is physical matter", which leads to "therefore there is no transcendent meaning to life, right and wrong are societal constructs with no true foundation, so each person is free to do whatever they like because there is no intrinsic meaning or purpose to anything." Or something like that.
Both of these systems of thought ultimately start as if they were hovering in mid air. Their foundation is not really a foundation.
By what standard should the individual be held up a supreme? By what standard do you judge matter to be the only thing that exists?
The Christian worldview, by contrast, starts outside itself. It starts with an Unmoved Mover and Uncaused Causer. One outside the system.
It starts with One who is, One who has always is.
(Yes, the grammar of that last line was intentional).
Moses once asked this One for His name. A name is basically the quintessential element that identifies us, and this One reveals himself as "I AM WHO I AM” (Ex 3:14).
He is the eternally existent.
The Alpha and Omega, beginning and end.
The One who was and is and is to come.
He is our foundation. There is nothing that precedes Him, or comes after Him.
If there is an eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing God, he must be the foundation of everything. Our worldview foundation goes a little something like this:
God is,
God knows all,
God reveals knowledge (truth),
We can have true knowledge if God gives it to us.
Thus, our worldview is not founded on perception or self exultation, but on revealed knowledge from outside us. Everything that we believe, every moral, every standard that we have is in some way connected to the revealed Truth of God. So in every sphere of life, what we believe and why we believe it will somewhere rest on the principle of "Because God said so!"
Now although this is sufficient for an answer to any question, God very kindly does not leave us in the dark - He has given us reason and He has revealed His reasons on a very many topics. Usually there is a clear logic as to why things are the way they are, including why evil is evil and good is good.
Given that our God is eternal and unchanging, this means the truth the He reveals is also eternal and unchanging. When the non-Christian worldviews of the day change around us, we should be unsurprised, because it is not based on unchanging truth. And we don't need to worry, it is a sturdy foundation - one that has stood the test of time, and will continue to stand.
As we live in the day to day world, we often have to make the connection between our changing context, and the eternal truths we are founded on. The principles we have will put us in good stead to face whatever comes next.
Some of those principles include
On that last one, it is great to remember in an discussion about foundational elements to our worldview that Truth himself has become incarnate in Jesus Christ who is the Way to Life. Truth is not just an abstract concept, but he is foundational to reality and the only hope for humanity to find the truly good life. If Jesus is Truth, all other answers are mis-truths and deception.
Samuel Lindsay